AURANGZEB ALAMGIR (1658-1707)

The new regulations and ordinances must have produced a deep impression on the people affected, and added much to the difficulties with which the imperial government had to deal. No one can deny the Emperor Aurangzeb the credit of being a sincere and conscientious exponent of the faith that was in him. But it also true that his ardour and zeal made him oblivious of the fact that the . country over which destiny had placed him to rule was not inhabited by a homogeneous population but included various elements rich in their religious traditions and ideals, which needed Aurangzeb certainly tactful and sympathetic understanding. made a mistake in identifying the interests of the State with those of his faith and in offending those who differed from it. This policy generated feelings of discontent among certain sections of the people, which by distracting his energies during the remainder of his reign proved to be one of the most potent causes of the decline and fall of the Mughul Empire.

Reaction against the New Policy

The Jats, the Bundelas and as Satndmis

The first serious outbreak of anti-imperial reaction took place among the Jats of the Muttra (Mathura,) district, where the imperial faujdar, ‘Abdun-Nabi, had oppressed them greatly. In 1669 the sturdy Jat peasantry rose under- a leader, Gokla, zamindar of Tilpat, killed the faujddr, and kept the whole district in disorder for a year, till they were suppressed by a strong imperial force under Hasan Ali Khan, the new faujdar of Muttra. Gokla was put to death and the members of his family converted to Islam. But this did not crush the Jats permanently. They rose once again in 1685 under the leadership of Rajput Rim and plundered Akbar’s tomb at Sikandra in 1688. Rajput Rim was defeated and slain and the principal stronghold of the Jats was reduced in 1691. But they soon found a more formidable leader in Churaman, who welded the disorganised Jats into a strong military power and organised an armed resistance against the Mughuls after Aurangeb’s death.

The second armed protest against Aurngzeb’s policy was led by the Bundela prince, Chhatrasal. We have already traced the early relations of the Mughuls with the Bundelas. Chhatrasal’s father, Champat Rai, had risen against Aurangzeb during the early part of his reign, but hard p by the Emperor, he committed suicide to escape imprisonment. Chhatrasal had served the Emperor in the Deccan, where, inspired by the example of Shiviji, he “dreamt of taking to a life of adventure and independence”. The discontent of the Hindu population of Bundelkhand and Malwa gave him the opportunity to stand forth “as the champion” of his faith and Bundela liberty by 1671. He gained several victories over the Mughuls, and succeeded in carving out an independent principality for himself in Eastern Malwa with its capital at Panna, before his death in 1731.

Another revolt occurred in March, 1672, among the Satnamis, who were originally an inoffensive sect of Hindu devotees with their centres at Narnol (in the Patiala State) and Mewat (Alwar region). Khafi Khan writes of them: “These men dress like devotees, but they nevertheless carry on trade and agriculture, though their trade is on a small scale. In the way of their religion, they have dignified themselves with the title of ‘Good name , this being the meaning of Satnam. They are not allowed to acquire wealth in any but a lawful calling. If any one attempts to wrong or oppress them by force, or by exercise of authority, they will not endure it. Many of them have weapons or arms. ” The immediate cause of the rising of the Satnamis was the murder of one of them by a Mughul foot-soldier. They occupied Narnol, and when the situation proved to be serious the Mughul Emperor “ordered his tents to be brought out”. The untrained Satnami peasants were soon overpowered by a large imperial force. “Very few of them escaped, and that tract of country was cleared ” of them.

The Sikhs

The new imperial policy caused discontent among the Sikhs also. We may conveniently give here a short history of the Sikhs during the reigns of the predecessors of Aurangzeb before we deal with his relations with them. The Sikh community, destined to play an important part in the history of Modem India, came into being during the period of religious revival which marked the history of India in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was originally founded as a religious sea by Guru Nanak, a the fundamental truth underlying all religions, and the chief features of whose system were its ” non-sectarian character” and its harmony with secular life. He died in 1539 after nominating one of his disciples, Angad (1539-1552), as his successor, excluding his two sons. Angad and the next Guru, Amardis (1552-1574), were men of high character. Amardas was succeeded in the Guru’s office by his son-in-law, Ramdas (1574-1581). Akbar, who had a great veneration for this Guru, granted him a plot of land at Amritsar containing a which was enlarged and improved and on the side of which Pool was constructed a famous Sikh temple. It was during Ramdas’ pontificate that the succession to the spiritual headship of the Sikhs became hereditary. The fifth Guru, Arjan Mal (1581-1606), was a man of great organising capacity. Under him the Sikh community grew in numbers and spread far and wide over the Punjab.

He compiled the Adi Granth, or “the First Sacred Book”, as the original Sikh scripture is called, by collecting select veins from the works of his four predecessors as well as from those of the Hindu and Muhammadan saints who had appeared since the days of Jaidev. He did his best to consolidate the Church, and the prestige and wealth of the Guru increased considerably. As a contemporary remarked: “The Emperor (Akbar) and Kings bow before him. Wealth ever cometh to him.” His predecessors had been content with the “fluctuating voluntary offerings” of their disciples, but Guru Arjan tried to organise the finances of his Church by introducing the system of a more or less compulsory “spiritual tribute” to be collected by a band of his agents called masands. The early Gurus were religious preachers and did not interfere in politics, but Guru Arjan expressed his good wishes for the rebel prince Khusrav. Jahangir, who had probably grown suspicious of the Guru for his great wealth and influence, tortured him to death in 1606 on a charge of treason. This must have offended the Sikhs, whose hostility to the Mughul Empire was not,. however, openly manifested at this time. The next Guru, ‘Har Govind (1606-1645), son of Arjan, was a man of warlike and adventurous spirit, and gathered a small army round him. He had to undergo imprisonment for some time in Gwalior for his refusal to pay the arrears of the fine that had been imposed on his father. He rose against Shah Jahan and defeated an imperial army at Sangrama near Amritsar in 1628. In 1634 he shifted his headquarters to Kiratpur in the Kashmir Hills, where he died’ in 1645 after nominating his younger grandson, Har Rai (1644-1661), as his successor. Har Rai was followed in the Guruship, after his death in 1661, by his second son, Har Kishan (1661-1664). Nothing important happened during the regimes of these two Gurus, but “the fiscal policy of Arjan, and the armed system of his son, had already formed the Sikhs into a kind of separate state within the empire”.