In The Annals Of Mughal History, Aurangzeb Occupies A Place Of Prime Importance. It Was During His Reign That The Mughal Empire Was At Its Zenith, Yet At The Same Time The Beginning Of The Collapse Of The Mughal Rule Is Traceable To The Time When He Was In Power. Aurangzeb As A Prince Had Shown Great Promise Both As An Administrator And As A General. His Rule Of 60 Years Was Full Of Incessant Activity And His Principal Wars Were Either Political Wars Of Conquest, Or Those Waged To Suppress The Hindu Movements To His Oppres¬Sive Religious Policy. His Relations With The Marathas From Shivaji On¬Wards Form An Interesting And Instructive Pact Of His Reign. Aurang¬Zeb Had A Keen Concept Of The Ideal Of Kingship And He Took A Lot Of Interest In The Welfare Of The Peasantry. That The Administration Of Justice Was Fair Under Aurangzeb Has Been Amply Testified, Not Only By The Indians But By The European Travellers Too. All These Aspects Form Part Of The Book Titled Aurangzeb , Authored By Stanley Lane-Poole, Which Was Originally Published As Early As 1896.Lane-Poole Has Given A Just Estimate Of Aurangzeb Being Uncom-Parably His Father S Superior A Wiser Man, A Juster King, A More Intelligent And Benevolent Ruler. While Asses¬Sing His Overall Performance As A Ruler, Once Again, He Rightly Observes (Endorsing The View Of Khefi Khan And V.A. Smith) Aurangzeb S Life Had Been A Vast Failure Indeed, But He Had Failed Grandly. The Sources For The History Of The Reign Of Aurangzeb Are A Little Too Many, But Lane-Poole Has Based This Study For The Most Part On The Accounts Of European Travellers Like Bernier, Tavernier, Fryer, Ovlngton, Caveri Etc., Though He Has Also Con¬Sulted Translated Versions Of Persian Chroniclers Like Khefi Khan And Abdul Hamid Lahori.Though Requiring Corrections In Certain Details, Lane-Poole S Aurang¬Zeb Is The Most Readable Account Of The Reign Of This Last Great Ruler Of The Mughal Dynasty. A Reprint Of This Short Book Was Overdue, And The Publishers Have Done A Good Job Of Again Publishing It After Decades.

This work by Stanley Lane-Poole, British archaeologist, and orientalist, was originally published in 1908. It is an historical work on the sixth Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, who ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent for 49 years, from 1658 until his death in 1707, at the age of 88. It includes chapters on 'The Heritage of Akbar', 'The Hindus', 'The Fall of Golkonda', 'The Ruin of Aurangzeb', and much more, and is a fantastic read for anyone with an interest in the history of the 17th century. To compliment the republication of this work, a brand new introductory biography of the author has been added.

Excerpt from Aurangzib and the Decay of the Mughal Empire Akbar's main difficulties lay in the diversity and jealousies of the races and religions with which he had to deal. It was his method of dealing with these difficulties which established the Mughal Empire in all the power and Splendour that marked its away for a hundred years to come. It was Aurangzib's reversal of this method which undid his ancestor's work and prepared the way for the downfall of his dynasty. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.