Enlightenment · South Asia · Politics

1658

Aurangzeb Takes the Mughal Throne

June 3, 1658

After defeating and executing his brothers in a brutal civil war, Aurangzeb imprisoned his father Shah Jahan in the Agra fort and crowned himself emperor under the title Alamgir, Seizer of the World. A puritanical Sunni ruler, he would expand the Mughal empire to its greatest extent and begin its long unraveling.