Mughal Empire: The Foundation of the Mughal Empire in India

Babur (1526-1530 A.D.):

Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur after defeating Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526 founded the Mughal Empire in India. He was a descendent of Timur on his father’s side and to Chengiz Khan through his mother.

His fifth expedition to India was the Battle of Panipat, the first being the expedition in 1519 when he captured Bhera.

He assumed the title of Ghazi, after the Battle of Khanwah (1527) in which he defeated Rana Sangram Singh or Rana Sanga of Mewar the greatest Rajput ruler of the period.

Next he captured Chanderifrom the Rajput chief Medini Rai. In the Battle of Ghagra, 1529 A.D., Baburdefeated Mahmud Lodi and his ally Nusrat Shah of Bengal. Babur died on December 26, 1530 at Agra and was buried at Kabul. A scholar of Persian and Turki, he is said to have invented a new style of verse in Persian known as Mubaiyan. Babur wrote his memoirs Tuzuk-i-Baburi in Turki.

Humayun (1530-40 A.D.) & (1555-56 A.D.):

Nasir-ud-din Muhammad surnamed Humayun, the fortunate succeeded Babur in December 1530 at the young age of 23. Following the Timurid legacy, he divided the empire among his three half- brothers, Kamran, Hindal and Askari. Humayun defeated Mahmud Lodhi at Daurah in 1532 A.D. He laid siege to Chunar in 1532 but could not conquer it.

Sher Khan Suri submitted to him. Of the Afghans, Sher Khan Sur, proved to be the most formidable enemy of Humayun and in 1539, at the Battle of Chausa, Sher Khan defeated Humayun and assumed the title of Emperor of India under the name Sher Shah.

At the Battle of Kannauj in 1540 A.D. Sher Shah routed the Mughal forces under Humayun. After his final defeat, Humayun had to pass nearly fifteen years (1540-55 A. D.) in exile. But shortly after regaining the empire in 1555 after defeating Sikander Sur, he died in 1556. Humayun built a new city at Delhi, which he named Dinpanah.

The Sur Empire:

The childhood name of Sher Shah, the founder of the second Afghan dynasty or the Sur Empire was Farid. He began his career with the administration of his father’s iqta at Sahasram in South Bihar. Later, Farid joined the service of Behar Khan Lohani, the Afghan governor of South Bihar from whom he received the title of Sher Khan. He assumed the reins of government on the dealti of Queen Dudu Bibi as the independent ruler of South Bihar and styled himself as Hazrat-i-Ala.

His first great achievement was the acquisition of the famous fort of Chunar as a consequence of his marriage with Lad Malika. The conquest of Bengal and Bihar enhanced his power and prestige. After the historic victory of Chausa in which he defeated Humayun, Sher Shah Suri was proclaimed Emperor of Northern India at the age of 68. In the Battle of Kannauj (1540) he completely routed the Mughal forces.

As a ruler, Sher Shah ruled the mightiest empire after Muhammad Bin Tughluq. At the Battle of Samel (1544) Sher Shah defeated Maldeo of Marwar. During his last campaign against Kalinjar he died due to a freak accident (1545). He was buried at Sasaram in a tomb which he built for himself.

Sher Shah was succeeded by his second son Islam Shah who ruled till 1553. Mubariz Khan assumed the title of Muhammad Adil Shah and made Hemu the Chief Minister. Humayun defeated Sikandar Suri and occupied Delhi in 1555 and thus the Suri Empire fell.

Akbar:

Akbar was born to Humayun and Hamida Banu Begum on 23^rd November, 1542 A.D. at the palace of Rana Virasal of Amarkot. Humayun reconquered India by defeating the Afghans and entered Delhi on July 23, 1555. After his death on January 26, 1556, at Delhi, Akbar was formally proclaimed as the successor of Humayun on 14^th February, 1556 at Kalanaur.

