Mughal Emperor Sultan Aurangzeb Alamgir : Bad Ruler or Bad History? By Dr. Habib Siddiqui

Of all the Muslim rulers who ruled vast territories of India from 712 to 1857 CE , probably no one has received as much condemnation from Western and Hindu write rs as Aurangzeb. He has been castigated as a religious Muslim who was anti-Hindu , who taxed them, who tried to convert them, who discriminated against them in a warding high administrative positions, and who interfered in their religious mat ters. This view has been heavily promoted in the government approved textbooks i n schools and colleges across post-partition India (i.e., after 1947). These are fabrications against one of the best rulers of India who was pious, scholarly, saintly, un-biased, liberal, magnanimous, tolerant, competent, and far-sighted. Fortunately, in recent years quite a few Hindu historians have come out in the o pen disputing those allegations. For example, historian Babu Nagendranath Banerj ee rejected the accusation of forced conversion of Hindus by Muslim rulers by st ating that if that was their intention then in India today there would not be ne arly four times as many Hindus compared to Muslims, despite the fact that Muslim s had ruled for nearly a thousand years. Banerjee challenged the Hindu hypothesi s that Aurangzeb was anti-Hindu by reasoning that if the latter were truly guilt y of such bigotry, how could he appoint a Hindu as his military commander-in-chi ef? Surely, he could have afforded to appoint a competent Muslim general in that position. Banerjee further stated: "No one should accuse Aurangzeb of being com munal minded. In his administration, the state policy was formulated by Hindus. Two Hindus held the highest position in the State Treasury. Some prejudiced Musl ims even questioned the merit of his decision to appoint non-Muslims to such hig h offices. The Emperor refuted that by stating that he had been following the di ctates of the Shariah (Islamic Law) which demands appointing right persons in ri ght positions." During Aurangzeb's long reign of fifty years, many Hindus, notab ly Jaswant Singh, Raja Rajrup, Kabir Singh, Arghanath Singh, Prem Dev Singh, Dil ip Roy, and Rasik Lal Crory, held very high administrative positions. Two of the highest ranked generals in Aurangzeb's administration, Jaswant Singh and Jaya S ingh, were Hindus. Other notable Hindu generals who commanded a garrison of two to five thousand soldiers were Raja Vim Singh of Udaypur, Indra Singh, Achalaji and Arjuji. One wonders if Aurangzeb was hostile to Hindus, why would he positio n all these Hindus to high positions of authority, especially in the military, w ho could have mutinied against him and removed him from his throne? Most Hindus like Akbar over Aurangzeb for his multi-ethnic court where Hindus we re favored. Historian Shri Sharma states that while Emperor Akbar had fourteen H indu Mansabdars (high officials) in his court, Aurangzeb actually had 148 Hindu high officials in his court. (Ref: Mughal Government) But this fact is somewhat less known. Some of the Hindu historians have accused Aurangzeb of demolishing Hindu Temples . How factual is this accusation against a man, who has been known to be a saint ly man, a strict adherent of Islam? The Qur'an prohibits any Muslim to impose hi s will on a non-Muslim by stating that "There is no compulsion in religion." (su rah al-Baqarah 2:256). The surah al-Kafirun clearly states: "To you is your reli gion and to me is mine." It would be totally unbecoming of a learned scholar of Islam of his caliber, as Aurangzeb was known to be, to do things that are contra ry to the dictates of the Qur'an. Interestingly, the 1946 edition of the history textbook Etihash Parichaya (Intro duction to History) used in Bengal for the 5th and 6th graders states: "If Auran gzeb had the intention of demolishing temples to make way for mosques, there wou ld not have been a single temple standing erect in India. On the contrary, Auran gzeb donated huge estates for use as Temple sites and support thereof in Benares , Kashmir and elsewhere. The official documentations for these land grants are s till extant." A stone inscription in the historic Balaji or Vishnu Temple, located north of Ch

