Pak. Std.

History (2059/1) Handout

Name: _____________________________ Grade: IX Sec: ___ Date: _____________
Emperor Aurangzaib Alamgir

Early Life:

 3 November 1618 born as Mohiuddin Mohammed a Sunni muslim, 3rd son 6th child of
than Prince Shahab Uddin Mohammed Khurram (later Emperor Shah Jahan 1628-1658)
mother Mumtaz Mehal, grandson of Mughal Emperor Jahangir 1605-1627
 1628 age 10, Shah Jahan was officially declared the Mughal Emperor, and Aurangzeb
living with his parents at Agra Fort, formal education in Arabic and Persian, religious
education and the study of history. Memorize Holy Quran & studied Hadees
 1633 age 15, elephant incident, title Bahadur, Shah Jahan weighs him in gold, gifted
rupees 200,000
Rise to Power:

 1635 age 17, rebellion of Jhujhar Singh, siege of Orchha, Aurangzaib victorious
 1636 age 18, appointed Viceroy of Deccan after defeating rebellion forces
 1644 age 26, Fort Agra incident military uniform, dismissed as Viceroy of the Deccan;
not allowed to use red tents or official military standard of the Mughal emperor.
 1645 age 27, barred from emperor court for seven months
 1645, appointed as governor of Gujarat, brings stability after unrests
 1647 age 29, appointed governor of Balkh, stops advances & fights back Uzbeks,
 1649 age 31, sign agreement with Uzbeks, appointed governor of Multan & Sindh
 1652 age 34, reappointed Viceroy of Deccan replace brother Dara Shukoh, prosperity
returns

Succession Wars:

 1652-1657 illness of father emperor Shah Jahan who support eldest son Dara Shukoh as
successor
 Dara Shukoh cunning & schemer politician
 April 1658, Dara Shukoh conspire with father emperor Shah Jahan allies with hindu Raja
Jai Singh, defeat & kills brothers Shah Shuja & Mohammed Shuja
 Brothers Murad Baksh & Aurangzaib alliance against Dara military campaign.
 May 1658 Battle of Samugarh, Murad runs off with army, Aurangzaib defeats Dara,
imprison father emperor Shah Jahan at Fort of Agra for next 8 years until 1666 the
Mughal Emperor shah jahan dies.
 August 1658 defeats & capture Dara Shikouh & his son Suleyman Shikouh.
 August 1659, beheads Dara for apostasy, conspiracy, poisoning grand Mughal vizir etc
 December 1661 beheads Murad Buksh for murdering Dewan of Gujrat

Reign of Aurangzaib (July 1658 – March 1707):

 June 1659 age 41, coronation as Emperor Aurangzaib Alamgir at Shalimar Garden
Delhi.
 6th Mughal Emperor ruled for 49 years

Religious Reforms:

 Fully established Sharia law & Islamic economics, patronize Islamic & Arabic
calligraphy.
 Published Fatawa-i-Alamgiri, book on Islamic jurisdictions of governance
 Criticized for religious intolerance, demolition of temples, beheading sikh leader Tegh
Singh.
 1679 Jizya tax, a military tax on non-Muslims who were not fighting for Mughal
Empire, note that women, children, elders, handicapped, the ill, the
 insane, monks, hermits, slaves, and non-Muslim foreigners who only temporarily
reside in Muslim lands were exempted from the jizya
 Criticized on prohibition and supervision of behavior and un-Islamic activities
as music, gambling, fornication, and consumption of alcohol and narcotic etc
 Various historians questions claims of his critics, noting that he also built temples,
paid for maintenance, employed hindus in his imperial bureaucracy, insisted on
employment based on ability rather than religion, and opposed bigotry against
Hindus and other muslim sects
 Under Aurangzeb's reign, Hindus rose to represent 31.6% of Mughal nobility, the
highest in the Mughal era.

Economic Reforms:

 Under his reign, India was world's largest economy and biggest manufacturing
power, worth nearly a quarter of global GDP and more than the entirety of Western
Europe
 1690 age 72, an annual revenue of $450 million (more than ten times that of his
contemporary Louis XIV of France) or £38,624,680 (2,879,469,894 rupees).

