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A Note on Conception of Aurangzeb Alamgir Religious Policy

Article in Journal of Image Processing and Intelligent Remote Sensing · June 2022
DOI: 10.55529/jipirs.24.29.36

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Journal of Image Processing and Intelligent Remote Sensing
ISSN 2815-0953
Vol: 02, No. 04, June-July 2022
http://journal.hmjournals.com/index.php/JIPIRS

A Note on Conception of Aurangzeb Alamgir

Religious Policy

Aqib Yousuf Rather

Research scholar of History Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu India

Abstract: Aurangzeb was the sixth Mughal emperor. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal's
son was born at Dahod, Gujarat, on November 3, 1618. He was a leader that was harsh
and conservative, as well as ambitious. Some believe he is the last surviving Mughal
emperor. The Mughal Empire's territory grew to its largest extent ever under his almost
49-year reign. In his tenure, the Indian subcontinent as a whole was practically completely
subsumed under the Mughal Empire. Mohi-ad-Din Muhammad was the real name of
Aurangzeb's father, although he went by Alamgir in court. The name Aurangzeb, which
means "Ornament of the Throne" in Persian, is the inspiration for the name. Under his
leadership, the Mughal Empire experienced significant economic growth. Aurangzeb's
strict and bloody religious practises and beliefs are well-known. There are conflicting
interpretations of Aurangzeb's religious beliefs; although a wealth of historical evidence
suggests that he was a devout, conventional Muslim. The Quran, Islam's holy book, is said
to have been memorized by him. After studying Hadiths, he was well-versed in Islamic
practises. Additional translations of the Quran were done by him as well. According to
some studies, Akbar was the most anti-Hindu monarch in Mughal history. Although his
great-grandfather was a proponent of secularism and religious tolerance, his grandfather
had rewritten Islam's established creed in order to accommodate his own preferences. For
similar reasons as Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb sought to increase his political and religious
influence throughout India. His religious policies reveal more about his conservative
leanings. In this section, we'll take a look at a couple of his religious beliefs. As previously
said, there are two groups of scholars with conflicting opinions and beliefs that present
their own evidence to support the historical record of Aurangzeb's activities. We'll take a
look at both perspectives.

Keywords: Aurangzeb, Religion, Jaziya, Islamization etc

1. INTRODUCTION

Aurangzeb reigned 1658-1707 Aurangzeb's 50-year reign matched Akbar's. He kept his five
sons away from the royal court, so none of them learned government. Aurangzeb's mother,
Mumtaz Mahal, is buried in the Taj Mahal. Aurangzeb's military and administrative prowess
led him to envy his oldest brother Dara Shikoh, the throne's successor. Aurangzeb was

Copyright © The Author(s) 2022.This is an Open Access Article distributed under the CC
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Journal of Image Processing and Intelligent Remote Sensing
ISSN 2815-0953
Vol: 02, No. 04, June-July 2022
http://journal.hmjournals.com/index.php/JIPIRS

serious and religious, not interested in the arts, wine, or the good life. Akbar the Great's
administrative and economic practises had let his empire expand for nearly a century. The
economic boom led to artisanal activity in all communities, and municipalities were less
dependent on the central government. Aurangzeb returned to autocratic leadership to limit his
empire's rising independence. He abandoned the policy of religious tolerance that had
maintained Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, and others in peace and common destiny for
three generations. He executed Tegh Bahadur in 1675 for refusing to convert to Islam.
Aurangzeb revived the jizya, a non-Muslim poll tax, in 1679. In 1680-1681, Aurangzeb's
third son Akbar supported a Rajput insurrection (who despised his intolerance). In the south
of the empire, the Maratha kingdom was captured and divided up, and its monarch Sambhaji
was executed in 1689, sparking a protracted guerilla battle by Maratha Hindus. Continued
fights and struggles strained the empire's resources, and increased taxes led to peasant revolts,
frequently disguised as religious movements. Aurangzeb's death crippled his already
debilitated realm. It lasted 150 years despite religious turmoil. What Akbar the Great started
failed 300 years later under colonial onslaught because economic improvement didn't lead to
political reform. Later, this hurt the Mughals. Aurangzeb spent 50 years trying to unify the
subcontinent. Under him, the Mughal Empire's size peaked. His health failed after years of
labour. He died at 90 without any fortune. With his demise, the Mughal Empire began to
disintegrate.

2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

 Examining the theological or religious approach taken by Aurangzeb and determining

how it played a role in the decline of royal rule.

