Latest / Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History / Aurangzeb's Deccan Letter: The Emperor Who Spoke Marathi
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've spent a lot of time with Aurangzeb's wars, his religious policies, his court — but for episode two hundred, I wanted to look at something a little more intimate. His letters. Specifically the ones he wrote in Marathi. Luna: Wait — Aurangzeb wrote in Marathi? I thought he was all about Persian and Arabic. Lucas: That's the common image, right? He's the emperor who banned music, reimposed jizya, and spent decades fighting the Marathas. But in his correspondence — and we have hundreds of these letters — he actually used Marathi quite a lot. Not for poetry or courtly prose, but for practical administration. These were letters to local officials, village headmen, even Maratha warriors, dictating instructions about crops, taxes, and disputes. Luna: That's fascinating. So he was actually engaging with the local language of the Deccan. Lucas: Exactly. And it makes sense when you think about it. He spent the last twenty-five years of his life camped in the Deccan, fighting to bring the Sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda under his control. If you're going to govern that territory, you need to communicate with the people who actually live there. And Marathi was the language of the common folk and the emerging Maratha power. Lucas: One of the most famous examples is a letter he wrote to his son, Bahadur Shah, in 1679, just before he left for the Deccan. It's often cited as a kind of political testament. In it, he advises his son on statecraft, religion, and the responsibilities of a ruler. But he also writes about the importance of being accessible to the people, of listening to their grievances. That letter is in Persian, but it's telling that he frames his advice around the idea of good governance, not just conquest. Luna: And do we have actual Marathi letters from him? Lucas: We do. There's a collection called the 'adab i alamgiri' that includes letters in Persian, but there are also Marathi letters preserved in archives. One of them, dated around 1696, is addressed to a local revenue official in a village near Ahmednagar. Aurangzeb is ordering him to ensure that the irrigation canals are repaired before the monsoon, because the crops depend on it. It's such a mundane, practical thing — but it shows an emperor who's paying attention to the details of daily life. Lucas: And he's writing this from a military camp, in the middle of a brutal war. You have to imagine him dictating to a scribe while the tents are shaking in the wind. But the concern is real: if the harvest fails, the whole region becomes unstable, and the Mughal army relies on local supplies. Luna: So he's not just a religious zealot — he's also a hands-on administrator. Lucas: That's the thing. The letters complicate the stereotype. They show a ruler who could be pragmatic, even empathetic, when it came to governance. There's another letter where he writes to a Maratha deshmukh, a local chieftain, trying to win him over with promises of land and protection. He's not just fighting the Marathas — he's also trying to co-opt them. Lucas: Now, some historians have pointed out that these letters were often written by secretaries, and we can't be sure Aurangzeb actually spoke Marathi fluently. But the fact that he chose to use Marathi, rather than insist on Persian, tells you a lot about his approach. He wasn't above using the local language if it helped him govern. Luna: That's a side of him I've never heard about. I always thought he was strictly Persian and Arabic, you know, the high culture stuff. Lucas: And that's understandable, because that's how he's often portrayed. But consider this: when Shivaji's son Sambhaji was captured and executed in 1689, Aurangzeb had him paraded through the Deccan. But in his letters around that time, he's also writing to local Maratha leaders, offering them positions in his administration if they submit. It's a very calculated use of both force and diplomacy. Lucas: Let me give you another example. There's a letter from 1694, addressed to the governor of Burhanpur, about the treatment of a local Hindu temple. Aurangzeb is often accused of destroying temples, and that happened in some cases. But in this letter, he orders that the temple be protected, because the local community had been loyal and their support was needed. It's a reminder that his policies were not uniform — they often depended on political circumstances. Luna: So the letters show a more flexible ruler than the one we hear about in the battles. Lucas: Exactly. And that flexibility is evident in his use of Marathi. It's not just a language — it's a political tool. By writing in Marathi, he's signaling to the local population that he respects their culture, at least enough to communicate in their tongue. And that's a deliberate strategy. Lucas: There's also a personal dimension. Some of his letters to his daughters, like Zeb-un-Nisa and Zinat-un-Nisa, are in Persian, full of affection and spiritual advice. But even those show a father who's worried about his children's welfare from afar. And in one letter to Zinat-un-Nisa, he writes about his own failing health, his loneliness, and his desire to die in peace. It's a raw, human moment that we don't get from the official chronicles. Luna: Wow. So he was capable of that kind of vulnerability. Lucas: I think so. And it's important to remember that he wrote these letters over decades, often in the middle of exhausting campaigns. The maasir i alamgiri, the official history, gives us the public image. But the letters give us a glimpse of the man behind the throne — a man who struggled with his own doubts, who sometimes questioned whether his path was right. Lucas: If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It keeps the conversations going, and it helps us dive deeper into these hidden corners of history. Luna: Yeah, absolutely. It's those little details that make history come alive. Lucas: And speaking of details, let's talk about the fate of these letters. After Aurangzeb died in 1707, many of his papers were scattered. But some were preserved by families of his officials, and later collected by historians in the nineteenth century. Today they're a goldmine for scholars studying Mughal administration. They show that the empire wasn't just about grand battles and palaces — it was also about the mundane business of keeping crops growing, collecting taxes, and managing disputes. Luna: So they're like a window into the everyday workings of the empire. Lucas: Exactly. And they're particularly valuable for the Deccan, because we don't have many other sources from that period. The official histories tend to focus on the campaigns, but the letters give us a sense of what was happening on the ground. For example, we learn about how Aurangzeb dealt with famines, how he tried to regulate grain prices, and how he responded to peasant uprisings. It's not just about war. Lucas: One letter I find particularly telling is from 1703, near the end of his life. He's writing to a nobleman about the need to treat the Deccan's people with fairness, because, as he puts it, 'the heart of a kingdom is its people.' It's a far cry from the ruthless conqueror we often picture. Whether he lived up to that is another question, but the words are there. Luna: That's a powerful sentiment, especially from an emperor who's been fighting for decades. Lucas: Absolutely. And it's a reminder that Aurangzeb was a complex figure. He did things that were harsh, even cruel. But he also had a vision of governance that was, in his own mind, just. The letters help us see that nuance. Lucas: So as we wrap up this two-hundredth episode, I think it's fitting to end with a question: how do we reconcile the emperor who ordered the execution of Sambhaji with the one who wrote letters in Marathi, trying to win the hearts of the same people? Maybe there is no easy answer. But by listening to these letters, we come a little closer to understanding the man behind the myth. Luna: That's a good note to end on. Thanks for digging into this with me. Lucas: Thanks for listening, Luna. And to all of you out there, if you want to explore more of these letter collections, they're available in archives and in published editions. It's a rabbit hole worth falling into.