Anecdotes of Aurangzib

Title: Anecdotes of Aurangzib

Author: Jadunath Sarkar

Publisher: Sangam Books 1988 (First published 1912)

ISBN: 0861319583

Pages: 101

This is a nicely written small book on Aurangzeb, the last of the great Mughals. Known also as Alamgir, he created fault lines in the administration on account of his bigotry and unmitigated hatred of Hindus and Shia Muslims. What Akbar had made, Aurangzeb undid. Having no long term plan or vision about his empire, he wasted the kingdom’s resources on continued warfare. Weakness thus set in, and the alienation of a large and powerful section of the nobles paved the way for the eventual dissolution of the Mughal Empire. This book is a collection of anecdotes translated from a Persian work which was found in the private collection of William Irvine, the historian of the ‘Later Mughals’ (reviewed earlier in this blog). This manuscript was not known to exist in any other library of Europe or India and no historian had used it till then. It is the Ahkam-i-Alamgiri, attributed to Hamid-ud-din Khan, also called Nimchah-i-Alamgiri. Jadunath Sarkar is the Boswell of Aurangzeb, having written many books and articles about the last of the great Mughals. Sarkar was a learned professor in British India who was knighted for his erudition.

Aurangzeb was an utterly suspicious and deeply jealous person. The Mughal administration was a highly centralized one, with the emperor acting as the fulcrum. Provincial governors had to seek approval for all matters from the emperor. News writers in the provinces informed all incidents, however small and inconsequential, to the capital. The emperor’s own sons were not exempt from these ever watchful spies. In several anecdotes, we see Aurangzeb acting harsher towards his offsprings than other officials. Any small appropriations of royal privilege like organizing elephant fights, riding in a palki (ornamented litter) and playing of kettledrums which the local administrators clandestinely enjoyed were immediately brought to the attention of the emperor and the erring official chastised by severe reprimand or reducing his rank and jagir. From a few anecdotes, we also get to know that Aurangzeb was deeply worried at the prospect of the nemesis of Shah Jahan visting upon him. His sons seemed to be his enemies and were subjected to long terms of confinement. Any kind of initiative or ostentation in their provincial administration were severely put down. Each time he was issuing an order rebuking his son, Aurangzeb wrote that he was doing this to escape the fate that befell on his father, Shah Jahan, who was ease-loving and delegated more power to his sons. Alamgir was also a believer in astrology as we see him extolling the star positions in favour of his acts and decisions.

The anecdotes are categorized into four sections – about the emperor himself, about his sons and grand sons, about his officers and the policy towards Hindus and Shias. A succinct biography of the bigoted king provides a welcome introduction to the anecdotes. Apart from the Ahkam-i-Alamgiri, which is the source of most of the anecdotes in the book through three versions of the manuscript, Sarkar has also relied upon another manuscript called Sharah-i-dastkhat-i-Alamgiri.

Any book on Alamgir can’t omit the grave acts of intolerance instituted by him. Sarkar gives a detailed list on page 8. In an orgy of jehad, Aurangzeb pulled down the Vishwanath temple at Varanasi in 1669, razed the Kesava Rai temple at Mathura to the ground in 1670, built a mosque there, took the idols to Agra and buried them under the steps of Jahanara’s mosque so that they might constantly be trodden on by worshippers going in to pray. The Rajput War of 1679-80 was accompanied by the destruction of 240 temples in Mewar alone, while 67 temples were destroyed in Jaipur, which was in fact an ally of Aurangzeb. Jaziya, the hated poll tax on Hindus, was reimposed in 1679. The poor people who appealed to him crying for its remission were trampled down by elephants and dispersed. With a clever order in 1695 that banned all Hindus except Rajputs from carrying arms or riding elephants and horses, he in effect dismissed all Hindu clerks from office. Custom duties were abolished on Muslims and doubled on Hindus. A nice, tolerant guy indeed! Aurangzeb’s fierce hatred of Hindus was equaled only by his deep aversion to Shias. He liked the naming of a favourite dagger as the ‘Shia-slayer (Rafizi-kush)’. In his correspondence, he never mentions Shias without an abusive epithet : ‘corpse-eating demons (ghul-i-bayabani)’ and misbelievers (batil maz haban)’ were among his favourite phrases (p.10). Even with this background, it looks strange that in his will, he does not earmark the money earned by copying the Quran for his shroud, as it is regarded by the Shia sect as illegal (p.36). Also, his will contains twelve directive sections to his successors as it is a holy figure. Remember that the Shias have twelve imams!

Lack of an index is a serious concern, but owing to the small size and effective categorization of content, it doesn’t cause any significant loss of utility. Authenticity of the events narrated should only be accepted as accorded to the descriptions of a loyal courtier. Unless independent verification is available, they need not be accepted as genuine history. But in another aspect, this book is unique. Students of history always saw Aurangzeb as a stern religious guy who shunned dance, art, music and poetry. This book provides some glimpses of the man behind the veil of imperial portraiture. We see him getting angry, sad and happy, thus bringing out the basic human nature buried deep within the man who was simple in tastes and lived a virtuous life, but whom Indians love to hate.

The book is strongly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star