Biography of Aurangzeb for UPSC

Aurangzeb was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India.Also known as ‘ Alamgir’,he ruled from 1658 to 1707. Under his rule, the Mughal Empire reached its zenith and became the single largest empire in India.

He ruled for a span of around 50 years, with territories extending from Kashmir in the North to Jinji in the South, and Hindukush in the West to Chittagong in the East. A highly conservative Muslim ruler and an ambitious monarch, his tenure also marked a golden period of the Mughal Empire in terms of economic growth.

Read about Aurangzeb, the last effective ruler of the Mughal Empire, who ruled India from 1658 to 1707.

This topic has a high chance of being asked as a UPSC Prelims History Question from Modern India.

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Early Life of Aurangzeb

• Aurangzeb was born on 3 November 1618 in Dahod,Gujarat.He ascended the throne as the son of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. Since childhood, he had a natural keenness for learning. He possessed a thorough knowledge of the Quran and languages like Persian and Arabic.
• He grew up as a religious, serious-minded person without any interest in royal traits. He projected exceptional military and administrative qualities. His father, Shah Jahan, assigned him several military responsibilities at a very young age.

Tenure as governor and early military campaigns

• Aurangzeb headed the army sent to Bundelkhand to vanquish the forces under the rebellious ruler of Orchha, Jhujhar Singh. The Mughal army succeeded in the campaign, and Jhujhar Singh got expelled from the throne.
• In 1636, Aurangzeb was appointed the Viceroy of Deccan. Later, he was removed from the post and barred from the court for six months. In 1645, he was appointed the Governor of Gujarat and successfully harboured stability to the region, which was earlier marked by constant religious disputes.
• Shah Jahan appointed Aurangzeb as the governor of the Balkh region, which was under constant threat from the Uzbeks and Turkmen tribes. Later, he became the governor of Multan and Sind. His efforts to take control of Kandahar from Safavids did not succeed due to logistical problems and poor quality of armaments.
• Deccan prospered under the second tenure of Aurangzeb as the governor. He appointed Murshid Quli Khan to extend the ‘zabt’ revenue system in Deccan, conducted a detailed survey of the agricultural land, and did a tax assessment of agricultural produce. To maximise revenue from land, loans were given for seeds, infrastructure, livestock, and irrigation.
• However, Shah Jahan nominated his eldest son, Dara Shikoh as the successor to the throne. It was not in the interest of Aurangzeb, which brought him into rivalry with his elder brother.
• The tensions between the two brothers on succession to the throne were aggravated when Shah Jahan fell seriously ill in 1657. Though Shah Jahan recovered from his illness, the war for power continued. Aurangzeb, with valiance, sheer determination, and military skills, defeated Dara at Samugarh in May 1658.
• His decisive victory in the battle of Samugarh established his superiority and sovereignty throughout the empire. Aurangzeb executed his brother Dara Shikoh owing to political and religious reasons. He employed a number of Hindus, predominantly Rajputs, and Marathas in the Mughal administration. Most of them were his political allies.

Religious policies of Aurangzeb

• Aurangzeb was known as “Zinda Pir” or “Darvesh” due to his simple way of living and high-level thinking.
• He was a highly orthodox Sunni Muslim ruler with the least tolerance for religious matters. He ruled according to the Sharia law in the Quran.
• He banned drinking and singing in court. Public drinking was also prohibited. Muhtasibs was appointed to assure that people do not drink in public places and followed sharia, a traditional Islamic law. However, Muhtasibs were not allowed to interfere with the life of people in the state.
• He prohibited Kalma, an Islamic Inscription on coins, as he believed it might get polluted when passed from one person to another.
• He put restrictions on the celebration of Nauroz, a festival celebrated by the Safavid rulers of Iran.
• He banned singing and dancing in courtrooms but allowed ‘Naubat’, the royal band in courts, and instrumental music.
• In 1679, Aurangzeb re-introduced the jizyah tax or the poll tax for the non-muslim population. Jizya was abolished by Akbar in 1564. However, economically weak sections of society, the elderly, children, and women, were exempted from paying these taxes.
• He also increased the land tax to meet the state expenses, which affected the Hindu Jats to a great extent.
• Aurangzeb encouraged the Persian language. During his reign, a number of Persian works on Indian Classical music were born.
• He abolished the practice of weighing the Emperor with gold, and the practice of Jharokha darshan, initiated by Akbar. Jharokha Darshan was the practice of the Emperor presenting himself from the balcony, and Aurangzeb considered this un-Islamic.
• He opposed the renovation of old houses of worship, stating that “buildings cannot last forever”.
• Aurangzeb prohibited astrologers from making almanacks.
• In 1667, he banned the use of firecrackers and fireworks in all the states under his rule.
• Aurangzeb did not try to alter the nature of the state. Indeed, he took efforts to emphasize the fundamental principles of Islam.

