This emperor provokes millions today - over 300 years dead

This emperor provokes millions today - over 300 years dead

Despite his death over 300 years ago, this Indian ruler continues to cause excitement in the country's politics. Aurangzeb Alamgir has become a central figure in India tense political climate, whose memory leads to sectarian violence in the whole country. The sixth emperor of the famous Mogul dynasty is considered to be a tyrant by many reviews that forced women, forced Hindu temples destroyed, religious conversions and wages wars against Hindu and Sikh rulers.

political instrumentalization of Aurangzeb

In a nation that is now almost completely under the influence of Hindu nationalists, Aurangzebsklabe "crimes" of legal policy actors are taken up. It is declared the ultimate Muslim villain, whose memory must be deleted. Last month there were sectarian riots in the central city of Nagpur when radical Hindu nationalists demanded the demolition of his tomb, which is about 400 kilometers away.

The violence, which was triggered by the presentation of Aurangzebe, triggered violent conquests in a new Bollywood film, led to dozens of injuries and arrests. The Nagpur's authorities were forced to impose an outcome lock. While the tensions between the two communities continue to rise, many right -wing extremist Hindus use names to illustrate historical injustices against the majority of the Hindu faith. This ensures fears of 200 million Muslims.

of admiration and aversion

The Mogule ruled during an era that experienced conquests, dominance and violent power struggles, but also an explosion of art and culture and phases of deep religious syncretism, at least until Aurangzeb. The empire, founded by Babur in 1526, extended from today's Afghanistan in Central Asia to Bangladesh in the east and ended in 1857 when the British plunged the last emperor Bahadur Shah II.

The best known leaders include Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, who pleaded for religious harmony and had a significant influence on Indian culture by having iconic sites such as the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort in Delhi. However, among these more tolerant rulers, Aurangzeb is considered a rather dark figure - a religious zealer and complex character.

aurangzebs ascent to power

"Aurangzeb caused a mixture of admiration and dislike from the moment of his throne ascent," says Abhishek Kaicker, historian of Persian history at UC Berkeley. "He attracted a kind of disgust because he won the throne through the blocking of his father and the murder of his brothers ... At the same time he acquired admiration and loyalty through his personal unexpected and piety, his incomparable military power, which led to the expansion of the moguling empire, as well as his political skill, his administrative efficiency and reputation for justice and impartiality."

Aurangzeb was born in 1618 as the son of Shah Jahan (known by the Taj Mahal) and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Historians describe the young prince as pious and serious figure that showed early signs of management talent. After holding numerous appointments aged 18 and over, he achieved great military success. The shine of the moguling kingdom reached his peak under his father, while Aurangzeb fought for the control of the richest throne in the world.

a sudden change

When Shah Jahan fell ill in 1657, the stage was prepared for a bitterness between Aurangzeb and his three siblings, in which he finally opposed his oldest brother Dara Shikoh, a supporter of a syncretistic Hindu-Muslim culture. Aurangzeb locked his sick father in 1658 and defeated his brother the following year before led him through the streets of Delhi in chains on a dirty elephant.

aurangzebre authority reached extraordinary heights, and under his rule the mogul realm expanded geographically enormously. In the first years of his governance he was a strict ruler, but showed a relative tolerance towards the majority of the Hindu faith. Until about 1679 there were no reports on the destruction of temples or the introduction of the "Jizya" (tax on non-Muslim subjects), explains Nadeem Rezavi, professor of history at Aligarh University in India.

religious intolerance and its consequences

in 1680, however, this changed abruptly. Aurangzeb turned to a form of religious intolerance that has been reverberating to this day. The zealous ruler degraded his Hindu ministers, converted friends into enemies and began a long, unpopular war in the Dekkan, which included the violent oppression of the maraths, a Hindu kingdom that is still revered by India's legal policy actors, including Premier Minister Narendra Modi.

The members of Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) quickly indicate the cruelty that Aurangzeb has added to the Hindus-forced conversions, reintroduction of the Jizya and the murder of non-Muslims. He also waged war against the Sikhs, killed the ninth guru Tegh Bahadur, which is still hated by many Sikhs.

social tensions and political exploitation

This brutality is portrayed in the recently published film "Chhaava", in which Aurangzeb appears as a barbaric Islamist, the Sambhaji, the son of the best known Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji. "Chhaava has lit people's anger against Aurangzeb," said Devendra Fadnavis, Prime Minister of Maharashtra, where Nagpur is located. Muslims reported, members of the right -wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had burned a sheet with verses from the Holy Koran. Yajendra Thakur, a member of the VHP, rejected the allegations, but confirmed his wish to remove Aurangzebre Grab. "Aurangzebs grave shouldn't be here," he said.

rewrite the story

Modi's reference to the man who ruled India in front of him is not surprising. The prime minister, who is open to his faith, has long been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right -wing paramilitary organization that propagates the establishment of Hindu hegemony in India. This claims that India's Hindus were historically suppressed - first by the mogules, then from the British colonial masters, which followed. Many of them want to repay any trace of this story.

The Maharashtra district in which he is buried was renamed Shivaji's son in 2023. The triumphs of his ancestors, the great king Akbar and Shah Jahan, were deleted from history books or not taught in schools. "They try to turn the story back and with myths to replace something from their own idea," said Rezavi. "Aurangzeb is used to demonize a community."

The reaction of society

The BJP of modi denies to use the name of the Mogulkaiser to disparage the Muslims in India. But the reference to the former rulers of India now causes fears and ensure the religious minority. While historians agree that he was a dark, complex figure and did not deny his atrocities, Rezavi said that it was important to see that he lived at a time when "India as a concept" did not exist. "We speak of a time when there was no constitution, no parliament and no democracy," he added.

Kaicker apparently agrees. Such historical figures "do not earn praise or blame," he explains. "They have to be understood in the context of their own time, which differs significantly from ours." In Nagpur, the demands for the removal of the tomb remain unanswered, while some members of the Hindu rights even dismiss the demolition claims as unfounded. The local Muslim resident Asif Qureshi explained that his hometown has never had violence like the experience that was unleashed last month, and condemned the riots that shook the historically peaceful city. "This is a flaw in the history of our city," he said.

Reporting of CNN’s Esha Mitra