Jizya Temples and Music

Jizya, temples and music ….
INTRODUCTION…
Aurangzeb, original name Muḥī al-Dīn Muḥammad, (born
November 3, 1618, Dhod, Malwa died March 3,
1707), emperor of India from 1658 to 1707, the last of the
great Mughal emperors. Under him the Mughal Empire reached its
greatest extent, although his policies helped lead to its
dissolution.
Early life And Political Life…

Aurangzeb was the third son of the emperor Shah
Jahān and Mumtaz Mahal (for whom the Taj Mahal was built). He
grew up as a serious-minded and devout youth, wedded to the
Muslim orthodoxy of the day and free from the royal Mughal traits
of sensuality and drunkenness. He showed signs of military and
administrative ability early; these qualities, combined with a taste
for power, brought him into rivalry with his eldest brother, the
brilliant and volatile Dārā Shikōh, who was designated by their
father as his successor to the throne.
From 1636 Aurangzeb held a number of important appointments,

in all of which he distinguished himself. He commanded troops
against the Uzbeks and the Persians with distinction (1646–47)
and, as viceroy of the Deccan provinces in two terms (1636–44,
1654–58), reduced the two Muslim Deccan kingdoms to near-
subjection.
When Shah Jahān fell seriously ill in 1657, the tension between the
two brothers made a war of succession seem inevitable. By the
time of Shah Jahān’s unexpected recovery, matters had gone too
far for either son to retreat.
Jizya, temples and music …. 1

In the struggle for power (1657–59), Aurangzeb showed tactical and strategic military
skill, great powers of dissimulation, and ruthless determination. Decisively defeating
Dārā at Samugarh in May 1658, he confined his father in his own palace at Agra. In
consolidating his power .The new Islamic policy alienated Hindu sentiment and
undermined Rajput support.
Aurangzeb maintained the empire for nearly half a century and in fact extended it in the
south as far as Tanjore (now Thanjavur) and Trichinopoly (now Tiruchchirappalli).
Behind this imposing facade, however, were serious weaknesses. The Maratha
campaign continually drained the imperial resources. The militancy of the Sikhs and the
Jats boded ill for the empire in the north.
The administration weakened, and the process was hastened by pressure on the land
by Mughal grantees who were paid by assignments on the land revenue. Agrarian
discontent often took the form of religious movements, as in the case of
the Satnamis and the Sikhs in the Punjab. In 1675 Aurangzeb arrested and executed
the Sikh Guru (spiritual leader) Tegh Bahadur, who had refused to embrace Islam; the
succeeding Guru, Gobind Singh, was in open rebellion for the rest of Aurangzeb’s reign.
Other agrarian revolts, such as those of the Jats, were largely secular.
Policy
After about 1680, Aurangzeb’s reign underwent a change of both attitude and policy.
The pious ruler of an Islamic state replaced the seasoned statesman of a mixed
kingdom; Hindus became subordinates, not colleagues, and the Marathas, like the
southern Muslim kingdoms, were marked for annexation rather than containment.
Taxation policy
Shortly after coming to power, Aurangzeb remitted more than 80 long-standing taxes
affecting all of his subjects.
In 1679, Aurangzeb chose to re-impose jizya, a military tax on non-Muslim subjects in

lieu of military service, after an abatement for a span of hundred years, in what was
critiqued by many Hindu rulers, family-members of Aurangzeb, and Mughal court-
officials. The specific amount varied with the socioeconomic status of a subject and tax-
collection were often waived for regions hit by calamities; also, Brahmins, women,
children, elders, the handicapped, the unemployed, the ill, and the insane were all
perpetually exempted. The collectors were mandated to be Muslims.[78] A majority of

modern scholars reject that religious bigotry influenced the imposition; rather, realpolitik
— economic constraints as a result of multiple ongoing battles and establishment of
credence with the orthodox Ulemas — are held to be primary agents.
Initially, historians like J Sarkar characterised Aurangzeb as a bigot, one who reversed
the liberal policies of Akbar, namely the policies of suhl-i-kul and wadat-ul-wajud. It was
a plan to institute dar-ul-Islam instead of dar-ul-harb.
Other authors like Z Faruki attribute economic reasons and not Aurangzeb’s personal
prejudice for this move. According to Faruki, Aurangzeb was forced to reinstate jizyah
since he had abolished too many taxes in the beginning of his career, leading to a
revenue deficit.
S Chandra argues that the decision to impose jizyah was both ideological and political.
Aurangzeb had come to power as an “orthodox Muslim King”.Politically, Chandra argues
it would rally the positive opinion of Muslims in his conflicts with the Rajputs and
Marathas.
Aurangzeb also enforced differential taxation on Hindu merchants at the rate of 5% (as
against 2.5% on Muslim merchants)
Policy on temples and mosques

