Latest / Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History / Aurangzeb's Mosque at Benares: The Gyanvapi Dispute
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've spent a lot of episodes in the Deccan with Aurangzeb, the wars, the sieges, the long exile. But there's another side of his reign that still echoes today, and it's right in the heart of North India, in Benares. I'm talking about the Gyanvapi mosque. Luna: The one that stands next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, right? The one that's been in the news. Lucas: Exactly. The same site. And the story goes back to 1669, when Aurangzeb ordered the demolition of the existing Vishwanath temple and built a mosque on its foundations. But this wasn't just some random act of iconoclasm. It was tied to a rebellion that had just erupted in the region, and it was part of a broader policy that Aurangzeb himself justified in his own letters. Luna: What kind of rebellion? I thought the big ones were in the Deccan. Lucas: The Jats, in the Mathura region, just a bit north of Benares. In 1669, they rose up under a leader named Gokula, and Aurangzeb had to send a large army to crush them. The Jats were mostly Hindu peasants and zamindars, and they were furious about the heavy taxes and, yes, the jizya that Aurangzeb had reimposed. There's a theory that Aurangzeb saw the temple as a symbol of resistance, a rallying point for the local population, and so he targeted it. Whether that's the whole truth, we don't know, but the timing is striking. Lucas: Aurangzeb himself wrote about this in a letter, which has survived. He said something like, 'The demolition of the temple at Banaras was intended to deal a blow to the falsehood of the infidels.' That's his own words. He saw it as a religious duty, sanctioned by Islamic law, to destroy places of worship that were not protected by treaty. And he applied this policy selectively, not universally. There were many temples that he left alone, some that he even gave land grants to. But this one, he made an example of. Luna: So it was a political statement as much as a religious one. Lucas: Right. And the site itself had a deep history. The original Vishwanath temple had been destroyed before, by qutb ud din Aibak back in the 12th century, but it had been rebuilt. Aurangzeb's demolition was the second major destruction. And then, instead of just leaving it in ruins, he built the Gyanvapi mosque on the same plinth. The name 'Gyanvapi' means 'the well of knowledge,' and it actually refers to a well at the site that was supposedly spared. The mosque itself is a fairly standard Mughal structure, but there are these intriguing details, like a colonnade of fourteen pillars that some people say were taken from the original temple. Luna: Wait, so the pillars are still there today? Lucas: They are. You can see them in the mosque's courtyard. They have a different style, with carvings that look more Hindu than Muslim, and there's a legend that they came from the original temple. Archaeological surveys have been contentious, but the visual evidence is hard to ignore. It's a physical reminder of what happened, layered right into the building. Lucas: This wasn't just a local event. It sent a signal across the empire. For Hindus, it was a warning. For some Muslims, it was a triumph. And for foreign travelers like Francois Bernier, who was in India around that time, it was a sign of Aurangzeb's intolerance. Bernier wrote about it with a mix of fascination and horror. He noted that Aurangzeb was tearing down temples and that this was causing widespread resentment. Luna: Did the Marathas ever try to get it back? I know they were big on temple restoration. Lucas: They did. After Aurangzeb died, the Marathas gradually gained control of North India, and in the 18th century, they attempted to restore the Vishwanath temple. But they didn't have the political power or the resources to demolish the mosque and rebuild the temple on the exact same spot. Instead, they built a new temple right next to it, which is the one that stands today. So you have this unique arrangement: the old temple site occupied by the mosque, and the new temple just a few feet away. Luna: That must have been a constant source of tension. Lucas: It was, and it still is. The British period added another layer. There were disputes over the ownership of the site, with the mosque committee and the temple trust both claiming rights. And then after independence, the issue simmered until 1991, when a group of Hindu activists filed a lawsuit demanding the right to worship at the site. That case is still going on, and in 2020, the Supreme Court ordered an archaeological survey of the complex. That's been hugely controversial. Lucas: So the story of