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Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records

AURANGZEB, AS HE WAS ACCORDING TO MUGHAL RECORDS

A N EX H IBIT IO N MO U N T ED BY F A C T - IN DIA

"No nation can mov e forward, unless it squarely faces its past. The courage to remember helps us not to repeat the same mistakes and to build a better future for our children" say s H.H. Sri Sri Rav i Shankar, founder of the Art of Liv ing

This ex hibition contains, and is based on Firm ans, original edicts in Persian issued by Aurangzeb , preserv ed at the Bikaner Museum, Rajasthan, India

S RI S RI RA V I S H A N KA R IN A U G U RA T E S T H E E X H IB IT IO N IN B A N G A L O RE

Aurangzeb, Emperor Shah Jahan's six th son, was born on 24th October 1 61 8 at Dohad in Madhy a Pradesh, and wrested India's crown from his father before the end of June 1 658, after defeating his brother Prince Dara Shukoh's armies, first at Dharmat near Ujjain (1 5th April 1 568) and the second, led by Dara himself, at Samugarh on 29th May 1 658. The War of Succession to the richest throne in the world was practically ov er with this v ictory , and Aurangzeb secured his position by making Murad, his brother and accomplice in his impetuous pursuit for power, his prisoner, by treachery , on 25th June. He had already made his old father Emperor Shah Jahan a prisoner in the Agra Fort (8th June 1 658). Shah Jahan surv iv ed his confinement by nearly eight y ears and the disgraceful manner of his burial (Ex hibit No. 5) will ev er remain a stigma on this unscrupulous son Aurangzeb's adv ent to the throne in his father's life time was not welcomed by the people of India, because of the treacherous manner it was achiev ed; but public opinion became all the more hostile towards him when
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E X H IB IT S

2008 (56) June (49) Aurangzeb, Emperor Shah Jahan's six th son, was bor... Ex hibit No. 1 : Mughal Empire map based on sheet o ...

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Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records

Prince Dara Shukoh, the fav ourite son of Shah Jahan, the translator of the Upanishads (Ex hibit No. 2), and a truly liberal and enlightened Musalman, was taken prisoner on the Indian border, as he was going to Persia. Dara was paraded in a most undignified manner on the streets of Delhi on 29th August 1 659. The French Doctor, Bernier, was an ey e-witness to the scene and was deeply mov ed by the popular sy mpathy for Dara (Ex hibit No. 3) which so much alarmed Aurangzeb that he contriv ed to hav e a decree from his Clerics announcing death-sentence for his elder brother on the charge of apostasy (Ex hibit No. 4). Throughout the War of Succession, Aurangzeb had maintained that he was not interested in acquiring the throne and that his only object was to ward off the threat to Islam, which was inev itable in case Dara Shukoh came to power. Many , including his brother Murad, were deceiv ed by this posture. After his formal accession in Delhi (5th June 1 659) he posed as a defender of Islam who would rule according to the directions of the Shariat, and with the adv ice of the Clerics or Ulama for whom the doctrines, rules, principles and directiv es, as laid down and interpreted in the 7 th and 8th century Arabia, Persia and Iraq, were inv iolable and unchangeable in all conditions, in all countries, and for all times to come. One of the main objectiv es of Aurangzeb's policy was to demolish Hindu temples. When he ordered (1 3th October 1 666) remov al of the carv ed railing, which Prince Dara Shukoh had presented to Keshav a Rai temple at Mathura, he had observ ed 'In the religion of the Musalmans it is improper ev en to look at a temple', and that it was totally unbecoming of a Muslim to act like Dara Shukoh (Ex hibit No. 6, Akhbarat, 1 3th October 1 666). This was followed by destruction of the famous Kalka temple in Delhi (Ex hibit No. 6, 7 , 8, Akhbarat, 3rd and 1 2th September 1 667 ). In 1 669, shortly after the death of Mirza Raja Jai Singh of Amber, a general order was issued (9th April 1 669) for the demolition of temples and established schools of the Hindus throughout the empire and banning public worship (Ex hibit Nos. 9 & 1 0). Soon after this the great temple of Keshav a Rai was destroy ed (Jan.-Feb. 1 67 0) (Ex hibit No. 1 2) and in its place a lofty mosque was erected. The idols, the author of Maasir-i-Alamgiri informs, were carried to Agra and buried under the steps of the mosque built by Begum Sahiba in order to be continually trodden upon, and the name of Mathura was changed to Islamabad. The painting (Ex hibit No. 1 3) is thus no fancy imagination of the artist but depicts what actually took place.

