Unravelling the Myth: Exploring State and Religion under Aurangzeb

Abstract

Traditional historiography often identifies Aurangzeb as 'communal' or as a 'religious bigot' whose orthodox policies alienated large sections of Hindu community away from Mughal rule weakening the base of the Mughal empire in the subcontinent. This article emphasises on the need to contextualize most of Aurangzeb's actions before he be labelled as communal or a bigot. This paper attempts to explore the politics behind many of Aurangzeb 's most controversial actions like the levying of j izyah or the destruction of temples in order to show that most of Aurangzeb 's policies were a response to the political exigencies encountered by him rather than being fueled by any quest/or imposing a rigid Islamic order throughout the Mughal empire. This article also focuses on several other aspects of Aurangzeb's reign, often ignored by the traditional historiography which clearly indicates Aurangzeb's willingness to conform to the model of rule laid down by Akbar which was based on a broad idea of tolerance and patronage to all religions.