this indian life

By: thisindianlife

Apr 19 2009

Category: history, muslim, theatre

2 Comments

Click the play button below to hear a clip of an actor playing the role of Shah Jahan in the drama Aurangzeb:

Shah Jahan (1592-1666) was the fifth Mughal ruler of India. His reign was the Golden Age of the Mughals, during which the empire grew to 9/10 of the size of modern India and Mughal art and architecture reached its peak. Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his wife and India’s largest and best known mosque, the Jama Masjid.

A war of succession between Shah Jahan’s sons began after the ruler fell ill in 1657. The two main contenders were Aurangzeb and Dara. Aurangzeb interned his father in Agra and fought a successful campaign against his brother that ended in Dara’s execution. The drama Aurangzeb, written by Indira Parthasarathy, retells the story of this conflict for the Mughal throne.

Aurangzeb (1618-1707) was the last of the powerful Mughal rulers. He differed from his predecessors by enforcing a strict interpretation of Islam. He is known as the first ruler to impose Sharia Law on non-Muslim subjects and he discouraged the practice of Mughal art.

Much of Aurangzeb’s reign was dominated by warfare. His military expansion together with his religious intolerance resulted in rebellions from the Sikhs and the Marathas and restlessness from the Rajputs in his ranks.

After Aurangzeb’s death, the Mughal Empire rapidly declined. Within 100 years of his death, the Mughals had little influence beyond Delhi and the power of regional Indian princes grew.

The drama Arungzeb raises issues of what it means to be Indian in the face of ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity.