Originally posted by lemontree
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The era we are talking about is 1700's. Aurangzed was already dead by 1707 and the Marathas were much more of a force to threaten the Mughals in Delhi, while the Khalsa Army became a force to reckon with a bit later.
We have all the time, and do it in a phased manner. Will clear some of my cobwebs and your too.
The policy of religious tolerance was followed by Akbar, while Humayun was in no position to be choosy as he was on the run most of the time.
It was not just a matter of taking political sides, accounts of the orthodox muslims in Jahangir's court give a different picture, as the memoirs of Jahangir Tuzuk-i- Jahangiri. Jahangir's views towards the sikhs may have been influenced by political events, while the orthodox elite had a different agenda and Jahangir's memoirs reflect the same orthodox view point. Jahangir had developed an extermist view towards the Sikhs and he used the Khusrao rebellion to please the orthodox muslims and execute Guru Arjan Dev.
Everything above has a tinge of communal politics played by the Mughal court.
Everything above has a tinge of communal politics played by the Mughal court.
There is a large difference between stating that there was a 'tinge' of communalism and painting the whole history as black and white communal. Ofcourse religion was a very effective tool in that era, and all sides used religious zeal to motivate their armies. But religion was a tool utilized whenever needed, and put aside when it was not needed. It was not religion, but political expansion which drove the events of that era.
Aurangzeb was a fanatic who would not have needed an excuse to presecute the Sikhs anyway.
So how does this prove that Aurangzebs court was not against the Sikhs?.... they found a puppet in Ram Rai and would have wanted to control the Sikhs. Remember that Mughal armies were fighting a prolonged Maratha insurgency, hence Aurangzeb would have liked to limit his troops deployment.
So how does this prove that Aurangzebs court was not against the Sikhs?.... they found a puppet in Ram Rai and would have wanted to control the Sikhs. Remember that Mughal armies were fighting a prolonged Maratha insurgency, hence Aurangzeb would have liked to limit his troops deployment.
That was the general politics of the era....the Khalsa nation was already taking shape, born out of a zeal to prevail inspite of the Mughal Empire.
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