RC.Majumdar & others on muslim atrocities

[Bharatvarsh]

Anyone in Delhi should attend this:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Francois Gautier
Editor in Chief La Revue de l'Inde
FACT - Director
41 Jorbagh, New Delhi 110003
tel (91-11 24649635)/ (91) 9343538419

FACT invites you to an exhibition on
"Aurangzeb, as he was, according to Moghol Records".
Place: Habitat Centre. Palm Court
Date: 16th to 20th February 2007
Time: 9 Am to 8 Pm

For any information, contact:
François Gautier
41 Jorbagh, New Delhi 110003
Tel: 24649635 / 9811118828

Aurangzeb as he was according to Mughal Records

Aurangzeb, Emperor Shah Jahan's sixth son, was born on 24th October
1618 at Dohad in Madhya Pradesh, and wrested India's crown from his
father before the end of June 1658, after defeating his brother Prince
Dara Shukoh's armies, first at Dharmat near Ujjain (15th April 1568)
and the second, led by Dara himself, at Samugarh on 29th May 1658. The
War of Succession to the richest throne in the world was practically
over with this victory, and Aurangzeb secured his position by making
Murad, his brother and accomplice in his impetuous pursuit for power,
his prisoner, by treachery, on 25th June. He had already made his old
father Emperor Shah Jahan a prisoner in the Agra Fort (8th June 1658).
Shah Jahan survived his confinement by nearly eight years and the
disgraceful manner of his burial (Exhibit No.5) will ever remain a
stigma on this unscrupulous son Aurangzeb's advent to the throne in
his father's life time was not welcomed by the people of India,
because of the treacherous manner it was achieved; , but public opinion
became all the more hostile towards him when Prince Dara Shukoh, the
favourite son of Shah Jahan, the translator of the Upanishads (Exhibit
No.2), and a truly liberal and enlightened Musalman, was taken
prisoner on the Indian border, as he was going to Persia. Dara was
paraded in a most undignified manner on the streets of Delhi on 29th
August 1659. The French Doctor, Bernier, was an eye-witness to the scene
and was deeply moved by the popular sympathy for Dara (Exhibit No.3)
which so much alarmed Aurangzeb that he contrived to have a decree from
his Clerics announcing death-sentence for his elder brother on the
charge of apostasy (Exhibit No.4).

Throughout the War of Succession, Aurangzeb had maintained that he was
not interested in acquiring the throne and that his only object was to
ward off the threat to Islam, which was inevitable in case Dara Shukoh
came to power. Many, including his brother Murad, were deceived by this
posture. After his formal accession in Delhi (5th June 1659) he posed as
a defender of Islam who would rule according to the directions of the
Shariat, and with the advice of the Clerics or Ulama for whom the
doctrines, rules, principles and directives, as laid down and
interpreted in the 7th and 8th century Arabia, Persia and Iraq, were
inviolable and unchangeable in all conditions, in all countries, and for
all times to come.

One of the main objectives of Aurangzeb's policy was to demolish
Hindu temples. When he ordered (13th October 1666) removal of the carved
railing, which Prince Dara Shukoh had presented to Keshava Rai temple at
Mathura, he had observed "In the religion of the Musalmans it is
improper even to look at a temple", and that it was totally
unbecoming of a Muslim to act like Dara Shukoh (Exhibit No.6, Akhbarat,
13th October 1666). This was followed by destruction of the famous Kalka
temple in Delhi (Exhibit No.6, 7, 8, Akhbarat, 3rd and 12th September
1667).

In 1669, shortly after the death of Mirza Raja Jai Singh of Amber, a
general order was issued (9th April 1669) for the demolition of temples
and established schools of the Hindus throughout the empire and banning
public worship (Exhibit Nos.9 & 10). Soon after this the great temple of
Keshava Rai was destroyed (Jan.-Feb. 1670) (Exhibit No.12) and in its
place a lofty mosque was erected. The idols, the author of
Maasir-i-Alamgiri informs, were carried to Agra and buried under the
steps of the mosque built by Begum Sahiba in order to be continually
trodden upon, and the name of Mathura was changed to Islamabad.
The painting (Exhibit No.13) is thus no fancy imagination of the artist
but depicts what actually took place.