Ex hibit No. 2: Prince Dara Shukoh translating the ... Ex hibit No. 3: Scene of Captiv e Dara being paraded... Ex hibit No. 4: Dara Shukohs farcical trial and v e... Ex hibit No. 5: Shah Jahans burial Procession.The ... Ex hibit No. 6: Keshav a Rai Temple. "Ev en to look a... Ex hibit No. 7 : Demolition of Kalka's Temple - I. S... Ex hibit No. 8: Demolition of Kalka Temple II. Siy a... Ex hibit No. 9: General Order for the Destruction o... Ex hibit No. 1 0: General Order for the demolition o... Ex hibit No. 1 1 : Demolition of the temple of V iswan... Ex hibit No. 1 2 i Ex hibit No. 1 2 ii Ex hibit No. 1 2 iiiEx hibit No. 1 2 i - ii - iii : D... Ex hibit No. 1 3: Demolition of Keshav a Rai temple a... Ex hibit No. 1 4: Demolition of Somnath temple.About... Ex hibit No. 1 5: Maharana Raj Singh formally receiv ... Ex hibit No. 1 6: Reimposition of Jizy ah by Aurangze... Ex hibit No. 1 7 : "Burial of Music". The musicians, ... Ex hibit No. 1 8: Hindus forced to suffer humiliatio... Ex hibit No.1 9: Aurangzeb orders cart-loads of idol... Ex hibit No. 20: Demolition of Jagannath Rai (Jagdi... Ex hibit No. 21 : The Defence of

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Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records

