Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Lord Kinross, Atatürk: The Rebirth 

of a Nation (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1964); 

Andrew Mango, Atatürk: The Biography of the Founder of 

Modern Turkey (New York: Overlook Press, 1999).

Aurangzeb

 

(1618–1707)  Indian Muslim 

ruler who led the Mughal Empire when it controlled 

the greatest amount of territory on the Indian 

subcontinent

The great grandson of a

kbar

 (r. 1556–1605) and 

son of Shah Jahan (r. 1628–58), Aurangzeb came 

to power during a bloody civil war for succession 

in 1657. After killing all of his brothers, his rivals 

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk 

(Juan E. Campo)

Aurangzeb

  

69  J

---

for power, and imprisoning his father, he secured 

control in northern i

ndia

 and engaged in a series 

of ongoing military campaigns to conquer inde-

pendent kingdoms in the south. When he died in 

1701, his empire stretched from the Himalayas in 

the north to the southern edge of the Deccan Pla-

teau and from Bengal in the east to a

Fghanistan

 in 

the west. His successors were unable to maintain 

control over such a vast territory, so the Mughal 

Empire began to break up into smaller states again 

after his death, setting the stage for the onset of 

British colonial influence in the mid-1700s.

Aurangzeb is remembered for his religious 

conservativism and his intolerant attitude toward 

his non-Muslim subjects, in contrast to Akbar and 

other Mughal rulers. He promoted strict adher-

ence to the 

sharia

, enhanced the influence of the 

Sunni 

Ulama

 in the court, and actively encouraged 

conversion

 to i

slam

. One of his most important 

contributions to the Muslim community was his 

sponsorship of the Fatawa-i Alamgiri (completed in 

1675), a comprehensive compilation of Sunni legal 

rulings. His religious conservativism had serious 

drawbacks, however. Imperial patronage of 

mUsic

, 

art

, and 

architectUre

 decreased, and even though 

Hindus continued to serve as officials and allies 

of the Mughal government, their status declined. 

Active opposition to Aurangzeb, which included 

Muslims, grew as a result of his destruction of 

Hindu temples, the imposition of special taxes and 

restrictions, and his persecution of the growing 

Sikh community in northern India, which resulted 

in the martyrdom of one of their leaders, Guru 

Tegh Bahadur (d. 1675). The legacy of Aurangzeb’s 

policies has continued to fuel Hindu-Muslim ten-

sions in South Asia since independence and parti-

tion in 1947.

See also  d

ara

  s

hikoh

;  h

indUism

 

and

  i

slam

; 

m

Ughal

 

dynasty

.