The purpose of mentioning this historical fact is to show how Muslims themselves were killed during the reign of the rulers who are propagated to be enemies of the Hindus.
Shah Jahan, the Son of Jahangir
Jahangir was succeeded by his son Shahabuddin Mohammad Khurram, nicknamed Shah Jahan, to the throne in Agra. There was a tough tussle for the throne and Shah Jahan did not get it easily. In order to get there, he brutally murdered his brother Prince Khusrau.
An important point to note of Shah Jahan was that when Jahangir’s powerful wife Malika Nur Jahan asked Shah Jahan to face the Iranian attacks on Kandahar, Shah Jahan, refusing to obey the orders of his stepmother, and revolted against his father’s army. As a result, Kandahar slipped out of the hands of the Mughal rule.
Shah Jahan also was defeated at by his father’s army and in order to save his life, he fled to Mewar, taking refuge with the Hindu king of Mewar, Maharana Karan Singh (II).
Aurangzeb appeared to present himself as the caliph instead of the Mughal emperor whereas Dara Shikoh wanted to resume the legacy of his great-grandfather Akbar of communal harmony or Sulh-e-Kul.
Maharana Karan Singh first kept Shah Jahan in the haveli of Delwara and later kept him in the magnificent Jag Mandir Palace in Udaipur. Later Jahangir pardoned Shah Jahan and he returned to Agra. After the death of Jahangir, his third son Prince Shahryar rose to power for about a year, but he was overthrown by Shah Jahan who captured the Mughal Sultanate and then his relation with his step mother Nur Jahan grew distant.
He killed all such relatives including his real brother Shahryar and nephews whom he feared would be a threat to his power.
Shah Jahan’s army also clashed with the Safavi Sultanate of Iran, the Muslim Sultanates of the south and the sixth Guru of the Sikhs, Shri Hargobind ji, and his armies also fought with the Portuguese army.
Muslim blood was heavily shed
The purpose of writing all these historical facts is only to point out how much blood of the Muslims was shed in the kingdom of rulers whom agents of propaganda are teaching Hindus that they are the enemies of Hindus. When Shah Jahan could kill his own brother without any remorse for the sake of the throne, how would he care about the ruler of another religion whom is becoming a threat to his kingdom?
Shah Jahan’s name is not recorded for atrocities to Hindus
Of note, Shah Jahan is famous for building Taj Mahal and remembered for shifting of the capital from Agra to Delhi and for constructing grand buildings like Red Fort and Jama Masjid. The name of Shah Jahan is not recorded anywhere in history for atrocities on Hindus or for religious discrimination.
After Shah Jahan, there was a strong tussle for power among his sons and then the same violent history repeated itself with his sons carrying the curse of his murders to his brothers.
Shah Jahan and his sons
Shah Jahan had four sons, Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb, Murad and Shuja, and all four aspired to become the ruler of India after the death of their father.
Dara Shikoh – secular and open minded
Shah Jahan wanted to hand over his kingdom to his eldest son, Dara Shikoh who was a great scholar and an open minded secular person. Dara Shikoh wanted to restart the program of religious unity started by his great-grandfather Akbar to resume the Sulh-e-Kul.
In 1657 AD, Shah Jahan fell ill, after which the news spread around the kingdom that Shah Jahan had died.
Dara Shikoh at that time was in Delhi; however, he was hiding the news of the rumored death of his father.
After this, there was a bitter violent fight between the four sons. During this fight between brothers, only Aurangzeb survived and the other three were killed.
Reign of Aurangzeb
Later, Shah Jahan was cured of his illness and returned but his son Aurangzeb arrested him and imprisoned him in Agra. Aurangzeb then sat on the throne of Delhi.
Aurangzeb’s real name was Mohiuddin Mohammed. He ruled India for 49 years. Aurangzeb’s rule was the most controversial among the Mughal rulers. He introduced himself to the world as a pious staunch Muslim.
He gave out a message that he never took money from the government treasury, managing his expenses by writing copies of the Holy Quran and wearing caps. However in India, no historian has seen copies of Aurangzeb’s hand-written Quran in any market in the U.S. and no one knows where Aurangzeb’s hand-made caps were sold.
It appeared that Aurangzeb wanted to present himself as the caliph of the Muslims instead of the Mughal emperor in order to wash his guilt and divert the attention of the people from his heinous crime of killing his brothers and keeping his father captive for seven and a half years.
Aurangzeb also tried to introduce Islamic law in his era and banned drinking, gambling, stopped sati for women and prevented boys being made Hijras. He also imposed a tax named Jaziya thus that his kingdom was considered a fully Islamic state.
However, he suffered a severe setback when the ruler of Mecca (called Sharif) who oversees the Holy Kaaba refused to recognize Aurangzeb as a religious head and the gifts sent by Aurangzeb to the ruler of Mecca were also returned.
(To be continued)