Latest / Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History / Aurangzeb's Bengal Frontier: The Conquest That Shaped India's East
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, when we talk about Aurangzeb's wars, we almost always go straight to the Deccan — Bijapur, Golconda, the Marathas. And fair enough, that's where the empire bled out. But there's another frontier that's just as important, and it doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves: Bengal. Luna: Bengal? I thought that was already part of the Mughal Empire by Aurangzeb's time. Lucas: Partly, yes. Akbar had annexed Bengal in the 1570s, but Mughal control was shallow. The region was huge, swampy, and rebellious. By the time Aurangzeb came to power, Bengal was still a hotbed of local chieftains, Portuguese pirates, and the rising Ahom kingdom in the northeast. So Aurangzeb decided to really bring it under control, and he appointed his uncle, Shaista Khan, as governor of Bengal in 1664. Lucas: Shaista Khan was a seasoned commander. He'd served under Shah Jahan and had fought against the Portuguese in the Deccan. But his first major task in Bengal was to deal with the Arakanese and Portuguese pirates who were raiding the coast and even seizing Mughal ships. They operated from the island of Sandwip and the port of Chittagong. Luna: So it was a kind of pirate war. Lucas: Exactly. Shaista Khan launched a campaign in 1665, using a fleet of Mughal ships and even hiring Portuguese mercenaries — because, you know, hire your enemies' friends. He captured Sandwip and then besieged Chittagong. The Arakanese king, Sanda Thudhamma, was forced to cede the port. Shaista Khan renamed it Islamabad and started building a navy base there. This was a big deal — it gave the Mughals a foothold in the Bay of Bengal. Luna: So the Mughals had a navy too? I always think of them as a land power. Lucas: They had one, but it was never their strength. The Bengal fleet was mostly shallow-draft riverboats. Still, it was enough to push the pirates out. Shaista Khan then turned his attention to the Ahom kingdom, up the Brahmaputra River. The Ahoms had been expanding for decades, and they'd defeated Mughal armies before. In 1669, Aurangzeb ordered a full-scale invasion to subdue them. Lucas: The Mughal army, led by Prince Muhammad Azam — Aurangzeb's son — and commanded by Ram Singh, marched into Assam. They faced the Ahom general Lachit Borphukan, who is still a legendary figure in Assam today. The climactic battle was at Saraighat, on the Brahmaputra in 1671. Luna: Saraighat — I've heard that name. It's a big deal in Assamese history. Lucas: Absolutely. Lachit Borphukan used the river and the terrain brilliantly. The Mughals had a large army, but the Ahoms had a smaller, more mobile force, and they knew the Brahmaputra's currents and islands. Lachit used a ruse — he pretended to negotiate, then launched a surprise attack on the Mughal fleet. The Mughal admiral, Munnawar Khan, was killed. The battle turned into a rout. The Mughals were driven back, and Assam remained independent for another century. Lucas: Aurangzeb was furious. He blamed Ram Singh and recalled him. But the failure at Saraighat meant that Bengal's eastern frontier never fully stabilized. The Ahom kingdom remained a thorn in the empire's side. Luna: So Bengal wasn't a complete success for Aurangzeb. Lucas: Not militarily, no. But economically, it was a goldmine. Bengal was the richest province of the Mughal Empire. It produced rice, silk, cotton, and saltpeter — which was essential for gunpowder. European traders, especially the English and Dutch, set up factories in Hugli, Balasore, and other ports. By Aurangzeb's reign, Bengal accounted for perhaps 40% of the empire's revenue. Lucas: Shaista Khan also moved the capital of Bengal from Rajmahal to Dhaka — which was actually a strategic choice. Dhaka was closer to the trading routes and easier to defend. He built the Lalbagh Fort there, though it was never completed. The fort's construction started in 1678, but after Shaista Khan was transferred to the Deccan, work stopped. Today, it's a beautiful, haunting ruin. Luna: I've seen pictures of Lalbagh Fort. It's gorgeous. But why wasn't it finished? Lucas: There's a story — probably legend — that Shaista Khan's daughter, Pari Bibi, died, and he considered the site unlucky. But the real reason is that Aurangzeb needed Shaista Khan in the Deccan to fight the Marathas. And once he left, the project lost momentum. Dhaka's golden age as a Mughal capital was brief. Luna: So the Deccan wars pulled resources away from Bengal too. Lucas: Exactly. And there's another personal tragedy tied to Shaista Khan's time in Bengal. In 1663, when Shaista Khan was governor of the Deccan, his son Buzurg Umed Khan was killed by Shivaji's forces during a raid on the Mughal camp. Shaista Khan himself barely escaped. That humiliation was one reason he was so eager to accept the Bengal assignment — it got him away from the Deccan and gave him a fresh start. Luna: Oh, that's right — wasn't he the one who got caught off guard by Shivaji? Lucas: Yes. Shivaji sneaked into Shaista Khan's compound in Pune at night, killed his son, and wounded the governor himself. Shaista Khan lost two fingers. It was a huge embarrassment. So when he went to Bengal, he was determined to restore his reputation. And he did, to an extent. But the Deccan always haunted him. Lucas: Bengal under Aurangzeb was a paradox. On one hand, the Mughals extracted immense wealth from it. On the other, they never fully pacified the region. The Ahom threat remained, and the local zamindars, like the Nawabs of Murshidabad, gradually became autonomous. After Aurangzeb's death, Bengal essentially became independent under the Nawabs. Luna: And that set the stage for the British, didn't it? Lucas: Exactly. The English East India Company had established a settlement in Hugli in 1651, and they kept expanding. They traded in Bengal's silk and saltpeter, and they grew rich. By the early 18th century, the Company was practically a state within a state. And when the Mughal empire collapsed, Bengal was the first prize the British seized — at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Lucas: So in a way, Aurangzeb's policies in Bengal — the heavy taxation, the neglect of local power structures, the failure to create a stable administration — contributed to the very conditions that allowed the British to take over. It's a legacy of extraction without consolidation. Luna: That's a really sobering thought. The richest province became the first domino to fall. Lucas: Yes. And it all started with Shaista Khan's campaigns: the capture of Chittagong, the failed invasion of Assam, the move to Dhaka. Bengal was a land of opportunity for the Mughals, but they never fully invested in it. They milked it, and then they left it vulnerable. Lucas: There's a coda to this story. The Lalbagh Fort, incomplete as it is, holds the tomb of Pari Bibi. People visit it today and wonder at the ambition of Aurangzeb's empire. But the fort's unfinished state is a metaphor for the Mughal presence in Bengal: grand in conception, incomplete in execution, and eventually, abandoned. Luna: I think that's a perfect note to end on. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: Thank you, Luna. Next time, we'll look at another corner of the empire that Aurangzeb touched — and shaped.