3. METHODLOGY

Data for the current study is primarily gathered from primary and secondary sources in this
publication. The framework of the study was developed using the objectivity of historical and
contemporary literature, and the material was gathered with the intention of analyzing
Aurangzeb's religious policy and how it contributed to the end of dynastic power.

4. DISCUSSION AND RESULT

4.1 Examining the Events from the Perspective of Critics

Opponents of Aurangzeb claim that his religious policies were designed to convert the entire
Indian subcontinent into an Islamic state or empire. Even Shia Muslims were held in
contempt by him. It is claimed that his religious policies are imposed due to two
considerations in order to attain this objective. The first action was to impose anti-Hindu
legislation, while the second action was to foster, promote, and expand the Islamic
community.

4.2 The number of Aurangzeb's initiatives that provide support to this idea.
Islamization

Copyright © The Author(s) 2022.This is an Open Access Article distributed under the CC
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Journal of Image Processing and Intelligent Remote Sensing
ISSN 2815-0953
Vol: 02, No. 04, June-July 2022
http://journal.hmjournals.com/index.php/JIPIRS

In accordance with the objectives of his three forefathers, Aurangzeb, a devoted Muslim
emperor, endeavored to make Islam the dominant force during his reign. As a result of his
efforts, he drew afoul of individuals who were antagonistic to this revival. Katherine Brown,
a historian, has noticed that "the very name of Aurangzeb appears to function in the popular
mind as a symbol of political-religious discrimination and persecution" With widely accepted
claims that he intended to destroy the Bamiyan Buddhas, the subject has also gained currency
in the present day. Aurangzeb, a traditionalist in politics and religion, decided not to adopt the
secular-religious ideologies of his ancestors after ascending to power. Aurangzeb went even
further than Shah Jahan, who had already gone from Akbar's liberalism, albeit symbolically
and without the purpose to suppress Hinduism. Although Babur, the empire's creator, had a
more syncretism view of religion than Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb's
perspective is less apparent.

His notion that zawabit or secular ordinances might take precedence over Sharia clearly
contradicted or ran counter to his emphasis on the law of the land. Due to public opposition to
his actions against his father and siblings and the chief qazi's refusal to crown him in 1659,
Aurangzeb felt compelled to portray himself as a "defender of the Sharia" to advance his
political objectives. Although broad instructions and standards are asserted, contradictory
information is available. Katherine Brown, a historian, asserts that Aurangzeb never totally
prohibited music. He sought to codify Hanafi law via the Fatawa-e-Alamgiri, the work of
several hundred jurists. Shah Jahan's expenditures, the War of Succession, and continuing
invasions may have prevented him from investing in culture. He noticed that many Muslims
in Multan, Thatta, and especially Varanasi were attracted to the teachings of Hindu Brahmins.
He ordered the subahdars of these regions to destroy the schools and temples of non-
Muslims. In addition, Aurangzeb instructed subahdars to punish Muslims who appeared to be
non-Muslim. Sarmad Kashani, an antinomian Sufi mystic, and Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh
Guru, were both executed in accordance with Aurangzeb's religious policy; the former was
beheaded on multiple counts of heresy, and the latter, according to the Sikhs, was executed
because he opposed Aurangzeb's forced conversions. In addition to promoting conversion to
Islam, Aurangzeb prohibited the Zoroastrian feast of Nauroz and other non-Islamic practises.
It was also noted that particular Muslim sects were persecuted.

4.3 Hindu Idols and Temples Destroyed

In addition to gifting religious shrines land and funding their maintenance, Aurangzeb
frequently ordered their destruction. Modern historians have cast doubt on the claim that this
destruction was motivated by religious fanaticism, emphasising instead the connections
between temples and sovereignty, power, and authority. Aurangzeb is also credited for
funding a number of temples, maths, chishti shrines, and gurudwaras, despite the fact that the
king's duty to his subjects was to construct mosques. Among them are the Jain temples of
Shatrunjaya, the Balaji temple in Chitrakoot, the Umananda Temple in Guwahati, and the
Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain. Additionally, countless new temples were constructed.
According to contemporaneous court documents, Aurangzeb or his chieftains ordered the
destruction of a large number of temples. He issued the order to demolish the Vishwanath
Temple in Varanasi in September 1669. The shrine was constructed by Raja Man Singh, and

Copyright © The Author(s) 2022.This is an Open Access Article distributed under the CC
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Journal of Image Processing and Intelligent Remote Sensing
ISSN 2815-0953
Vol: 02, No. 04, June-July 2022
http://journal.hmjournals.com/index.php/JIPIRS

