Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb was a well educated person with a

strict religious orthodoxy. He had an acute
sense of political realism and a fierce appetite
for power. In the summer of 1659, Aurangzeb
held a coronation durbar in the Red Fort where
he assumed the title of Alamgir (World
Conqueror). After a bitter struggle with his three
brothers, Aurangzeb was the victor who took
the throne.
Aurangzeb's harsh treatment of his brothers,
Dara Shukoh, Shah Shuja and Murad Bakhsh,
as well as of his father, Shah Jahan, is hard to
justify. After having imprisoned his father, Aurangzeb praying to Allah
Aurangzeb was compelled during the first in is later days
seven years of his reign to purchase the loyalty
of Shah Jahan's amirs . To provide plunder,
Aurangzeb undertook aggressive frontier
campaigns; these forays were generally
unsuccessful.
It should come as no surprise that the sons of Aurangzeb became
locked in a life-or-death struggle for succession. After all, their
father came to power after a savage battle with his own brothers.
The victor among Aurangzeb's sons was Bahadur Shah. The
elderly and moderate Bahadur Shah had a brief reign, lasting from
1707 to 1712.
Bahadur Shah was followed by a line of feeble successors. During
the early 18th century, the imperial administration of the Mughals
disintegrated, and new forces -- like the Jats, Sikhs and Marathas
-- came forward. Delhi once again was a hub of political activity.
The court nobility became the principal usurpers of imperial
authority. The sons of Bahadur Shah, were but puppets of the
warring factions.