Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir: Saint, tyrant, or something far more complicated?
PART ONE: A TALE OF TWO HISTORIES 📍 Context The Mughal Empire (1526–1857) was one of the largest and wealthiest empires in human history, at its peak governing roughly 150 million people — about one-quarter of the world's population — and generating nearly 25% of global GDP (Maddison 2007). It was founded by Babur, a Timurid prince of Central Asian and Mongol descent, and reached its zenith under Akbar (r. 1556–1605), Jahangir (r. 1605–1627), Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658), and Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707). The empire governed a religiously plural society: roughly 80% Hindu, alongside Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Zoroastrians, and Christians. Aurangzeb was the sixth and last of the 'Great Mughals.' After his death in 1707, the empire rapidly fragmented. The partition of British India in 1947 created two new nations — India (predominantly Hindu) and Pakistan (predominantly Muslim) — along with the ideological nee...