Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb's rise repeated the pattern of violent succession. Shah Jahan fell ill in 1657 and wanted the throne to go to his eldest son, Dara Shikoh.

Aurangzeb defeated Dara in a series of battles and finally executed him, presenting his head to their father. He had another brother arrested and executed, and drove the third into exile. Then he imprisoned his father, Shah Jahan, in the Agra Fort, where he stayed until he died.

He crowned himself emperor in 1658, took the name 'Alamgir' (conqueror of the world), and ruled for almost 49 years.

The chapter gives a comparison to think about:

Skilled in war, Aurangzeb led many campaigns, conquering parts of the South in particular. Under him the empire reached its greatest size, while it constantly faced serious rebellions.

But expansion had a cost. He spent the last 25 years of his life fighting war after war in the Deccan, and paying for those armies emptied the treasury and strained the government. This is often seen as a key reason for the rapid decline of Mughal power after his death in 1707.

Deeply religious and of Islam's Sunni branch, he lived simply and, unlike Akbar, kept all religious rituals. He banned things he saw as un-Islamic, such as music and dance at court, and brought back the jizya and a pilgrimage tax on Hindus, both of which Akbar had abolished.

Here the chapter handles a real debate fairly. Some scholars argue his motives were mainly political, and point to grants and promises of protection he gave some temples. The book agrees politics played a part, then cites his own orders (farmans), such as the 1669 order to governors "to demolish schools and temples of the infidels". Temples at Banaras, Mathura and Somnath were destroyed, as were Jain temples and Sikh gurudwaras, and he persecuted Sufis and Zoroastrians too. His own last letters say: "I have not done well for the country and the people, and of the future there is no hope."