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AURANGZEB (1618-1707)

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 923 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AURANGZEB (1618-1707) , one of the greatest of the See also:Mogul emperors of Hindustan, was the third son of Shah Jahan, and was See also:born in See also:November 1618. His See also:original name, Mahommed, was changed by his See also:father, with whom he was a favourite, into Aurangzeb, meaning See also:ornament of the See also:throne, and at a later See also:time he assumed the additional titles of Mohi-eddin, reviver of See also:religion, and Alam-gir, conqueror of the See also:world. At a very See also:early See also:age, and throughout his whole See also:life, he manifested profound religious feeli perhaps instilled into him in the course of his See also:education uncsome of the strictest See also:Mahommedan doctors. He was employed, while very See also:young, in some of his father's expeditions into the See also:country beyond the See also:Indus, gave promise of considerable military talents, and was appointed to the command of an See also:army directed against the Uzbegs. In this See also:campaign he was not completely successful, and soon after was transferred to the army engaged in the See also:Deccan. Here he gained several victories, and in See also:conjunction with the famous See also:general, Mir Jumla, who had deserted from the See also:king of See also:Golconda, he seized and plundered the See also:town of See also:Hyderabad, which belonged to that monarch. His father's See also:express orders prevented Aurangzeb from following up this success, and, not See also:long after, the sudden and alarming illness of Shah Jahan turned his thoughts in another direction. Of Shah Jahan's four sons, the eldest, Dara, a brave and See also:honourable See also:prince, but disliked by the Mussulmans on See also:account of his liberality of thought, had a natural right to the throne. Accordingly, on the illness of his father, he at once seized the reins of See also:government and established himself at See also:Delhi. The second son, Shuja, See also:governor of See also:Bengal, a dissolute and sensual prince, was dissatisfied, and raised an army to dispute the throne with Dara. The keen See also:eye of Aurangzeb saw in this conjuncture of events a favourable opportunity for realising his own ambitious schemes. His religious exercises and temperate habits gave him, in popular estimation, a See also:great superiority over his See also:brothers, but he was too politic to put forward his claims openly.

He made overtures to his younger See also:

brother See also:Murad, governor of See also:Gujarat, representing that neither of their See also:elder brothers was worthy of the See also:kingdom, that he himself had no temporal ambition, and desired only to See also:place a See also:fit monarch on the throne, and then to devote himself to religious exercises and make the See also:pilgrimage to See also:Mecca. He therefore proposed to unite his forces to those of Murad, who would thus have no difficulty in making himself See also:master of the See also:empire while the two elder brothers were divided by their own strife. Murad was completely deceived by these crafty representations, and at once accepted the offer. Their See also:united armies then moved northward. Meanwhile Shah Jahan had recovered, and though Dara resigned the See also:crown he had seized, the other brothers professed not to believe in their father's recovery, and still pressed on. Shuja was defeated by Dara's son, but the imperial forces under Jaswant Singh were completely routed by the united armies of Aurangzeb and Murad. Dara in See also:person took the See also:field against his brothers, but was defeated and compelled to See also:fly. Aurangzeb then, by a See also:clever stroke of policy, seized the person of his father, and threw him into confinement, in which he was kept for the remaining eight years of his life. Murad was soon removed by assassination, and the way being thus cleared, Aurangzeb, with affected reluctance, ascended the throne in See also:August 1658. He quickly freed himself from all other competitors for the imperial See also:power. Dara, who again invaded Gujarat, was defeated and closely pursued, and was given up by the native See also:chief with whom he had taken. See also:refuge. He was brought up to Delhi, exhibited to the See also:people, and assassinated.

Shuja, who had been a second time defeated near See also:

Allahabad, was attacked by the imperial forces under Mir Jumla and Mahommed, Aurangzeb's eldest son, who, however, deserted and joined his See also:uncle. Shuja was defeated and fled to See also:Arakan, where he perished; Mahommed was captured, thrown into the fortress of See also:Gwalior, and died after seven years' confinement. No similar contest disturbed Aurangzeb's long reign of See also:forty-six years, which has been celebrated, though with doubtful See also:justice, as the most brilliant See also:period of the See also:history of Hindustan. The empire certainly was wealthy and of enormous extent, for there were successively added to it the See also:rich kingdoms of See also:Bijapur and Golconda, but it was internally decaying and ready to crumble away before the first vigorous See also:assault. Two causes principally had tended to weaken the Mogul power. The one was the intense bigotry and intolerant policy of Aurangzeb, which had alienated the See also:Hindus and roused the fierce animosity of the haughty Rajputs. The other was the rise and rapid growth of the Mahratta power. Under their able See also:leader, See also:Sivaji, these daring freebooters plundered in every direction, nor could all Aurangzeb's efforts avail to subdue them. For the last twenty-six years of h;s life Aurangzeb was engaged in See also:wars in the Deccan, and never set See also:foot in his own See also:capital. At the See also:close of the long contest the Mogul power was weaker, the Mahratta stronger than at first. Still the See also:personal ability and See also:influence of the See also:emperor were sufficient to keep his realms intact during his own life. His last years were embittered by remorse, by gloomy forebodings, and by See also:constant suspicion, for he had always been in the See also:habit of employing a See also:system of espionage, and only then experienced its evil effects.

He died on the 3rd of See also:

March 1707 at Ahmadnagar, while engaged on an extensive but unfortunate expedition against the See also:Mahrattas. See See also:Lane-See also:Poole, Aurangzib, " Rulers of See also:India " See also:series (1893).

End of Article: AURANGZEB (1618-1707)

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