Aurangzeb

While Aurangzeb has been rated as the last great Mughal Emperor, in reality he was one of the most insecure persons, never trusting any one, and that manifested in his cruel behavior. Right from deposing and imprisoning his father, to the way he got rid of his brothers, the brutal torture and execution of Dara Shikoh, to his persecution of the Sikhs, the execution of Guru Teg Bahadur to the execution of Sambhaji to the destruction of temples, re imposing the hated Jiziya tax, his legacy has been of cruelty.

Much is made of how simple a person he was, when in fact, his long drawn out military campaigns, especially in the Deccan exhausted the treasury. In fact it was his intolerance towards the Marathas, the Sikhs, that laid the seeds for the destruction of the Mughal Empire, as they revolted, and his much weaker successors could not handle the blow back.

War of Succession

There was no love lost between Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh, Shahjahan's eldest son and also his favored one. The fact that Shahjahan, favored Dara to be the next Emperor, did not go down well with Aurangzeb, nor his other two brothers Murad and Shuja. The hatred Aurangzeb had for his elder brother, was also on ideological lines. Dara was a liberal, he translated the Upanishads into Persian, tried to find a common ground between Sufi and Vedanta philosophy, loved fine arts, music and dancing. Aurangzeb on the other hand, was a hidebound conservative, who frowned upon fine arts as un Islamic, and considered his brother a heretic, a blasphemer for the way he patronized men of other faiths and beliefs.

Not that Aurangzeb, had any great love either for his other two brothers, whom he considered as "womanizers and drunkards". But knowing he needed them to become the Emperor, he had no qualms using them. When Shahjahan fell ill in 1657, Shuja declared himself as Mughal Emperor, from Bengal, where he was the Governor. Aurangzeb who had taken over the throne of Delhi by then after defeating Dara Shikoh at Battle of Samugar, sent a huge expedition and crushed him at the Battle of Khajwa. Shuja had to retreat to Arakan and later to Manipur, living like a fugitive throughout his life. He cleverly took the help of his other brother Murad, to defeat Dara at the Battle of Samugarh, and when his purpose was solved, he threw him into the prison at Gwalior Fort, accusing him of the murder of Ali Naqi, a former Diwan. Murad was later executed after a long stay in prison.

Aurangzeb had promised Murad half of the kingdom, in lieu of his support for the battle against Dara, but broke it, and got him arrested on made up charges. It was with Dara Shikoh, however that Aurangzeb, displayed the most vicious cruelty ever. Dara was not just the favorite of Shahjahan, he was equally loved by the common people too, who desired to see him as the next ruler. However Dara's liberal outlook towards other faiths, did not endear him to a section of the clergy and nobles, whom Aurangzeb managed to win over to his side.

After Dara was betrayed and captured in 1659, Aurangzeb declared his brother as a heretic, someone who was not a true Muslim, and also accused him of poisoning Sadaullah Khan, the Mughal Vizier, which again was a trumped up charge. In order to show his power, Dara was chained, paraded on a filthy elephant throughout the streets of Delhi, and finally beheaded in front of his son. His headless corpse was paraded on an elephant, as a warning to the citizens and later burried in an unmarked grave, without any ceremony.

Execution of Sambhaji

Shivaji was one of the first persons who presented an open threat to Aurangzeb, harassing the Mughals with his guerilla tactics. He was one of the few who stood up to Aurangzeb's harrasment of Hindus, opposed the re introduction of Jiziya tax, and was a thorn in his flesh, in the Deccans,turning the Marathas from a fighting force into a full fledged kingdom. When Shivaji passed away in 1680, his son Sambhaji took over as the ruler, and continued his father's relentless struggle against the Mughal empire. Sambhaji giving shelter to Md.Akbar, Aurangzeb's 4th son, during his revolt against his father, only aggravated the hatred he had for the Marathas.

After his defeat at Wai in 1687, Sambhaji took refuge in the Western Ghats along with his friend and advisor Kavi Kalash. However when some of the Marathas betrayed Sambhaji's position, he was captured by the Mughals and bought before Aurangzeb. Sambhaji along with Kavi Kalash was dressed as a buffon, and made to endure mockery and insults from the Mughal soldiers there. Sambhaji was given a choice to convert to Islam and spare his life, which he refused. Sambhaji was tortured to death, in the worst possible manner, his eyes and tongue plucked out first,nails removed, then being skinned alive. And finally along with Kavi Kalash, his limbs were hacked one by one, and finally his corpse being thrown. The severed heads of Sambhaji and Kavi Kalash were stuffed with straw and displayed as a warning.

Execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur

No better example can be there of Aurangzeb's cruelty and blood lust, than the brutal execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the 9th Sikh Guru. Guru Tegh Bahadur, was one of the greatest Gurus of the Sikh faith, spreading the word of Guru Nanak all over India. Aurangzeb's viceroy in Kashmir, Ifthikar Khan, went about ruthlessly converting the Kashmir Hindus, to Islam, by force and harassment. A group of terrified Kashmiri Pundits, took refuge with Guru Tegh Bahadur. With the Guru rejecting Aurangzeb's demand to surrender the Pandits, he was arrested by the Mughals and produced in front of Aurangzeb. He was put in chains, paraded in an iron cage, and Aurangzeb gave him a choice of either con verting to Islam or perform miracles if he wanted to save his life. The Guru refused either, and prefered to sacrifice his life rather than give up his faith or betray the trust imposed in him.

His followers who were arrested with him were executed in front of him in the most brutal manner. Bhai Mati Das was sawn alive from top to bottom, Bhai Dayal Das was thrown into a huge cauldron of boiling oil and burnt alive while Bhai Sati Das was wrapped in cotton and set ablaze. The Guru did not flinch from his resolve, even after the atrocities, and finally on Nov 11, 1675, Guru Teg Bahadur was beheaded. It was a fatal blunder by Aurangzeb, the Sikhs who till then were essentially a pacifist sect, turned into a militant fighting force under Guru Tegh Bahadur's son Guru Gobind Singh, and they would be a constant thorn in flesh for the Mughal empire.

There were many other instances too

• Execution of the Sufi mystic Sarmad Kashani on charges of heresy, though in reality, it was part of the purge Aurangzeb initiated against those who supported his brother Dara.

• Widespread destruction of Hindu temples, the most notable ones being that of Kashi Viswanath at Benares, Keshava Deo Temple at Mathura and the Somnath Temple.

• Mirza Raja Jai Singh who served faithfully under Aurangzeb, was later poisoned to death, on the pretext that his son allowed Shivaji to escape from his custody.

• Reimposing the hated Jizyah tax on Hindus, after it was abolished by Akbar earlier, and indulging in harrasment,forcible collection. It was the poor Hindus, who suffered the most from this.

The most damning indictment of Aurangzeb came in the letter written to him by Guru Gobind Singh called Zafarnama, where he accused him of breaking all Quranic injunctions, and how he had won a moral victory over him, inspite of Aurangzeb killing all his four sons. It is said that letter in a way broke Aurangzeb's spirit and demoralized him. Like most other tyrants in history, Aurangzeb died a broken man, his long drawn out campaigns in the Deccan, had exhausted the treasury, and his words as he lay dying.

I came alone and I go as a stranger. I do not know who I am, nor what I have been doing