Aurangzeb : (1618-1707), 6th Mogul Emperor (1659-1707), 3rd son of Shah-Jahan, he named himself Ālamgīr (conqueror of the world). He initiated his God-given career in 1658 by murdering his brothers & imprisoning his father. Between 1661 & 1667 Aurangzeb received “complimentary embassies” from the Sharif of Mecca, the Kings of Persia, Balkh, Bokhara, Kāshghar, Urganj (Khiva) & Shahr-i-nau, the Turkish governors of Basra, Hadramauth, Yaman (Yemen) & Mocha, the ruler of Barbary, & the King of Abyssinia, & one embassy from Constantinople in 1590. As one who secured the throne was champion of Sunni orthodoxy against his unorthodox elder brother Dārā Shukhoh, he tried to enforce strictly the Quaranic law, according to which it behoves every pious Muslim to carry on Jihād against the dār-ul-harb (non-Muslim lands) of kāfirs (unbelievers) of till they are converted to dār-ul-Islām (Muslim lands). In 1669, he forbade music at court & dismissed the old musicians & singers; in 1670, royal astronomers & astrologers were dismissed. He also abolished the Nauroz, which the Mughal emperors had borrowed from Persia. He passed an ordinance prohibiting the production, sale & public use of wine & bhang; ordered dancing girls & public women to get married, or leave his kingdom. In 1679 he re-imposed the jizyā tax on kāfirs (unbelievers) which meant the majority community, the Hindus. By 1690, Aurangzeb had reached the zenith of his power & was the lord of almost whole of India – from Kābul to Chittagong & Kashmir to Kāveri. But it was also the beginning of his end, for he tried to govern it single-handed – his industry & capacity for work created over-confidence in himself & distrust of even his closest officers, leading to his constant interference in the minutest affairs of State. The collapse of his empire began with uprisings of the Jāts of Mathurā, of the Bundelās led by the legendary Chhatrasāl (whose father had started the revolt but when cornered had committed suicide), of the Satnāmis in of Patiālā, & of the Sikhs led by their illustrious Gurus. Failing to realise the value of his long-standing allies the Rājputs, he began his campaign against them by annexing Amber after its powerful king, Raja Jay Singh, died in 1667. He then attacked Mārwār, fearing that its king Jashwant might create an all-Rājput confederation against him just because he had been a supporter of his brother Dārā Shukhoh. When Jashwant died, protecting Aurangzeb’s North-West frontier, Aurangzeb bought off his nephew & thus the throne of Jodhpur. But the Rāthods of Mārwār rose up under the Durgādās, son of Jashwant’s minister, “one of the immortals in the history of Rājputāna” whose utter dedication to the independence his nation & the courage of his officers, forced Aurangzeb to bring in heavy reinforcements under his three sons: Mu’azzam, ‘A’zam, & Akbar. But to Durgādās’ aid jumped in the Sisodias of Mewād for Jashwant Singh wife was a Sisodia princess. This turned a bilateral into a national conflict. The Rājputs carried off the provisions of Akbar’s army. When Aurangzeb replaced Akbar by ‘A’zam, Akbar sought the alliance of the Rājputs to dethrone his father. Aurangzeb ruse of tricking the Rājputs into cutting off Akbar failed & Durgādās saved Akbar from being captured by his father, & escorted him to Shivaji’s son Shambhāji who failed to provide effective aid his charge. Akbar was forced to exile himself to Persia where he died in 1704. Meanwhile Durgādās carried on his war with Aurangzeb until his son & successor Bahadur Shah I, recognised Jashwant Singh’s son as the Rāṇā of Mewād in 1709. The death of Shivaji in 1680 did not improve Aurangzeb’s position with the Marāthās in Dakshīna (Anglicised to Deccan). The Marāthas, who from 1691 carried on a war of national resistance, grew into the only native power that could have achieved a unified India, in spite of a battlefield stacked with disunited brothers, unpredictable native allies & the Octopus setting each of them against one another. In the closing years of the Ālamgīr’s life, the revenue of Bengal was the