Assessing Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb came to the throne after a bloody civil war, killing his brothers and imprisoning his father. He was a fine soldier and strategist, an expanionist who pushed the borders of the Mughal empire in his 49-year reign.

“He is not everyone’s cup of tea, certainly not mine,” says Irfan Habib, possibly the greatest living authority on the history of the Mughals. “But it’s a mixed picture. We must remember the Mughal Empire attained its largest extent under Aurangzeb, the whole of pre-1947 India, except for Kerala and parts of the Northeast. This strengthened the popular consciousness of India as a country, since political unity was now added to the pre-existing cultural unity — a consciousness so strongly displayed in 1857. Also, if you begin examining such things (as cruelty), who will escape? All our ancient rulers believed in the caste system. And if you look at Buddhist tradition, Ashoka is said to have murdered his brothers too,” says Habib.

“To modern eyes, he is perhaps not a pleasant personality, but there was no particularly cruel streak in him. His executions were calculated measures. On the other hand, he was too lenient in respect of nobles, including Rajputs,” says historian Shireen Moosvi. The reimposition of jiziya, or tax on non-Muslims, which had been abolished by Akbar, has been the indelible black mark against Aurangzeb. In his exhaustive work, Sir Jadunath Sarkar argued that the Emperor’s motive was to force Hindus to convert, and establish a truly Islamic state in India. Not everyone agrees. In Reassessing Aurangzeb, an essay published in Seminar magazine in 1989, historian Satish Chandra wrote that the reimposition of jiziya was both a political and an ideological move.

“It was ideological in the sense that it marked out Aurangzeb as an orthodox Muslim king. It rallied the clergy to his side by providing them jobs as amins (collectors) of jizyah… Politically, Aurangzeb hoped that this would help in rallying Muslim opinion behind him, not only in his conflicts with the Rajputs and Marathas, but even more in his looming conflict with the Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan.

” Aurangzeb levied jiziya in 1679, a good two decades after he came to power. There is an argument that he was forced by a financial squeeze the sprawling empire was facing. “Manucci, the Italian traveller, held the view that the motive to impose jiziya was to replenish the imperial treasury. In spite of the tax being very regressive in nature there is no evidence of its imposition leading to conversions. Aurangzeb no doubt departed from the policies of preceeding Mughal rulers and, in regard to imposition of the jiziya, there was a serious protest at the court led by no less than Jahan Ara, Aurangzeb’s eldest sister, and many nobles. Incidentally, in case of the heaviest tax, the land tax, no distinction was made between Hindus and Muslims,” says Moosvi.

Aurangzeb is also said to have destroyed and desecrated temples — the protests over the Gyanvapi mosque that is said to have been built on the site of a temple that he destroyed, is just one example. In his essay Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States, Richard Eaton wrote: “Apart from his prohibition on building new temples in Benares, Aurangzeb’s policies respecting temples within imperial domains generally followed those of his predecessors. Viewing temples within their domain as state property, Aurangzeb and Indo-Muslim rulers in general punished disloyal Hindu officers in their service by desecrating temples with which they were associated.”

But Aurangzeb continued the Mughal tradition of giving grants to temples. “There is no doubt over Aurangzeb having destroyed some temples, like the Keshav Rai temple at Mathura. But on the other hand, the extensive grants to Vrindavan temples were maintained; orders for many grants to temples during his reign have been published,” says Habib. Aurangzeb also had the support of many Rajput nobles, and many Hindus worked for the Empire. “Major figures in the Rajput nobility aligned with Aurangzeb and not with the liberal Dara Shikoh. Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Jaswant Singh were the most trusted, highest-ranking nobles. Prof Athar Ali’s study reveals that non-Muslims in the nobility, in absolute numbers as well as in terms of proportion, instead of declining, rose from about 22 per cent in 1658-78 to 31.6 per cent during 1679-1701,” says Moosvi.

The austere and pious Aurangzeb frowned upon music and merrymaking. But he did have his artistic interests.

confuzzled dude wrote:

Aurangzeb came to the throne after a bloody civil war, killing his brothers and imprisoning his father. He was a fine soldier and strategist, an expanionist who pushed the borders of the Mughal empire in his 49-year reign.

