QUANTUM 6 | DECEMBER 2014WWW.ISSUU.COM/THEFEATHERS

SHWETA BASU ACQUITTED FROM

PROSTITUTION CASE06

16

10LAST - SHORT SERIES [6]

SERIES ENDING

DEAR KUSHBOO...OPEN LETTER TO THE FORMER SUPER-HEROINE

HAPPY XMASAND NEW YEAR!!!

“My idea of professionalismis probably a lot of people’s ideaof obsession”

-David Fincher

Winter is coming.Winter doesn’t mean it’s gonna snow all over and we’re gonna finally get to build snowmen. At least not all around the world. Definitely not here, in the southern end of the Indian subcontinent. But does it matter? Westernization has grown so much that advertising and marketting in India is blindly following its western counterparts. Supposedly, it’s the winter season and winter sale is on full swing. And as we have been taught in school, there are four seasons and winter is one of them. But, buckle up folks: majority of India has only two seasons - Monsoon and non Monsoon. I guess monsoon sale won’t be appropriate. After all, the west don’t have a monsoon sale. So,

Brace yourselves, Winter is coming.

03EDITORIAL

04OUT FOCUS

INSIDE

06ACQUITTED FROM CASE

SHWETA

16 SERIES FINALE

LAST [6]

EDITOR AR MUTHU KUMARASSO. EDITOR SGA THOMASWRITERS SHRIKANTH, SOMA, SARUPHOTOS KEVIN MATHEWQUOTES NIRMAL HENRY

BACKGROUND PHOTOSAYED M SALAHUDDIN

26A GIRL’S PAGE

SARU

32DECLINE OF THE

MUGHAL

05OUTFOCUS

06COVER STORY

Shweta Basu Prasad, who was mired in a controversy this year when she was caught in an alleged prostitution racket, has accused the media of wrongly dragging her name into a prostitution case. The starlet was sent to a rescue home for 59 days after a prostitution racket allegedly involving her was busted, reports PTI.

She is an award-winning actress. She won the National Award in 2002 for the best child artiste for her role in Makdee.

She also won several awards for her remarkable role as the sister of the lead character, in the 2005 film Iqbal. She has had a successful career in films and television across four languages.

Shweta is in the limelight because three months ago she was caught in a police raid on an alleged prostitution racket. On a tip-off, the Hyderabad police planted a decoy customer, who paid an “agent” some advance money. Based on this tip-off and payment, the

police raided the hotel where Shweta was staying, and “rescued” her. She was sent to a rescue home for six months. Her mother intervened through a court order, and Shweta was released in two months. She was quoted then as saying that bankruptcy had forced her into the sex trade.

Many film insiders had publicly spoken out in her support, including actress Deepika Padukone and TV star Sakshi tanwar.

According to a report

Actress Shweta BasuACQUITTEDFROM PROSTITUTION CASEslams at media response following her false

arrest and expresses her strength

in Times of India dated September 13, 2014, Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone had commented on the Shweta Basu Prasad case. Speaking to Indiatimes about Shweta, Deepika said that there is nothing wrong with it (her involvement in prostitution) if it was the only thing she could do to support herself and family. She said that it is unfair to make a scandal about it and rather than looking down upon her, it was time to get together and support her.

It was not just Deepika who came in support of National Award winner Shweta Basu Prasad. Filmmakers Karan Johar and Vishal Bhardwaj also touched upon this sensitive case. Filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor who directed Shweta in Iqbal came to her rescue on Twitter

and wrote, “My take on Shweta Prasad. Great actress (Iqbal). Sweet wonderful girl. Don’t judge her and leave her be for god’s sake!!!”

Director Hansal Mehta went a step ahead and offered the her a role in his upcoming film too. He took to Twitter and wrote, “Stop posting pictures of Shweta. Put out the pictures of her wealthy clients and the pimp. Expose the scumbags not the soft target. I intend to offer Shweta Prasad a role in my next film. She was so good in Makdee.”

