Page:History of India Vol 4.djvu/161

CHAPTER V THE PURITAN EMPEEOK AURANGZIB 1659-1680 A. D. AURANGZIB took for his title the Persian word engraved on the sword which his captive father had given him Alamgir, " World-compeller "and by this title he was known to his subjects and to succeed- ing generations of Moslems. Before we consider the use he made of his power we must realize something of his character. Aurangzib was, first and last, a stern Puritan. Nothing in life neither throne, nor love, nor ease weighed for an instant in his mind against his fealty to the principles of Islam. For religion he persecuted the Hindus and destroyed their temples, while he dam- aged his exchequer by abolishing the time-honoured tax on the religious festivals and fairs of the unbelievers. For religion's sake he waged his unending wars in the Deccan, not so much to stretch wider the boundaries 121