ABSTRACT
Under Aurangzeb, the Islamic Mughal Empire of India reached its greatest territorial extent, but his endless military campaigns against non-Muslims provoked revolts and weakened the empire, which collapsed soon after his death. Aurangzeb was born on November 3, 1618, in Dohad, India, the third son of Mughal (or Mogul) Emperor Shah Jahan. Aurangzeb understood that because the Mughal dynasty, a Sunni Muslim ruling family, did not have a clear rule of succession, he and his brothers would have to fight for the throne. Like his ancestor, Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal emperors, Aurangzeb possessed administrative talents and was single-minded in his determination to expand the Mughal Empire into southern India. In 1681 Aurangzeb moved to conquer the Muslim south Indian states of Golconda and Bijapur. Aurangzeb, a pious Sunni Muslim, ended Akbar's policy of religious toleration and enforced a strict Muslim fundamentalism, alienating both Hindus and moderate Muslims.