Akbar was just 13 years and 4 months old at the time of accession. Hemu the general and minister of Adilshah Sur after assuming the title of ‘Vikramaditya’ was defeated by Akbar in the second battle of Panipat (5 November, 1556). After appointing Abdul Latif as Akbar’s tutor, Bairam Khan (guardian of Akbar) consolidated the administra­tion as Akbar’s vakil (regent) (1556-60 A.D.).

After his removal from regency, he left for Mecca, however on his way he was assassinated at Patan near Ahmedabad in January 1561. Akbar married his widow Salima Begum and brought up her child as his own son, which later became famous as Abdur-Rahim Khan-i-Khanan. Akbar died after an attack of dysentery on October, 1605 and was buried at Sikandra.

Conquests:

During his early phase (1556-67 A.D.), Akbar successfully contested with the nobility. During 1561 and 1567, the Uzbeks who held important positions in Eastern U.P, Bihar and Malwa broke out in rebellions which were crushed by Akbar. Mirza Hakim, Akbar’s half-brother, also rebelled by seizing control of Kabul which was also crushed. Malwa was conquered by Adham Khan and Bir Muhammad in 1561 from the musician ruler Sultan Baz Bahadur.

In 1562, Raja Bihari Mai tendered his submission to Akbar and cemented the alliance by marrying his younger daughter Harkha Bai to Akbar. Her son Salim (later Jahangir) succeeded Akbar. His son Bhagwan Das and grandson entered Akbar’s royal service. Man Singh rose to the rank of 3,000, highest among the nobility along with Aziz Khan Koka. The strong fortress of Merta in Marwar was captured in 1562.

The conquest of Gondwana in 1564 under Asaf Khan against Rani Durgavati, the regent of her minor son Vir Narayan, was also successful. Akbar himself conducted the siege of Chittor (1567-68 A. D.) which fell in 1568 after a gallant opposi­tion by the Rajputs under Jaimal and Patta. Rana Udaysingh, after the capture of Chittor built a new capital at Udaipur and carried his struggle till his death in 1572. A.D.

The fall of Chittor was followed by the conquest of Ranthambhor, (1569) the most powerful fortress of Rajasthan. As a result of these victories, most of the Rajput states including those of Bikaner and Jaisalmer, submitted to Akbar.

He also married the princess of Bikaner and Jaisalmer. Raja Ramchand, the chief of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand also submitted to Akbar in 1569. The conquest of Gujarat (1572-73 A.D.) was due to its special economic advantage. Akbar himself marched in 1572 against Gujarat and defeated the puppet king Muzaffar Shah III. After this, Akbar turned his attention to Bengal and Bihar (1574-76 A.D.) ruled by Daud Khan an Afghan.

In 1576, Daud Khan was killed which brought to an end the last Afghan ruler in Northern India. In 1576, was fought the famous battle of Haldighati between Akbar and Rana Pratap, the successor to Mewar. The Mughal forces led by Man Singh of Amber and Asaf Khan defeated Rana Pratap who barely escaped with his life.

The conquest of Kabul in 1581 by Akbar, which was ruled by his half-brother Mirza Hakim was a great triumph for the Mughals. The conquest of Sindh in 1590 opened the trade down the river Indus. Kandhar was incorporated in the empire in 1595. After the first siege of Ahmadnagar by the Mughal forces, the besiegers concluded a treaty with Chand Bibi in 1596, whereby Berar was ceded to the Mughals.

In the second siege of Ahmadnagar, Chand Bibi was killed and it was conquered (1600 A.D.). The last campaign of Akbar was against Mian Bahadur Shah of Khandesh in 1601, whereby Asirgarh its strong fortress was captured and Khandesh was annexed to the Mughal Empire.

Administrative measures:

Babur brought with him the Timurid traditions that the ruler had the divine right to rule, which was also followed by Humayun. Akbar’s concept of suzerainty have been put forward by his biographer, Abul Fazl. According to him “Royalty is a light emanating from god, and a ray from the sun called Farr- i-izidi (the divine light).

