Latest / Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History / Aurangzeb's Sikh Persecution: Guru Tegh Bahadur and the Rise of the Khalsa
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Aurangzeb's Deccan wars, his revenue policies, even his calligraphy. But one thread we haven't pulled yet is his relationship with the Sikhs — which went from uneasy tolerance to outright persecution, and in a way, it backfired spectacularly. Luna: I know about the later Sikh Empire, but what happened under Aurangzeb specifically? Lucas: Right, so the key figure early on is Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru. He was based in Anandpur Sahib, in the Punjab hills, and he was becoming a rallying point not just for Sikhs but for local Hindus and even some Rajputs who were resisting Aurangzeb's policies — especially the reimposition of jizya and the temple destruction campaigns. Lucas: The Mughal court saw this as a direct challenge. The maasir i alamgiri, which we've mentioned before, says that Aurangzeb ordered the Guru's arrest because he was 'spreading falsehoods' and causing unrest. But the official Mughal account is a bit sanitised — it doesn't mention the religious angle much. Luna: So what actually happened to Guru Tegh Bahadur? Lucas: He was arrested in 1675, brought to Delhi, and given a choice: convert to Islam or die. He refused, and was publicly executed at Chandni Chowk. It was a brutal death — he was beheaded, and his body was left on display to intimidate others. But instead of crushing the movement, it galvanised it. Luna: That's exactly the kind of thing that creates martyrs. What did his son do? Lucas: His son, Guru Gobind Singh, was only nine when his father was killed. He grew up with that memory, and he completely transformed the Sikh community. In 1699, at the Baisakhi festival at Anandpur Sahib, he founded the Khalsa — a military order of initiated Sikhs who would take a vow to defend the faith. Lucas: He gave them the Five Ks: kesh, uncut hair; kangha, a comb; kara, a steel bracelet; kirpan, a dagger; and kachera, short trousers. And he told them that from then on, there would be no distinction of caste or region — all were equal in the Khalsa. Luna: Wow. That's a direct challenge to the Mughal social order. How did Aurangzeb react? Lucas: Aurangzeb sent multiple expeditions against the Sikhs. There were battles at Anandpur, at Chamkaur, at Muktsar. Guru Gobind Singh lost his two eldest sons in battle, and the two younger ones were captured by the Mughal governor of Sirhind and executed — bricked alive into a wall. Luna: That's horrific. And it just hardened resistance, I imagine. Lucas: Exactly. Guru Gobind Singh himself had to flee, but he wrote a famous letter to Aurangzeb called the Zafarnama, a Persian poem where he rebuked the emperor for breaking his oath on the Quran. And it's said that when Aurangzeb read it, he felt remorse and invited the Guru to meet him, but Guru Gobind Singh died before they could. Luna: So by the time Aurangzeb died in 1707, the Sikhs were a full-blown military threat in the Punjab. Lucas: Absolutely. And within a few years, a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh, Banda Singh Bahadur, led a massive peasant uprising that captured Sirhind and established the first Sikh state. The Mughals never really regained control of the Punjab after that. Lucas: It's a classic case of overreach: Aurangzeb's attempt to suppress a religious community through violence ended up creating the very thing he feared — a unified, militarised, and fiercely independent Sikh identity. Luna: And that later culminated in the Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh. Lucas: Right. So the reverberations of Aurangzeb's policies in the Punjab lasted well into the nineteenth century. Luna: It's fascinating how the emperor's actions in one region had such long-term consequences. Lucas: And it's one of those stories that the official Mughal chronicles downplay, but the Sikh tradition preserves in vivid detail. Luna: Speaking of keeping things going, a quick honest thing — a handful of listeners chip in monthly at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these. Lucas: Yeah, it's pretty straightforward. No ads, no sponsors, just people who enjoy the show. If that's you, it helps keep the episodes coming. Luna: Alright, back to the history. So the Khalsa wasn't just a military order — it also had a cultural and social dimension. Lucas: Exactly. Guru Gobind Singh also composed a lot of poetry and scripture, and he declared that after him, the Guru would be the Guru Granth Sahib — the Sikh holy book — rather than a living person. That was a radical move that prevented succession disputes. Luna: So the Khalsa became both a religious community and a political entity. Lucas: Yeah, and it meant that the Sikhs could adapt and survive even after the Mughal Empire collapsed. They became one of the major powers in North India. Luna: It's interesting that Aurangzeb's persecution didn't just fail — it actually created a more resilient opponent. Lucas: That's a pattern we see in many empires. Brutal suppression often backfires. The Zafarnama itself is a powerful document — it's a poetic indictment of tyranny, and it still resonates today. Luna: I'd love to read that. Is it available in translation? Lucas: Yes, there are several English translations. It's remarkable because it combines Persian poetic forms with a very direct moral critique. Guru Gobind Singh wasn't just a warrior; he was a scholar and poet of the highest order. Lucas: So this episode really highlights how Aurangzeb's religious policies in the north had a completely different trajectory from his Deccan campaigns. In the Deccan, he was fighting Maratha guerrilla warfare; in the Punjab, he was creating a martyr tradition that would outlast his empire. Luna: And both contributed to the empire's decline. Lucas: Exactly. The Mughal Empire after Aurangzeb was stretched too thin — financially, militarily, and politically. The Sikh rebellion was one of the key factors that made it impossible for his successors to hold the north together. Luna: So in the end, Aurangzeb's policies created the very forces that destroyed his empire. Lucas: It's a irony that historians still debate: was he a pious zealot who made strategic blunders, or a pragmatist whose policies simply failed? But the Sikh experience suggests that, at least in the Punjab, his religious intolerance was real and devastating — but ultimately self-defeating.