Jai Singh, Raja Man Singh's grandson, is supposed to have helped Shivaji escape. Aurangzeb
ordered the destruction of the city's Kesava Deo temple and its replacement with an Eidgah
following the early 1670 suppression of the Jat insurrection in Mathura, which resulted in the
assassination of the mosque's patron. At 1679, he issued the order to demolish a number of
notable temples, including those supported by rebels in Khandela, Udaipur, Chittor, and
Jodhpur. Similarly, the Jama Masjid in Golconda was demolished after it was discovered that
its monarch had constructed it to conceal state money; nonetheless, the demolition of
mosques is uncommon compared to the destruction of temples because mosques lack political
influence. Other decrees having the same effect may be identified. According to Richard
Eaton's analysis of primary sources, fifteen temples were destroyed under the reign of
Aurangzeb. Iqtidar Alam Khan, Ian Copland, and others assert that Aurangzeb constructed
more temples than he destroyed. All these rebellions wrecked the empire's tranquilly, affected
its economy, undermined its administrative structure, and degraded its military might,
resulting in Aurangzeb's ineffectiveness. All of these ultimately contributed to the failure of
the Mughal enterprise.

4.4 Reintroduction of Jaziya

Aurangzeb reinstated the military tax Jaziya on non-Muslim subjects in 1679, after it had
been abolished for a century, to the chagrin of numerous Hindu monarchs, members of
Aurangzeb's family, and Mughal court officials. There were numerous exclusions based on
socioeconomic status, including exemptions for Brahmins, women, children, the old, those
with disabilities, the unemployed, the sick, and the insane. Every single collector was
required to be a Muslim. According to the majority of contemporary researchers, the
imposition was not driven by religious intolerance, but rather by actual political and
economic constraints stemming from a series of ongoing battles and the establishment of
credibility with the orthodox Ulemas. In addition, Aurangzeb placed a 5% tax on Hindu
merchants, compared to a 2.5% tax on Muslim merchants, resulting in widespread
dissatisfaction of his economic policies. This was a major deviation from Akbar's unified tax
law. According to Marc Jason Gilbert, non-Muslims who paid Jaziya fees were required to
recite a verse from the Quran alluding to their inferior status as non-Muslims. People and
judicial authorities in the Hindu community were horrified by this decision, resulting in
protests and lamentations. Aurangzeb had ordered an increase in land taxes to pay for
governmental expenses; the Hindu Jats bore the hardest burden. As a result of the Jaziya's
restoration, a large number of Hindus moved to areas governed by the East India Company,
which had religious tolerance laws and no religious taxes. Aurangzeb was also said to have
implemented some anti-Hindu policies of a more broad nature. These consist of

1. Elimination of Hindus from government positions

2. Conversion of Hindu citizens to Muslims using many methods
3. Diverse social limitations make life more difficult for Hindus
All of these practises ultimately resulted in a number of confrontations between the Mughal
Empire and non-Islamic nations. Conflicts with Jats, Sikhs, Rajputs, Marathas, and Satnamos
are among these.

Copyright © The Author(s) 2022.This is an Open Access Article distributed under the CC
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Journal of Image Processing and Intelligent Remote Sensing
ISSN 2815-0953
Vol: 02, No. 04, June-July 2022
http://journal.hmjournals.com/index.php/JIPIRS

4.5 Was Aurangzeb truly against Hinduism?

A few historians have defended the religious agenda of Aurangzeb. According to them, he
made this choice due to political and economic factors. He was an imperialist who sought to
increase his control over the people he oversaw. They revolted because the majority of his
subjects, a substantial portion of Hindu society, did not want him to reign. His expansionist
policies also contributed to the Deccan Shia Sultan Wars. Legend has it that Aurangzeb's
expansionist intentions prompted the imposition of particular charges on Hindus.
Consequently, he imposed a variety of fees. Because Hindus were rich, they were taxed.
However, proponents of this perspective do not explain why he made such an effort to
destroy temples and destroy idols. Three letters he wrote to his sons demonstrate that he was
a devout Muslim who wished to propagate his beliefs. These letters also reveal that he viewed
his reign as a failure. According to Dr. V. Smith, "one cannot deny the pathos of these
lamentations or the grief one feels for the elderly man on his lonely deathbed."

