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LURE - THRU THE AGES
Eternal India
encyclopedia
man, he had assiduously cultivated learning,
self-knowledge, self-reverence and self-con-
trol. He was extremely industrious, methodi-
cal and disciplined in habits and thought.
He treated all non-Muslims as inferior
people. He was suspicious by nature. Be-
sides killing his brothers, he imprisoned his
three sons. His daughter committed suicide in
prison.
Before his death Aurangzeb is said to have
left a will partitioning his vast empire among
his three surviving sons. The eldest, Muham-
mad Mu'azzam who emerged successful in
the war of succession after killing his two
brothers, was sixty-four years old when he
gained the throne.
Friends of Mughals
*
Daulat Khan Lodi, governor of Punjab
(Babur)
*
Raja of Amarkot (Humayun)
*
Shah Tahmasp of Persia (Humayun)
*
Raja Biham Mai of Amber (Akbar)
*
Rajputs (Akbar)
*
Mirza Ghiyas Beg, father of Nur Jehan
(Jehangir)
*
Asaf Khan, brother of Nur Jehan
(Jehangir and Shahjehan)
*
English East India Company (Jehangir).
Foes of Mughals
*
Ibrahim Lodi (Babur)
*
Rana Sanga, the Rajput King (Babur)
*
Bahadur Shah, Sultan of Gujarat (Hu-
mayun)
*
Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan (Humayun)
*
Himu, Prime Minister of Bengal (Hu-
mayun)
*
Rajput kingdom of Mewar (Akbar)
*
Portuguese (Shah Jehan)
*
Marathas (Aurangzeb)
*
Sikhs (Aurangzeb)
*
Rajputs (Aurangzeb).
Weakness
*
The religious policy of Aurangzeb caused
the downfall of the Mughal empire. He
alienated the sympathy and support of all
non-Muslims by committing all kinds of
atrocities on them. He carried out a sys-
tematic demolition of the Hindu temples
and tried to forcibly convert Hindus into
Muslims.
*
The later Mughal kings became very ease
loving and lovers of pleasure. Most of
them were involved with their harem and
had no time for the affairs of state. This
hastened the fall of the Mughal dynasty.
*
Emperor Jehangir was a hard drinker.
Emperor Shah Jehan, after the death of
his queen in 1631, spent the remaining
years of his reign in gross licentiousness.
Raja Birbal's
House,
Fatehpur Sikri
Built in 1572, the plan of the building
is unique. It provides two semi-detached
and yet entirely separate suites of rooms.
Built in redstone, the general composition,
with its play of light and shade, makes it
one of the most attractive architectural
features of the city.