BOOK REVIEW - I

AURANGZEB : THE MAN AND THE MYTH 

                                                                                     BY : AUDREY TRUSCHKE 

  Aurangzeb was undoubtedly the most prominent and most controversial figure of Medieval Indian History, and Truschke herself accepts this statement at the very beginning of the book, in fact understanding the controversy and debunking myths is the main objective of this book according to Audrey. Now since this is a Book Review, First I will try to present Audrey's argument in a systematic fashion regarding the nature of Aurangzeb as a king, then i will proceed to analyse the sources used by Audrey and at last will present my own views on this book.

                                                               ( Credit : wiki.commons.org)

 Audrey writes extensively on Aurangzeb's childhood and early youth, starting with the incident when Aurangzeb and his elder brother Dara Shikoh was kidnapped by his grandfather Jahangir to suppress the revolt of Shahjahan. This was an important event portraying the fact that Aurangzeb or Mughal princes in general was exposed to the politics of the empire at a very young age. it has been tried to show that Aurangzeb was not interested in being the Mughal emperor, he was more interested in religious affairs and practised orthodox Sunni Islam yet we find in the writings of Bhimsen Saxena, a Hindu soldier who wrote extensively on Aurangzeb, that in his last days a king of such stature as of Aurangzeb was so greedy for a handful of hill forts. indeed contradictions are inherent in dynastic rulers. 

But again Mughals were Turks and according to Turko-Mongol theory of kingship (RP Tripathi), the throne was open to every male member of the family, Akbar's reforms had however limited the contest to the sons of emperor. So i guess it was fair for him to try his luck and he eventually got the throne. 

 Turning to the most decisive event of Aurangzeb’s career — the Battle of Samugarh in May 1658 — Truschke offers an interpretation that contrasts sharply with more sensationalist historical accounts. Many historians dramatize this battle as a civilizational clash between "pen and sword" — positioning Dara as the enlightened, liberal scholar and Aurangzeb as the bigoted militarist. Truschke, however, refuses this binary. She presents the battle as a typical contest for power, emphasizing the political pragmatism rather than ideological extremism driving Aurangzeb’s actions. She avoids reducing the battle to simplistic morality tales and urges readers to understand it within the realpolitik of the Mughal court.

                                                           (Credits: warfare.xhost.com)

In terms of sources, Audrey Truschke makes robust use of Persian chronicles, firmans (royal edicts), court historians, and regional accounts, including those from Hindu sources like Bhimsen Saxena and later Jain writings. She also engages with European accounts but treats them with caution, recognizing their frequent biases. Her methodology is a blend of critical reading of primary texts and engagement with modern historiographical debates. However, one might note that she often leans towards exonerating Aurangzeb from charges of religious intolerance, sometimes at the cost of glossing over very real episodes of temple destruction and religious persecution.

My own view is that Truschke’s book is a refreshing intervention against the caricatured images of Aurangzeb that dominate both popular imagination and nationalist historiography. She convincingly shows that Aurangzeb cannot be reduced to a villainous "Hindu-hater" nor to a simple, devout king. He was an emperor grappling with complex political, military, and religious challenges. However, the book does sometimes underplay the long-term consequences of his policies — particularly his Deccan campaigns and temple desecrations — which contributed to the destabilization of the Mughal Empire after his death. Again it would be an overstatement to call him a good administrator and an understatement to call him an efficient emperor.