Sakshi wrote, “I’m appalled at the way the issue has been dealt with by the media. We, the people, are so eager to pass judgments and share opinions about her on social

media, but none of us have walked the hard yards in her shoes... so, do we actually have a right to judge her yet? I don’t know her reasons and problems, and I don’t know any solutions either... All I know is that she is kept in a remand home and that she has apparently given a statement accepting it. At least she has been brave enough to accept it (as per the reports)”.

There are many troubling aspects to this case. Firstly, was Shweta being arrested or was she being rescued? If arrested, should she not be formally charged with a crime? What was her crime? Soliciting for sex? Prostitution? But prostitution has two sides, a buyer and seller of sex. You can’t just arrest one side of the transaction.

07COVER STORY

08COVER STORY

Where was the buyer? How come no arrest of buyers? Was she alone in the hotel room? Most often women are coerced into prostitution, either due to economic circumstance or threats of violence. There are stories galore of the exploitative “casting couch” in the film industry.

Things took a U turn, when Shweta was released after 59 days. She was disappointed with how media took miguiding stories. In her open letter “I was in Hyderabad for Santhosham Awards, which was conducted on 30th August. I was never encouraged to get into commercial sex and no agent booked

my tickets and stay there! My tickets and accommodation was done by the award event organizers. The hotel where I stayed with other guests of the award ceremony was a hospitality partner with the event. I still have the itinerary in my email inbox.”

She also said in an Interview “Call it fate or whatever, I missed my flight back in the morning. My air ticket and stay were done by the organisers of the awards function. I still have the ticket. I’ve been told that the agent has been arrested. The case is being investigated. I am a victim in the whole situation. There was a raid... I am not

denying the incident. But the facts are not what they’ve been made out to be.”

On her acquition, Shweta came down at the media with an open letter addressed to all the media people where she demands their credibility to write such things. She pointed out that she was in a rescue home for two months, cut off from media and telephone, effectively meaning she could not have given the supposed media statement reported where she accepts the charges against her. Furthermore, no businessmen were arrested or reported arrested along with her arrest.

Shweta was acquitted from the case on 7th December 2014. Which means that she is really a victim. Then she should be entitled to her privacy and anonymity. For instance, the law prohibits anyone from disclosing the identity of a rape victim. The penalty for disclosure, even accidental and unintentional disclosure is imprisonment. Even after death, Nirbhaya’s identity is protected. In contrast, Shweta’s name, as well as

details about her life, how much she allegedly “charged” have all been happily broadcast by all (including the police). The worst thing is that she was never even convicted. Even if the allegations were true, to this day we do not know anything about the “pimp” or all those paying customers. They have all evaporated, or did not exist. As a victim she deserves full protection of anonymity, and all the support that survivors

get. Thankfully many prominent citizens, film actors and others have reached out strongly in her support. But the social stigma of having been caught in a police raid will never go away. This is most troubling, that someone who is a victim has to hide her face in shame. And those who exploited her enjoy immunity from the law and the spotlight.

- Sga Thomas, associate editor. limatgans@gmail.com

photo: Shweta Basu, when she appeared for an interview at 9XE following her acquition

09COVER STORY

Dear Kushboo,

There was a time in 1990, at Vellore a theatre had to release an advertisement asking repeat audience not to continue flocking the theatres, as new audience were not getting an opportunity to watch the movie. The movie in question was ‘Pazhamudhir Cholai’ and you were there in it. That Chinese Butler singularly was the reason for people like me occupying the theatre continuously for a week prompting such an advertisement.

You had that screen presence to match the superstars, whether it was Kamal or Rajni you held your space. And along with Kamal we

were drooling behind you in Singaravelan. Just because there was some incongruity between the jobs we were at and carrying a brick for your temple, we desisted. Not that we were missed, there were enough bricks and heads. Not once we thought we could be brickheads.

