Sitting in our history classes, it was so easy for us to frown and move our head disapprovingly thinking of what an evil and cruel ruler Aurangzeb was.

Little did we know, how wrong we were and how the historians maneuvered their way in letting people believe their much biased and false accounts.

Now looking back at history, The Mughals took power in India during the reign of Babur in the 1500s. Over 150 years later when Aurangzeb took power, the Mughal Empire was at is pinnacle. It controlled the majority of the Indian subcontinent and was one of the wealthiest (if not the wealthiest outright) empires in the world.

So now we see, Aurangzeb born into a powerful and cosmopolitan state with immense wealth in 1618. His father was none other than the legendary Shah Jahan, the builder of the 7th wonder of the world ‘the noble Taj Mahal’ in Agra.

He had the best scholars and teachers to educate him from a young age. Not only that, but as a young boy, he became well-versed in the Quran, the science of Hadith, and other aspects of Islamic sciences. He was known as a very enthusiastic reader. He read and wrote in Arabic, Persian, and Chagatai Turkic, the language of his ancestors.

However, one of his desires and main goals was to bring true Islamic governance to the Mughal Empire for unfortunately the previous emperors, while all Muslim, had not all ruled according to Islamic law.

Infact, his great grandfather Akbar had come with a new religion and called it the “din-i-illahi”.

On the other hand we see his affluent father extravagantly building one of the world’s wonder (a tomb for his mother), which was again against the Islamic law as Islam advocated moderation in spending our capital.

He vehemently opposed this act of his father and also made it a point to publicly oppose excessive veneration of the graves of Sufis, as he noted that it was developing into a cult-like practice, away from the beliefs and practices of Islam.

Besides these, he sent officials throughout the empire to enact Islamic law and end socially corrupt practices. As such; alcoholism, gambling, and prostitution were combated by the imperial government. Taxes that were not in line with Islamic law were also abolished, a policy that was very popular with the Mughal Empire’s subjects.

To make up for the loss in tax revenue, Aurangzeb adopted a very simple lifestyle and did not live in a lavish manner as his father had. Royal traditions that he considered extravagant were abolished, such as court musicians and festivities on the emperor’s birthday.

To think that a man born in a golden cradle now willfully living without much extravaganza is indeed a sacrifice that Aurangzeb made.

While the accomplishments and religious-mindedness of Aurangzeb’s reign is indisputable there are those historians and academics who insist that the lasting legacy of Aurangzeb is intolerance and oppression. He is commonly cited as a temple-destroyer and someone who attempted to eliminate non-Muslims in his empire, while the truth is, that unlike the muslim masjids, the hindu and sikh temples were used for political reasons. These temples were used by the priests to entice rebellion against the Mughals.

Infact, no historical records show that he had an indiscriminate policy of temple destruction across India. The temples he chose to destroy were carefully selected and a small fraction of the total Hindu houses of worship in India. This is because when Aurangzeb chose a temple for destruction, it was a politically motivated act, not a religious one. It thus became a policy when fighting rebellions against central authority, that the temple that spawned that rebellion also be destroyed.

An example of this was a 1669 rebellion in Banaras led by a political rival, Shivaji, who used the local temple to rally support to his cause. After capturing Shivaji, Aurangzeb destroyed a temple in Banaras that was used as a political recruiting ground against his reign.

Thus we see, Aurangzeb was a religious-minded leader who strove hard to ensure an Islamic character permeated through all his actions as leader.  This did not however mean religious intolerance as he followed guidelines for protection of non-Muslims that is mandated by Islamic law.

Bint hasan , Writer, AAT