His detractors consider him “a treacherous and insatiable tyrant” who was ruthless as well as heartless ruler who not only imprisoned his Emperor father, Shah Jahan, but also managed to get his own brothers - Dara Shukoh, Shah Shuja and Murad - killed to ascend to the throne of Delhi. We are talking about one of the most prominent Mughal Emperors, Alamgir Aurangzeb ( 3 November 1618-3 March 1707 ) who ruled over Hindustan for 49 years(1658-1707). There is a Persian expression “Ya takht ya tabut”(either the throne or the grave). European travellers have recorded the brutal, bloody succession battles that engulfed the Mughal royal family. “Emperor Shah Jahan himself ordered the murder of two of his brothers, Khusrau in 1622 and Shahriyar in 1628, and, for good measure, also executed two nephews and two male cousins upon seizing the throne in 1628, records Audrey Truschke in her well-researched book “Aurangzeb: The man and myth”. She adds: “Circumstantial evidence suggests that Shah Jahan’s father, Jahangir, bore responsibility for the death of Danyal, Jahangir’s youngest brother ( the ostensible cause was alcohol poisoning). Even the early days of Mughal rule under Babur and Humayun were characterized by violent clashes that pitted brother against brother and son against father.” And even the Hindu rulers were no exception to this tradition of violent clashes!
While referring to the history of one of the most ruthless and heartless Emperor Aurangzeb, one would be surprised to come across not just one but two of his love stories which hardly matched his personality. When Aurangzeb was only fourteen years of age, he was appointed the Governor of Deccan. He was known as Sultan (Prince) Muhi-ud- Din Muhmmad. Emperor Shah Jahan and his most beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, had four Princes and two Princesses, Jahanara Begum and Roshanara Begum. Mumtaz died early and the Emperor is said to have the Taj Mahal built at Agra in her memory. On her death, the Emperor is famously said to have gone into deep mourning, abandoning imperial duties and withdrawing to the confines of his palace. The Emperor depended so much on his eldest son, Dara Shukoh, and his eldest daughter, Jahanara, and both tried their level best to manipulate the palace affairs. Of course, the younger daughter, Roshanara, was closed to Aurangzeb, and supported him in becoming the Emperor and even in his love affairs too.
The historians, in India and Pakistan as well, talk about the eighteen year old Prince falling in love with a Hindu slave girl, Hira Bai, and even willing to break his vow not to drink wine ! Parvez Mahmood writes in ‘The Friday Times’ of Lahore, Pakistan: “..it is remarkable that the details of this passionate relationship, between a conservative prince and a slave girl, have entered the history books through multiple reliable sources. The incident has been mentioned by Niccolao Manucci in his contemporaneous detailed autobiography titled ‘Storia do Mogor’ or ‘Mogul India 1653-1708, vol. I’ and by Nawab Samsam- ud-Daula Shah Nawaz Khan in his often quoted ‘Ma’asir al-Umara’. The incident has also been
mentioned in detail by Aurangzeb’s biographer Hamiduddin Khan Nimchah in ‘Ahkam-e- Aurangzeb, written in 1640.” Even Heramb Chaturvedi, the Indian historian, in his Hindi book ‘Do Sultan, Do Badshah aur Unka Pranay-Parivesh’ published by Vani Prakashan of Delhi, quotes various non-fictional sources when he writes about the Prince and the Emperor, Aurangzeb, falling in love twice and expressing his genuine love without using authority.
In 1636, Aurangzeb was travelling to Kirki, the place of his court(now known as Aurangabad) from Delhi and decided to make a stop at Burhanpur to pay respect to his maternal aunt, Salah Bano, sister of Mumtaz Mahal. His aunt was married to Khan-i- Zaman Saif Khan, who was the Subedar of Burhanpur or Commander of Artillery. Burhanpur, about 220 km from Aurangabad, is located on the outer bend on the right bank of river Tapti. In the inner bend was located the village of Zainabad and a garden named Ahu Khana(deer park), which was the royal garden. Parvez Mahmood notes : “Since Aurangzeb was a member of the family, the ladies of the harem of the Subedar were not in total seclusion. There in the garden, Aurangzeb’s eyes locked on to one girl who was holding a branch of a tree and humming a tune. He was mesmerized and dazzled by the sweet melody and striking beauty of the girl. He sank to the ground and then, visibly disoriented, lay down, unable to stand on his feet.” When his aunt came to know about his condition, she came running but could not understand his problem till at around midnight he went to her and told about the girl. She was Hira Bai Zainabadi, a dancer and singer who belonged to the local village Zainabad. Salah Bano was so scared about how her husband would react about Aurangzeb setting his eyes on the girl.
Aurangzeb was accompanied by his close friend and confident, Murshid Quli Khan, the Dewan (Chief Minister) of Deccan. He confided in Murshid who volunteered to kill Saif Khan and invite death sentence to free the girl from Saif’s harem. The Prince never wanted to see his aunt a widow and decided to send Murshid to approach Saif Khan with a request to release the girl to him. Saif did not object but asked Murshid to pay his respect to the Prince and was to convey his reply through his wife. Since Saif Khan knew about the harem of Aurangzeb, he wanted Chattar Bai, a concubine of Aurangzeb in exchange. Salah Bano went to Aurangzeb and conveyed the message which was agreeable to the Prince. When the exchange was traded, once Hira Bai wanted to test Aurangzeb’s love for her, she offered him a glass of wine and when he was about to drink, Hira Bai took it away. Another version is Aurangzeb started drinking with her and enjoyed music and dance in her company. Meanwhile, Hira Bai fell sick and died. She was buried at Aurangabad. Aurangzeb made a vow never to drink wine, nor to listen to music again. Perhaps his heart died with the passing away of his one true love-Hira Bai Zainabadi, but when he became the Emperor after slaughtering his brothers, his heart again started beating for his elder brother Dara Shukoh’s third wife, Rana-e- Dil. Nadira Begum, the first wife of Dara, swallowed poison and Udaipuri Begum(Georgia), the second, volunteered to join the Emperor’s harem. Despite pleading repeatedly, Rana refused. Aurangzeb did not force her and granted a pension due to her as the widow of his elder brother!
Next Column : Nehru opposed the “Quit India” Resolution
( The writer is a Socio-political Historian. E-mail : [email protected] )
