Right Word | There is only one way to remember Aurangzeb

The Maharashtra government has changed the name of Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar. It is a much-delayed move but as the saying goes, all’s well that ends well. This move needs to be replicated across the nation especially in context of all those places which have been named after Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It is time to take a relook at his reign and ensure that he gets his ‘rightful’ place in present day Bharat. As a religious bigot, he destroyed Hindu temples and went to any extent to target Hindus. The Leftist historians hid this fact and just skimmed the surface when it came to analysing Aurangzeb’s regime. Aurangabad and Aurangzeb But, first a little bit of history about Aurangabad. This town was founded by Malik Amber who had revived the Nizam-shahi dynasty in Deccan. Amber was an Abyssinian slave and he formed a formidable anti-Mughal alliance in Deccan. The Mughals were pushed back firmly by this alliance in Deccan. Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, whose accession in 1627 followed Amber’s death, brought the Deccan back in Mughal’s fold. He appointed Aurangzeb as the viceroy of Deccan in July 1636. The seat of the new Viceroy was a town set up at Khirki village by Amber. It was renamed as Aurangabad after the third son of Shah Jahan. It is important to study the reign of Aurangzeb and know more about him, as noted historian Jadunath Sarkar, the foremost authority on him, starts his work ‘A Short History of Aurangzeb’ (Orient Black Swan) with an interesting assertion, “The history of Aurangzeb is practically the history of India for sixty years. His own reign (1658-1707) covers the second half of the 17th century and stands forth as the most important epoch in the annals of our country.” Myth of great administrator Before we move to discuss the religious bigotry of Aurangzeb, it is also important to know that the Left, Muslim and colonial historians and chroniclers created a myth that Aurangzeb was a great administrator.

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Also Read **What’s in a name? Understanding the timing of Shiv Sena’s decision to rename Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar** **Aurangabad is now Sambhajinagar, Osmanabad is Dharashiv: How cities get new names** **Maharashtra govt renames Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar, Osmanabad as Dharashiv**

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Based on original archives of that era, Sarkar has painstakingly put together the life and times of Aurangzeb. Sarkar clearly said (pp1), “…Even before Aurangzeb had closed his eyes, the Mughal empire had turned bankrupt in finance and prestige, the administration had broken down, the imperial power had confessed its failure to maintain order and hold this vast realm together.” There are many independent historians who agree with these conclusions. Aurangzeb’s bigotry and destruction of temples As the Viceroy of Gujarat, Aurangzeb desecrated the temple of Chintaman in Karnavati(Ahmedabad) by killing a cow in it. Then he converted this building into a mosque. He demolished a number of other Hindu temples in that province. In the first year of his reign Aurangzeb said in a charter granted to a priest of Varanasi, that his religion forbade him to allow the building of new temples. ‘An order was issued early in his reign in which the local officers in every town and village of Orissa (Odisha) from Cuttack to Midnapore were called upon to pull down all temples, including even clay huts, built during the last 10 or 12 years, and to allow no old temple to be repaired.’ (Sarkar, pp 123). In April 1669, as a Mughal emperor, he issued a general order to demolish all the schools and temples of ‘infidels’. According to Sarkar(_pp_123), “His destroying hand now fell on the great shrines, that commanded the veneration of Hindus all over India-such as the second temple of Somnath, Vishwanath Temple of Benares (Varanasi) and the Keshav Rai temple of Mathura.” Aurangzeb specifically targeted Mathura by first appointing another bigot Abdun Nabi as faujdar of Mathura. In January 1670, he sent orders to destroy the Keshav Rai temple all together and change the name of the city to Islamabad. Sarkar has also given a detailed list of temples destroyed by Aurangzeb in the third volume of his multiple volume seminal work, History of Aurangzib. Based on the court orders issued during Aurangzeb’s reign, one gets to know that the destruction of Hindu places of worship was one of the chief duties of the Muhtasibs or Censors of Morals. These Muhtasibs were appointed in all the sub-divisions and cities of the empire. In 1674, he confiscated all the lands held by Hindus in Gujarat as religious grants. In 1680, he destroyed the temples of Amber, the capital of the state of Jaipur. Jiziya on non-Muslims Jiziya can broadly be defined as a tax that a non-Muslim has to pay to live in an Islamic state. Aurangzeb issued an imperial order on 2 April 1679 imposing jiziya across the Mughal empire. According to the official records, the prime aim to impose jiziya was to “spread Islam and put down the practice of infidelity”. When the Hindus of Delhi protested the imposition of jiziya, Aurangzeb ordered elephants to be driven through the protesting Hindu crowd. According to Sarkar(_pp_125), “The officially avowed policy in reimposed jiziya was to increase the number of Muslims by putting pressure on the Hindus. As the contemporary observer Manucci noticed, many Hindus who were unable to pay turned Muhammadan, to obtain relief from the insults of the collectors.” In addition to jiziya, Aurangzeb implemented several repressive economic policies to pu pressure on Hindus to convert to Islam. He had imposed a custom duty of 5 per cent on Hindus. Initially, only 2.5 per cent custom duty was imposed on Muslims and later this was also abolished exempting Muslims fully from any custom duty while there was no reprieve for Hindus. In 1671, he issued an ordinance that the rent collectors of all Crownlands had to be Muslims. The ordinance ordered dismissal of all Hindu head clerks and Hindu accountants and to replace them by Muslims. The Hindu religious fairs were banned throughout the Mughal empire by an order issued in 1668 and even restrictions were put on celebrations of Hindus festivals of ‘Diwali’ and ‘Holi’. Sarkar draws an interesting pen portrait of Aurangzeb (pp7), “Painting he never appreciated. Music, he banished from his Court, in the outburst of devotion which marked the completion of the 10th year of his reign… No masterpiece of architecture, no superb or exquisite mosque, hall or tomb marks his reign. All that be built were… mosques which marked the scenes of his victories.” Aurangzeb spent the last 26 years of his life in Deccan trying to quell the rebellion and unsuccessfully trying to stop the disintegration of the Mughal empire. He died there after this fruitless struggle. Sarkar sums it up aptly, “A strenuous reign of 50 years ends in a colossal failure.” It is clear where Aurangzeb stands in our history. He didn’t leave anything that resembles legacy except a bloody trail of religious bigotry. He can be remembered only that way, at least, that is what the historical evidence says. The writer, an author and columnist, has written several books. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.