itrakut Balaghat, still shows that it was commissioned by the Emperor himself. T he proof of Aurangzeb's land grant for famous Hindu religious sites in Kasi, Var anasi can easily be verified from the deed records extant at those sites. The sa me textbook reads: "During the fifty year reign of Aurangzeb, not a single Hindu was forced to embrace Islam. He did not interfere with any Hindu religious acti vities." (p. 138) Alexander Hamilton, a British historian, toured India towards the end of Aurangzeb's fifty year reign and observed that every one was free to serve and worship God in his own way. Now let us deal with Aurangzeb's imposition ofthe jizya tax which had drawn seve re criticism from many Hindu historians. It is true that jizya was lifted during the reign of Akbar and Jahangir and that Aurangzeb later reinstated this. Befor e I delve into the subject of Aurangzeb's jizya tax, or taxing the non-Muslims, it is worthwhile to point out that jizya is nothing more than a war tax which wa s collected only from able-bodied young non-Muslim male citizens living in a Mus lim country who did not want to volunteer for the defense of the country. That i s, no such tax was collected from non-Muslims who volunteered to defend the coun try. This tax was not collected from women, and neither from immature males nor from disabled or old male citizens. For payment of such taxes, it became incumbe nt upon the Muslim government to protect the life, property and wealth of its no n-Muslim citizens. If for any reason the government failed to protect its citize ns, especially during a war, the taxable amount was returned. It should be pointed out here that zakat (2.5% of savings) and ushr (10% of agric ultural products) were collected from all Muslims, who owned some wealth (beyond a certain minimum, called nisab). They also paid sadaqah, fitrah, and khums. No ne of these were collected from any non-Muslim. As a matter of fact, the per cap ita collection from Muslims was several fold that of non-Muslims. Further to Aur anzeb's credit is his abolition of a lot of taxes, although this fact is not usu ally mentioned. In his book Mughal Administration, Sir Jadunath Sarkar, foremost historian on the Mughal dynasty, mentions that during Aurangzeb's reign in powe r, nearly sixty-five types of taxes were abolished, which resulted in a yearly r evenue loss of fifty million rupees from the state treasury. While some Hindu historians are retracting the lies, the textbooks and historic accounts in Western countries have yet to admit their error and set the record s traight.

Aurangzeb's Charity. When it was reported to His Majesty Aurangzeb, that in the reign of his father e very year a sum of seventy-nine thousand rupees was distributed through the Sadr u-s Sudr amongst the poor during five months of the year, viz. twelve thousand rupe es in each of the months of Muharram and Rab'u-l awwal, ten thousand in Rajab, fi fteen thousand in Sha'bn, and thirty thousand in the sacred month of Ramazn, and tha t during the remaining seven months no sum was distributed in charity, His Majesty ordered the Sadru-s Sudr and other accountants of the household expenses, that w ith regard to those five months they should observe the same rule, and in each o f the other months also they should give ten thousand rupees to be distributed a mong the poor; so that the annual sum expended in charity, including the increas e which was now made, amounted to one lac and forty-nine thousand rupees. The Habits and Manners of the Emperor Aurangzeb. Be it known to the readers of this work that this humble slave of the Almighty i s going to describe in a correct manner the excellent character, the worthy habi ts and the refined morals of this most virtuous monarch, Ab-l Muzaffar Muhiu-d dn Muhammad Aurangzeb 'lamgr, according as he has witnessed them with his own eyes. T he Emperor, a great worshipper of God by natural propensity, is remarkable for h is rigid attachment to religion. He is a follower of the doctrines of the Imm Ab H anfa (may God be pleased with him!), and establishes the five fundamental doctrin

