Even Aurangzeb’s strictness could not stop bribery in the Mughal Empire.
The disease of bribery and illegal earning is not new. This disease flourished even during the reign of Aurangzeb, known as the most autocratic ruler of the Mughal era. Even after receiving the complaints, either the Emperor accepted them or found himself helpless. To meet the king directly or to receive his blessings, it was necessary to worship the ministers. There was a condition of paying a huge amount in return. What’s more, Aurangzeb’s sister Roshanara left everyone behind in recovery.
In her capacity as Mallika-e-Jahan, she amassed a lot of wealth through wrong means. The situation became so bad that after the death of Mughal emperor Shahjahan, Aurangzeb reached his elder sister Jahanara with bundles of documentary evidence against Roshanara. Jahanara has recorded all this in his autobiography. Read some excerpts from it.
Aurangzeb in Agra after the death of Shahjahan
Aurangzeb reached Agra a month after Shahjahan’s death. With Aurangzeb’s permission, his elder sister Jahanara was taking care of his father Shahjahan during his imprisonment. Jahanara was in Dara’s camp in the fight for the throne. Younger sister Roshanara supported Aurangzeb. After ascending the throne, Aurangzeb gave the title of Mallika-e-Jahan to Roshanara. Even after supporting Dara, Aurangzeb’s relations with Jahanara did not deteriorate.
Mughal emperor Shahjahan.
In fact, after becoming the emperor, Aurangzeb came to know from the old court documents that Jahanara had written to Shahjahan, who was supporting Dara, to treat Zeb (Aurangzeb) like a son and do equal justice to him too. This was the reason that when Jahanara had sought permission from Aurangzeb to live with her to take care of her prisoner father Shahjahan, he had said that keep in mind that you are not a prisoner there.
Aurangzeb had shocked Jahanara by saying that the imprisoned father and every servant living around him was spied on but he had ordered to keep his sister free from it.
Aurangzeb.
Jahanara in dilemma
It was interesting that after the death of Shahjahan, Aurangzeb reached Agra to convince his sister, who had supported his enemy brother Dara in the fight for the throne, for the post of Mallika-e-Jahan. What was even bigger was that for this position, he was ousting his sister Roshan Ara, who had supported him in the power struggle and she never missed an opportunity to express this. Jahanara was hesitant in accepting this offer of Aurangzeb for many reasons.
She said to Aurangzeb, “Think wisely. What will we gain by giving up the rights of Roshan Ara? It is true that Dara was younger than us. We were more inclined towards him. You were born soon after Roshan Ara. That is why she always said and believed that you are the brother of her share. Therefore, let him remain Mallika-e-Jahan.” But Aurangzeb did not budge. While leaving, he handed over a thick bag of papers to Jahanara.
Jahanara Begum.
Roshan Ara’s lust for money
Jahanara, confused about accepting the status of Mallika-e-Jahan, started reading the papers of the bag which Aurangzeb had handed over to her and returned to Delhi. Jahanara wrote, “I don’t know what solace Roshan Ara gets from the suffering of others? But such people become so blind in their selfishness that in the end they do harm to themselves. As we read the government documents, the reports of journalists and politicians, my heart started to swell. How much gold-silver, diamonds-jewels and rupees-money Roshan Ara wanted! On one hand, honesty and simplicity. On the other hand, there were complaints of all kinds of corrupt behavior and dishonesty against Emperor Alamgir. When the pile of complaints started increasing and the water of Yamuna started flowing over the head of the government, then Emperor Aurangzeb started complaining about him. It’s over.”
Roshanara Begum.
bribery from top to bottom
Later, Aurangzeb removed Roshan Ara from the post of Mallika-e-Jahan. But there was cannabis lying in the well. Famous historian Yadunath Sarkar wrote in his book ‘Aurangzeb’, “Noor Jahan’s father used to shamelessly ask for bribe when he was the Prime Minister of Jahangir. Jafar Khan, one of the early ministers of Aurangzeb, was in the same condition. He had taken a bag of thirty thousand rupees from Jai Singh for his recommendation to retain the governorship of the Deccan. Even to get a minor position in the court or to retain it, something was given separately. It was necessary. Many Qazis became very rich by taking bribes. The most infamous among them was Abdul Wahab.”
Coins of the Mughal era.
Somewhere hide and seek and somewhere gift-giving
The servants in the service of Aurangzeb had ample opportunities for higher earnings. Those hoping to achieve something from the king used to present him with cash and valuable gifts to appease and please him. Seeing the king happy when he was alone, he would recommend someone and get someone’s deathbed. Interestingly, whatever amount was spent on these, the giver would recover it from those below him. As this process of recovery reaches its lowest point, it ultimately becomes a burden on traders and farmers.
According to Yadunath Sarkar, of course it was not considered right to take bribe openly, but those who were responsible for their work knew how the worker would come on the right path. In most of the cases, the game continued either secretly or under the guise of gifts. It was a simple matter to get some work done by paying money or to get favorable decisions in cases.
Recovery gained momentum due to continuous wars
In that era of monarchy, the wish of the king was everything. It was not possible for the common man to reach the king. In such a situation, the authority of the government people posted from the court to the lower rungs of the government was immense. Since it was not easy for complaints to reach the king, the only way to get rid of the arbitrariness of those who held power was to fulfill their illegitimate demands.
According to Yadunath Sarkar, the people could not imagine any political rights and their condition was like that of sheep. In an autocratic state, the safety of the common man and his deposits, capital and other property was at the mercy of those Sardars and Mansabdars who had direct control over them. A major reason for the increase in looting of government employees during Aurangzeb’s reign was their constant involvement in wars. On one hand, these wars increased the burden of expenditure on the royal treasury, on the other hand, the emperor remained away from Delhi for long periods. It was obvious that in such a situation the ministers and chieftains got ample opportunity to arbitrarily and misuse their position in government. There was also pressure on him to raise maximum money for weapons and army. Under this guise, he discovered new ways of accumulating wealth for himself along with the royal treasury.
Also read: No clouds, no monsoon, it used to rain heavily on the tune of Mughal Navratna Tansen, how much truth is there in this?