sole support of his household or his army. Lawlessness reigned in most of his Empire in North & Central India. In the province of Ᾱgra there was chronic disorder. He was an ardent student of Muslim theology, an expert calligraphist but he seldom encouraged art & letters. The only literary production that received his patronage was the Fatāwa-i-Ᾱlamgīrī, which has been regarded as “the greatest digest of Muslim law made in India”. Not a single edifice, finely written manuscript, or exquisite picture, commemorates Aurangzeb’s reign. Unlike his great-grandfather Akbar’s & Dārā Shukhoh’s openness to other world-views than the Quaranic which led him to dream of a Moghul Empire based on religious reconciliation & amity, Ᾱlamgīr’s inflexible Quaranic convictions brooked no religious tolerance in himself or his people, & he saw failure piled upon failure. He wrote to his son ‘A’zam: “I came alone & am going alone. I have not done well to the country & the people, & of the future there is no hope.” Worn out in mind & body by heavy cares & hard toil, he died at Ahmadnagar on 3rd March 1707; his body was carried to Daulatābād & interred in the compound of the tomb of Saint Burhān-ud-din. [See Advanced History of India, pp. 484-503]
... last. They were all given “Ashram names” by Sri Aurobindo — Sayed Ibrahim was renamed Dara. He was in one of his previous births Aurangzeb’s elder brother Dara Shukoh of the Moghul dynasty whom Aurangzeb imprisoned and killed. Dara Shukoh was a scholar. He translated the Gita and the Vedas into Persian. Dara Shukoh was, in a much earlier birth, in the 5th century B.C., Darius Hystaspes of Persia.... Aurobindo first saw Dara, He addressed him as “Dara”, the latter corrected Sri Aurobindo saying “I am Ibrahim.” Sri Aurobindo just smiled. Later we learn that the entire historical family of the Moghul Aurangzeb had come back. Of course we know Ibrahim was named Dara after Dara Shukoh. I have not seen Sudhira or Tazdar. They and the others, when they arrived, were lodged in the part of the Ashram (main ...
... divine Nature that is to be. December 1936 ? (...) P.S. Forgive a little humour in sorrow: my father used to be renowned for it; one of his humour characters (Dileer Khan) said to Aurangzeb: 'Icanm hāsya bole ektā jinis ache jānen jānhapanā ?" [There is a thing called pathetic smile, do you know my Lord ?] This is karun hasya if you will:— In Bengali there is a ...
... century when Sadr-Al-Din became the first king to be converted to Islam - that Kashmir became Islamic. Under Akbar, the whole of Kashmir came under the sway of the Moguls and during the reign of Aurangzeb, the Rajput Raja of Kishtwar was converted along with his subjects. Even today, it is possible to find aristocrats or Rajas who are descendants of Mohammedanised Rajputs. Political Factors ...
... fugitive son, Prince Khusro. Arjan's son, the sixth Guru, Hargovind (1606-45), gave a military turn to Sikhism. Again, the ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, who preferred death to conversion, was beheaded by Aurangzeb. So it was left to Tegh Bahadur's son, the tenth and last Guru, Govind Singh (1675 1708), to make the Sikh sect into a militant body, the Khalsa (or Pure), determined to resist Muslim atrocities ...
... of the Spanish armies and the organised cruelty of Spanish repression were shattered in the Netherlands, which brought to nought the administrative genius, the military power, the stubborn will of Aurangzeb, which loosened the iron grip of Austria on Italy. In all such instances the physical power and organisation behind the insurgent idea are ridiculously small, the repressive force so overwhelmingly ...
... persist in believing that the policy in East Bengal is only the policy of individuals. They are therefore "demanding" the recall of Mr. Hare. "He has eclipsed", says the Bengalee , "the record of Aurangzeb as a persecutor of Hindus, without Aurangzeb's excuse of religious zeal.... He has made every Hindu hate British rule in the privacy of his heart." But will the recall of Mr. Hare be of any more effect ...
