Aurangzeb’s obsessive drive to harass and convert all infidels to Islam led him to promulgate laws that were not only blatantly discriminatory but also petty and mean towards the minorities. For instance, he ordered that no Hindu should ride a palanquin, an Arab horse or an elephant without permission. However, Aurangzeb was shrewd enough to realise that he could not apply these restrictions to the Rajputs or other martial communities whose services the Mughals could not do without. And so the Rajputs and other Hindu clans who were on the payroll of the Mughal army were exempt from these regulations. In Aurangzeb’s eyes, the Shias were as good as infidels but he did not allow his prejudice to interfere with political expediency.
When an amir complained to him about the prominent role played by the Shia Persians in the court, the wily Aurangzeb rebuked him saying that “religion had no place in worldly affairs.” But it was the Jizya that became the most dramatic and blatantly racist expression of Aurangzeb’s anti-Hindu policies. The Jizya was abolished by Akbar in 1564, but on April 12, 1679, Aurangzeb reimposed it. The promulgation of this tax on Hindus was not only opposed by the Hindus but also by important Muslims in the court who argued that the tax was against the tenets of the Mughal empire. But Aurangzeb was stubborn. Even his beloved sister Jahanara pleaded with him, but in vain. She warned him that such a measure could create irreparable fissures in the kingdom.
An earthquake struck Delhi after the reimposition of the Jizya, which was a bad omen. Entreaties were made to the emperor again to reconsider his decision but it was not to be. On the contrary, Aurangzeb said that the trembling of the earth was an expression of the joy it felt at the measures he was adopting towards the propagation of Islam. Jahanara’s warning of a rebellion almost became a reality when large numbers of Hindus congregated in Delhi in an attempt to persuade the emperor. One day, when he went to public prayer in the great mosque on the Sabbath, a vast multitude of Hindus thronged the road all the way from the palace to the mosque, hoping against hope that the crowd would weigh on the emperor to reconsider his decision.
Despite his orders to force a way through, it became impossible for the emperor to reach the mosque. An order was given to bring out the elephants and direct them against the mob. Predictably many were trodden to death. Yet many Hindus continued to protest. But finally they had no choice but to give in and pay the Jizya. Some Brahmins in Delhi went on a fast against the Jizya but they too had to swallow their pride and give in when they saw that other Hindus had started paying the Jizya.
It was the ordinary Hindus and their local leaders who stood up to protest against the Jizya. There was barely a murmur of protest from the Hindu chiefs serving the emperor who had their careers to think about. Shivaji was the only Hindu king who protested. But he was Aurangzeb’s bitter foe and had nothing to lose. He wrote a long letter that dripped with sarcasm to the emperor. In the letter, he taunted Aurangzeb saying that the emperor of Hindustan covets beggar’s bowls, takes Jizya from Brahmins and Jains, yogis, sanyasis, bairagis, paupers and the famine-stricken. By his attacks on the wallets of beggars, he had brought dishonour to his ancestors. He reminded Aurangzeb that the Quran referred to god as ‘rabb-ul-alamin’ or ‘lord of all men’ and not ‘rabb-ul-musalmin’ or ‘lord of the Muhammadans’. Shivaji argued that the Jizya was not only unjustifiable but also unlawful. Even when Aurangzeb was told that the Jizya was driving Hindu traders away from the Mughal territory in the Deccan, he remained indifferent and rejoiced when he learnt that many Hindus had turned Muhammadean as they were unable to pay the Jizya.