Latest / Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History / Aurangzeb's Last Will: The Emperor Who Died Begging Forgiveness
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, we've spent a lot of episodes on Aurangzeb's wars, his taxes, his architecture — but I want to look at something almost nobody talks about: the emperor's last will and testament. Luna: Oh, he actually left a will? I assumed he died on campaign, no time for paperwork. Lucas: He did die in camp, but he dictated a will called the Wasiyat Nama. It's an astonishing document — part legal instrument, part spiritual confession. Luna: So this is the real Aurangzeb, not the public image. Lucas: Exactly. And if today's conversation gives you a more human picture of him, that's kind of the point. One way these episodes stay ad-free and focused on the history is listener support at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it does make you appreciate the depth when you hear about his private thoughts. Lucas: Alright, so the will. It's written in Persian, of course, and it begins with a long preamble — all praise to God, standard for Islamic wills. But then he gets personal. Lucas: He writes that he's spent his life worrying about God's judgment, and that he's terrified of what's coming. He says, 'I have committed many sins, and I know not what punishment awaits me.' Luna: That's not the voice of a confident emperor. That sounds like genuine fear. Lucas: It is. He goes on to instruct his sons — Azam Shah, his chosen successor — to take care of the army but not to trust the nobles too much. He specifically warns against Zulfiqar Khan, his own general, saying he's ambitious and dangerous. Luna: So even on his deathbed, he's playing politics. Lucas: Yes and no. He also says something remarkable: 'Do not imprison your brothers. I imprisoned my father, and it caused me nothing but regret.' He's referring to Shah Jahan, whom he kept confined in Agra Fort for eight years. Luna: Wow. He outright admits that was a mistake. Lucas: He does. And he says he never visited the Taj Mahal after his father's death, because it reminded him of what he'd done. Some historians think he deliberately neglected it, but the will suggests it was more personal — guilt, not spite. Lucas: He also gives instructions about his own burial. He wants a simple grave, with no dome, no elaborate tomb. Just earth and grass, so that rain can fall on it. And he wants to be buried near the Sufi saint zain ud din in Khuldabad, in the Deccan. Luna: That's the place he spent his last decades fighting. He wanted to stay there. Lucas: Exactly. He says, 'Let my body be taken to Khuldabad and laid near the tomb of the saint.' And that's what happened. His grave is still there, open to the sky, exactly as he ordered. Lucas: The will also has financial details. He says his entire treasury amounts to 14,000 rupees — a pittance for an emperor. He had given most of his wealth away to charity and to the state. Luna: Fourteen thousand? That's less than a minor noble's estate. Lucas: Right. And he apologizes to his sons for leaving them so little. He says, 'I have not stored up wealth for you. I have stored up the prayers of the poor.' It's a very different picture from the legend of the fanatical emperor hoarding gold. Lucas: There's also a section about the fatawa e alamgiri, his legal code. He says he's proud of it, that it established justice. But he also says, 'Do not force the ulama to agree with you. Let them debate.' He's essentially telling his son to tolerate scholarly disagreement. Luna: So the man who imposed jizya and broke Hindu temples also said 'let scholars debate'? Lucas: That's the contradiction. Modern historians like Muzaffar Alam and Annemarie Schimmel have pointed out that Aurangzeb was far more complex than either his admirers or his detractors admit. His will is proof of that. Lucas: Let me read you one more line. Near the end, he writes: 'I came alone, and I go alone. I have not done well by God, nor by men. Let no one curse me. I have deserved it.' Luna: That's heartbreaking, honestly. He sounds like a broken man. Lucas: He was. He died at eighty-nine, after a reign of forty-nine years, and his last words were a plea for forgiveness. His son Azam Shah tried to throw a grand funeral, but the body had to be buried quickly because of the heat — and because Aurangzeb had specifically forbidden any procession. Luna: So his will was followed, even in death. Lucas: Mostly. The grave in Khuldabad is simple, but later rulers added a marble screen and a canopy. Still, it's nothing like Shah Jahan's mausoleum. It's a reminder that for all his power, Aurangzeb ended his life as a penitent. Lucas: The Wasiyat Nama survives in several manuscripts. One is in the British Library, another in the Raza Library in Rampur. They're hard to read — the handwriting is shaky, probably because he was ill when he dictated it. Luna: I'd love to see that. A dying man's handwriting. Lucas: It's a powerful artifact. And it raises a question that still divides historians: Was his repentance genuine, or was it just a performance for posterity? Luna: What do you think? Lucas: I think the evidence points to genuine regret. He could have written a very different will — one that justified his actions, blamed his enemies, praised his own piety. Instead, he wrote a confession. That takes a certain kind of courage. Lucas: Of course, some scholars argue it's just a literary trope — Islamic deathbed repentance was a common theme. But the specific details — the mention of his father, the instructions for a simple grave, the low treasury — those feel real. Luna: It makes me wonder if we judge him too harshly, or too kindly. Lucas: Maybe both. The will shows a man who was aware of his failures. It doesn't excuse the destruction of temples or the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur. But it does show that he wasn't a monster — he was a human being who made choices he later regretted. Lucas: And that's the thing about history. We want our villains to be pure evil, and our heroes to be pure good. But the will of Aurangzeb reminds us that even the most powerful emperor dies with doubts. Luna: I think that's a good place to leave it. Thanks for sharing that, Lucas. Lucas: My pleasure. If you want to read more, look for the Wasiyat Nama in translation — it's short, maybe ten pages, but it tells you more about Aurangzeb than a hundred scholarly articles.