This was followed by Aurangzeb's order to demolish the highly v enerated temple of V ishwanath at Banaras (Persian tex t, Ex hibit No. 1 1 ), Keshav a Rai temple (Jan.-Feb. 1 67 0) (Persian Tex t, ex hibit No. 1 2 and Painting, Ex hibit No. 1 3), and of Somanatha (Ex hibit No. 1 4).To sav e the idol of Shri Nathji from being desecrated, the Gosain carried it to Rajputana, where Maharana Raj Singh receiv ed it formally at Sihad v illage, assuring the priest that Aurangzeb would hav e to trample ov er the bodies of one lakh of his brav e Rajputs, before he could ev en touch the idol (Ex hibit No. 1 5) Aurangzeb's zeal for temple destruction became much more intense during war conditions. The opportunity to earn religious merit by demolishing hundreds of temples soon came to him in 1 67 9 when, after the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur in the Kabul Subah, he tried to eliminate the Rathors of Marwar as a political power in Rajputana. But Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar, in line with the great traditions of his House, came out in open support of the Rathors.. This led to war with both Mewar and Marwar during which the temples built on the bank of Rana's lake were destroy ed by his orders (Ex hibit No. 23, Akhbarat 23rd December 1 67 9) and also about three hundred other temples in the env irons of Udaipur. (Ex hibit No. 25, Tex t), including the famous Jagannath Rai temple built at a great cost in front of the Maharana's palace which was brav ely defended by a handful of Rajputs (Ex hibit Nos. 20, 21 ). Not only this, when Aurangzeb v isited Chittor to hav e a v iew of the famous fort, he ordered the demolition of 63 temples there which included some of the finest temples of Kumbha's time (Ex hibit No. 22). From Marwar (in Western Rajasthan) alone were brought sev eral cart-loads of idols which, as per Aurangzeb's orders, were cast in the y ard of the Court and under the steps of Jama Masjid (Ex hibit No. 1 9). Such unciv ilized and arrogant conduct of the Mughal Emperor alienated Hindus for ev er, though they continued to be tolerant towards his creed. In June 1 681 , orders, in a laconic two-liner, were giv en for the demolition of the highly v enerated Jagannath Temple in Orissa (Ex hibit No. 24, Akhbarat, 1 st June 1 681 ). Shortly afterwards, in September 1 682, the famous Bindu-Madhav temple in Banaras was also demolished as per the Emperor's orders (Ex hibit No. 27 , Akhbarat, Julus 26, Ramzan 20). On 1 st September 1 681 , while proceeding to the Deccan, where his rebel son Prince Akbar, escorted by Durga Das Rathore, had joined Chhatrapati Shiv aji's son, Shambhaji, thus creating a serious problem for him, Aurangzeb ordered that all the temples on the way should be
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Jagannath Rai (Jaga... Ex hibit No. 22: Destruction of six ty -three temples... Ex hibit No. 23: Orders for the destruction of temp... Ex hibit No. 24: Orders for the demolition of Jagan... Ex hibit No. 25: Large scale destruction of temples... Ex hibit No. 26: All the temples on the way to be d... Ex hibit No. 27 : Demolition of Bindu-Madhav Temple ... Ex hibit No. 28: Problem of conv erting closed templ... Ex hibit No. 29: Order for demolition of the temple... Ex hibit No. 30: Demolition of the Jagdish temple a... Ex hibit No. 31 : Muslims ex empted from pay ing Zaka... Ex hibit No. 32: Restriction on atishbazi. Akhbarat... Ex hibit No. 33: Musalmans to replace Hindu officia... Ex hibit No. 34: Hindu Chowkinav is and Amins of the... Ex hibit No. 35: Restriction on the gathering of Hi... Ex hibit No. 36: Restrictions on the Hindus: forbid... Ex hibit No. 37 : Shiv aji leav ing Aurangzebs Court ... Ex hibit No. 38: The ex ecution of Raja Shambhaji (s... Ex hibit No. 39: Aurangzeb orders the ex ecution of ... Ex hibit No. 40: Large number of conv ersions by Fau...
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Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records

destroy ed. It was a comprehensiv e order not distinguishing between old and newly built temples (Ex hibit No. 26, Akhbarat, Julus 25, Ramzan 1 8). But in the district of Burhanpur, where there were a large number of temples with their doors closed, he preferred to keep t hem as such, as the Muslims were too few in number in the district. (Ex hibit No. 28, Akhbarat 1 3th October 1 681 ). In his religious frenzy , ev en temples of the loy al and friendly Amber state were not spared, such as the famous temple of Jagdish at Goner near Amber (Ex hibit Nos. 30, Akhbarat, 28th March and 1 4th May 1 680). In fact, his misguided ardour for temple destruction did not abate almost up to the end of his life, for as late as 1 st January 1 7 05 we find him ordering that the temple of Pandharpur be demolished and the butchers of the camp be sent to slaughter cows in the temple precincts (Akhbarat 49-7 ). The number of such ruthless acts of Aurangzeb make a long list but here only a few hav e been mentioned, supported by ev idence, mostly contemporary official records of Aurangzeb's period and by such credible Persian sources as Maasir-i-Alamgiri. In obedience to the Quranic injunction, he reimposed Jizy ah on the Hindus on 2nd April 1 67 9 (Ex hibit No. 1 6), which had been abolished by Emperor Akbar in 1 564, causing widespread anger and resentment among the Hindus of the country . A massiv e peaceful demonstration against this tax in Delhi, was ruthlessly crushed. This hated tax inv olv ed heav y economic burden on the v ast number of the poor Hindus and caused humiliation to each and ev ery Hindu (Ex hibit No. 1 8). In the same v ein, were his discriminatory measures against Hindus in the form of ex emption of the Muslims from the tax es (Ex hibit No. 31 , Akhbarat 1 6th April 1 667 ) ban on atishbazi and restriction on Diwali (Ex hibit No. 32), replacement of Hindu officials by Muslims so that the Emperor's pray ers for the welfare of Muslims and glory of Islam, which were prov ing ineffectiv e, be answered (Ex hibit Nos. 33, 34). He also imposed a ban on ziy arat and gathering of the Hindus at religious shrines, such as of Shitla Mata and folk Gods like Pir Pabu (Ex hibit No. 35, Akhbarat 1 6th September 1 667 ), another ban on their trav elling in Palkis, or riding elephants and Arab-Iraqi horses, as Hindus should not carry themselv es with the same dignity as the Muslims! (Ex hibit No. 36). In the same v ein came brazen attempts to conv ert Hindus by inducement, coercion (Ex hibit No. 41 ) or by offering Qanungoship (Ex hibit No. 44, 45, 46) and to honour the conv erts in the open Court. His personal directions were that a Hindu male be giv en Rs.4 and a Hindu female Rs.2 on conv ersion (Ex hibit No. 43, Akhbarat 7 th April 1 685). Go on giv ing them, Aurangzeb had ordered when it was reported to him that the Faujdar of Bithur, Shaikh Abdul Momin, had conv erted 1 50
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Ex hibit No. 41 : Coercion in Conv ersion Case of t... Ex hibit No. 42: Direction for conv erting Shambhaji... Ex hibit No. 43: Rs. 4 to a Hindu male and Rs. 2 to... Ex hibit No. 44: Aurangzeb restoring the office of ... Ex hibit No. 45 i Ex hibit No. 45 ii May (7 )