“He is not everyone’s cup of tea, certainly not mine,” says Irfan Habib, possibly the greatest living authority on the history of the Mughals. “But it’s a mixed picture. We must remember the Mughal Empire attained its largest extent under Aurangzeb, the whole of pre-1947 India, except for Kerala and parts of the Northeast. This strengthened the popular consciousness of India as a country, since political unity was now added to the pre-existing cultural unity — a consciousness so strongly displayed in 1857. Also, if you begin examining such things (as cruelty), who will escape? All our ancient rulers believed in the caste system. And if you look at Buddhist tradition, Ashoka is said to have murdered his brothers too,” says Habib.

“To modern eyes, he is perhaps not a pleasant personality, but there was no particularly cruel streak in him. His executions were calculated measures. On the other hand, he was too lenient in respect of nobles, including Rajputs,” says historian Shireen Moosvi. The reimposition of jiziya, or tax on non-Muslims, which had been abolished by Akbar, has been the indelible black mark against Aurangzeb. In his exhaustive work, Sir Jadunath Sarkar argued that the Emperor’s motive was to force Hindus to convert, and establish a truly Islamic state in India. Not everyone agrees. In Reassessing Aurangzeb, an essay published in Seminar magazine in 1989, historian Satish Chandra wrote that the reimposition of jiziya was both a political and an ideological move.

“It was ideological in the sense that it marked out Aurangzeb as an orthodox Muslim king. It rallied the clergy to his side by providing them jobs as amins (collectors) of jizyah… Politically, Aurangzeb hoped that this would help in rallying Muslim opinion behind him, not only in his conflicts with the Rajputs and Marathas, but even more in his looming conflict with the Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan.

” Aurangzeb levied jiziya in 1679, a good two decades after he came to power. There is an argument that he was forced by a financial squeeze the sprawling empire was facing. “Manucci, the Italian traveller, held the view that the motive to impose jiziya was to replenish the imperial treasury. In spite of the tax being very regressive in nature there is no evidence of its imposition leading to conversions. Aurangzeb no doubt departed from the policies of preceeding Mughal rulers and, in regard to imposition of the jiziya, there was a serious protest at the court led by no less than Jahan Ara, Aurangzeb’s eldest sister, and many nobles. Incidentally, in case of the heaviest tax, the land tax, no distinction was made between Hindus and Muslims,” says Moosvi.

Aurangzeb is also said to have destroyed and desecrated temples — the protests over the Gyanvapi mosque that is said to have been built on the site of a temple that he destroyed, is just one example. In his essay Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States, Richard Eaton wrote: “Apart from his prohibition on building new temples in Benares, Aurangzeb’s policies respecting temples within imperial domains generally followed those of his predecessors. Viewing temples within their domain as state property, Aurangzeb and Indo-Muslim rulers in general punished disloyal Hindu officers in their service by desecrating temples with which they were associated.”

But Aurangzeb continued the Mughal tradition of giving grants to temples. “There is no doubt over Aurangzeb having destroyed some temples, like the Keshav Rai temple at Mathura. But on the other hand, the extensive grants to Vrindavan temples were maintained; orders for many grants to temples during his reign have been published,” says Habib. Aurangzeb also had the support of many Rajput nobles, and many Hindus worked for the Empire. “Major figures in the Rajput nobility aligned with Aurangzeb and not with the liberal Dara Shikoh. Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Jaswant Singh were the most trusted, highest-ranking nobles. Prof Athar Ali’s study reveals that non-Muslims in the nobility, in absolute numbers as well as in terms of proportion, instead of declining, rose from about 22 per cent in 1658-78 to 31.6 per cent during 1679-1701,” says Moosvi.

The austere and pious Aurangzeb frowned upon music and merrymaking. But he did have his artistic interests.

http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-assessing-aurangzeb/

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:
So ...what r u saying ?

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:

So ...what r u saying ?

confuzzled dude wrote:

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:
So ...what r u saying ?

I thought this gave a different perspective of A'zeb than the one we were taught [in the schools] & worth a read.

Vakavaka Pakapaka wrote:

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:

So ...what r u saying ?

He is trying very hard to project Pol Pot as a peace-loving Jain monk who won't hurt even a fly.