... it offered no promise of justice, but decided according to the will of the sovereign. The position of the Congress in that case is no better than that of the suitor at the justice seat of Akbar or Aurangzeb. To ask without strength, to aspire without effort, to submit if refused by the sovereign power, will be the limit of its duties. The negation of national life which this attitude implies, is too ...
... their brain and arm to preserve his conquests and by the royalty of that trust and noble pride in his own ability to stand by his innate strength, was able to hold India for over a century until Aurangzeb forgot the kuladharma of his house and by distrust, tyranny and meanness lost for his descendants the splendid heritage of his forefathers. The present domination is a rule of shopkeepers who are ...
... Pataudi had been his classmate. He had seen him play (play more and study less). India’s late President Zakir Hussain was also one of his classmates. Prashanto was, it is said, the much-disliked Aurangzeb in one of his previous births. Strangely enough he was given the duty of taking care of Dara — which job he did to the best of his ability till Dara’s passing away. (Paying for sins committed 300 ...
... that the Muslimhave made a great contribution to music. (Laughter) That pleases them very much but they are not so pleased when any Hindu contribution is spoken of. It is quite apparent. It was Aurangzeb who banned music among the Muslims. The Koran also forbids it. SRI AUROBINDO: The Koran also? PURANI: Yes, that is why other Muslim countries like Persia have no music. In India, after Akbar ...
... That is something I can't swallow myself. SATYENDRA: Gandhi himself can't carry Congress with him. But the question has been shelved for the present—I hope buried like Aurangzeb's musicians. (Aurangzeb forbade all music. In spite of that, some took out a musical procession in front of his palace. He ordered the musicians to be buried alive.) SRI AUROBINDO: Is music forbidden by the Koran? ...
... Razia Begum VI (i) Babar's account of India (ii) Beginnings of Sikhism: Guru Nanak (iii) Akbar (iv) Abul Fazal, Faizi and Tansen (v) Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb (vi) Great Saints: Narsi Mehta, Tulsidas, Meerabai, Surdas, Chaitanya, Tukaram (vii) Establishment ofKhalsa: Guru Gobind Singh (viii) Vijay Nagar (ix) Annals of Rajputana ...
... 11,12 Aryan,12 Ashoka, 84 Ashram, 18,34 Ashwins, 12,13 Ashvamedha, 42 Astronomy, 44 Atharva Veda, 6,105 Atheism, 61 Adantis, 1 Atman, 30, 82 Aurangzeb, 85 Avidya, 29 Ayurveda, 104 Badarayana, 88,95 Bedekar, V.M, 71,75,78,82 Being, Pure, 58 Bhaga,10,11,12 Bhakti Yoga, 7 Bharadwaja, 31, 34 Bharat Muni ...
... the French, the Dutch and the British. Finally, the political instability led to the establishment of the British supremacy in India. In fact, the period following the death of Moghul emperor Aurangzeb (1707) marks a period of complete decline of Indian culture; and the Indian spirit was so much endangered during this period that even today India suffers from a tremendous Inertia and obscurity. ...
... other West European nations—such as the Dutch, the Danes, the British—the French too began by setting up a trading centre at Surat (1666), on India's west coast. They got permit for trading during Aurangzeb's reign, who ruled a part of India from 1658 to 1707; exactly as the East India Company had got theirs when his grandfather Jehangir reigned. But all of them recognized the advantages of a foothold ...
... magnificent construction and an immense amount of political genius and talent was employed in its creation and maintenance. It was as splendid, powerful and beneficent and, it may be added, in spite of Aurangzeb's fanatical zeal, infinitely more liberal and tolerant in religion than any mediaeval or contemporary European kingdom or empire and India under its rule stood high in military and political strength ...
... the Goddess-Spirit of India in its martial aspect, guarding the culture and religion of the country with a supernatural sword. Shivaji, fired by the sense of danger to the soul of Hinduism from Aurangzeb's Muslim fanaticism and autocracy, was a devotee of Bhavani and supposed to have been inspired and guided by Her. His devotion was further fostered by the san-nyasi saint Ramdas whom he accepted as ...
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