There are conflicting view regarding Emperor Aurengzeb Alamgir. In Pakistan, he is mostly presented as a saint, a very unassuming ruler who used to write copies of Quran and make caps to earn money for his personal use. At the same time, he is projected as a callous person who had all of his brothers executed especially had Dara shikoh beheaded for political reasons but used religion to justify it and projected him as an apostate. He kept his ailing father in house-prison till his death. Hindus and sikhs are in particular wary of him because of his atrocities like destroying temples etc. So can you guys shed light on him to cut the fluff and present a correct picture of him.
Re: Aurengzeb Alamgir: A saint or a villain?
Correct picture? You just did. All of the above. Brutal with his own siblings and father. Doesn't matter how much you pray. When your actions are abominable.
Re: Aurengzeb Alamgir: A saint or a villain?
Depends on who's writing history. It always cracks me up when people portray Akbar as some of jovial figure. Dude took over most of India in his time. Did he invite people for tea and sweet talk them into giving up their land? He has as much blood on his hands as any other ruler. Better historical PR doesn't change that.
Re: Aurengzeb Alamgir: A saint or a villain?
What those kings did during wars/battles is one thing but my point is the way they ruled during peace time or act when they had free hand to decide and could go this way or the other. A short question: Did Aurengzeb actually oppress the non-Muslims or Muslims from different schools of thoughts?
Re: Aurengzeb Alamgir: A saint or a villain?
The same person who one party considers as a hero will be a villain for others. He was definitely not a saint, he was a ruler like those before him. He was more devout and hence a bit rigid towards the minorities, thats another reason why most of them consider him as a villain.
Re: Aurengzeb Alamgir: A saint or a villain?
A "bit" rigid. Like Misbah is a "bit" slow.
Re: Aurengzeb Alamgir: A saint or a villain?
For me he is like characters from Mahabharata. Not completely black and white, but gray.
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/indo-pak-history/545002-aurangzeb-bad-ruler-or-bad-history.html
Re: Aurengzeb Alamgir: A saint or a villain?
The same person who one party considers as a hero will be a villain for others. He was definitely not a saint, he was a ruler like those before him. He was more devout and hence a bit rigid towards the minorities, thats another reason why most of them consider him as a villain.
People regrarded him as "Zinda Peer" i.e., a living saint. Also he published his own set of "Fatawas" as "Fatawa-e-Alamgiri". Being devout is different from being stern or rigid or less accommodating if not cruel.
Re: Aurengzeb Alamgir: A saint or a villain?
Judging Aurangzeb from modern perspective is wrong.
Secularism is new social force, Aurangzeb never knew what secularism meant and had no use of such philosophy.
Akbar was peaceful because he needed peace to maintain his empire, the number of revolts faced by Aurangzeb were high so his story is violent and in some cases like Kashi Vishwanath an outright fundamentalist.
Re: Aurengzeb Alamgir: A saint or a villain?
He was certainly not a saint, he usurped the right of succession of Dara Shikoh , the war of succession cost thousands of lives. He did wrong to his father, such men are condemned in the eyes of God. He was paranoid about his sons and didnt allow them to groom.
That being said, he was not a villain from any angle. He was perhaps the last capable Mughal ruler with some spark of timurid spirit left. His wars were for restoration of peace and writ in the empire after he became emperor. Only Mughal ruler who refrained from women and alcohol and other degenerated vices.
There are many despicable characters in the history, Aurangzeb is saint when compared with those "villains"
Re: Aurengzeb Alamgir: A saint or a villain?
My inference from history:
Akbar was not that Great **as considered by Hindus etc and not that **Petite as portrayed by Muslims etc.
Aurangzeb was not that Brutal as considered by Sikhs etc and not that Kind as portrayed by Muslims etc.