Abolition of temples

• He did not allow the construction of new temples, churches, synagogues, etc. Long-standing temples and religious structures were given an exception.
• However, he demolished the Somnath temple, where he faced political opposition from Marathas, Jats, etc. Apart from that, he ordered the destruction of a number of temples in Gujarat. According to him, temples were breeding grounds for rebellious activities and practices that were not acceptable to him by any means.
• In addition, Hindus and Muslims covered long distances to visit the temples in places like Banaras.He disliked this practice and undertook serious action against the temples and ordered Governors to take urgent measures to prohibit temple visits by Muslims.
• The famous Vishwanath temple in Banaras, and Keshav Rai in Mathura, were destroyed, and mosques were built in the same spot.
• Several temples in Odisha, historic temples in Udaipur and Jodhpur, along with surrounding Parganas, were also pulled down. After 1679, there was no large-scale construction of temples in the south.
• According to sources, Aurangzeb destroyed around 15 big temples during his reign.

Expansion

• The Mughal army, under Governor Shaista Khan, recaptured the Chittagong port from the Arakanese.
• He engaged in a conflict with Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha chief. Shivaji was defeated in a war, and the Mughals invited him for reconciliation in 1966. The plan did not succeed, and Aurangzeb decided to conquer Golconda and Bijapur to control the Maratha Empire.
• On 4th September 1686, the Mughal army led by Aurangzeb captured the Bijapur fort after defeating Sikandar Ali Shah, the ruler of Bijapur.
• In 1687, Aurangzeb led the huge Mughal army against the Qutbshahis to capture the Golconda fort. The Kollur mines, one of the largest diamond mines in the world, came to the Mughals, post-victory.
• However, these campaigns drained the wealth of the Mughal treasury and brought them into a confrontation with the Marathas.
• The Military Department of Aurangzeb included 16 cannons, including Azdaha Patkar and Fateh Rahber. Sepoys, specialised in siege and artillery, emerged during this period during the reign of Aurangzeb.

Art, Culture, and Architecture

• Aurangzeb inspired Islamic calligraphy during his reign. Quran manuscripts in the Naskh style were popular during the time. Aurangzeb was a skilled calligrapher in the Naskh style. He also memorised the Quran, studied hadiths, and practiced every ritual of Islam.
• During his reign, he built Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad and Badshahi Masjid in Lahore.
• He also built Moti Masjid, and Badshahi Mosque, the largest mosque in the Indian subcontinent. He constructed the largest Mosque in Kashmir in Srinagar. He was also involved in the repair and maintenance of existing structures. ‘Dargahs’ of Sufi saints like Bakhtiyar Kaki were patronised by him.

Final years

• Aurangzeb died on March 3, 1707, near Ahmednagar, at the age of 88. He was succeeded by Azam Shah, who was killed at the battle of Jajau by Bahadur Shah I.

Frequently Asked Questions about Aurangzeb

What contribution did Aurangzeb make to the Mughal Empire?

Aurangzeb ruled for about 49 years, and his rule marked the golden period of the Mughal Empire. During his reign, the Mughal Empire reached its heights in India as the single largest empire. He expanded the empire through Deccan Policy and annexing Golconda and Bijapur.

What were the religious policies of Aurangzeb?

He was an orthodox Sunni Muslim who tried to impose the rules of the Islamic state. Ignorant of the mixed population of the state, he introduced religion-centric policies according to sharia. He reimposed the Jizya tax on the non-Muslim population. The abolition of temples and prohibition on the celebration of Nauroz were part of religious intolerance. Privileges like exemption from cess were granted to Muslims.

Which were the temples destroyed by Aurangzeb in India?

Aurangzeb believed that temples were centres of rebellious ideas. During his tenure, he demolished many temples in India. The famous temples demolished during the reign of Aurangzeb are Somnath Temple, The Krishnajanmabhoomi Temple, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Vishweshwar Temple, Govind Dev temple, Vijay temple, Bhima Devi temple, Madan Mohan temple, Chausath Yogini temple, Ellora, Trimbakeshwar, Narasinghpur, and Pandharpur.

What was Aurangzeb’s Deccan Policy?

To contain the growing influence of Marathas in the region, he followed the method of aggressive progression. He imposed orthodox sharia laws or Islamic legal prescriptions on the mixed population, including Sikhs and Hindus. It included prohibition of dance and music, gambling and drinking, proclamations on the prohibition of construction of new temples, etc.

Which ruler reinstated Jizya after being abolished by Akbar?

In 1969, Aurangzeb re-established Jizya, or poll tax, a tax on the non-muslim population in India. This decision has been implemented in accordance with sharia. In India, the Jizya tax was established for the first time by the founder slave dynasty, Qutb-ud-din Aibak.

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