English PSSSB Practice 88

Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir, the sixth and last of the great Mughal emperors, remains one of the most complex and controversial figures in Indian history. Born in 1618, the third son of Emperor Shah Jahan and Empress Mumtaz Mahal, Aurangzeb ascended the throne in 1658 after a fierce and bloody war of succession that left a permanent scar upon the imperial family. Unlike his predecessors, who had balanced temporal power with artistic patronage and religious tolerance, Aurangzeb ruled with an uncompromising sense of orthodoxy and austere discipline. A devout follower of Islam, he sought to restore what he believed to be the moral and spiritual purity of the empire, imposing strict adherence to Islamic law (Sharia) and abolishing practices he viewed as un-Islamic. Yet beneath this religious rigor lay a ruler of exceptional administrative skill, intellectual depth, and personal restraint. He lived with remarkable simplicity, earning his livelihood in old age by copying the Qur'an-a symbolic act that reflected both humility and faith. Aurangzeb's reign, stretching over nearly half a century (1658-1707), witnessed the Mughal Empire at its greatest territorial expanse, extending from the Himalayas to the southern tip of the Deccan. His military campaigns, though relentless, were driven by both ambition and duty-he subdued powerful kingdoms such as Golconda and Bijapur, yet the prolonged wars in the Deccan drained the empire's treasury and weakened its unity. The emperor's rigid religious policies, including the reimposition of the jizya tax and the destruction of certain temples, created deep rifts among his subjects, contrasting sharply with Akbar's ideal of Sulh-i-Kul. Still, Aurangzeb was an administrator of rare efficiency, maintaining a disciplined bureaucracy and ensuring the smooth functioning of justice, finance, and law across a vast dominion. His personal integrity, frugality, and devotion to duty won him admiration even among his critics. When he died in 1707, the Mughal Empire stood immense in size but hollow in spirit, strained by exhaustion and rebellion. Aurangzeb's legacy is thus one of paradox-he was at once a saintly monarch and an unyielding autocrat, a man who expanded the empire's boundaries while narrowing its soul. In his reign ended the golden age of the Mughals, and with him faded the dream of a unified empire ruled by both power and grace.