All the bad things that Aurangzeb did during his reign, they started torturing him in the last phase of his life. Know, the stories that tell how sinful and cruel Aurangzeb was.
Image Credit source: Scroll
Aurangzeb is the only one in the history of the Mughals King The one that most people hated. Imprisoned father Shahjahan. Brother Darashikoh was murdered to get the Sultanate. Committed atrocities on the public. Collected more taxes from non-muslims. Musicians were banned from livelihood. But he had the most affection for one sister, that was Roshanara, who played an important role in bringing her to power.
It is difficult to give a name to Aurangzeb on the basis of the number of stories recorded in history. Know, 5 interesting things about Aurangzeb’s personality…
1- When evidence of boldness is given
For the first time on May 28, 1633, Aurangzeb showed his fearlessness. This was the day when the mighty elephant of the army became uncontrollable. He destroyed the entire camp. Aurangzeb did the work of handling it. Aurangzeb somehow rode on an elephant. Hit his trunk with a spear. This act of his became a topic of discussion in the entire Mughal Sultanate. On doing this, father Shah Jahan gave him the title of brave and weighed it in gold.
2- Crossed the limits of cruelty
Now let’s know the extent of his cruelty. When it came to handle the Mughal Sultanate, the name of Dara Shikoh was at the forefront. Dara was the favorite son of Shah Jahan. Aurangzeb knew this very well. Avik Chanda, author of ‘Dara Shukoh, The Man Who Would Be King’ writes, Dara was a multi-faceted personality and a talented poet, but he had no interest in administration and military affairs.
Aurangzeb played a trick to remove Bhai Dara from the path and accused him of opposing Islam. Not only this, rumors spread that Dara was being sent to Gwalior jail. The same evening Aurangzeb called Nazar Beg and said that he wanted to see Dara Shikoh’s severed head. Nazar Beg reaches the jail to do so and a scuffle ensues with Dara. Ultimately, the killers forcefully make Dara sit on his knees and behead him.
After verifying this with his own eyes, Aurangzeb orders that the head should be washed and presented. Not only this, on August 31, 1659, he ordered that the severed torso should be taken to Delhi.
3- Dig the grave a little deeper
According to Manucci, an Italian tourist who came to India, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had banned music during his rule. Troubled by the king’s ban, the artistes planned to protest one day. About a thousand musicians gathered at Delhi’s Jama Masjid.
They started taking out the procession while crying. The procession was moving forward as if someone’s funeral was taking place. Aurangzeb, who was returning after offering namaz, heard his voice and asked why this was being done. The protesters replied that you have murdered our music. Now we are going to bury that music. Aurangzeb said on this, if it is so, then dig the grave a little deeper.
Aurangzeb had implemented strict Islam in his rule, he believed that artists do not follow the principles mentioned in Islam. That’s why he had banned music.
4- Also called himself a sinner and a failure
If we look at Aurangzeb’s tenure, we will find that he hardly did such works which were praised by the public. Aurangzeb, who has done wrong things one after the other in his rule, realizes his sins only when he gets old. Beard turns white. The body refuses to cooperate.
Aurangzeb was never honest in relationships. Throughout his life he remained faithful only to Allah. In the last days of his life, those deeds which he had done in the days of his youth started troubling him. One day he called his younger son Kambakhsh and said- I feel that what I have done to others will happen to my own people. I have proved to be a failed emperor. The time to meet Allah has come near. My crimes are such that even they will not forgive. In the last time, Aurangzeb had even called himself a sinful and unsuccessful emperor.
Aurangzeb had written before his death that neither any show off nor any tears should be shed on my death. Even no ceremony should be organized. No building should be built on my grave. Only a platform should be made there on which even the shade of the tree should not fall. I don’t want to get even shade. Even my face should not be covered after death so that I can meet Allah directly.
5-Jizya was collected from non-muslims.
Even before the Mughal period, Muslim rulers had implemented the Jizya tax system for decades. Akbar had banned this system, but Aurangzeb started it back. When the Jizya tax system was implemented, Muslim rulers used to collect additional tax from non-Hindus. Most people considered it as an insult to non-Muslims in a Muslim state.
Read more- Knowledge story of
: Language Inputs