Aurangzeb's Forgotten Letters to His Daughters

Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History · Sep 26, 2026 · 7m · transcript

While history remembers Aurangzeb for his military campaigns and strict orthodoxy, the private letters he wrote to his daughters reveal a deeply personal father navigating the brutal politics of succession. In this episode, we explore the poignant correspondence between Alamgir and his favorite daughter, Zeb-un-Nissa, and later, his other children, offering a rare glimpse into the emotional cost of imperial power. We examine how these letters were used as political tools by his sons, particularly Bahadur Shah I, who weaponized family secrets to legitimize his own rule after the War of…