Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb believed in an aggressive policy towards Deccan. Prof. Satish Chandra identifies three distinct phases in his policy towards Deccan states.

1. From 1658 to 1668 the focus was to get hold of the territories of Kalyani, Bidar and Parenda from Bijapur. During this phase attempts were made to secure the help of Deccan states against Marathas. The efforts were also made by Jai Singh, the governor of Deccan, to conquer Bijapur but the efforts failed.

2. From around 1668 to 1684 there was a shift in the policy. The death of Adil Shah of Bijapur, growing power of Shivaji and increasing influence of Akhanna and Madanna two brothers in Golconda administration affected the Mughal policy. Golconda tried to forge an alliance with Shivaji and Bijapur. Aurangzeb’s efforts to contain Marathas were not very successful. The alliance with minor shifts and frequent tensions continued in some form or the other. Aurangzeb was not inclined to annex the Deccan states.

3. In the third phase (1684-87) Aurangzeb followed the policy of outright annexation of the Deccan states. Aurangzeb personally supervised the siege of Bijapur. By 1687 both Bijapur and Golconda along with the territory of Karnataka were annexed in the Mughal empire. The conflict with Marathas continued from 1687 to 1707 Aurangzeb spent most of his time in Deccan and could manage to keep the region under Mughal control. But after his death in 1707 (at Aurangabad in Deccan) they reasserted independence and succeeded in a short period.

Apart from Deccan, Aurangzeb could expand Mughal power in Assam in the north-east region. The major success of the Mughals in this region was annexation of Ahom kingdom (Assam) under Mir Jumla, the governor of Bengal. Another notable achievement in north-east was capture of Chatgaon in 1664 under Shaista Khan the new governor of Bengal. The Ahom kingdom could not be directly controlled for long.

The Mughal faujdars posted there had to face resistance and there were regular conflicts. By 1680 Ahoms succeeded in capturing Kamrup and Mughal control ended.