Thus, royalty was a divine gift, and the ruler endowed with Farr-i-izidi had a paternal love towards the subject. After Akbar had taken the reins of government in his own hand, he took a number of liberal measures. In 1562, he passed a decree that the Hindu prisoners of wars were not to be made slaves or converted to Islam. In 1563, the pilgrim tax was abolished. In 1564, he abolished jizyah which the non-Muslims were required to pay in a Muslim state.

Akbar, next turned his attention to the task of reorganisation of government. He reorganised the central machinery of administration on the basis of the division of power between various departments, and of checks and balances.

His important contribution was the development of a provincial administration patterned on the central system of government. Dastur-ul-Amals or Rule books containing detailed rules and regulations for controlling both the provincial and district administration were devised.

Central administration:

The form of Mughal government was despotic monarchy. The king was the head of the state and its chief executive. He was the supreme commander of the imperial forces and the fountain head of justice. Each minister was individually answerable to the monarch.

Vakil—Bairam Khan was the Vakil of Akbar. As a Vakil, he controlled both revenue and military affairs. After Bairam Khan’s fall the Vakil was stripped of all powers and became largely decorative. The imperial Diwan rose to prominence under Jahangir and in Shahjahan’s reign the Vakil’s office was abolished.

Diwan or Wazir:

The all-important department of revenue taken away from the Vakil was placed in the charge of Diwan. Akbar generally used the title of Diwan or Diwan-i-ala in preference to Wazir.

Mir-Bakshi:

He was the head of the military and intelligence department. He was not the Commander-in-Chief but was the paymaster-general. All intelligence officers (barids) and news-reporters (Waqia-navis) reported to him.

Mir-Saman:

He was in charge of the imperial household including the supply of all the provisions and articles for the use of the inmates of the harem. Sadr or Sadr-us-Sadur was the head of the ulama and was considered to be the chief advisor of the king regarding religious matters. He awarded subsistence allowances (maddad-i-maash) to deserving scholars, divines and weaker sections. He was also the qazi-ul-quzzat, or head of the judiciary. However, the king himself was the final court of appeal.

Besides the above mentioned ministers who constituted the main pillars of the Imperial govern­ment, a number of other high officials were appointed at the Centre.

i) Muhtasib-Censorof public morals. Under Akbar, his functions were secularised.

ii) Mir-i-Atish—Head of ordinance department.

iii) Mir-i-Barr—Imperial officer in charge of forests.

iv) Mir-i-Bahr—supervised state boats and fleets.

v) Daroga-i-Dak Chauki— Incharge of information and intelligence department (worked independ­ently)

vi) Mir-i-mal—Officer in charge of privy purse

vii) Mir-i-munshi—Incharge of imperial correspondence.

viii) Mir-i-tuzuk—Master of ceremonies.

Provincial and Local Administration:

In 1580, the Mughal Empire was divided into 12 Subah or provinces. Later, after the expansion of the empire into the Deccan, three more Subahs—Khandesh, Berar and Ahmadnagar were formed. During Jahangir’s reign, the number of Subahs rose to 17, under Shahjahan it rose to 22 and under Aurangzebto21.

The head of the administration in the Subah was called Sipahsalar, Subahdaror Nazim who was directly appointed by the Emperor. He was responsible for the general law and order problem in the Subah. He was the commander of the provincial army and assisted the Diwan in collecting the land revenue and extending cultivation.

He was assisted by a diwan, a bakshi, a sadr-cum-qazi, a mir-adl for justice, a kotwal, a mir-bahr and a waqia-navis. These officers were subordinate to the Governor, appbinted directly by the Emperor, and were answerable to him and to the head of their ministry at the centre.

Thus, the principle of checks and balances were carried to the provincial government. The proyincial diwan was an independent officer who was the head of the revenue department in the Suba. He supervised the revenue collection in the Suba and maintained accounts of all expenditure incurred in the form of salaries of the officials and subordinates in the suba. The diwan was also to take steps to increase the area under cultivation. In many cases advance loans (taqavi) were given to the peasants through his office.

The Bakshi performed exactly the same military functions as were performed by his counterpart at the centre. Often his office was combined with waqianigar. In this capacity his duty was to inform the centre the happenings in his province. At every Suba headquarters, daroga-i-dak was appointed. His duty was to pass on letters through the postal runners (mewras) to the court.

At the provincial level, waqia-navis and waqia nigars were appointed to supply the reports directly to the emperor. Besides, there were also sawanih nigar to provide confidential reports to the emperor. Akbar introduced the office of the provincial Sadr, particularly with the object of weakening the authority and influence of the imperial Sadr. The three Deccan provinces were held by a Viceroy. Prince Daniyal was the first Mughal Viceroy of the Deccan.

Jahangir (1605-27):

After the death of Akbar in 1605, Salim, his eldest son, succeeded to the throne in Agra fort on November 3, 1605 and assumed the title of Jahangir. Two of his younger brothers Murad and Daniyal had died earlier on account of drunkenness.

He was married to Man Bai, daughter of Raja Bhagwan Das of Amber (mother of Prince Khusrau). His favourite wife was Jagat Gosai, daughter of Raja Udai Singh of Jodhpur who gave birth to Prince Khurram (later Shahjahan).

He issued 12 ‘ordinances’ to mark his coronation, for the general welfare and better governance of the country. Tamgha or Mir-Bahri, a cess was repealed. He forbade the manufacture and sale of wine and intoxicating drugs throughout the empire.

Slaughters of animals were banned on Sunday (day of Akabar’s birth) and Thursday (his coronation day). Shortly after Jahangir’s accession, his eldest son Khusrau, broke out into rebellion (1606).

However, the rebellion by Khusrau proved to be short-lived. Jahangir defeated him at a battle near Lahoi e and soon afterwards he was captured and blinded. Guru Arjun Dev was executed on May 30, 1606 for blessing the Prince. Later in 1920, Prince Khusrau was killed on Prince Khurram’s order at Burhanpur.

Khusrau was very popular with the people as well as with the Mughal nobility. For this he was remembered long as the ‘martyred saint.’ Jahangir, as Prince Salim was also responsible for the killing of Abul Fazl by the Bundela chief, Bir Singh Deo Bundela in 1602.

Mehrunnisa, later titled Nur Jahan after her marriage with Jahangir in 1611 was made Padshah Begum in 1613. She was the daughter of Ghiyas Beg who was given the title of Itimad-ud-Daulah and prior to her marriage with Jahangir she was married to Ali Quli Istajlu, titled Sher Afghan.

She married Jahangir, after the killing of Sher Afghan in Bengal by the gaurds of Qutbuddin Khan, the governor of Bengal. Some modern historians are of the opinion that along with her father Itimad-ud-daulah, brother Asaf Khan and in alliance with Khurram, Nur Jhan formed a group of “Junta” which “managed” Jahangir, so that without its backing and support no one could advance in his career.

This led to the division of the court into factions—the Nur Jahan “junta” and its opponents. Nur Jahan’s daughter, Ladli Begum, born from her first husband, Sher Afghan, was married to Prince Shahrya the youngest son of Jahangir (political rival of Khurrarrii). Asaf Khan married his daughter, Arjumand Bano, with Khurram.

Conquests:

After his accession in 1605, Jahangir himself took up the task of settling the outstanding dispute with Mewar. Three successive campaigns launched proved to be unsuccessful. In 1613, Jahangir, deputed Prince Khurram to invade Mewar. This campaign proved decisive and Rana Amar Singh came to terms with the Mughals.

All the territories of Mewar, including Chittor, were restored, but it was stipulated that the fortifications of Chittor would not be repaired. The revolt in Bengal was brought to an end after Jahangir posted to Bengal, Islam Khan in (1608). The principalities of Jessore and Kamrup were annexed. To keep the area under full control, the provincial capital was transferred from Rajmahal to Dacca.

After the fall of Ahmadnagar in 1600 AD. Malik Ambar, an Abyssinian unleashed a fierce campaign to expel the Mughals from Berar, Balaghat and Ahmadnagar. By 1610, all the gains in the Deccan made by Akbar were lost. From 1603, a number of campaigns were sent by Jahangir against Ahmadnagar and in 1617; Malik Ambar was forced to submit. Jahangir did not try to enlarge the conquest made by Akbar in the Deccan due to deliberate policy.

Despite the reverse, Ambar recon­quered large portions of Ahmadnagar and Berar. In 1921, Prince Shah Jahan was deputed to lead the Mughal campaign against the combined Deccani forces under Malik Ambar which again suffered a severe defeat at the hands of the Mughals. Ambar had to restore all the Mughal territories.

The greatest failure of Jahangir’s reign was the loss of Kandahar to Shah Abbas of Persia in 1622. The revolt of Prince Shahjahan (1623-25) was suppressed by Prince Parvez and Mahabat Khan.

The defeat of Mahabat Khan who staged a successful coup was the greatest victory attained by NurJhan. Jahangir died near Lahore and was buried at Shahadra on October 28, 1627.

Shahjahan (1628-58 A.D.):

Born to Jagat Gosain, daughter of Raja Udai Singh of Jodhpur in 1592, Shahjahan was coronated at Agra in February 1628. Asaf Khan was awarded the official title of uncle and Mahabat Khan was given the title of Khan-i-Khana. Mumtaz Mahal was the wife of Shahjahan. She was the daughter of Asaf Khan and her real name was Arjumand Banu Begum.

On his coronation, Shahjahan made her the chief queen with the title of Malika-i-Zamani. She gave birth to 14 children, out of which 8 died in infancy. Only 6 children attained maturity (i) Jahan Ara Begum (ii) Dara Shikoh (iii) Shah Shuja (iv) Roshan Ara Begum (v) Aurangzeb (vi) Murad Baksh. Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631. A.D.

The first three years of his reign were disturbed by a rebellion in Bundelkhand by Jujhar Singh, son of Bir Singh Bundela and another rebellion by Khan-i-Jahan Lodi, governor of the Deccan who joined the Nizam Shahis. The rebellion in Bundelkhand was suppressed by the Mughal army under Aurangzeb, which was his first assignment.

Here, Aurangzeb gave the first proof of his religious intolerance by destroying the Hindlu temple of Orcha. After suppressing the rebellion of Deccan governor, Shahjahan ousted the Portuguese from Hugli and occupied it in 1632.

Even after the death of Malik Ambar, his policy of refusing to recognise the Mughal position was being continued by the Nizam Shahi ruler. Shahjahan, therefore concluded that there could be no peace for the Mughals in the Deccan as long as Ahmadnagar continued as an independent state.

This was a major departure from the policy followed by Akbar and Jahangir. In 1633, the Nizam Shahi dynasty came to an end at the hand of Mahabat Khan. Adilshah Shah entered into a treaty with Shahjahan, by which he agreed to recognise Mughal suzerainty (1636). Shahjahan completed the settlement of the Deccan by entering into a treaty with Golcunda (1636) which also recognised Mughal soverignty.

In 1636, Aurangzeb was appointed the Mughal viceroy in the Deccan. This was the first viceroyalty of Aurangzeb (1636-1644) Khandesh, Berar Daulatabad and Telingana were the four Mughal prov­inces in south. In 1644, he was appointed as Governor of Gujarat. His second viceroyalty of the Deccan was during the period (1652-57 A.D.).

His second term occupies a permanent place in the history of land settlement of Deccan on account of a competent revenue administrator, Murshid Quli Khan, whom he appointed as his diwan. In 1665, the Prime minister of Golcunda joined Aurangzeb and Golcunda was besieged.

Consequently, a second treaty was concluded with Golcunda in 1656. Mir Jumla joined the Mughal service. Similarly in 1657, the Adilshahi kingdom of Bijapur was attacked, but peace was made with Bijapur too on the intervention of Shahjahan. By the treaty of 1657, Bijapur was compelled to surrender the Nizam Shahi areas ceded to it by the accord of 1636.