Why am I suddenly blabbering about all this? Is it the impending 50th birthday and since 50 is the new 40, am I having a midlife crisis? I am afraid that you do and not me.

All heroines fade out. Agreed it is a curse. You start off pairing with heroes double your age and before you age 10 years extra, the same

hero has his head on your bosom, this time only to wet it with his tears, as a son to mother. Your silver streaks has to be dyed and so should be the hero’s. Only that while you go from black to white, he goes white to black. That is the ephemeral nature of an actress’s career, we all know. And before we realize we have been seeing you for a while, you disappear.

Some people at this stage, find an industrialist from the USA, go there and maybe run a dance school raise children and yourself, only to come back with daughters who still carry puppy fat attempting to make a career as an actress. The hero is waiting, he

10OPEN LETTER

Dear Kushboo...AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PAST SUPER-HEROINE

paired with you when you were his daughter’s age and then became his mother and now that he has a granddaughter, he is waiting for your daughter to be paired to him.

But some of you immediately reappear, either as protagonists in television serials or as a host of reality shows. Of course the jackets again get popular because of still attractive people. And then, you are in the living room of every house, all of us dutifully relinquishing the titular role as a fan to our respective wives.

But very few of your ilk has done what you have done. Coming from Punjab commanding a temple in your name, you suddenly found great virtues in the Dravidian movement and found intellectual refuge in a nonagenarian and started preaching all of us which we discarded as ‘past sell-by-date’

philosophies. We were bored to death by your new found enthusiasm of repackaging an old wine. But we still loved you, so much so, we will call a new heroine as ‘Chinna Kushboo’.

And then you fall out. We don’t know why you joined on the first place, so we don’t pester you asking for an answer about why you left. We empathized with you that politics is no place for nice people like you. After all the great Rajni is afraid of it. We even felt sorry for you. We were happy that we had outside chance of seeing the backless jacket back.

This is where the twist happens. You suddenly join Congress. Do you know that a group of baboons is called as Congress? In our case in Tamil Nadu, it is a case of ‘group of buffoons’. If you earlier embraced a party with dated philosophies, now you

have joined a party that is dated by itself.

Now, we demand an answer. What exactly is running in your mind? Who is advising you? Your husband seems to be happy and content dancing with your clone, whereas you are dancing once again grandfathers and fathers. What are you achieving by these actions? Are you really bugged by the cliché called social service? If so, have you not heard of the ‘Udavum Karangal’ and its cousins? Why go that far? At least a Rotary?

What makes you do what you do? Like the Vikram & Betal story, if you know the answer to this question and still don’t answer it, then your head will explode into a thousand pieces.

But if you don’t know that answer yourself, then our head will break into a thousand pieces.

11OPEN LETTER

12COVER STORY

To some people, it doesn’t matter if its sunrise or sunset for all their lives they have never seen light. I learnt that we learn not when there is light but when it is pitch black. We grope around in the dark, we can feel our instincts sharpen and our courage rise against the imminent danger lurking in the dark. I am blessed to have seen both light and darkness but lately the line between the two has blurred. I ask myself if this is the place I wanted to reach all my life. If yes then why am I not happy? Even with many such questions eating away my soul slowly, it never bothered me enough to find the answers. It was an unpleasant evening. The ruins of a fallen empire lay before me. The rivers of blood flashed before my eyes and the cries of people being murdered echoed in my ears.

My destination lay a hundred feet away from me but I felt no rush. It had been such a long journey that I even forgot where I started but I do remember that a part of me believed this will be all over in a short span of time. We don’t realise that time passes even in stopped clocks and we believe we can outrun it one day. Time heals you as much as it scars you. I feel like I’ve run all my life to reach here and never cared to look back but when I finally am here there is nothing to look back to. I feel old and tired now and I can sense my spirit dying too but shouldn’t one taste the fruit before axing down a tree? With a torn ancient map leading to a lost treasure forming the entirety of my possessions; I started moving towards the treasure. The sun had almost

