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Sri Ram Sharma
66 quotes
“When Sarmad, a famous Sufi, came to Delhi from Hyderabad towards the end of Shah Jahan’s reign, DSra Shikoh had sought his company and paid him many marks of respect. But when Aurangzeb came to the throne, the things took a different turn. Sarmad cried out ‘whoever gained the knowledge of His secret became able to annihilate distance. The Mulla says that the Prophet ascended to the heavens, Sarmad declares that the heavens came down to the Prophet’. The Mullas now found their opportunity. But Sarmad did not deny the ascension of the Prophet. Aurangzeb sent the chief Qazi to Sarmad to question him about his nudity. Sarmad explained it by declaring that the devil had the upper hand. His answer was so worded as to offend the theo- logian by a pun on his name. But this in itself was not enough. Sarmad was summoned to the royal court and asked to repeat the whole of the Muslim creed . Sarmad went so far as to declare that there is no God. When asked to repeat the rest he said his realization went no further. He could now be easily condemned . When the executioner brought forth his axe for his hateful task, Sarmad welcomed it crying ‘I know You in whatever form You care to come’ and embraced death like a martyr. His contemporaries associated many miracles with his death and his tomb is still venerated as that of a great saint”
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“Aurangzeb seemed to have followed a threefold policy with regard to the high Hindu mansabdars. There was a general reduction in the number of Hindus holding high mansabs. Hindus were not appointed to high executive office, nor called upon to discharge responsible military duties. Usually the heads of various hereditary houses were not given the same status as had been held by their predecessors. The petty officials could expect to fare no better. Various orders were passed to break the monopoly of the Hindus in the routine jobs in the revenue department and in the clerical establishment. There is a general order in the Kalimat-i-Ta'yyibat forbidding the employment of the Hindus, Then there is the order preserved in the Maasir-i-'Alamgiri and Muntakhih-id-Luhah forbidding the employment of the Hindus in the revenue department and as personal assistants to various executive heads. An attempt was made to enforce these orders.”
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“Soon, however, Aurangzeb began to act even without the provocation of military necessity. The temple of Somnath was destroyed early in his reign.* This seems to have been one of the results of the order sent to his officials in Gujarat dated 20 November, 1665, Aurangzeb gave directions for the destruction of such temples in Gujarat as had at one time been destroyed or desecrated by him as the prince viceroy of Gujarat but had later on been resumed by the Hindus. It is difficult to understand why these temples in Gujarat were singled out for attack. Aurangzeb probably felt that he was thus initiating no new policy, but simply carrying out Shah Jahan ’s original policy which had been later reversed.”
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“About the same time Aurangzeb’s attention turned towards Mathura. Here many beautiful temples had been raised by the piety of the Hindu Rajas and rich men, particularly during the reign of Akbar and Jahangir. Aurangzeb picked out for attack what looked like a work of repairs in the famous temple of Keshav Rai. Its railing that had once been made of wood had long before become too weak to serve any useful purpose. Under Shah Jahan, Dara Shukoh had built at his own cost a railing of stone. Being a work of repairs as well as a new structure, it became an emblem of a Muslim’s fall from grace. On 14 October, 1666, its removal by the fojdar of Mathura was reported to the imperial court. Some time after the death of Jai Singh, Aurangzeb is alleged to have demolished the Lalta temple near Delhi.”
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Recorded in: citing News letter 14 Oct 1666, and Manucci II 154.
“Soon after the order was issued, reports of the destruction of temples from all over the empire began to arrive. A royal messenger was sent to demolish the temple of Malarina (now in Jaipur but probably then included in the imperial district of Ajmer) in May, 1669. In August, 1669, the temple of Visvanath at Banaras was demolished. The presiding priest of the temple was just in time to remove the idols from the temple and to throw them into a neighbouring well which thus became a centre of pious interest ever after. The temple of Gopi Nath in Banaras was also destroyed about the same time, He is alleged to have tried to demolish the Shaiva temple of Jangamwadi in Banaras. The tradition has it that his attempt failed because of the opposition which the heavenly hosts of Shiva threatened to put up if he persisted in his designs.”
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“Then came the turn of the temple of Keshav Rai at Mathura built at a cost of Rs. 33,00,000 by Rao Bir Singh Bundela in the reign of Jahangir. It had excited the envy of many Muslims, before Aurangzeb, who however had not Aurangzeb ’s opportunities and power. It had been built after the style of the famous temple at Bindraban which Man Singh had built at a cost of Rs, 5,00,000. But Bir Singh had improved upon his model and spent more than six times as much as Man Singh had lavished on his shrine at Bindraban. It had become a centre of pilgrimage for the whole of India. The idols, studded with precious stones and adorned with gold work, were all taken to Agra and there buried under the steps of Jahanara’s mosque. The temple was levelled to the ground and a mosque was ordered to be built on the site to mark the acquisition of religious merit by the emperor.”
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“The priests of the temple of Govardhan founded by the Valabhacarya sought safety in flight. The idols were removed and the priests softly stole out in the night. Imperial territories offered no place of safe asylum either to the god or his votaries. After an adventurous journey, they at last reached Jodhpur. Maharaja Jaswant Singh was away on imperial errands. His subordinates in the state did not feel strong enough to house the god who might have soon excited the wrath of the Mughal emperor. Damodar Lai, the head of the priesthood in charge of the temple, sent Gopinath to Maharaja Raj Singh to beg for a place to be able to serve his religion in peace. The Sassodis prince exterided his welcome to Damodar Lai. The party left Ghampasani on 5 December, 1671, and was right royally received by MaharSna Raj Singh on the frontiers of his state. It was decided to house the god at Sihar and with due religious ceremony, the god was installed on 10 March, 1672. Mewar thus became the centre of Vaisnavism in India. The tiny village of Sihar has how grown into an important town which is named after the god, is now known as Nathadwara. At Kankroli (in Udaipur State) another Vaisnava idol of Krsna similarly brought down from Bindraban had been housed a little earlier. It forms pother, though less famous, shrine of Vaiinavism in India today. Thanks to Aurangzeb^s religious zeal, Udaipur state became a new Bindraban to the devotees of the Bhakti cult.”
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“This lull was broken in 1679, when Aurangzeb’s fury broke out with a vengeance. Maharsja Jaswant Singh died on 10 December, 1678, When Aurangzeb heard of his death towards the end of the month, he waited patiently for some time and then on 9 March, 1679, orders were given for the sequestration of the state to the crown. About this time DorSb Khan had been sent to Khandela where he demolished various temples in the neighbourhood on 8 March, 1679. This was followed by the despatch of Khan-i- Jahan to Jodhpur. He destroyed many temples there early in 1679 and as an evidence of his ‘meritorious conduct’ he brought cart- loads of idols to Delhi. These were placed in public places in the court and the Friday Mosque. Aurangzeb was not yet at war with Jodhpur which had really been converted into a crownland property. The destruction of its temples therefore was not an act of warfare. It was an announcement that the state was no longer being governed by a Hindu Raja but had now passed into imperial hands.”
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Recorded in: citing News Letter 8 March 1679, Maasir-i-Alamgiri 175
“Aurangzeb’s dealings with the Rathors of Jodhpur resulted in the Rajput War. Udaipur offered unique opportunities for harassing the Mughals. The Maharana fled to his mountains leaving Udaipur to pass into the hands of the Mughals, The royal temple in front of the palace was destroyed. When Aurangzeb visited Udai Sagar on 24 January, 1680, he ordered that the three temples that were standing on the edge of the lake be demolished. On 29 January, it was reported that the number of temples destroyed in and around Udaipur (of course including the four already mentioned) was 172. Aurangzeb’s visit to Chitor on 22 February, 1680, was followed by the destruction of 63 temples there. Thus in the state of Udaipur alone 235 temples were reported to have been destroyed. These probably did not include the temple at Somesvara in Western Mewar.”
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“But Aurangzeb did not confine his iconoclastic activities to the warring states alone. Orders were given to demolish Hindu temples in the friendly state of Jaipur as well. An imperial agent, Abu Tarab, was sent for this purpose and he set about his task with a thoroughness that soon produced a panic. Most of the temples he was able to destroy easily, but there was some opposition in one temple. Certain Rajputs assumed positions there wherefrom they could easily deal with the masons who were sent to demolish the temple. The imperial agents had soon to beat a retreat. The officer in charge of the party thereupon complained to the Raja’s officials- A fojdar was asked to accompany the imperial agent to insure that the imperial officials were not molested in their task of pulling down the temple. There was a skirmish between the soldiers accompanying the fojdar and the Rajputs in the temple. Not before all the Rajputs had been killed was it possible for the imperial agent to destroy the temple. Abu Tarab reached the court on 10 August, 1680, and reported that he had demolished as many as sixty-six temples in Amber.** A letter from one Bhagwan Das to Raja Ram Singh written probably about this time tells us of the destruction of Karor (?) temple in Amber by Dalair, an imperial messenger.”
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“'When the war with the Rajputs was over, Aurangzeb decided to leave for the Deccan. His march seems to have been marked with the destruction to many temples on the way. On 21 May, 1681, the superintendent of the labourers was ordered to destroy all the temples on the route. Some time after, one Manawar Beg, a mason, with thirty artisans was sent to raze the temples of the Rajputs. On 27 September, 1681, the emperor issued orders for the destruction of the temples at Lakheri. On 13 October, 1681, when he left Jaipur, Qpmar-ud-Din suggested that though all the temples in the neighbourhood had been closed, they should be destroyed. Aurangzeb however was content with closing them down and ordered that they be allowed to stand as there were no Muslims living in that area.”