Kandahar and Shahjahan’s Balkh campaign:

After being free of Deccan affairs in 1636, Shahjahan induced Ali Mardan Khan, the Persian governor of Kandahar to defect to the Mughal side (1638). Thus Kandahar was recovered from Persia (after its loss in 1622) without fighting.

In 1647, Balkh and Badakshan expedition were led by Prince Murad, Sadullah Khan and Aurangzeb, which proved to be a failure. The setback in Balkh also emboldened the Persians to attack and conquer Kandahar in 1649.

Three successive campaigns, first and second under Aurangzeb, and the third under Dara in 1653 was launched to recover Kandahar, but all proved to be miserable failures.

War of succession (1657-58 A. D.):

The last years of Shahjahan’s reign were clouded by a bitter war of succession among his sons. At this time, Shah Shuja was governor of Bengal, Prince Murad was Governor of Gujarat, Aurangzeb was the viceroy of Deccan and Dara held the viceroyalty of North-west India. Jahan Ara supported Dara while Roshan Ara supported Aurangzeb.

Sulaiman Shikoh, Dara’s son aided by Mirza Raja Jai Singh defeated Shah Shuja near Banaras (February, 1658) who had crowned himself. Another army under Raja Jaswant Singh faced the combined forces of Aurangzeb and Murad at Dharmat, in which Aurangzeb emerged victorious (April 1658). After this victory, Aurangzeb marched towards Agra and in the ensu­ing Battle at Samugarh (29 May, 1658) the Mughal forces under Dara were decisively defeated.

After the defeat and flight of Dara the fort of Agra was also surrendered by Shahjahan and he was made a prisoner: Living as a captive in Shahburj of Agra Fort he died in 1666. Aurangzeb treacherously impris­oned Murad, after which he was killed. On July 21, 1658 Aurangzeb crowned himself as Emperor in Delhi.

Aurangzeb defeated Shah Shuja at Khajwah (December 1658) who fled to Arakan. The Battle of Deorai near Ajmer (March 1659) was the last major battle Dara fought against Aurangzeb. Later, Dara was beheaded in 1658.

Aurangzeb: Expansion in the Deccan, Religious Policies:

Aurangzeb, crowned himself as Emperor of Delhi on July 21, 1658 and assumed the title of Alamgir. His formal coronation took place on June 5, 1659, after the battles of Khajwaha and Deorai. As a puritan, Aurangzeb was an excellent calligraphist (copist of Quran) and cap maker. He was Viceroy of Deccan (1636-44 A.D.), Governor of Gujarat in 1645-47 during his early days. After the Balkh expedition, he was appointed Governor of Multan and Sind in (1648-52 A.D.). He was again appointed as Viceroy of Deccan in (1652-57 A.D.).

His first wife was Dilras Begum, officially styled Rabia-ud-Daurani. His second wife Nawab Bai was a Kashmiri Rajput lady, mother of Mohammad Muazzam Shah Alam who became Emperor Bahadur Shah in 1707 A. D. His third wife Udaipur Mahal, was mother of youngest son Kam Baksh. Aurangzeb was also regarded as Zinda pir or a living saint on account of his simplicity, orthodox and god-fearing nature.

He did away with the pandari (octroi duties) and rahadari tax on (island transport) to alleviate the economic distress of the people. He abolished many un-Islamic practices such as practice of engraving Kalima on the coins, stopped the celebration of Nauroz, abolished the solar calender and Arab lunar year was introduced. He also revived the Islamic theory of kingship. The practice of jharokhadarshan and the weighing of Emperor on his birthday was also discontinued.

Mir Jumla, the governor of Bengal first annexed Cooch Bihar to the Mughal kingdom in 1661. Next, he invaded the Ahom kingdom and occupied its capital Garhgaon, and finally in 1663, he forced the Ahom king to make a humiliating treaty in 1663. In 1667, all the gains made by Mir Jumla were rapidly lost to the Ahoms, following his death. Shaista Khan, who succeeded Mir Jumla as the governor of Bengal conquered Chittagong in 1666.

