Islamic Policy of Aurangzeb Alamgir (1658-1707)
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Journal of Historical Studies Vol. VI. No. I (Jan-Jun 2020) PP 36-55 Islamic Policy of Aurangzeb Alamgir (1658-1707) Dr. Kishwar Sultana Associate Professor of History, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad Saba Riaz Lecturer of Pakistan Studies, Al-Khair University, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Bhimber Abstract: The last Muslim dynasty who ruled over Indo-Pak subcontinent was the Mughal Dynasty (1526-1857). The Muslim Rule in the Indo-Pak subcontinent started with Mohammad bin Qasim’s rule in Sindh and Multan in 712 AD. Various Amirs, Sultans and Kings ruled over the subcontinent. For the first three centuries, the Muslim Rule was confined to almost the present areas of Pakistan, but Sultan Shahabuddin Ghori, Sultan of Ghazni under whose control was the present Afghanistan and Pakistan, extended the Muslim Rule to the whole of Northern India and present Bangladesh in 1192 after his victory in the second Battle of Tarain. His slave general Qutbuddin Aibak claimed himself as the first Sultan of Delhi after the death of Ghori in 1206. Before the Mughals, the Sultans of Delhi followed Islamic policies in different phases. The Mughals followed them with some new trends introduced by Jalaluddin Akbar (1556-1605) which were opposed by Hazrat Mujadid Alaf Sani of Sirhand. However, the debate over Akbar’s policies in terms of Islam continued, until the time of King Aurangzeb. In the War of Succession between the four sons of King Shah Jahan was actually considered a major battle between Aurganzeb representing the Mujadid school of thought and Dara Shikoh representing the Akbar’s liberal school of thought. In this battle the success of Aurangzeb was considered the victory of the Mujadid school of thought because majority of the Mansabdars and Mughal aristocracy was favorable to Aurangzeb. After becoming King, Aurangzeb tried to restore 36 Dr. Kishwar Sultana & Saba Riaz Mughal religious policy according to Islamic shariat, but he faced some resistance. Still Aurangzeb, as a wise ruler, started his reformatory efforts at the Mughal court in the 11th year of his rule so that he could wisely face the opposition which he did successfully done in the later 39 years of his rule. But still there were certain Hindu, Jat, Sikh, Marhatha elements who had gained strength in the Empire by the encouraging aspects of Akbar and his follower kings – Jahangir and Shah Jahan – still he succeeded in giving true pattern to the Islamic policy and codified them in his Fatawa-i-Alamgiri prepared with the help of more than 200 leading Ulema of his times. That is why this work is one of the best reference works for Islamic shariat or jurisprudence in the Indo-Pak subcontinent. In this article all the efforts of Aurangzeb in this connection and the challenges he faced have been given in the light of original authentic sources. Aurangzeb Alamgir was born on 21 October 1618. He was the third son of Shah Jahan. His brothers were Dara Shikoh, Shuja and Murad. After ruling for 49 years he died on 3 March 1707. His full name is Mohiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir. Mohiuddin means helper of Din-i-Islam. Aurangzeb means ornament of the Crown. Alamgir means the conqueror of the world. He was the sixth great Mughal ruler who helped furthering the Mughal Empire and strengthening it in terms of its territories and policies. There were only two Mughal kings whose rule is spread over about fifty years. First is Jalaluddin Akbar and the second is Aurangzeb Alamgir. Both these Mughal rulers left a lasting effect in terms of their policies in the Empire which continued even up to the modern times. A lot of controversies are also shrouded around the personalities and policies of these two rulers attracting the world scholars and historians to express divergent viewpoints especially with reference to their religious policies. Aurangzeb Alamgir became king as a result of War of Succession amongst the four sons of King Shah Jahan. In September 1657, Shah Jahan became seriously ill. Dara Shikoh, the eldest son, who was with Shah Jahan in the capital, 37 Journal of Historical Studies Vol. VI. No. I (Jan-Jun 2020) PP 36-55 considered himself as the heir apparent of his father and took over the reins of the Mughal Government. When Shah Jahan fell, Dara Shikoh came to dominate the Mughal government. He was not a farsighted man. He always feared from his brothers who were equally fit to become next king. He considered that the news of his father’s illness should not be known to any of his brothers. Therefore, he stopped the messengers and travelers coming from different provinces to send any reports of the court to any corner of the