Among the mughal rulers, Aurangzeb took the Mughal empire to its zenith. He was born on 21st October, 1618 and was the third son of the emperor Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. He had three brothers Dara Shukoh, Shah Shuja, and Murad Baksh and three sisters Jahanara, Roshanara and Gauharara. He married Rabia Daurani and had six children, five sons and a daughter.
He was superior to his elder brothers Dara Shikoh and Shuja in terms of competence and character. He was industrious, judicious, a dynamic administrator and also a great scholar of the Persian, Arabic and Hindi languages.
Since his father favored Dara Shikoh, so Aurangzeb took his father into custody at the Agra Fort, Uttar Pradesh permanently. He ascended the throne in July 1658 after winning the battles against his brothers and reigned till 1707. During the 48 years of his rule, Aurangzeb tried to bring the entire sub-continent under his rule which was his cherished dream. The Mughal Empire reached its zenith during his rule in the matter of area. He was a deeply religious man and led a very simple life. As a religious and honest Muslim, throughout his life he earned his living by sewing caps and copying the Holy Quran in his free time. When he died he did not own any personal wealth. He build the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore.
Aurangzeb was a staunch Muslim, it is argued that in his zeal to promote Islam he made several bitter enemies. The killing of the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur was a fall out of this development only. A tax called Jazia is also credited to Aurangzeb. Auranzeb is the only ruler who ruled over the single largest state ever in Indian history.
Aurangzeb was an efficient and skilled administrator and ruled the country with a strong hand till his death in 1707. In fact besides British, Aurangzeb is the only ruler who ruled over such a single largest state ever in the Indian History.
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