es of the Kanz. Having made his ablutions, he always occupies a great part of hi s time in adoration of the Deity, and says the usual prayers, first in the masji d and then at home, both in congregation and in private, with the most heartfelt devotion. He keeps the appointed fasts on Fridays and other sacred days, and he reads the Friday prayers in the Jmi' masjid with the common people of the Muhamm adan faith. He keeps vigils during the whole of the sacred nights, and with the light of the favour of God illumines the lamps of religion and prosperity. From his great piety, he passes whole nights in the Mosque which is in his palace, an d keeps company with men of devotion. In privacy he never sits on a throne.He ga ve away in alms before his accession a portion of his allowance of lawful food a nd clothing, and now devotes to the same purpose the income of a few villages in the district of Dehl, and the proceeds of two or three salt-producing tracts, wh ich are appropriated to his privy purse. The Princes also follow the same exampl e. During the whole month of Ramazn he keeps fast, says the prayers ap*pointed fo r that month, and reads the holy Kurn in the assembly of religious and learned me n, with whom he sits for that purpose during six, and sometimes nine hours of th e night. During the last ten days of the month, he performs worship in the mosqu e, and although, on account of several obstacles, he is unable to proceed on a p ilgrimage to Mecca, yet the care which he takes to promote facilities for pilgri ms to that holy place may be con*sidered equivalent to the pilgrimage. From the dawn of his understanding he has always refrained from prohibited meats and practices, and from his great holiness has adopted nothing but that which i s pure and lawful. Though he has collected at the foot of his throne those who i nspire ravish*ment in joyous assemblies of pleasure, in the shape of singers who possess lovely voices and clever instrumental performers, and in the commenceme nt of his reign sometimes used to hear them sing and play, and though he himself understands music well, yet now for several years past, on account of his great restraint and self-denial, and observance of the tenets of the great Imm (Shfi'), (may God's mercy be on him!), he entirely abstains from this amusement. If any o f the singers and musicians becomes ashamed of his calling, he makes an allowanc e for him or grants him land for his maintenance. He never puts on the clothes prohibited by religion, nor does he ever use vessel s of silver or gold. In his sacred Court no improper conversation, no word of ba ckbiting or falsehood, is allowed. His courtiers, on whom his light is reflected , are cautioned that if they have to say anything which might injure the charact er of an absent man, they should express themselves in decorous language and at full detail. He appears two or three times every day in his court of audience wi th a pleasing counte*nance and mild look, to dispense justice to complainants wh o come in numbers without any hindrance, and as he listens to them with great at tention, they make their representations with*out any fear or hesitation, and ob tain redress from his impartiality. If any person talks too much, or acts in an improper manner, he is never displeased, and he never knits his brows. His court iers have often desired to prohibit people from showing so much boldness, but he remarks that by hearing their very words, and seeing their gestures, he acquire s a habit of forbearance and tolerance. All bad characters are expelled from the city of Dehl, and the same is ordered to be done in all places through*out the w hole empire. The duties of preserving order and regularity among the people are very efficiently attended to, and throughout the empire, notwithstanding its gre at extent, nothing can be done without meeting with the due punishment enjoined by the Muhammadan law. Under the dictates of anger and passion he never issues o rders of death. In consideration of their rank and merit, he shows much honour a nd respect to the Saiyids, saints and learned men, and through his cordial and l iberal exertions, the sublime doctrines of Hanfa and of our pure religion have ob tained such prevalence throughout the wide territories of Hindstn as they never ha d in the reign of any former king. The Emperor is perfectly acquainted with the commentaries, traditions and law. He always studies the compilations of the grea t Imm Muhammad Ghizl (may God's mercy be on him!), the extracts from the writings o f Shaikh Sharaf Yahy Munr (may his tomb be sanctified!), and the works of Muh Shraz,

nd other similar books. One of the greatest excellences of this virtuous monarch is, that he has learnt the Kurn by heart. Though in his early youth he had commi tted to memory some chapters of that sacred book, yet he learnt the whole by hea rt after ascending the throne. He took great pains and showed much perseverance in impressing it upon his mind. He writes a very elegant Naskh hand, and has acq uired perfection in this art. He has written two copies of the holy book with hi s own hand, and having finished and adorned them with ornaments and marginal lin es, at the expense of seven thousand rupees, he sent them to the holy cities of Mecca and Medna. He also wrote an excellent Nasta'lk and Shikastah hand. He is a v ery elegant writer in prose, and has acquired proficiency in versification, but agreeably to the words of God, Poets deal in falsehoods, he abstains from practisi ng it. He does not like to hear verses except those which contain a moral. To ple ase Almighty God he never turned his eye towards a flatterer, nor gave his ear t o a poet. The Emperor has given a very liberal education to his fortu*nate and noble child ren, who, by virtue of his attention and care, have reached to the summit of per fection, and made great advances in rectitude, devotion, and piety, and in learn ing the manners and customs of princes and great men. Through his instruction th ey have learnt the Book of God by heart, obtained proficiency in the sciences an d polite literature, writing the various hands, and in learning the Turk and the Persian languages. In like manner, the ladies of the household also, according to his orders, have learnt the fundamental and necessary tenets of religion, and all devote their ti me to the adoration and worship of the Deity, to reading the sacred Kurn, and per forming virtuous and pious acts. The excellence of character and the purity of m orals of this holy monarch are beyond all expression. As long as nature nourishe s the tree of existence, and keeps the garden of the world fresh, may the plant of the prosperity of this preserver of the garden of dignity and honour continue fruitful!