Alex’s Reviews > Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals > Status Update

This might be one of the most outstanding modern history books.

"The particularist variety of Islam in South Asia developed in reaction to Akbar’s universalism and did not receive official patronage until Aurangzeb’s time. Aurangzeb himself was far more flexible and less intolerant than his reputation suggests, but the image, not the reality, is his historical legacy."

The Mughals were actually less intrusive than the other two empires, especially the Safavids.

Aurangzeb, it seems, was not as intolerant as is usually claimed. He mostly followed the standard positions for islamic rulers. Contrasted with Akbar, he seems like a fanatic to a modern audience, but I have very little sympathy for Akbars specific branch of ecumenism.

"Abu al-Fazl, who became Akbar’s confidant, political theorist, and biographer but was not associated with him at this time, reports several early decrees consistent with his later program, including a ban on the enslavement of the families of enemy soldiers in 1562 and the abolition of the jizya in 1564."

"In the east, Shah Jahan had a grievance against the colony of Portuguese renegades at Hooghly in Bengal (across the Hooghly River from modern Kolkata) because they had not supported him during his rebellion and because they enslaved Muslims and forced them to convert to Christianity. The Mughals eliminated the colony in 1632 after a long siege."

"Shah Jahan was enthroned in Agra on January 28, 1628, and ordered the execution of all his male relatives except his own sons."

"Jahangir pursued his son with overwhelming force[...] The victims included Guru Arjun Singh, the fifth leader of the Sikh faith, who had not actually supported Khusraw but had offered the desperate young man his blessing. Jahangir’s purely political vengeance for an act of kindness to a renegade began the poisoning of relations between Sikhs and Muslims that led to centuries of violence."