Aurangzeb ascended the throne in 1658 after getting rid of all the competitors for the throne, Dara Shukoh, Shuja and Murad, in a war of succession.
He assumed the title Alamgir, World Conqueror. The Jats and Satnamis and also the Sikhs revolted against him.
His reign of fifty years falls into two equal parts. During the first twenty -five years he resided in the north, chiefly at Delhi, and personally occupied himself with the affairs of northern India, leaving the Deccan in the hands of his viceroys.
Around 1681 he was prompted by the rebellion of one of his sons, Prince Akbar, to go to the Deccan. He never returned to Delhi, dying disappointed at Ahmad Nagar in 1707.
Deccan Policy of Aurangzeb
The Deccan Policy of Aurangzeb was very aggresive. Aurangzeb’s accession in 1658 gave him an opportunity to fulfill his aggressive designs with regard to Deccan.
The three powers in the Deccan with which he had to deal were the Marathas and the two Shiah states of Bijapur and Golkunda.
But up to 1681, Aurangzeb won on appreciable success in the Deccan. This was because Prince Shah Alam, the Governor of the Deccan for eleven years, was lacking in vigor and enterprise.
Besides, the Emperor was prevented from giving whole-hearted attention to affairs in the Deccan because of his pre-occupations with his wars with the northwestern frontiers tribes, on one hand and the Rajputs on the other.
The death of Shivaji in 1680 brought about a change in the Deccan situation and the Emperor lost no time in taking full advantage of it. The situation, however, was complicated because of Prince Akbar who had fled to the court of Shambhuji, Shivaji’s son and successor.
The Emperor personally came over to the Deccan. His objects were two-fold, viz., to crush Sambhuji and to overpower the rebel prince.
Akbar, however, took to flight and Aurangzeb thought it prudent to suspend vigorous action against the Marathas till he had overthrown the kingdoms of Golkunda and Bijapur.
Accordingly in April, 1685, the Imperial army besieged Bijapur and captured it. In January 1687 Aurangzeb directed his operations against Golkunda and compelled it to submit in September of the same year.
After the fall of these two Muslim states Aurangzeb turned his attention against Sambhuji. One of the Mughal general succeeded in capturing the Maratha king and the unfortunate captive was put to death with horrible torture in March, 1689.
Aurangzeb’s Deccan policy was a miserable failure. His wars against Bijapur and Golkunda did not ease the task of the Marathas, as some writers suggest, but these alienated the Shia Muslim sentiment. His drive against the Marathas involved him in heavy expenses and brought him no success.
Religious Policy of Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb was a great believer in the kalma; he would often hang his head to recite it. However, he hated the fact that it was inscribed on coins.
Aurangzeb banned the festival of Nauroz, as it was considered as Zoroastrian practice favored by the Safavid rulers of Iran.
Aurangzeb appointed Muhtasibs in all the provinces. Their major work was to see that people lived their lives in accordance with the shara.
Muhtasibs were responsible for ensuring that the things, which were forbidden (such as intoxicants and gambling dens, etc) by the shara and the zawabits (secular decrees) were, as far as possible, not disobeyed openly.
While appointing Muhtasibs, though, Aurangzeb emphasized that the state was also responsible for the moral welfare of the citizens. But these officials were instructed not to interfere in the private lives of citizens.
In 1669, Aurangzeb took a number of measures, which have been called puritanical, but many of them were of an economic and social character, and against superstitious beliefs. Likewise, he prohibited singing in the court and the official musicians were pensioned off. The instrumental music and naubat (the royal band) were, however, continued.
Singing also continued to be patronized by the ladies in the harem, and also by individual nobles. It is interesting to note that the largest number of Persian works on classical Indian music were written during Aurangzeb’s reign. Aurangzeb himself was proficient in playing the Veena.
Aurangzeb withdrawn the practice of jharoka darshan or showing himself to the public from the balcony (initiated by Akbar). He considered it a superstitious practice and against Islam.
Aurangzeb banned the ceremony of weighing the emperor against gold and silver and other articles on his birthdays. However, because of majority of social demand, Aurangzeb had to permit this ceremony for his sons when they recovered from illness.
Aurangzeb prohibited astrologers from preparing almanacs. But the order was disobeyed by everybody including members of the royal family.