Empire.i In this way false news spread in the Empire that Shah Jahan had died and the throne has wrongly been occupied by Dara Shikoh. This was unacceptable to other three sons of Shah Jahan and a long war of Succession started amongst them. Ultimately the matter of final moment came and in May-June 1658, there was a great battle between Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh at Samugarh, a place near Agra, in which Aurangzeb emerged victorious. ii Dara Shikoh fled towards Delhi and Punjab. On hearing the news of success of Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan wrote a secret letter to flying Dara Shikoh to wait for some time outside Agra so that he could plan how to get rid of Aurangzeb. Shah Jahan invited Aurangzeb to his court in Agra fort because Shah Jahan was in Agra. The plan was that when Aurangzeb will come to the fort, he will be slain in the fort by unfair means. Aurangzeb was a careful person. His soldiers caught the secret letter of Shah Jahan to Dara, from the flying two horsemen and came to know of the conspiracy. He took steps to control the city as well as the fort. He besieged the city of Agra as well as the Agra fort. He removed all the guards of the fort and appointed his own guards who were loyal to him. Then he went to Shah Jahan and presented his complements and asked him to rest. In this way, Aurangzeb became king on 5 June 1658 after confining his father in the fort palace of Agra. Later Dara was caught and killed. Similarly, other two brothers Shuja and Dara were also dealt with. Thus the real war between Dara and Aurangzeb came to an end after a long struggle. Aurangzeb would have not put his father in confinement, had the father not been acting favorable to Dara Shikoh to which Aurangzeb collected a number of evidences.iii Shah Jahan lived for a number of years and died on 22 January 1666. 38 Dr. Kishwar Sultana & Saba Riaz Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb belonged to different ideologies. Dara belonged to the liberal school of thought to which Akbar belonged. Akbar’s liberal approach towards the Rajputs and other non-Muslims started showing its political effects in the period of Jahangir, son of Akbar. As Jahangir became under the influence of Shaikh Ahmad Sarhindi, he started changing his policy. The same policy was continued under Shah Jahan. This effect increased in the times of Shah Jahan and showed deep effects. The Muslim nobles, Ulema, Qazis, and Mansabdars also became divided into two groups. A small group was following the policies of Akbar, whereas the majority came under the influence of Mujadid Alaf Sani and started efforts to look for a favorable prince, Aurangzeb was found suitable because he had turned against the policies of Akbar and became follower of Mujadid Alaf Sani. Thus he became strong believer of orthodox Islam.iv His success at Samugarh placed him at a position to govern the vast Mughal Empire which he successfully accomplished with justice and fairness and did his best to reform the socio-religious life of the Muslims in terms of Islam. v His behavior towards the non-Muslims was also based on fairness and justice. They were allowed to continue in the service of the Mughal Empire. Only those non-Muslims who revolted or conspired against the king were first warned. If they amended, they were allowed to continue in service. Otherwise, they were strongly crushed. The reform effort started by Jahangir came to a climax with the accession of Aurangzeb to the throne in 1858 and the Muslim nobility, Ulema, Qazis and Mansabdars were able to again come to a dominating position. This did not mean that the non- Muslim nobility was ousted. Instead, the non-Muslim nobility continued to function as the important pillar of the Mughal state, but they were reduced to second position. On this basis some historians think that with the coming of Aurangzeb into power the Muslim theologians triumphed.vi In this way some other misconceptions have been pointed out with regard to enforcement of jizya, dismantling Hindu temples, suppression of non-Muslim nobility, imposition of certain taxes, certain actions against the Shias, etc. vii A balanced view in this connection has been presented in this article. 39 Journal of Historical Studies Vol. VI. No. I (Jan-Jun 2020) PP 36-55 The reform of the state policy did not mean that there were some basic changes in the system of administration. The system of administration as maintained under Akbar and Jahangir was very efficient and effective. In the period of Shah Jahan, the aristocracy and Mansabdars were more inclined to luxury which resulted into slackness of their duties. This further affected the lower ranks of administration. During the later half of the rule of Shah Jahan, the aristocracy has become very week.