Aurangzeb, the last emperor of the great Mughal emperors in India, ascended the throne of the Mughal Empire, in 1658 through bloodstained wiping away of his own brothers,the other contestants in the battle for authority. Under him the Mughal Empire reached its greatest height. He assumed the title of Alamgir (Conqueror of the World) Padshah(emperor) Ghazi(Holy Warrior) to propound the essence of the roles he would play. His experience as the governor of Gujrat, Multan and Sindh , helped him to strengthen his much -coveted position.

Firstly he adopted measures like :
[1] hike in the salaries of his officers;
[2] abolition of tax on grain trade ;
[3] refusal of gifts and
[4] honouring his supporters with titles.

Aurangzeb suffered from rigid conservatism. He banned the un-Islamic celebrations,the practice of music in public places and the method of weighing the emperor in gold and silver which were distributed as gifts.He appointed officers to take care of the ethical standards of his subjects. Even the Sharoka Darshan , begun by Akbar were stopped.


Aurangzeb, the rigid Sunni Muslim, had imbibed in the fanaticism of Islamic Jihad or Holy war against the non-Muslims and the Shiah sect. His religious policy aimed at converting India from a non-Muslim land(dar-ul-harb) into a habitat of pure Muslims(dar-ul-Islam). He reimposed the humiliating taxation of Jeziya on the Hindus and non-Muslims.He replaced Hindu temples with the erection of mosques. This destructive endeavour covered even the Bishwanath Temple in Benaras, the Somnath Temple in Kathiawar and the Keshawar Temple in Mathura. In the first year of his reigh he strictly ordered the king of Orissa to demolish all Hindu temples. His Shiah -hatred alienated him from the Shiahs. Similar was the reaction of the insulted Hindus, who paid 5% extra toll -tax for trade.What Aurangzeb did ,only disgraced his name in world history.He never understood the true gospel of love that Islam preached.

The Rajput policy of Aurangzeb ,according to some historians hastened the fall of the Mughal Empire.His anti-Hindu disposition , contradicting Akbar`s diplomacy , aggravated his desire to attack the Rajputsv and enlarge the boundary of the empire.His undue demand of converting the baby boy of the late Raja Jaswant Singh(died on December, 1678) of Mewar into an Islam badly hurt the Rajputs. Durga Das, the brave Rathore commander of Mewar saved the the baby and the widowed mother from the web in 1679.What followed was a 5 years between both the parties. Meanwhile ,Raj Singh ,the ruler of Chitor left Aurangzeb and joined the Rathores,being vexed by the emperor`s order to pay Jeziya. Later Bundela the ruler of Budelkhand taught lessons to the Mughals, by expelling them from the land by 1731.Aurangzeb generated a three decades-long enemity with the valiant sons of the soil.

Aurangzeb`s aggressive Deccan Strategy was another blunder. His resolution was to subjugate the Shiah states of Bijapur and Golkunda.The Bijapuris gave the Mughals a tough situation with the support of the Marathas and the Sultan of Golkunda. The rise of Shivaji disrupted the dreams of Aurangzeb.Mughal Governor ,Shaista Khan could do no harm to the Marathas. But the Mughals under Jai Singh devastated Shivaji. However in 1665, Shivaji was forced to sign a peace treaty.All his lifetime he thwarted Mughal programme of mashing Maratha influence.He died in 1680, asking his son Shambuji to continue the war.Shambuji gave shelter to Aurangzeb`s dissenting son , Prince Akbar.This act bothered Aurangzeb who came down to Deccan in 1682,to deal with all the headaches. After repeated efforts,22nd September,1682 he confiscated the land of the Bijapuris.Golkunda too was besieged in 1687.

But the Marathas ignited a national resistance against the Mughals by 1691.Their resurgence continued beyond 1700.

Aurangzeb resided in the Deccan till the last days of his life.Gradually with time, he could witness the fatal errors he had committed. His long-term warfares had turned the royal treasury bankrupt.He wrote to his son Azam ,while brooding over his shortcomings. He lamented that in "…the future there is no hope".He died in 1707 with a wretched soul. When he died, Aurangzeb left an empire faced with a number of menacing problems. The failure of his son`s successor to cope them led to the collapse of the empire in the mid-eighteenth century.