BOOKS

History of Aurangzib by Sir Jadunath Sarkar in 3 v olumes published by Orient BlackSwan

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L IN KS

- Aurangzeb responsible for 4.6 million deaths - Destruction of Hindu Temples by Aurangzeb - Why did Aurangzeb Demolish the Kashi V ishv anath?

A B O U T F A C T - IN D IA

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Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records

Hindus and had giv en them naqd (cash) and saropas (dresses of honour) (Ex hibit No. 40, Akhbarat, 1 1 th April 1 667 ). Such display of Islamic orthodox y by the State under Aurangzeb gav e strength and purpose to the resistance mov ements such as of the Marathas, the Jats, the Bundelas and the Sikhs (Ex hibit No. 46). On the 1 2th May 1 666, the dignity with which Shiv aji carried himself in the Mughal court and defied the Emperor's authority , won him spontaneous admiration of the masses. Parkaldas, an official of Amber (Jaipur State) wrote in his letter dated 29th May 1 666, to his Diwan. Now that after coming to the Emperor's presence Shiv aji has shown such audacity and returned harsh and strong replies, the public ex tols him for his brav ery all the more (Ex hibit No. 37 ). When Shiv aji passed away on April 1 680 at the age of 53 only , he had already carv ed a sufficiently large kingdom, his Swarajy a, both along the western coast and some important areas in the east as well. Aurangzeb could nev er pardon himself for his Intelligence in letting him escape from his well laid trap and wrote in his Will (Ex hibit No. 48) that it made him 'to labour hard (against the Marathas) to the end of my life (as a result of it). He did not realize that it was his own doing: the ex tremely cruel manner 'ev en for those times - in which he put to death Shiv aji' son, Shambhaji (Ex hibit No. 38) made the Maratha king a marty r in the ey es of the masses and with that commenced the People' War in Maharashtra and the Deccan which dug the grav e of the Mughal empire. Till the v ery end Aurangzeb nev er understood that the main pillars of the gov ernment are the affection and support of the people and not mere compliance of the religious directiv es originating from a foreign land in the sev enth-eighth centuries. His death after a long and ruinous reign lasting half a century , ended an ev entful epoch in the history of India. He left behind a crumbling empire, a corrupt and inefficient administration, a demoralized army , a discredited gov ernment facing public bankruptcy and alienated subjects.

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