Aurangzeb restated the position of the shara regarding the temples, synagogues,
churches, etc., that "long standing temple should not be demolished but no new temples
allowed to be built." He also allowed that the old places of worship could be repaired
"since buildings cannot last forever." Aurangzeb issued land grants and provided funds
for the maintenance of shrines of worship but also (often) ordered their
destruction. Modern historians reject the thought-school of colonial and nationalist
historians about these destruction being guided by religious zealotry; rather, the
association of temples with sovereignty, power and authority is emphasized upon.
When he was governor of Gujarat, Aurangzeb, ordered a number of temples in Gujarat

to be destroyed, which often meant merely breaking the enrages and closing down the
temples at the outset of his reign. However, Aurangzeb found that images of these
temples had been restored and idol-worship had been resumed.
In 1665, Aurangzeb again ordered to destroy these temples. The famous temple
of Somnath, which he ordered to be destroyed, was earlier in his reign. Aurangzeb

looked upon temples as the centers of spreading rebellious ideas, i.e. ideas which were
not acceptable to the orthodox elements. Therefore, in 1669, he took strict action .
As a result of these orders,hundreds of temple which were demolished by Aurangzab or
his chieftains, upon his order. In September 1669, he ordered the destruction
of Vishvanath Temple at Varanasi, which was established by Raja Man Singh, whose
grandson Jai Singh was believed to have facilitated Shivaji's escape.After the Jat
rebellion in Mathura (early 1670), which killed the patron of the town-mosque,
Aurangzeb suppressed the rebels and ordered for the city's Kesava Deo temple to be
demolished, and replaced with an Eidgah.
In an order specific to Benaras, Aurangzeb invokes Sharia to declare that Hindus will be
granted state-protection and temples won't be razed (but prohibits construction of any
new temple); other orders to similar effect can be located. Richard Eaton, upon a critical
evaluation of primary sources, counts 15 temples to have been destroyed during
Aurangzeb's reign. Ian Copland and others reiterate Iqtidar Alam Khan who notes that,
overall, Aurangzeb built more temples than he destroyed.
Music
After 1679, it seems that Aurangzeb's zeal to destroy temples decreased, as after this,
there was no evidence of any large-scale destruction of temples in the south (between
1681 and his death in 1707).
During the reign of Mughals, the sole medium of Hindu-Muslim unity was music. Mughal
emperor Aurangzeb banished singing from his court but he did not prohibit the playing
of musical instruments. Despite his extremely religious bent, he was a connoisseur of
music and an accomplished veena player himself.But he banned the playing of the
musical instrument pungi in the royal residence due to its loud, shrill and unpleasant
sound. It is also referred to as the been or the murli, and is a wind instrument. It consists
of a reservoir into which the player blows the air and then the air is channelled into two
reed pipes. The instrument is played with no pauses. It was regarded as a noise-maker
rather than a musical instrument. Thus Aurangzeb banned the playing of musical
instrument pungi because it had a shrill and unpleasant sound.
CONCLUSION…
Aurangzeb’s religious ideas and beliefs on the one hand, and his political or public
policies on the other, however, clashed on many occasions and he faced difficult

choices. Sometimes this led him to adopt contradictory policies which damaged the
empire.

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Jizya, temples and music ….

Early life And Political Life…

From 1636 Aurangzeb held a number of important appointments,

Jizya, temples and music …. 1

In 1679, Aurangzeb chose to re-impose jizya, a military tax on non-Muslim subjects in

Jizya, temples and music …. 2

Policy on temples and mosques

When he was governor of Gujarat, Aurangzeb, ordered a number of temples in Gujarat

Jizya, temples and music …. 3

Jizya, temples and music …. 4

Jizya, temples and music …. 5

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