Book Review - Aurangzeb
Name: Aurangzeb – The Man and The Myth
No. of Pages: 153
We all have read about Mughal Sultanate during the History class in childhood and many of whom I know, hated the subject for the details it had – dates, names, references, etc.
But I always loved History class! Right from the Stone Age man to Hitler and from Shivaji Maharaj to World War – It was a blissful subject and I loved the lengthy answers the teacher would dictate and we later, scribbled in the examination answer sheets.
The book, Aurangzeb – The Man and The Myth, is a wonderful flashback of those childhood classroom lessons where many struggled remembering the names and the hierarchy!
It is a story which chalks down the details of Aurangzeb – the emperor, who is one of the most hated men in the Indian History.
Aurangzeb Alamgir (1658-1707) was the 6th Mughal Emperor and widely known as a Hindu hater, a murderer, and a religious extremist.
While we have grown to learn the same story over these many years, there is an untold story of the man who strove to be a just, worthy Indian King.
No doubt he was a religious dogmatist who read the Holy Quran 5 times a day, every day, no matter he was in this home or on the war field, imprisoned his own father - Shah Jahan, or killed his very own brothers for the Peacock throne.
Aurangzeb was a man full of contrasts and puzzling features.
He loved power, captured majority of the (then) Indian subcontinent, built the world’s biggest mosque, slaughtered his own family, ripped apart his enemies, loved eating mangoes and would anger if they were rotten, would hire Hindus among his high rankings but also order to tear down the Hindu temples, he hated any unfair administration, but imprisoned his own father.
All this, for the desire to lead a pious life.
He loved music and married a musician – Hirabai, but later lost his interest and stopped any musical activities, but married another musician – Udaipuri, with whom he spent his last few years.
Indeed, he built a large mosque but wished to be buried in an unmarked grave.
In an attempt to expand the Mughal Kingdom as far as he could, he trusted no one to be as
capable as him to take the reign further.
The book brings out a different side of the history which is a delight to the reader. Sure, you won’t remember the entire hierarchy or all the names, but to know the other side of the history is utter joy!
I loved a statement at the end of this Biography –
“To attempt a sumary of the major events of a fifty-year reign of an emperor the equal of Jamshid is to measure the ocean’s water with a pitcher.”
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