Aurangzeb’s Deccan policy aimed to expand the Mughal Empire’s control over South India. From 1658 to 1707, he used military force and strict Islamic laws but faced strong resistance leading to regional unrest, economic troubles and the empire’s decline.

Aurangzeb’s Deccan policy unfolded in four phases-

1. Initial Deccan campaigns (1658-1680) involved diplomacy and alliances through strategic marriages, treaties with Bijapur and Golconda by appointing local governors and supporting Shivaji’s rival, Mirza Raje Jai Singh.
2. Aurangzeb’s conquest of Bijapur and Golconda from 1681 to 1687 was marked by strategic military victories including the capture of Bijapur in 1686 and Golconda in 1687, incorporating these Deccan Sultanates into the Mughal Empire.
3. Aurangzeb’s Maratha wars (1687-1700) were a series of costly, unsuccessful campaigns against Shivaji’s successors, Sambhaji and Rajaram featuring guerrilla warfare, sieges and Mughal defeats, draining resources and weakening imperial control.
4. Aurangzeb’s consolidation and decline (1700-1707) saw weakened Mughal control, rising Maratha power and imperial fragmentation, marked by Mughal retreat from Deccan, Maratha expansion and succession crises, sealing the empire’s decline.

Destruction of Aurangzeb  through his policy –

1. Personal destruction through prolonged campaigns, weakening his health, mental strain, isolation from family and spiritual crisis, culminating in a lonely and troubled death in 1707.
2. Empirical destruction through economic drain, military exhaustion, legitimacy crisis, succession struggles, internal rebellions and external threats, weakening the Mughal Empire’s foundations, fragmenting territories and paving the way for British colonization and eventual decline.
3. Destroyed his legacy leading to Mughal Empire’s decline, rise of regional powers, British colonization, empire fragmentation, loss of Islamic unity and a tarnished historical image, forever marking him as a divisive figure.

Aurangzeb’s policies marked by military expansion and religious orthodoxy, ultimately led to the Mughal Empire’s decline,fragmenting its territories, fostering regional resistance and cementing a legacy of controversy and division.