set and it seemed to suck my energy with its descent. Suddenly I felt weak in the legs and heavy in the chest. My head started spinning and I crashed on the ground sending dust into my nose and mouth. I started coughing up blood. It felt like somebody pulled the rug right under me; like somebody is removing one by one the pieces of the puzzle I’ve tried to solve all my life. The micro blackouts were increasing in frequency and duration. The pain shot up and my body started spasming violently. My heartbeat echoed more intensely in my ears. As sudden as the onset, the spasming stopped. As a strange kind of calm settled upon me, I stole one final glance into the world. The sun had set finally and then everything went pitch black.

NIRMAL HENRYTHE QUEST

13SHORT STORY

”But, still ...”

”We believe that Post

Humans would destroy

us. They would kill the

human society before

we could experimenting

them. Few initial victories

don’t mean that we won

the war.”

”But why preserve

consciousness?” I asked.

My professor smiled.

”What is consciousness?”

”It is something deep

inside us.”

My professor smiled

again.

”Close your eyes»

”Now, your left hand

up.”

”Now, without opening

your eyes try touching

your left thumb with

right thumb”

”How did you do that?”

”Consciousness?”

My professor smiled

again.

”Now close your eyes

again”

”Now again without

opening your eyes try

touching my left thumb

with your right thumb”

”I can›t”

”Open your eyes.”

”What do you infer?”

”I am conscious enough

to sense myself.”

My professor smiled

again.

”We believe that

each one of us has a

unique consciousness.

Our evolution has

always trimmed down

consciousness in a

mysterious way. It makes

us connect to the people,

help them, pray for them

at the same time kill

them. We also believe

that these Post Humans

if they win the war they

would need time to

evolve, to understand

their consciousness, just

like our human kind.”

”I am still not getting it”

”Our consciousness

could be cheated by

LAST.HAUNTING CONSCIOUSNESS

6

16SERIES

continuous training or by

few sudden moments.

For example cheating in

an exam may not induce

the consciousness, but a

death of 5 children in

an accident would sink

it. It keeps haunting you

deep within your mind.

Dreams, thoughts or by

whatever methods it can.

That›s how we believe it

is designed.”

”So if Post Humans kills

us, there would be no

physical entity. How

does preserving my

consciousness help me

if there is no physical

entity?”

My professor smiled

again.

”Well, Brilliant enough.

Do you know about the

brain in vat concept ?”

”No.”

”To put it simply, it

considers any entity

could control your brain

just by simply removing

from the body and

enclosing it in a jar

of chemicals and the

proper nerve impulses

are provided by a

supercomputer.”

”Is it possible?”

”It is not about how; it

is about what happens

next? Given proper

impulses, would your

brain be able to

distinguish between

whether it is in a jar of

chemicals or it is in your

skull ? What would be

reality then?”

series finale17

SERIES

”I am not sure.”

My professor smiled

again.

”Neither are we. That’s

why this experiment is.”

”What would be the

reality?”

”We believe that

consciousness would

haunt you.”

They disappeared. The

same beach. The same

child. Is this reality?

Where is my brain now?

In my skull?

The child turned back.

He smiled at me. I smiled.

If we can’t change

reality, let us change the

eyes which see reality. I

closed my eyes.

BEEP BEEP BEEEEP.

RELOADING...

Let’s go again.

[the END]

18SERIES

20SPOTLIGHT

21SPOTLIGHT

“Yeah, bitch!”

Aaron Paul was born on 27 August 1979, and raised in Emmett, Idaho, to Darla (Haynes) and Robert Sturtevant, a retired Baptist minister. When he was in his eighth grade, he decided to become an actor. He joined the theatre department and became obsessed with the idea of acting for a living.