To promote trade among the Muslims who depended (almost) exclusively on state support, Aurangzeb exempted Muslim traders from the payment of cess. However, Aurangzeb found that the Muslim traders were taking undue advantages of this and cheating the state; therefore, he reinstated it, but kept it at half of what was charged from others.
Some evidences suggest that Aurangzeb wanted to have the clergy on his side, as the clergy exercised a powerful hold on the minds of men.
Aurangzeb restated the position of the shara regarding the temples, synagogues, churches, etc., that “long standing temple should not be demolished but no new temples allowed to be built.” He also allowed that the old places of worship could be repaired “since buildings cannot last forever.”
When he was governor of Gujarat, Aurangzeb, ordered a number of temples in Gujarat to be destroyed, which often meant merely breaking the enrages and closing down the temples at the outset of his reign. However, Aurangzeb found that images of these temples had been restored and idol-worship had been resumed.
In 1665, Aurangzeb again ordered to destroy these temples. The famous temple of Somnath, which he ordered to be destroyed, was earlier in his reign.
Aurangzeb encountered political opposition from a number of quarters, such as the Marathas, Jats, etc., as they had adopted a new stance. Therefore, while dealing with the conflicts (with the local elements), Aurangzeb considered it legitimate to destroy even long standing Hindu temples as a major punishment and as a warning.
Aurangzeb looked upon temples as the centers of spreading rebellious ideas, i.e. ideas which were not acceptable to the orthodox elements. Therefore, in 1669, he took strict action especially when he learnt that in some of the temples in Thatta, Multan and especially at Banaras, both Hindus and Muslims used to come from great distances to learn from the Brahmans.
Aurangzeb issued orders to the governors of all provinces to prohibit such practices and to destroy all those temples where such practices took place.
As a result of these orders, a number of temples such as the famous temples of Vishwanath at Banaras and the temple of Keshava Rai at Mathura built by Bir Singh Deo Bundela during the reign of Jahangir were destroyed and a mosque; erected in their place.
Mustaid Khan, author of the Maasir-i-Alamgiri mentioned that with reference to the destruction of the temple of Keshava Rai at Mathura, “On seeing this instance of the strength of the Emperor’s faith and the grandeur of his devotion to God, the proud rajas were subdued, and in amazement they stood like images facing the wall.” Thereupon, many temples built in Orissa during the last ten to twelve years were also destroyed.
During 1679-80, when there was a state of hostility with the Rathors of Marwar and the Rana of Udaipur, many temples of old standing were destroyed at Jodhpur and its parganas, and at Udaipur.
After 1679, it seems that Aurangzeb’s zeal to destroy temples decreased, as after this, there was no evidence of any large-scale destruction of temples in the south (between 1681 and his death in 1707).
Aurangzeb again introduced the jizyah (or the poll tax) (it was abolished by Akbar). According to the shara, in a Muslim state, the payment of jizyah was obligatory, for the non-Muslims.
Aurangzeb, in fact, did not try to change the nature of the state, but reasserted its fundamentally Islamic character. Aurangzeb’s religious beliefs cannot be considered as the basis of his political policies.
Aurangzeb’s religious ideas and beliefs on the one hand, and his political or public policies on the other, however, clashed on many occasions and he faced difficult choices. Sometimes this led him to adopt contradictory policies which damaged the empire.
Personality and Character of Aurangazeb
Aurangzeb had a strong personality with great power of endurance. He was very pious, active and highly intelligent.
In his private life, Aurangazeb was industrious and disciplined. He was very simple in food and dress. He earned money for his personal expenses by copying Quran and selling those copies.
He did not consume wine. He was learned and proficient in Arabic and Persian languages. He was a lover of books. He was devoted to his religion and conducted prayers five times a day.
Aurangzeb applied his great-grandfather Akbar’s principles when he conquered a state. He initially defeated his enemies, reconciled with them, and then place them in the imperial service.
However, when Shivaji was defeated, he was called to Agra for reconciliation in 1666, and given an imperial rank. The plan broke down, and Shivaji escaped.
He later died sometime during 1680 as a monarch of an independent Maratha sovereign state. It was during this time that Shivaji re-established the Maratha Empire.
The people of Bharatpur stood against him and created Bharatpur state. The Sikhs rebelled against the emperor and fought many battles.
He failed to solve the Maratha problem and left an open sore. His policy towards 5hia Deccan Sultanates also proved to be a wrong policy. His religious policy was also not successful. Aurangazeb was an orthodox Sunni Musllm.