Aurangzeb's War of the Daur: The Afghan Rebellion That Started It All

Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History · Jun 12, 2026 · 6m · transcript

In 1667, before the Deccan campaigns, before the Marathas, before the empire began to crack, Aurangzeb faced a rebellion that would set a dangerous precedent — the Afghan uprising of the Yusufzai and Khattak tribes along the Indus frontier. This episode follows the causes of the revolt, the key figure of Khushhal Khan Khattak — poet, warrior, and unlikely rebel leader — and the Mughal response under the governor of Kabul. We explore how Aurangzeb's decision to impose stricter control over the Pashtun tribes, combined with a shift in tribal loyalties, ignited a war that would last…