Expansion of Mughal Empire:

 Empire expanded to 4 million sq/km, over a population of 158 million,

 1663 age 45 controls Ladakh region in Northern India
 1666 age 48 recapture Chittagong from Portuguese
 1686 age 68, conquers Bijapur
 1687 age 69, conquers Golcanda
 1690-1692, Mughal-Anglo war (Mughals vs eic) aka childs war, Mughals victorious,
eic pardoned & fined huge sums of 600,000 pounds British currency

Rebellions:

 1669, Hindu Jat rebelled & created bharatpur state but were defeated.
 In 1659, Marathan leader shivaji, ambush Mughal Viceroy Shaista Khan & wage war against
Aurangzeb.
 In 1689 Aurangzeb's armies captured Shivaji's son sambhaji and executed him
 In 1679, durgadas rathore rebelled into occasional skirmishes
 In 1672, Bhirbhan, took over the administration of Narnaul, but instantly crushed
 In 1671, Ahoms rebelled but defeated in 2 months.
 1672 Khushhal Khan Khattak leader revolt with pushtun tribes, 1674 revolt split no gains

Death: Lived on his earning by sewing caps & trade of selling his hand written copies of Holy
Quran, no drawings from treasury, lived a simple life. He died at his military camp near
Ahmednagar on 20 February 1707 at the age of 89 with only 300 rupees, which were later
given to charity, requested not to spend extravagantly on his funeral Burried modest open-air
grave in Aurangabad, Maharashtra expresses his deep devotion to his Islamic beliefs.
 Decline of Mughal Empire (1707 – 1857)
1. Weak Successors: The Mughals did not follow any law of succession,
consequently, each time a ruler died, a war of succession between the brothers for
the throne started. This weakened the Mughal Empire, especially after Aurangzeb.
The nobles, by siding with one contender or the other, increased their own power.
The successors of Aurangzeb were weak and became victims of the intrigues and
conspiracies of the faction-ridden nobles. They were inefficient generals and
incapable of suppressing revolts. The absence of a strong ruler, an efficient
bureaucracy and a capable army had made the Mughal Empire weak.

2. Aurangzeb’s Religious persecution of the Hindus: Aurangzeb failed to realize

that the vast Mughal Empire depended on the willing support of the people. He lost
the support of the Rajputs who had contributed greatly to the strength of the
Empire. They had acted as pillars of support, but Aurangzeb’s policy turned them to
bitter foes. The wars with the Sikhs, the Marathas, the Jats and the Rajputs had
drained the resources of the Mughal Empire.

3. The Jizya Tax: Aurangzeb impose the hated Jizya on the Hindus, distrusted the
Rajputs, hence the Rajputs, were alienated and were determined to fight the Mughal
oppressor. They remained practically in rebellion till the downfall of the Empire.

4. Weakened Mughal Army: The weakening of the Mughal Army was another major
reason for the decline of the Mughal Empire the Mughal army which by origin and
composition was became weak and defective. There was no touch between the
emperor and the individual soldiers who were paid by their, commander and not
directly from the Royal treasury. This left the emperor without a strong body of
personal troops to enable him to assert his authority.

Besides, on account of the weakness of imperial authority the mansabdars became

jealous of one another. It became the habit of the Mughal officers from the last
quarter of the 17th century to be in treacherous correspondence with the enemy. As
the emperor lacked ability and firmness of character they could not enforce proper
discipline in the army which was reduced to a well-armed mob. Military crimes were
overlooked even by Aurangzeb and no regular punishments were inflicted for
dereliction of duty.

5. Economic Bankruptcy: Shah Jahan’s zeal for construction had depleted the
treasury. As well as Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb’s long war in the south had further
drained the treasury. They increased the state demand to one half of the produce of
the soil and as the revenue demand rose, and farmers forced to carry on the
cultivation. Bankruptcy began to stare the Mughals in the times of Aurangzeb and his
 successors who had to fight many wars to gain the throne and retain it. The wonder
is that the bankrupt Mughal government lasted for another 50 years

6. Invasions: Foreign invasions sapped the remaining strength of the Mughals and
hastened the process of disintegration. The invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmad
Shah Abdali resulted in further drainage of wealth. These invasions shook the very
stability of the empire.

7. The emergence of the European nations, British, French & Portuguese challenge took
away the last hope of the revival of the crisis-ridden Empire.

8. Size of the Empire and Challenge from Regional Powers: The Mughal Empire
had become too large to be controlled by any ruler from one center i.e. Delhi. The
Great Mughals were efficient and exercised control over ministers and army, but the
later Mughals were poor administrators. As a result, the distant provinces became
independent. The rise of independent states led to the disintegration of the Mughal
Empire.