During the period 1667-75, a series of tribal uprising combined with the religious revivalist move­ment called Raushanai broke out in the North-west region which was put to an end by Aurangzeb himself. In 1669, the Jats of the Mathura region broke out in rebellion under the leadership of Gokla.

In 1672, the Satnamis, a religious body comprising of peasants, artisans and low caste people broke out in an open rebellion. I n 1665, there was a second uprising of the Jats under the leadership of Rajaram, which was continued by Churaman, but by 1691, he was compelled to submit. All these rebellions were suppressed, but later it led to the rise of autonomous states.

Aurangzeb annexed Marwar after the death of its chief Maharaja Jaswant Singh (1678) and de­cided to award the tika of Marwar to Inder Singh instead of Jaswant’s posthumous son Ajit Singh. It was at this stage that Mewar entered the war on the side of Ajit Singh.

Prince Akbar also (Aurangzeb’s son) joined Durgadas Rathor, the Rajput chief. The war against Marwar and Mewar continued till 1698 when at last, Ajit Singh was recognised as the ruler of Marwar. Aurangzeb’s policy towards Marwar and Mewar damaged Mughal military prestige.

Expansion in the Deccan:

On coming to the throne, Aurangzeb had two problems in the Deccan: the problem posed by rising power of Shivaji and the Bijapur problem. Jai Singh’s Bijapur campaign (1665) proved to be a failure against the united front of the Deccan states. In 1665, treaty of Purandhar was signed between Shivaji and Raja Jai Singh.

A desperate effort of Diler Khan, the Mughal viceroy, to capture Bijapur in 1679-80 also failed. Meanwhile Aurangzeb’s son, Prince Akbar rebelled in 1681 and sided with the Rajputs. From Marwar, the rebel prince took shelter with the Maratha king Sambhaji. Aurangzeb, marched to Deccan in 1681 in pursuit of his rebel son but never returned to the North.

After 18 months of siege, Aurangzeb annexed Bijapur in 1686 and Golconda was also annexed in 1687. After the downfall of Bijapur and Golcunda Aurangzeb concentrated all his forces against the Marathas. In 1689, Sambhaji, the son and successor of Shivaji was captured at Sangameshwar and executed.

Rajaram, the younger brother of Sambhaji, was crowned as king and he continued the fight against the Mughals from Jinji on the eastern coast. Shahu, the son of Sambhaji who was in Mughal captivity along with his mother was given the title of Raja and the Mansab of 7000/7000. In 1703, Aurangzeb opened negotiations with the Marathas and was willing to release Shahu but cancelled it at the last moment.

After the death of Rajaram in 1700 at Satara, Tarabai the regent of Shivaji II maintained the pressure on the Mughals.

Aurangzeb died on February 17, 1707 at Ahmadnagar and was buried in a plain grave near the tomb of Sheikh Zainuddin at Khuldabad, now Rauza near Daulatabad.

Religious Policies of Aurangzeb:

Unlike his predecessors, Aurangzeb asserted the fundamentally Islamic character of the state. Regarded as Zinda pir, he abolished all un-lslamic practices as mentioned earlier, and appointed Muhtasibs for regulation of moral conduct. In 1669, Aurangzeb took a number of puritanical measures such as prohibiting singing in the court.

(Himself proficient in playing the veena) He ordered that old temples could be repaired but no new temples should be built. In 1669 the Vishwanath temple at Banaras and Keshava Rai temple at Mathura were destroyed and mosques erected in their place. He also ordered the destruction of Somnath temple and many other temples in Gujarat.

Auangzeb also imposed jizyah on Hindus in April 1679, and made a public proclamation of Jehad (holy war) against all the Hindus with the object of converting the land of in fields into dar -ul- Islam. The proportion of Hindu nobility including Marathas was highest in Aurangzeb’s reign (33%).