Two Halves of the Reign
AURANGZEB’s remarkable reign of fifty years can be “naturally divided into two equal parts”, each having its own well-defined features distinguishing it from the other. During ‘,he first part, that is from 1658 to 1681, the north remained the centre of interest and of all important developments, civil and military, while the south “figured as a far-off and negligible factor”. But in the second half of the reign the centre of political gravity from Northern India to the Deccan, where the Emperor went in 1681 with his family, his court and the bulk of his army, and the administration of the north was consequently neglected, plunging the whole of it into disorder and anarchy. The Emperor was able to crush the Muslim Sultanates of Bijapur and Golkunda. but in his struggle with the nascent nationalism of the Marathas, the issue remained undecided. The Deccan exodus produced disastrous consequences for the Empire, and the long reign of Aurangzeb, in spite of his wonderful industry and splendid devotion to duty, culminated in tragedy.
Accession and Two Coronations
We have already related the story of Aurangzeb’s acquisition of the throne. He was twice enthroned-once on the 21st, July, 1058, immediately after his occupation of Agra, and again with great elcat in June, 1659, after his decisive victories at Khajwah and Deorti. The Ehutba was read in his name and he assumed the title of ‘Almagir (Conqueror of the World) with the additions of Padshah (Emperor). and Ghazi (Holy Warrior). Like some other Muslim rulers, Aurangzeb began his reign with attempts to alleviate the distress of the people, caused by general Administrative disorders during the war of succession and the famine prices of goods. He remitted many vexatious and taxes, but, as in the am of earlier rulers, his prohibition, except in one or two cans, “had no effect”.
Territorial Expansion: North-Eastern Push
The territorial expansion of the Mughul Empire, which was a process continuing through two centuries, went on apace in the reign of Aurangzeb. If we exclude the losses of the preceding reign in Qandahar and Central Asia, the conquests of the Emperors had remained intact, and before the rise of the Maratha kingdom in the south, Aurangzeb’s “ambitious and enterprising officers” successfully extended their master’s dominion. Palamau was conquered in 1661 by Daud Khan, the governor of Bihar. On the eastern frontier of the Empire the officers of Aurangzeb found ample scope for their energies. In 1661 Mir Jumla, the governor of Bengal, set out with a well equipped army towards this frontier to check the aggressions of the Ahoms. A people of Mongoloid origin, the Ahoms had migrated from their original home in Upper Burma and occupied a the part of the Brahmaputra valley as early as the thirteenth century A.D. Gradually extending their territories to the west during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, they established a dominion the which by the end of the seventeenth century stretched up to the Bar Nadi river in the north-west and the Kaling river in the South-west. Here they were gradually Hinduised and adopted the Hindu religion and customs. At the same time, the the limit of the Mughul Empire had been extended up to the Bar us Nadi river by the conquest of Koch Hajo, embracing the present districts of Kamarupa and Goalpara. This made a conflict between the Mughuls and the Ahoms inevitable. As a matter of fact, the Mughulo’ had already had to fight hard with the Ahoms, when the latter raided the eastern frontier of the Empire during the reign of Shah Jahan, and a peace was concluded early in 1639. But taking advantage of the war of succession, the Ahoms occupied Gauhati in 1658 and seized 140 horses, 40 pieces of cannon, 200 matchlocks and much property. To pm”h these aggressors, Mir Jumla started from Dacca early in November 1661, with a powerful army of 12,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry, provided with artillery, provisions for siege and a number of armed boats, which were indispensably necessary for carrying on war in those parts. His early operations were successful. He conquered both Cooch Bihar and Assam, and sharing with the common soldiers all the hardships which the “opposition of Nature end man ” could impose during his ” triumphant march “, he reached Garhgaon, the capital of the Ahoms kingodom, on the 17th March, 1662. The Ahoms now offered little resistance and left their capital and property to the mercy of the imperialists, who enormous spoils.
But Nature soon fought for the Ahoms. With the commencement of the rainy season, Mir Jumla’s army suffered terribly from the unhealthy !climate and lack of provisions and medicine. Emboldened by this, the Ahoms, who “had been seared away and not crushed”, soon resumed the offensive and began to harass the Mughuls, whose sufferings increased owing to the outbreak of pestilence and famine in their camp. But, undaunted by the odds, the Mughul governor continued to fight and resumed the offensive after the rains. Considering that further resistance would be of no avail, the Aboms concluded a treaty of peace with the imperialists. Thus, “judged as a military exploit”, remarks Sir J. N. Sarkar, “Mir Jumla’s invasion of Assam was a success”. The Ahom king, Jayadhvaj, promised to pay an annual tribute, and a heavy war-indemnity, a part of which was to be delivered immediately and the rest was to be cleared off during the next twelve months in three equal installments. The Mughuls were also to occupy more than half the province of Darrang, rich in elephants. But this success was purchased at a great cost. It caused immense hardships to the Mughuls and the loss of many lives, including that of Mir Jumla himself, one of Aurangzeb’s beat generals, who died on the 30th March, 1663, on his way back to Dacca. It was also short-lived. A few years later the Ahoms reoccupied Kamarupa. The Mughul government carried on a long desultory warfare, but with no permanent advantage.
Shaista Khan, son of Asaf Khan, and maternal uncle of Aurangzeb, was appointed governor of Bengal after the short and unsuccessful administration of an acting viceroy, which immediately followed the death -of Mir Jumla He held this post for about thirty years, with a break of less than three years, and died at Agra in 1694, when he was more than ninety years old. He chastised the Portuguese pirates, annexed the island of Sondip in the Bay of Bengal, which had been it :stronghold of pirates, and conquered Chittagong (1666) from their ally, the King of Arakan”. But the evil of piracy could not be wholly eradicated.’ It continued to harass the people of eastern Bengal till late in the eighteenth century.