Though appearing in several roles on American television, such as his television debut in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990), followed by an appearance in another Aaron Spelling series, Melrose Place (1992) and guest starred on television shows such as The Guardian, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, ER, Sleeper Cell, Veronica Mars, The

X-Files, Ghost Whisperer, Criminal Minds, Bones, and 3rd Rock from the Sun, his breakthrough role came as «Jesse Pinkman» in the AMC series Breaking Bad (2008). The character was only supposed to last for one season, but series creator Vince Gilligan changed his mind, due to Aaron›s chemistry with Bryan Cranston. He has won three Emmy Awards for

”Outstanding Supporting

Actor in a Drama Series” for this role (2010, 2012 and 2014). As of 2014, he›s the only actor to win 3 Emmys in the ”Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series” category.

He starred in the music videos for the Korn song

”Thoughtless” and the

Ever last song ”White

Trash Beautiful”

He appeared in the films Whatever It Takes (2000), Help! I’m a Fish (2001), K-PAX (2001), National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002), Bad Girls From Valley High (2005), Choking Man (2006), Mission: Impossible III (2006), and The Last House on the Left (2009).

He became engaged to Lauren Parsekian in Paris on January 1, 2012.The two met at the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California. They were married on May 26, 2013. In 2013, Aaron and Parsekian helped raise $1.8 million for the Kind Campaign, a non-profit anti-bullying organization. During a ceremony at Boise’s famous Egyptian Theatre, Idaho governor Butch Otter declared October 1 “Aaron Paul Sturtevant Day”.

While the Army and the Air Force readied themselves for the battle on the heights of Kargil, Indian Navy began to draw out its plans. Unlike the earlier wars with Pakistan, this time the bringing in of the Navy at the early stages of the conflict served to hasten the end of the

conflict in India’s favor.

In drawing up its strategy, the Navy was clear that a reply to the Pakistani misadventure had to be two-pronged. While ensuring safety and security of Indian maritime assets from a possible surprise attack

by Pakistan, the Indian

imperative was that all efforts must be made to deter Pakistan from escalating the conflict into a full scale war. Thus, the Indian Navy was put on a full alert from May 20 onwards, a few days prior to the launch of the Indian retaliatory offensive.

Naval Operations

22PATRIOTISM

FALLEN,BUT NOTFORGOTTEN

Naval and Coast Guard aircraft were put on a continuous surveillance and the units readied up for meeting any challenge at sea.

Time had now come to put pressure on Pakistan, to ensure that the right message went down to the masterminds in that country. Strike elements from the Eastern Fleet were sailed from Visakhapatnam on the East Coast to take part in a major naval exercise called ’SUMMEREX’ in the North Arabian Sea. This was envisaged as the largest ever amassing of naval ships in the region. The message had been driven home. Pakistan Navy, in a defensive mood, directed all its units to keep clear of Indian naval ships. As the exercise shifted closer to the Makaran Coast,

Pakistan moved all its major combatants out of Karachi. It also shifted its focus to escorting its oil trade from the Gulf in anticipation of attacks by Indian ships.

As the retaliation from the Indian Army and the Air Force gathered momentum and a defeat to Pakistan seemed a close possibility, an outbreak of hostilities became imminent. Thus the naval focus now shifted to the Gulf of Oman. Rapid reaction missile carrying units and ships from the fleet were deployed in the North Arabian Sea for carrying out missile firing, anti-submarine and electronic warfare exercises. In the absence of the only aircraft carrier, Sea Harrier operations

from merchant ships were proven. The Navy also readied itself for implementing a blockade of the Pakistani ports, should the need arise. In addition, Naval amphibious forces from the Andaman group of islands were moved to the western sea-board.

In a skillful use of naval power in the form of ’Operation Talwar›’, the ’Eastern Fleet’ joined the ’Western Naval Fleet’ and blocked the Arabian sea routes of Pakistan. Apart from a deterrent, the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief later disclosed that Pakistan was left with just six days of fuel (POL) to sustain itself if a full-fledged war broke out.

-Abhimanyu Singh.

[THE END]

final episode23

PATRIOTISM

Is death a spectator?