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Recorded in: Akhbarat, cited in : Sharma, Sri Ram, Religious Policy of the Mughal Emperors, Bombay, 1962. p. 136-139. News Letter, 21 May 1681, cited by Prof. Sri Ram Sharma in THE RELIGIOUS POLICY OF THE MUGHAL EMPERORS, p.145 and …
“Besides the measures Aurangzeb took for the purpose of reducing the number of the Hindus in the public services, many other restrictions were imposed on them. The pilgrimage tax was reimposed. Bernier tells us that at the time of an eclipse of the Sun three lakhs of rupees were paid to the state. Rupa Brahman offered to pay to the state Rs. 1 ,000 in a lump sum on behalf of the pilgrims visiting Pushkar (near Ajmer) in order to save them the indignity inflicted on them during the collection. This was accepted. The celebration of some religious festivals was stopped. The Holi ceased to be celebrated by imperial orders issued on 20 November, 1665. It was not a police order alone, promulgated for the purpose of keeping peace and order during the Holi days as Sir Jadu Nath Sarkar has suggested. Raja Bhim of Banera and Kishen Singh while serving in South India in 1692, made arrangements for the celebration of Holi. The censor tried to stop the celebration, but as Bhim and Kishen Singh were officers of high status, the censor’s attempts were of no use. He reported the matter to the emperor by whose order the celebrations were stopped. In 1704, 200 soldiers were placed at the disposal of the censor for the purpose of preventing the celebration of the Holi. Of course the emperor was not always able to stop the celebrations. In 1693 there was a riot in Agra during the celebrations and many persons were wounded. The celebration of Dipavali also was prohibited in 1665. In 1703 Hindus were not allowed to burn their dead on the banks of the river Sabarmati in Ahmedabad. An earlier order issued in 1696 had imposed similar restrictions with regard to the Jamuna in Delhi.”
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“Fireworks of all kinds were prohibited. It was laid down in the Faiawa-i-Alamgiri that the Hindus should not be allowed to look like Muslims. In furtherance of this it was ordered in 1694 that, except Rajputs and Marathas, no Hindus were to be allowed to ride an ‘Iraqi or Turani horse, an elephant, nor to use a palanquin. A Hindu disobeying this order in 1 694 in Multan had his horse and saddle confiscated. The deshmukh of Ahmadnagar was discovered in 1703 riding a palanquin and at once the imperial orders were enforced against him. It seems, thus, that the exception in favour of the Marathas was not always respected. In 1702 orders were given that the Muslim engravers be not allowed to engrave the names of Hindu gods and goddesses on the seals of the Hindus’ rings. The Maasir-i-Alamgiri assigns to the year 1693-94 the order prohibiting the carrying of arms in public by the Hindus.”
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“By 1679 Aurangzeb had advanced so far on the path of Puritanism that it was possible for him to order the levy of the Jizya on non-Muslims on the representation of Anayat Khan, Diwan-i- Khalsa. It was to be paid by all and sundry in Muslim India and Rajput States, by officials, and non-officials, Brahmans and non-Brahmans, clerks and lighters. Aurangzeb’s imposition differed ’ from all earlier impositions in that it was laid on the persons living in feudatory states as well. The imposition was followed by a public protest by the Hindus at the capital and in the suburbs. They waited till Friday and when the emperor rode out on an elephant to say his Friday prayers in the Friday Mosque, they : made a demonstration and blocked the path of the royal elephant. For some time Aurangzeb was non-plussed. As all efforts at securing a path for him failed, after a delay of an hour or so, he ordered the march to be resumed trampling underfoot many of the protestants, Abu’l Fazl Mamurl, who himself witnessed the incident, tells us that this continued for several days and many lost their lives fighting against the imposition.”
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“A letter written by the President and the Council of Surat on 22 January, 1668, suggests a rather ingenious method of making converts. The factors state that trade had been largely obstructed by the fierce bigotry of Aurangzeb and his persecution of the Hindus. If a Muhammadan had no desire to discharge his debt to the bania and if the bania demanded the payment of the same, the Muhammadan would lodge a complaint to the Kazi that he had called the prophet names or spoken contumaciously of their religion, produce a false witness or two, and the poor man was forced to circumcision and made to embrace Islam. Several persons had been thus served to the great terror of all. This king not at all minding anything of his kingdom gives himself wholly upon the converting or rather perverting the banias.’ Forcible conversion of the Hindus at Surat, at last drove them to plans of migrating from Surat to Bombay. The English, however, turned down their request. The Hindus then closed their shops at Surat and eight thousand of them marched on to Broach to the emperor who was supposed to be there. What became of their appeal we do not know.”
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“Popular Hindu and Sikh tradition ascribes mass conversions by force to Aurangzeb’s reign. Of course it has heightened the colours in the picture. But the examples quoted above prove that the emperor made it a part of his imperial duty to encourage conversions, personally admit converts to Islam and grant favours to the initiated. Of the converts it must be said that very few, if any, seem to have changed their faith for religious reasons. Desire to escape civic disabilities or worse, and to acquire material benefits formed the motive force in most cases. It may be argued that the religion which these converts shook off so easily must have been sitting very lightly on them. But the history of the world contains a few martyrs and a host of trimmers. Hindu India of Aurangzeb’s reign was no exception. The wonder is not that so many were converted but that the vast majority of the Hindus kept their faith amidst so many temptations and such persecution.”
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