Aurangzeb And The Decay Of The Mughal Empire

In The Annals Of Mughal History, Aurangzeb Occupies A Place Of Prime Importance. It Was During His Reign That The Mughal Empire Was At Its Zenith, Yet At The Same Time The Beginning Of The Collapse Of The Mughal Rule Is Traceable To The Time When He Was In Power. Aurangzeb As A Prince Had Shown Great Promise Both As An Administrator And As A General. His Rule Of 60 Years Was Full Of Incessant Activity And His Principal Wars Were Either Political Wars Of Conquest, Or Those Waged To Suppress The Hindu Movements To His Oppres¬Sive Religious Policy. His Relations With The Marathas From Shivaji On¬Wards Form An Interesting And Instructive Pact Of His Reign. Aurang¬Zeb Had A Keen Concept Of The Ideal Of Kingship And He Took A Lot Of Interest In The Welfare Of The Peasantry. That The Administration Of Justice Was Fair Under Aurangzeb Has Been Amply Testified, Not Only By The Indians But By The European Travellers Too. All These Aspects Form Part Of The Book Titled Aurangzeb , Authored By Stanley Lane-Poole, Which Was Originally Published As Early As 1896.Lane-Poole Has Given A Just Estimate Of Aurangzeb Being Uncom-Parably His Father S Superior A Wiser Man, A Juster King, A More Intelligent And Benevolent Ruler. While Asses¬Sing His Overall Performance As A Ruler, Once Again, He Rightly Observes (Endorsing The View Of Khefi Khan And V.A. Smith) Aurangzeb S Life Had Been A Vast Failure Indeed, But He Had Failed Grandly. The Sources For The History Of The Reign Of Aurangzeb Are A Little Too Many, But Lane-Poole Has Based This Study For The Most Part On The Accounts Of European Travellers Like Bernier, Tavernier, Fryer, Ovlngton, Caveri Etc., Though He Has Also Con¬Sulted Translated Versions Of Persian Chroniclers Like Khefi Khan And Abdul Hamid Lahori.Though Requiring Corrections In Certain Details, Lane-Poole S Aurang¬Zeb Is The Most Readable Account Of The Reign Of This Last Great Ruler Of The Mughal Dynasty. A Reprint Of This Short Book Was Overdue, And The Publishers Have Done A Good Job Of Again Publishing It After Decades.