Aurangzeb: Religious Policy, Deccan Campaigns, Jizya and the Mughal Empire's Last Expansionist Phase
Aurangzeb Alamgir (1658–1707 CE), the last of the Great Mughals, reimposed jizya, waged prolonged Deccan campaigns, and presided over an empire that reached its greatest territorial extent — yet collapsed within decades of his death. This article covers his religious policy debate, Maratha conflict, and historical legacy.
The Aurangzeb religious policy Deccan Mughal era (1658–1707 CE) represents the final expansionist phase of the Mughal Empire, during which Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir reimposed jizya on non-Muslims, personally commanded prolonged campaigns across the Deccan, and left a reign so contested by historians that it continues to define how India understands medieval governance, religious identity, and imperial decline.
Who Was Aurangzeb and How Did He Come to Power?
Aurangzeb Alamgir — the name meaning "Ornament of the Throne, Conqueror of the World" — ascended to the Mughal throne in 1658 CE following a brutal War of Succession (1657–58) against his brothers Dara Shikoh, Shuja, and Murad. The Mughal succession system contained no clear rule of primogeniture, meaning princes were expected to compete — often violently — upon an emperor's weakness or illness. This structural flaw produced repeated civil wars throughout Mughal history.
Aurangzeb's victory over his elder brother Dara Shikoh is among the most consequential moments in Indian history. Dara was Shah Jahan's favourite son and the designated heir apparent — a pluralist intellectual who had translated the Upanishads into Persian, engaged deeply with Sufi and Hindu philosophers, and represented a vision of Mughal governance rooted in religious accommodation. Historians frequently describe Dara Shikoh as "the road not taken": had he prevailed at the Battle of Samugarh (1658), the empire's religious trajectory might have looked entirely different. Aurangzeb had Dara tried for apostasy and executed in 1659.
Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb's father, was placed under house arrest at Agra Fort, where he spent his remaining years — gazing from his window at the Taj Mahal he had built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal — until his death in 1666. Aurangzeb never publicly visited him.
What Was Aurangzeb's Religious Policy, and Was He Truly Intolerant?
No question in Mughal historiography generates more heat than the nature of Aurangzeb's religious policy. Two broad schools of interpretation exist, and neither holds the entire truth.
The Traditional View: Systematic Reversal of Akbar's Pluralism
The traditional historiographical position — represented by scholars like Jadunath Sarkar — portrays Aurangzeb as a pious Sunni Muslim who deliberately dismantled the composite imperial culture that Akbar had built over decades:
- Reimposition of Jizya (1679): Akbar had abolished the jizya — a poll tax levied on non-Muslim subjects (dhimmis) — in 1564 as part of his sulh-i-kul (universal peace) philosophy. Aurangzeb reversed this in 1679, citing the need to govern according to orthodox Islamic Sharia. The reimposition was deeply resented and is widely seen as a turning point in Mughal-Hindu and Mughal-Rajput relations.
- Temple Destructions: Aurangzeb ordered the destruction of prominent Hindu temples — most notably the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, Mathura's Keshavadeva temple, and Somnath. Mosques were built on some temple sites.
- Execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur (1675): The ninth Sikh Guru was publicly executed in Delhi for refusing to convert to Islam, transforming the Sikh community's relationship with Mughal authority permanently.
- Ban on Music and Arts: Aurangzeb dismissed court musicians and curtailed the artistic culture of the Mughal court, though the extent of this ban has been debated.
The Revisionist View: Political Complexity Behind the Orthodoxy
Revisionist historians, most prominently Audrey Truschke in Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth (2017), argue that this picture is too simple:
- Aurangzeb issued numerous farmans (imperial orders) protecting Hindu temples and their priests throughout his reign — dozens of such orders survive in the historical record.
- The temple destructions that did occur were largely politically motivated: directed at temples associated with rebellious nobles, enemy kingdoms, or political rivals rather than driven by purely religious logic.
- Many temples were built or endowed during his reign, particularly in regions of stable Mughal administration.
- The implementation of jizya was uneven — often unenforced — and the revenues were modest compared to the political cost.
The debate itself reflects deeper historiographical questions: how do we read partial, politically charged sources? Can modern categories of "tolerance" and "persecution" be applied unchanged to 17th-century Mughal governance? The answer lies in understanding that Aurangzeb was simultaneously a devout Muslim ruler operating within Islamic legal frameworks and a pragmatic emperor whose policies shifted with political context.