In the history of cricket, November 25, 2014, had marked a black page. Australian batsman Phillip Hughes demised due to

the head injury caused by a bouncer. His death, while at his peak rate of growth, shocked the cricket world. Before the mourn stops its echo, Hillel Avaskar (55), Indian born Israelian refree was dead due to a ball injury.

Who knows? Death might be on a winter vacation and might have planned to spend its time in cricket ground.

24SPORTACUS

Rohit Rain @ Eden Garden!

Rohit Sharma (264 off 173 balls) established a world record for the highest individual ODI innings, outstripping the 219 by Virender Sehwag vs West Indies at Indore on December 8, 2011.

“42 boundaries (33 fours and 9 sixes), 5 complete fifties, second double century, batsman who faced more balls in a single

ODI, …” – his record list traced towards the horizon at Eden.

Makkav open title

P.V. Sindhu retained her women›s singles title at Makkav Badminton open series. In the final match, the defending champions wrestled against South Korea›s Haiyo Min. From the beginning, Sindhu dominated Haiyo Min and won the match in the direct sets (21-12, 21-17).

Wahrahh!!! The distance between Rio (Olympics) and Makkav (open tournament) is ready to face the smashes.

KALEID

-O-SCOPE

25SPORTACUS

Our stars know no Flaws

International cricket world cup tournament for Blind was held at South Africa. Indian team bagged the cup by beating Pakistanis. India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, England, Australia, Bangladesh have participated in this tournament.

India went to South Africa with just 17 players and 3 officials, yet the force was enough to pocket the cup.

26A GIRL’S PAGE

The game is over! We are tied up and powerless. We are closed and we are limited. Eyes wide open yet unconscious. We are selfish and we are ignorant. So much army..so much protection. But we are all timid and the WAR is yet to begin!!

1..2..3... In a second or two,100+ notifications making almost every crazy noise to grab our attention. But what’s more,we are running out of all energy resources and hence there is a shortage of essential food and water resources. The nature is getting destroyed just as the veil of dark wind(pollution) spreads across the world. There are so much of endangered species in both flora and fauna,which will eventually put ourselves in that list of endangered perhaps extinct!

(Now read the first paragraph again.)

“A WORLD OF CONTRADICTION”

SARU MATHI

27A GIRL’S PAGE

Photo: Kevin MathewHindustan university+91 9840636849

PORTRAIT IN LANDSCAPE

Conceptual design for INSDAG ‘14.

30GRAPHIC TALK

The brief was to design a “cultural complex” cum spirutual centre. ‘Triangle’ was used as a basic element in the design. The triangles are arranged in such a manner that it

tappers to the sky to give a sensuality towards spirtuality. The complex is arranged in 3 parts - main stucture consists of a sanctum, meditation centre,

OAT and a gathering space while the remaining two consist of accomadation, marriage halls, schools, charitable trusts.Designed by -

Rucevel |Vishal |

Bharath |Syed Hussain |

32RESEARCH

DECLINEOF AURANGAZEB AND THE MUGHALS

SGA THOMAS

Before venturing into Aurangazeb’s Deccan policy, it’s equally important to look at his precessors’ deccan policies, especially Akbar’s.

Deccan Policy of Mughals:

The Deccan policy of the Mughals was guided by a number of factors like the strategic importance of the region, the administrative and economic necessities of the Mughal empire, etc. It is evident that

Akbar was the first Mughal emperoror to have ventured into Deccan. After the conquest of Gujarat in 1572-73, Akbar decided to extend the Mughal influence in the Deccan so as to protect the trade routes to the ports of Gujarat and to control the Portuguese who had emerged as a power in the west coast. But Akbar was more cautious while taking further steps in Deccan. Not only just because he was

containing the Bengal internal revolts, but also because of his understanding of the complex relationship that remained among the states. In 1591 A.D., he sent his ambassadors to Khandesh, Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Golconda and asked them to accept his sovereignity. But this mission was partly a success and hence Akbar attacked Kandesh and captured forts of Burhanpur and Asirgarh. He

also captured part of Ahamadnagar and occupied few strong forts like Daulatabad, A h m e d n a g a r , Burhanpur and Asirgarh. It is to be noted that Akbar was able to consolidate his success in Deccan as he was careful enough to normalize the chaos in the captured areas. He never kept on annexing. He annexed because he felt political conditions in those areas would be troublesome to the mughals and also the need to supress the portuguese.

