Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire
Fexingo History · South Asia
Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire
Aurangzeb Alamgir, the sixth Mughal emperor, ruled for nearly half a century (1658–1707) and oversaw the empire’s greatest territorial expansion—and its most rapid unraveling. This show traces his life from the fratricidal War of Succession that brought him to power to his relentless campaigns in the Deccan against the Maratha king Shivaji and his successors. We explore the imposition of jizya tax, the destruction of Hindu temples, the execution of Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur, and the long rebellion of the Jats and Rajputs. Lucas and Luna dissect the emperor’s personal piety versus his political pragmatism, his complex relationship with the British East India Company, and the economic cost of constant warfare. They examine the later Mughal court’s cultural stagnation despite Aurangzeb’s patronage of Islamic scholarship and calligraphy. The show also confronts modern debates: was Aurangzeb a bigot or a realist? Did his policies cause the empire’s decline, or was he a victim of structural forces? From the architectural splendors of the Badshahi Mosque and Bibi Ka Maqbara to the brutal siege of Golconda, this is a story of ambition, orthodoxy, and the price of power. Join us as we ask: can an empire be expanded to death?