Aurangzeb's mosque is not just a chapter in a history book. It's a living issue that shapes politics and society in India today. And historians who study Aurangzeb, like Audrey Truschke, argue that we need to understand his policies in their full context, without either whitewashing them or exaggerating them. He was a complex figure, and his actions at Benares were part of a larger pattern of religious and political maneuvering. Luna: That's a lot to unpack. But before we go further, I have to say, this is exactly why I love this show. You dig into these things without screaming at me. Lucas: Ha, that's the goal. And honestly, it's something we can do because we don't have to worry about sponsors or advertisers. We're not trying to sell you anything. We're just trying to make history make sense. If you want to support that, there's a link on our page: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to keep the show going, and it means a lot to us. Luna: Yeah, it's like a virtual temple donation, but for history nerds. Lucas: Exactly. And no pressure. Just if you feel like it. Now, back to Benares. One of the most fascinating things about the Gyanvapi mosque is the inscriptions. They're in Persian, and they include verses from the Quran, but also the date of construction and the name of the emperor. It's almost like Aurangzeb wanted to stamp his authority on the site, to make sure no one forgot who was in charge. Lucas: There's also a legend that the mosque was built using the remains of the temple, not just the pillars. Some stones are said to have been repurposed, with carvings that are clearly non-Islamic. It's a practice that was common in medieval times, a way of demonstrating conquest. And it's a reminder that the past is never really gone. It's still there, in the stones, in the politics, in the memories. Luna: So when people argue about Gyanvapi today, they're really arguing about Aurangzeb. Lucas: In a way, yes. The physical site is a palimpsest, with layers of history that people are still fighting over. But Aurangzeb himself didn't just act out of pure religious zeal. He was a pragmatist. He knew that Benares was a major center of Hindu pilgrimage and learning, and by placing a mosque there, he was making a statement about the supremacy of Islam and the Mughal state. It was a calculated move. Lucas: Interestingly, Aurangzeb's great-grandfather Akbar had taken a completely different approach. He had patronized Hindu temples, even visited them, and tried to forge a syncretic empire. Aurangzeb reversed that. He returned to a more orthodox interpretation of Islam, and he was willing to use state power to enforce it. The Gyanvapi mosque is a monument to that reversal, and it's one of the reasons why his reign is so contested. Luna: Do you think Aurangzeb regretted it later? I mean, all those years fighting in the Deccan, things didn't go well. Lucas: That's a good question. There's no evidence that he did. In fact, he continued to issue orders for temple demolitions throughout his reign, though the numbers are debated. Some historians say he destroyed only a few dozen, others claim hundreds. The truth is probably somewhere in between. But he never expressed any doubt about the policy. He saw it as his duty as a Muslim ruler, and he was proud of it. Lucas: And yet, in his personal letters, he also showed a pragmatic side. He wrote to his sons about governance, about the need to be just to all subjects, regardless of religion. So there's a tension between his ideology and his administration. He might have believed in a strict interpretation of Islam, but he also knew that the empire depended on Hindu support. That's the kind of contradiction that makes him so fascinating to study. Luna: It's like he was playing a long game, but also following his conscience. Lucas: Something like that. And the long game didn't really pay off. The Marathas, who rose up in his later years, eventually became the dominant power in India, and they built their own empire on the idea of Hindu resurgence. The Gyanvapi mosque became a symbol for them, too, but in the opposite way. For them, it was a reminder of Mughal oppression, and they tried to reclaim the site, unsuccessfully. Lucas: So the story of Aurangzeb and Benares is not just about one man or one building. It's about the clash of cultures, the politics of religion, and the long shadow of history. And it's a story that's still being written today, in courtrooms and on the streets of Varanasi. Luna: Thanks for unpacking that, Lucas. It's a lot to sit with. Lucas: Yeah, it is. But I think it's important to understand, because these are the things that shape the world we live in. And if you want to keep exploring these stories with us, you know where to find us.