This was followed by Aurangzeb's order to demolish the highly
venerated temple of Vishwanath at Banaras (Persian text, Exhibit No.11),
Keshava Rai temple (Jan.-Feb. 1670) (Persian Text, exhibit No.12 and
Painting, Exhibit No.13), and of Somanatha (Exhibit No.14). To save the
idol of Shri Nathji from being desecrated, the Gosain carried it to
Rajputana, where Maharana Raj Singh received it formally at Sihad
village, assuring the priest that Aurangzeb would have to trample over
the bodies of one lakh of his brave Rajputs, before he couldeven touch
the idol (Exhibit No.15)

Aurangzeb's zeal for temple destruction became much more intense
during war conditions. The opportunity to earn religious merit by
demolishing hundreds of temples soon came to him in 1679 when, after the
death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur in the Kabul Subah, he tried
to eliminate the Rathors of Marwar as a political power in Rajputana.
But Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar, in line with the great traditions of
his House, came out in open support of the Rathors.. This led to war
with both Mewar and Marwar during which the temples built on the bank of
Rana's lake were destroyed by his orders (Exhibit No.23, Akhbarat
23rd December 1679) and also about three hundred other temples in the
environs of Udaipur. (Exhibit No.25, Text), including the famous
Jagannath Rai temple built at a great cost in front of the
Maharana's palace which was bravely defended by a handful of Rajputs
(Exhibit Nos.20, 21).

Not only this, when Aurangzeb visited Chittor to have a view of the
famous fort, he ordered the demolition of 63 temples there which
included some of the finest temples of Kumbha's time (Exhibit
No.22). From Marwar (in Western Rajasthan) alone were brought several
cart-loads of idols which, as per Aurangzeb's orders, were cast in
the yard of the Court and under the steps of Jama Masjid (Exhibit
No.19). Such uncivilized and arrogant conduct of the Mughal Emperor
alienated Hindus for ever, though they continued to be tolerant towards
his creed.

In June 1681, orders, in a laconic two-liner, were given for the
demolition of the highly venerated Jagannath Temple in Orissa (Exhibit
No.24, Akhbarat, 1st June 1681)., Shortly afterwards, in September
1682, the famous Bindu-Madhav temple in Banaras was also demolished as
per the Emperor's orders (Exhibit No.27, Akhbarat, Julus 26, Ramzan
20). On 1st September 1681, while proceeding to the Deccan, where his
rebel son Prince Akbar, escorted by Durga Das Rathore, had joined
Chhatrapati Shivaji's son, Shambhaji, thus creating a serious
problem for him, Aurangzeb ordered that all the temples on the way
should be destroyed. It was a comprehensive order not distinguishing
between old and newly built temples (Exhibit No.26, Akhbarat, Julus 25,
Ramzan 18). But in the district of Burhanpur, where there were a large
number of temples with their doors closed, he preferred to keep them as
such, as the Muslims were too few in number in the district. (Exhibit
No.28, Akhbarat 13th October 1681). In his religious frenzy, even
temples of the loyal and friendly Amber state were not spared, such as
the famous temple of Jagdish at Goner near Amber (Exhibit Nos.30,
Akhbarat, 28th March and 14th May 1680). In fact, his misguided ardour
for temple destruction did not abate almost up to the end of his life,
for as late as 1st January 1705 we find him ordering that the temple of
Pandharpur be demolished and the butchers of the camp be sent to
slaughter cows in the temple precincts (Akhbarat 49-7).

The number of such ruthless acts of Aurangzeb make a long list but here
only a few have been mentioned, supported by evidence, mostly
contemporary official records of Aurangzeb's period and by such
credible Persian sources as Maasir-i-Alamgiri.