Key Events of Aurangzeb's Reign
| Year | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1657–58 | War of Succession | Aurangzeb defeats brothers; imprisons Shah Jahan; Dara Shikoh executed 1659 — pluralist heir eliminated |
| 1658 | Coronation as Emperor | Begins 49-year reign; last of the "Great Mughals"; title Alamgir ("Conqueror of the World") adopted |
| 1664 & 1670 | Shivaji Sacks Surat | Maratha power publicly challenges Mughal authority; humiliation of imperial prestige in the Deccan |
| 1666 | Shah Jahan Dies; Shivaji Escapes Agra | Father dies in captivity; Shivaji's daring escape from Mughal custody further embarrasses Aurangzeb |
| 1675 | Execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur | 9th Sikh Guru martyred in Delhi; Guru Gobind Singh radically militarizes the Sikh community in response |
| 1679 | Reimposition of Jizya | Reversal of Akbar's 1564 abolition; triggers widespread Hindu and Rajput resentment; landmark policy shift |
| 1679–1681 | Rajput Rebellions (Mewar and Marwar) | Durgadas Rathore leads Marwar resistance; former Mughal military backbone turns against the empire |
| 1681 | Aurangzeb Moves Court to Deccan | Begins 26-year personal command of Deccan operations; imperial capital effectively relocates southward |
| 1686 | Annexation of Bijapur | First of the two remaining Deccan Sultanates absorbed; empire reaches near-maximum territorial extent |
| 1687 | Annexation of Golconda | Second Deccan Sultanate absorbed; Mughal Empire at greatest geographic size — but overstretched |
| 1689 | Capture and Execution of Sambhaji | Shivaji's son killed brutally; Marathas intensify guerrilla resistance rather than surrender |
| 1699 | Guru Gobind Singh Creates the Khalsa | Militarized Sikh fraternity formed; permanent Sikh-Mughal armed conflict in Punjab follows |
| 1707 | Death of Aurangzeb at Ahmednagar | Aged 88, after 49 years of rule; Marathas undefeated; rapid fragmentation of the empire begins |
What Were the Deccan Campaigns and Why Did They Break the Empire?
Aurangzeb's Deccan campaigns represent the most prolonged and ultimately self-defeating military enterprise of Mughal history. He moved his entire court south to the Deccan in 1681 and spent the last 26 years of his reign there — governing the world's wealthiest empire from a mobile military encampment.
Annexation of Bijapur and Golconda
Aurangzeb successfully annexed the two remaining Deccan Sultanates: Bijapur fell in 1686 and Golconda in 1687. This was a genuine strategic achievement — it completed what neither Alauddin Khalji nor Akbar had fully managed, bringing the entire subcontinent (with minor exceptions) under Mughal authority. The Mughal Empire reached its greatest territorial extent.
But this victory came at a fatal cost: it brought Aurangzeb into direct, sustained confrontation with the Marathas, who had filled the power vacuum left by the declining Sultanates.
The Maratha War: The Conflict Aurangzeb Could Not Win
The Marathas under Shivaji had already humiliated Aurangzeb twice — through Shivaji's audacious escape from Agra in 1666 while nominally under Mughal custody, and through the twin sacks of Surat (1664 and 1670). After Shivaji's death in 1680, his son Sambhaji continued armed resistance.
Aurangzeb captured Sambhaji in 1689 and had him publicly executed with deliberate cruelty, hoping to shatter Maratha morale. The opposite occurred. The Marathas, now fighting for vengeance as much as territory, intensified their guerrilla warfare under Rajaram and later the rising Peshwas. Aurangzeb's massive Mughal army — the largest ever assembled in Indian history — could win pitched battles but could not suppress a dispersed insurgency across the Deccan plateau's difficult terrain.
Aurangzeb died at Ahmednagar on February 20, 1707, aged 88, having spent nearly three decades in the Deccan without achieving his central objective. His personal letters — collected in the Ruqaat-i-Alamgiri — reveal a man privately tortured by doubt about whether he had fulfilled his duties as a ruler and as a Muslim. A letter reportedly written to his son days before his death expresses deep regret that he came into the world alone, is leaving alone, and does not know what punishment awaits him for his actions.
Rajput Rebellions: The Alienation of Mughal Allies
The Rajputs had been the single most important military constituency of the Mughal Empire since Akbar forged his alliance with them through diplomacy and intermarriage. Aurangzeb's reimposition of jizya in 1679 and his temple destruction policies shattered this relationship.
When the Rajput ruler of Marwar died in 1679 without a clear heir, Aurangzeb refused to recognize the customary succession and attempted to place a puppet on the throne. The response was an armed uprising led by Durgadas Rathore, who waged a decades-long guerrilla resistance on behalf of the Marwar royal family. Simultaneously, Mewar and other Rajput kingdoms rose in rebellion (1679–81). For the first time since Akbar, the Rajputs were enemies rather than pillars of Mughal power.