4.6 Letter to Prince Muazzam:

"My years have been unproductive. God has been in my heart, but my poor vision has
prevented me from recognizing his light. I do not see me having a future. Please accept my
last will and testament. It should not occur that Musalmans are killed and this ineffective
monster is blamed. I have committed grave sins and am unaware of the suffering that awaits
me. I entrust you and your sons to the care of God and bid you farewell. The peace of God be
with you."

4.7 Letter to Prime Azam:

"I do not know what penalty will be administered to me. Even though I have faith in God's
mercy and compassion, I regret my wrongdoings. How can I have faith in others if I no
longer believe in myself? No matter what, I've thrown my bark into the river! Farewell!
Farewell!”

4.8 Letter to Kambakhs:

"My soul and heart. I am now the sole person leaving. I feel sad for you since I am aware of
your helplessness. What is the purpose? Every sorrow I have caused, every vice I have
committed, and every wrong I have committed are mine to bear. It seems remarkable that I
entered the world with nothing and now depart with such a large caravan of crimes. In
everything, I see just God. Accepting my last requests is the proper course of action.
Musalmans should not be killed, and the blame should rest on the shoulders of this useless
beast. I entrust you and your sons to God's care. Please pray for me because I am in a foul
mood.

4.9 From the perspective of supporters

The defenders of Aurangzeb provide a different story and attempt to defend some of his
actions and religious practises. According to these analysts, Aurangzeb was not an orthodox
anti-Hindu Muslim but rather an imperialist and ambitious emperor. This scholarly school
thinks that Aurangzeb's aggressive efforts to promote Islam were driven by Hindu hostility
toward him as a ruler. They claim that his missions against Shia Muslims were motivated by

Copyright © The Author(s) 2022.This is an Open Access Article distributed under the CC
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Journal of Image Processing and Intelligent Remote Sensing
ISSN 2815-0953
Vol: 02, No. 04, June-July 2022
http://journal.hmjournals.com/index.php/JIPIRS

the same factors. According to the recommendations of Aurangzeb's supporters, the

reinstatement of Jaziya taxes functioned only to gather funds for the benefit of the Empire.
They contend that because Hindus were more numerous, it was appropriate to impose a
higher tax rate on this group. Others claim that Aurangzeb built more temples than he
destroyed. To date, neither proof nor logic can explain his destruction of Hindu temples and
statues. Critics cite three letters sent by Aurangzeb to his sons as proof of his pro-Islamic,
conservative, and anti-Hindu views. These controversies regarding the date and sequence of
events during Aurangzeb's reign demand further examination.

4.10 Social constraints

Aurangzeb issued orders barring all Hindus, with the exception of Rajputs, from riding
elephants, horses, or palanquins. Holi and Diwali celebrations were permitted subject to
certain restrictions. The Hindus could no longer wear elegant attire. Hindus were not
authorized to burn their dead on the Sabarmati River banks at Ahmadabad. In Delhi, similar
restrictions were imposed on the Yamuna River.

5. CONCLUSION

For Aurangzeb's administration, there is a great deal of disagreement among historians over
his religious policies. As a result, the Hindu majority's support for the Mughals declined, and
ethnic strife broke out, which in turn led to rebellions that undermined the empire's hold on
power. Although Aurangzeb was falsely convicted, some contemporary historians argue that
the Hindu Maharajas and Dewans had grown too strong and disloyal as a result of
Aurangzeb's forefathers' sloth. A king with no other alternative than to use severe measures to
win over the Muslim populace, Aurangzeb was certain that his empire's future hinged upon
their support. In recent works on Aurangzeb and his reign, he has been examined in the light
of the social, institutional, and economic developments that took place during his reign.
Based on these investigations, there is little doubt that he holds orthodox views. Even though
he would occasionally pay homage to Sufi saints in order to gain their grace, he was not
particularly interested in mysticism or philosophical debates. In light of Aurangzeb's personal
religious beliefs, it would be inappropriate to assess his religious policies objectively. During
Aurangzeb's reign, he had to deal with a number of political upheavals as well as economic,
social, and administrative concerns. Even though Aurangzeb was definitely religious, it
would be wrong to label him a religious fanatic, puritan, or bigot without taking into account
the political, economic, and social problems he faced during his reign.

Declaration of conflicting interests

Regarding the research, authorship, and/or publication of this paper, the author has stated that
there is not a possibility of a conflict of interest occurring.

Funding
The author did not receive any financial support for the conducting of the research, writing of
the paper, or publishing of the article.

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Journal of Image Processing and Intelligent Remote Sensing
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Vol: 02, No. 04, June-July 2022
http://journal.hmjournals.com/index.php/JIPIRS

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