I In obedience to the Quranic injunction, he reimposed Jizyah on the
Hindus on 2nd April 1679 (Exhibit No.16), which had been abolished by
Emperor Akbar in 1564, causing widespread anger and resentment among the
Hindus of the country .A massive peaceful demonstration against this
tax in Delhi, was ruthlessly crushed (Exhibit No.17), This hated tax
involved heavy economic burden on the vast number of the poor Hindus and
caused humiliation to each and every Hindu (Exhibit No.18). In the same
vein, were his discriminatory measures against Hindus in the form of
exemption of the Muslims from the taxes (Exhibit No.31, Akhbarat 16th
April 1667) ban on atishbazi and restriction on Diwali (Exhibit No.32),
replacement of Hindu officials by Muslims so that the Emperor's
prayers for the welfare of Muslims and glory of Islam, which were
proving ineffective, be answered (Exhibit Nos.33, 34). He also imposed a
ban on ziyarat and gathering of the Hindus at religious shrines, such as
of Shitla Mata and folk Gods like Pir Pabu (Exhibit No.35, Akhbarat 16th
September 1667), another ban on their travelling in Palkis, or riding
elephants and Arab-Iraqi horses, as Hindus should not carry themselves
with the same dignity as the Muslims! (Exhibit No.36). In the same vein
came brazen attempts to convert Hindus by inducement, coercion (Exhibit
No.41) or by offering Qanungoship (Exhibit No.44, 45, 46) and to honour
the converts in the open Court. His personal directions were that a
Hindu male be given Rs.4 and a Hindu female Rs.2 on conversion (Exhibit
No.43,Akhbarat 7th April 1685). "Go on giving them", Aurangzeb
had ordered when it was reported to him that the Faujdar of Bithur,
Shaikh Abdul Momin, had converted 150 Hindus and had given them naqd
(cash) and saropas (dresses of honour) (Exhibit No.40, Akhbarat, 11th
April 1667). Such display of Islamic orthodoxy by the State under
Aurangzeb gave strength and purpose to the resistance movements such as
of the Marathas, the Jats, the Bundelas and the Sikhs (Exhibit No.46). .

On the 12th May 1666, the dignity with which Shivaji carried himself in
the Mughal court and defied the Emperor's authority, won him
spontaneous admiration of the masses. Parkaldas, an official of Amber
(Jaipur State) wrote in his letter dated 29th May 1666, to his Diwan.
"Now that after coming to the Emperor's presence Shivaji has
shown such audacity and returned harsh and strong replies, the public
extols him for his bravery all the more …" (Exhibit No.37). When
Shivaji passed away on April 1680 at the age of 53 only, he had already
carved a sufficiently large kingdom, his Swarajya, both along the
western coast and some important areas in the east as well.

Aurangzeb could never pardon himself for his negligence in letting
Shivaji escape from his well laid trap and wrote in his Will (Exhibit
No.48) that it made him "to labour hard (against the Marathas) to
the end of my life (as a result of it)". He did not realize that it
was his own doing: the extremely cruel manner – even for those times
- in which he put to death Shivaji's son, Shambhaji (Exhibit No.38)
made the Maratha king a martyr in the eyes of the masses and with that
commenced the People's War in Maharashtra and the Deccan which dug
the grave of the Mughal empire.

Till the very end Aurangzeb never understood that the main pillars of
the government are the affection and support of the people and not mere
compliance of the religious directives originating from a foreign land
in the seventh-eighth centuries.

His death after a long and ruinous reign lasting half a century, ended
an eventful epoch in the history of India . He left behind a crumbling
empire, a corrupt and inefficient administration, a demoralized army, a
discredited government facing public bankruptcy and alienated subjects,
.

Prof. V.S. Bhatnagar<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
And kudos to Gautier and V.S Bhatnagar for taking the time and effort to organize this.