It was British trained historian Jadunath Sarkar who concocted the theory of Aurangzeb being anti-Shia while interpreting his assault on Deccani Muslim kingdoms.
Aurangzeb was born to Mumtaz Mahal, a Shia wife of Shah Jehan. His uncle (mamoo) Shayasta Khan was Shia and a very important commander of army. His another notable commander Mir Jumla was also Shia. Other important Shia commanders such as Ruhullah Bakshi al Mumalik and Mir Atish belonged to the Iranian Safavi family.
Aurangzeb married his son Azam Shah with Princess Shehar Bano of Bijapur Kingdom. She was a Shia. Aurangzeb%u2019s eldest son Mohammad Sultan was married to princess of Qutb Shahi king who was also a Shia. With such intertwining kinship ties with Shias, it is inconceivable that Aurangzeb could think of taking upon certain kingdom merely because they were headed by Shias.
It all boils down to the fact that Aurangzeb%u2019s assault on Deccan Muslim kingdoms was motivated by political reasons rather than any enmity with Shias.
