The appraisal of the Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb has not been complete.The figure of Aurangazeb is enigmatic to say the least.He comes about as a person who did not trust anyone completely.
Perhaps, he saw enemies around him; he had ascended the throne through intrigue and murder. He had blood on his hands.
He had a sister who too was imprisoned like his father for falling in love with a singer. He had a visceral hatred for any form of gaiety.
Even as an Emperor he believed that a man must work with his hands: he made cloth caps as his contribution to work.
He was ruthless with the Hindus being from a clan of invaders. He was not the cruelest, Timur ,Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali were even monstrous. These gents believed in mass slaughter of the Hindus while Aurangazeb was content to only demolish temples. He was also not the first to impose Jizia or tax on non Muslims.
The point that he had many Rajput kings as his Mansabdars or governors can't be rejected.
If we Hindus have to remember the repeated assaults on a peaceful way of life then we, like the Jews of Israel must build a Holocaust monument with a gallery of these invaders who slaughterd millions of people of Hindustan to satiate their greed and lust for power. Aurangazeb may, infact, turn out to be a benign figure.
