Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb - one of the important figures in Indian history, came into news as the New Delhi Municipal Council erased Aurangazeb’s name from the signboard of a prominent road. The name was changed as APJ Abdul Kalam Road.
The event has lead to a new debate of changing the names of the public places which have been given names of the historic figures.
If name of Aurangzeb is to be changed from every public place then the list is quite lengthy. According to the 2011 Census, at least 177 towns and villages in India carry the name of Aurangzeb.
The most popular among those is Aurangabad, with 63 of them across the country of which 48 are in Uttar Pradesh — the state also tops the overall list with 114.
Background of the Renaming
- The New Delhi Municipal Council decided on August 29 to rename Aurangzeb Road in Lutyen’s Delhi as Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Road in honour of the late President.
- The decision came after East Delhi BJP MP Maheish Girri proposed the move to “correct the mistakes made in our history”.
- Council members decided that the road would be renamed because the Mughal ruler “was known for his dictatorial rule and the suppression of his subjects”.
About Aurangzeb
- Abul Muzaffar Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb (14 October 2024 – 20 February 2025)
- Also known by his Imperial title Alamgir (“world-seizer” or “universe-seizer”)
- Aurangzeb was the sixth Mughal Emperor.
- He ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent.
- His reign lasted for 49 years from 1658 until his death in 1707.
Aurangzeb was a notable expansionist Emperor as during his reign, the Mughal Empire temporarily reached its greatest extent.
During his lifetime, victories in the south expanded the Mughal Empire to more than 3.2 million square kilometres and he ruled over a population estimated as being in the range of 100–150 million subjects, with an annual yearly tribute of £38,624,680 in 1690 (the highest in the world at that time).
Controversial Aspect
- Aurangzeb’s policies partly abandoned the legacy of pluralism established by Akbar, which remains a very controversial aspect of his reign.
- Aurangzeb’s policies of religious intolerance led to the rebellions and wars that eventually exhausted the imperial Mughal treasury and army.
- He was a strong-handed authoritarian ruler, and following his death the expansionary period of the Mughal Empire came to an end, and centralized control of the empire declined rapidly.
- Aurangzeb is held responsible for the decline of the Mughal Empire