Latest / Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History / Aurangzeb's War of the Daur: The Afghan Rebellion That Started It All
Transcript
- Lucas: If you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, you've heard a lot about Aurangzeb's later years — the Deccan quagmire, the Maratha war, the strain on the empire. But today I want to go back to something that happened much earlier in his reign, in 1667, just nine years after he took the throne. It's a rebellion that a lot of people don't talk about, but it set a pattern that would repeat itself for the rest of his rule. Luna: What kind of rebellion? Lucas: An Afghan uprising along the Indus frontier, in the region around the Khyber Pass. The tribes involved were the Yusufzai and the Khattak, and they were led by a figure who is still a hero in Pashtun culture today — Khushhal Khan Khattak. He was a poet, a chieftain, and a warrior, and his rebellion against Aurangzeb was both a military conflict and a cultural statement. Luna: I've heard of Khushhal Khan Khattak — he wrote some of the most famous Pashto poetry, didn't he? Lucas: Exactly. He's considered the father of Pashto literature. But before he was a poet, he was a loyal Mughal servant. His father had served under Shah Jahan, and Khushhal himself was initially given a mansab — a rank in the Mughal bureaucracy — and put in charge of the Khattak tribe. The problem started when Aurangzeb decided to tighten control over the tribal areas. Lucas: The Mughals had always had a delicate relationship with the Pashtun tribes. They controlled the passes into India, and they were a source of soldiers — many Mughal generals were of Afghan origin. But Aurangzeb's policies, especially his push for centralization and his imposition of stricter sharia law, alienated the tribal leaders. In 1667, the Yusufzai rose up, and Khushhal Khan, despite his initial loyalty, eventually joined them. Luna: So it was partly about religion? Lucas: Partly. The Pashtun tribes followed their own customary law, Pashtunwali, which wasn't always in line with the strict Hanafi interpretations Aurangzeb was promoting. There was also a economic dimension — the Mughals were demanding higher taxes and more control over trade routes. The straw that broke the camel's back was when the Mughal governor of Kabul, Muhammad Amin Khan, tried to disarm the tribes and build forts in their territory. Lucas: The rebellion started in the hills of what's now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Yusufzai and Khattak warriors used guerrilla tactics — ambushing Mughal supply columns, raiding forts, and then melting back into the mountains. The Mughal response was heavy-handed: they sent a large army with artillery, including camel-mounted swivel guns called zamburak, but the terrain made conventional warfare difficult. Luna: The Mughals weren't used to fighting in those mountain passes, were they? Lucas: Not at all. Most of their military experience was on the plains of Hindustan, where cavalry and elephants could dominate. In the narrow valleys of the Indus frontier, those advantages disappeared. The siege of the fort of Attock, which controlled a key crossing of the Indus, became a brutal affair. The Mughals eventually took it, but only after months of fighting and heavy casualties. Lucas: Khushhal Khan proved to be a brilliant strategist. He knew the terrain intimately, and he used it to neutralize Mughal firepower. He also wrote poetry during the war — verses that called on Pashtuns to unite against foreign rule. Some of his lines are still quoted today: 'The Mughal is a wolf, and the Pashtun is a sheep / But when the sheep unite, they can tear the wolf apart.' Luna: That's powerful. Did the rebellion succeed? Lucas: In the short term, no. By 1670, the Mughals had suppressed the main uprising. Khushhal Khan was captured and imprisoned in the fort of Gwalior — the same fort where many other rebels over the centuries were held. But the rebellion didn't end there. His son, Ashraf Khan, continued the fight, and the Pashtun resistance became a persistent problem for Aurangzeb throughout his reign. Lucas: And here's the thing: the pattern of rebellion that started here — a local leader with a strong cultural identity, using guerrilla tactics against a much larger imperial army — that would repeat itself in the Deccan with the Marathas, in Punjab with the Sikhs, and in Assam with the Ahoms. The Afghan rebellion was almost a prototype for the wars that would eventually drain the empire. Luna: So in a way, this was the first crack in the foundation. Lucas: Exactly. And it's significant because Aurangzeb never really learned the lesson. He responded with force each time, but he didn't address the underlying grievances — the cultural alienation, the economic pressure, the desire for autonomy. The Afghan rebellion showed that the empire's strength on paper didn't always translate to control on the ground. Luna: It makes you wonder — if he had handled the Pashtuns differently, could he have avoided some of the later conflicts? Lucas: That's the big historical 'what if'. And it's worth remembering that Khushhal Khan Khattak, despite being a rebel, is remembered as a national hero in Pakistan and Afghanistan today. His poetry is taught in schools, and his tomb in Akora Khattak is a pilgrimage site. Meanwhile, Aurangzeb's name is often associated with intolerance and decline. History picks its winners oddly. Luna: Speaking of picking winners — a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these episodes ad-free and independent. If you've gotten something out of these conversations, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It really does make a difference. Lucas: And we mean that — it's what lets us spend the time digging into these stories instead of chasing sponsors. So thank you to everyone who already does. Luna: But back to the Afghan rebellion — you mentioned Khushhal Khan was imprisoned in Gwalior. What happened to him after that? Lucas: He was eventually released in 1676, after about six years in captivity. But he didn't retire quietly. He returned to the frontier and continued to write poetry that criticized Mughal rule. He also reorganized the Khattak tribe, trying to build a lasting political structure that could resist Mughal pressure. He died in 1689, at the age of 76, still actively resisting. His legacy is a reminder that the Mughal Empire's control over its frontiers was always contingent on the cooperation of local elites — and when that cooperation broke down, the cost was enormous.