Sikh Transformation: From Community to Military Force
The execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675 marked a permanent rupture between the Sikh community and the Mughal state. His son and successor, Guru Gobind Singh, responded by creating the Khalsa in 1699 — a militarized fraternity of initiated Sikhs, bound by a distinct identity (the five Ks), committed to armed resistance against persecution. The Sikh-Mughal conflict became a central political force in Punjab for the rest of Aurangzeb's reign and beyond, contributing substantially to Mughal weakness in the northwest.
Aurangzeb's Administrative Style and Personal Conduct
Unlike his predecessors, Aurangzeb governed with conspicuous personal austerity. He reportedly made his own prayer caps and copied the Quran by hand to earn personal income, refusing to use state funds for private expenses. He was meticulous and hands-on as an administrator — known for reading petitions personally and maintaining tight central control. Yet this very micromanagement, combined with his physical removal to the Deccan for decades, left the empire's northern provinces without effective governance. The administrative system Akbar had carefully built — balancing Rajput, Mughal, and other elites — frayed without the patronage and diplomacy that held it together.
Aftermath: The Fragmentation of the Mughal Empire
Aurangzeb's death triggered exactly the kind of succession crisis his own rise to power had exemplified. His sons fought among themselves; no single successor commanded sufficient authority. The 18th century saw the rapid rise of successor states — the Nawabs of Bengal, Awadh, and Hyderabad; the Maratha Confederacy (which would eventually become the dominant power across the subcontinent); and the Sikh Misls in Punjab. The Mughal emperor became progressively a figurehead, nominally sovereign but practically powerless, until the British formally abolished the title after 1857.
The irony of Aurangzeb's reign is total: he conquered more territory than any predecessor, yet the methods of conquest — and the alienation of key constituencies — guaranteed that no successor could hold it together. He was simultaneously the last great Mughal and the man whose policies made greatness impossible to sustain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Aurangzeb reimpose jizya in 1679?
Aurangzeb reimposed jizya — the poll tax on non-Muslims abolished by Akbar in 1564 — as part of a broader return to Sharia-based orthodox Sunni governance. He argued it was a religious obligation under Islamic law. The reimposition generated widespread resentment among Hindus and Rajputs and contributed significantly to the rebellions that destabilized the later Mughal Empire.
What role did the Deccan campaigns play in the decline of the Mughal Empire?
Aurangzeb spent the last 26 years of his life (1681–1707) personally leading campaigns in the Deccan. While he successfully annexed Bijapur (1686) and Golconda (1687), he could never subdue the Marathas. The prolonged campaigns drained the treasury, exhausted the army, and left the empire without effective central governance, directly accelerating its fragmentation after 1707.
Was Aurangzeb's religious policy purely about intolerance, or were there political motivations?
Historians are divided. The traditional view holds that Aurangzeb's temple destructions and jizya reflected personal religious bigotry and a deliberate reversal of Akbar's pluralism. Revisionist historians like Audrey Truschke argue that many of his temple destructions were politically motivated — targeting temples linked to rebellious nobles — and that Aurangzeb also issued farmans protecting temples. The truth likely involves both religious conviction and political calculation.
How did the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur change the Sikh community?
The execution of the 9th Sikh Guru in 1675 for refusing to convert to Islam was a turning point. His son and successor, Guru Gobind Singh, created the Khalsa in 1699 — a militarized fraternity of initiated Sikhs committed to resistance against persecution. This transformation turned the Sikh community into a significant military and political force in Punjab, directly contributing to Mughal weakness in the region.
Who was Dara Shikoh and why does he matter historically?
Dara Shikoh was Shah Jahan's eldest son and heir apparent — a pluralist intellectual who translated the Upanishads into Persian, maintained close ties with Sufi and Hindu thinkers, and represented a vision of Mughal governance rooted in religious syncretism. Aurangzeb defeated and executed him in 1659. Historians regard Dara Shikoh as "the road not taken" — his victory might have led the Mughal Empire toward continued religious accommodation rather than orthodoxy.
Sources and Further Reading
According to IGNOU's BHIC-133 (History of India: c. 1206–1707), Aurangzeb's reign is analyzed as the culmination of Mughal expansion and the beginning of imperial decline, with particular emphasis on the interplay of religious policy, fiscal administration, and military overextension. Audrey Truschke, Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth (Penguin, 2017), offers a revisionist reassessment of his religious conduct. Jadunath Sarkar's multi-volume History of Aurangzib (5 vols., 1912–1924) remains the foundational traditional scholarly account. Primary sources include the Alamgirnama (official court chronicle by Mirza Muhammad Kazim), the Ruqaat-i-Alamgiri (Aurangzeb's personal letters), Muntakhab-ul-Lubab by Khafi Khan, and the Futuhat-i-Alamgiri. For temple destruction debates, Richard Eaton's Temple Desecration and Muslim States in Medieval India (2000) provides a rigorous empirical analysis.