Aurangzeb's Tea Tax and the Birth of Indian Coffee

Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History · Sep 17, 2026 · 7m · transcript

In this episode, we explore how Emperor Aurangzeb’s administrative policies inadvertently sparked a botanical revolution in South Asia. While his reign is often defined by military conquests in the Deccan and religious orthodoxy, his court also dealt with the daily logistics of feeding an army and a bureaucracy. We look at the introduction of coffee from Yemen and its rapid adoption by Mughal officials as a stimulant to replace tea, which was largely imported and expensive. Through the eyes of court chroniclers like Bhimsen Saxena and the economic records found in the Fatawa-e-Alamgiri, we…