Jahangir tried to follow Akbar›s policy in the Deccan, but could not do so because of his preoccupations elsewhere. Moreover, they had a formidable

adversary in Malik Ambar, the wazir of Ahmednagar who was superior to them in military skill. Malik Ambar improved the economy of Ahmednagar, trained Maratha soldiers in guerilla warfare, fought aggressive wars against the Mughals and during the early period of the reign of Jahangir recovered the fort of Ahmednagar and some other territory of the state of Ahmednagar from the Mughals. During Jahangir›s reign there was no territorial gain by the Mughals.

A u r a n g a z e b : T h e Viceroy of Deccan:

Shah Jahan also attempted either to annex the kingdoms

of the Deccan or force them to accept the suzerainty of the emperor. He was a capable commander and understood the politics of the Deccan well. The death of Malik Ambar gave him good chance to put pressure on Ahmednagar and eventually Ahmednagar was annexed to the Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb, when appointed as governor of the Deccan for the second time in 1652 A.D., he pressurized Golconda because it had failed to pay the annual tribute to the Mughals. Aurangzeb captured Hyderabad and besieged the Golconda fort. But before he could capture it he received

33RESEARCH

34RESEARCH

orders from Shah Jahan to stop the siege. Therefore, a treaty was signed between the two by which Golconda accepted the suzerainty of the Mughal emperor.

The attempt of the Mughals to capture Bijapur in 1631 A.D., however, failed. The Mughals again attacked it in 1636 A.D. and forced it to accept their suzerainty. Shah Jahan ordered Aurangzeb to attack Bijapur. Aurangzeb besieged the fort of Bijapur but before he could capture it, he received orders of Shah Jahan to stop the siege. A treaty was, therefore, signed between the two by which Bijapur accepted the suzerainty of the

Mughal emperor and agreed to pay rupees one and a half crores to the Mughals. The forts of Bidar and Kalyani also remained with the Mughals. Thus, the Deccan policy of the Mughals during the reign of Shah Jahan remained quite successful.

Aurangzeb’s Deccan Policy:

Aurangzeb’s policy towards the Deccan had political as well as religious purpose. The extension of the empire was one purpose of Aurangzeb. Probably it is believed that extinction of the states of Bijapur and Golconda was a prior necessity for the destruction of the power of the Marathas

in the Deccan. Besides this political motive, he desired to annex these states because their rulers were Shias. Bijapur had failed to fulfill the terms of the treaty of 1657 A.D. The political situation was also very vulnerable because Adil Shah died in 1672 A.D. and was succeeded by his four-year son, Sikandar Adil Shah. The Mughals took advantage of it and attacked Bijapur in 1676 A.D. but with no results till Aurangzeb himself reached the Deccan. Bijapur was finally annexed to the Mughal Empire and so was Golconda.

The Deccan policy of the Mughals reached the perfection of its success during the rule of Aurangzeb.

But it was short-lived. The Marathas rose against him and brought about the collapse of his Deccan policy. The endless war in the Deccan exhausted his treasury and participated in the disintegration of the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire had become too large to be ruled by one man or from one center. Aurangzeb’s enemies rose on all sides.

Factors conditioning the Aurangzeb’s Deccan policy:

• The limited Mughal financial resources in Deccan;

• The Mughal relations with the Deccan states;

• The rise of the Marathas.

Limited Mughal Finances in Deccan:

The limited Mughal financial resources in the Deccan had adversely affected Mughal policy in Deccan since Jahangir›s time. The Mughal governors was obliged to maintain additional military contin¬gents without any hope of receiving financial help from the emperor.

Further, the revenue collected (Hasil) was far less than the revenue expected (Jama) in the province. Under Aurangzeb, when Raja Jai Singh appealed for additional subsidy against Bijapur, he was sanctioned the required amount reluctantly and on

the condition that the amount granted would be duly recovered.

The failure of the expedition led Aurangzeb to refuse to compensate Jai Singh the sum of a crore of rupees, which the latter had spent from his own income. Deccan governors, like the Marathas, sought to alleviate the financial crisis by raiding the neighboring territories. This was one way of aug¬menting their meagre finances; but it also created greater lawlessness.

Relations with Deccan states:

As regards the second factor, once the Deccan states realized

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36RESEARCH

the seriousness of the Mughal threat, they allied themselves with their rivals, the Marathas. Although plagued by mutual distrust, the Deccan states and the Marathas were unified in the face of what they perceived as foreign opposition in the form of the Mughals. The problem was compounded by the strategic placement of the Marathas.

Shivaji›s Swaraj was an uneven terrain where every hill was a natural fort, and it comprised the region that belonged to the Mughals and Bijapur. Its unevenness made it a natural ground for guerrilla tactics. Consequently, the Mughals failed to isolate the Marathas

or the Deccan states as they had effectively isolated Mewar.

With regard to the above, Aurangzeb was left with three alternatives.

One was to maintain the status quo in Deccan, so long as the state paid their tribute regularly and did not shelter any Mughal adversary. The Marathas too could be left in peace provided they restricted themselves to the south and did not raid Mughals territory. Aurangzeb initially adhered to this policy and would have continued to do so but for the rapid decline of Bijapur and the meteoric rise of Shivaji, which endangered Mughal

interests in Deccan. Matters came to a head when the fugitive Prince Akbar was granted asylum by Shambhuji. Aurangzeb then replaced the policy of non-intervention in Deccan for that of a policy of annexation.

The adoption of a forward policy which was propagated by Jai Singh in 1660 AD, was the second alternative. Jai Singh advocated the conquest of Bijapur with Shivaji›s help, rather than attacking the Deccan states and the Marathas simultaneously.

Once isolated, Shivaji, it was felt could be eliminated with ease. With this aim in mind, overtures of

friendship were made to Shivaji and the treaty of Purandhar signed. A powerful section of Mughal courtiers consisting of Diler Khan, Jaswant Singh and Jahanara, did not approve of the policy, however.

These courtiers refused to ally with a petty zamindar and raider, and put an end to Jai Singh›s efforts to secure the support of the Marathas. The absence of an alternative strategy towards either the Marathas of the Deccan states, led the Mughals to waste a decade from 1666 to 1676 AD in half-hearted attacks against Shivaji and in encouraging intrigues at the Bijapur court.

Securing Bijapur›s support to help defeat Shivaji, was the third alternative left to the Mughals. Yet there were no concrete efforts made to achieve this aim.

The third factor in influencing Aurangzeb›s Deccan policy was the meteoric rise of the Marathas under the dynamic leadership of Shivaji in the seventeenth century. The Maratha-Mughal contest lasted nearly a quarter of a century, and ended in disaster and humiliating defeat for the Mughals.

Aurangzeb’s Sunni bigotry made him as hostile to the Shia states of Bijapur and Golkonda as he was

to the Hindu powers. Clearly Aurangzeb’s Deccan policy was misguided as it was based more on his religious policies, rather than emphasizing more on diplomatic political policies as Akbar did. His erroneous judgment of Shivaji was another factor to add on (Aurangzeb himself admitted it during his last days.) which was compounded by annexation of Bijapur and Golconda. Moreover beheading of Maratha King Shambaji, made Marathas rise under his son and showed unusual valor. The Deccan ulcer ultimately ruined Aurangzeb.

-Sga Thomas.

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