Aurangzeb's Hindu Wife: Aurangzeb's Hindu wife Udaipuri had expressed her desire to commit sati after his death. The Mughal emperor had revealed this in a letter to his son Kam Bakhsh. Coincidentally, Udaipuri had committed sati in 1707... Read more

Aurangzeb's Hindu Wife: Aurangzeb can be called the most controversial king in Indian history. This Mughal emperor ruled one of the richest empires in the world at that time from 1658 to 1707. Aurangzeb's character has been surrounded by controversies for decades, especially among Hindus. Many questions are associated with him. For example, did he hate music? Why did he destroy temples? What is the truth behind the destruction of temples in Mathura and Kashi? How many Hindu Mansabdars were there in Aurangzeb's army, were there any Hindus at all? Along with Aurangzeb's habits, questions keep arising about his policies as well and the debate about him being a hero or a villain continues unabated. 

Amidst the storm of questions and allegations about Aurangzeb, it is not clear what the reality is. But it is clear that many criticisms about Aurangzeb have arisen from popular beliefs about him. But it is surprising that the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who is said to be so horrific about a particular religion, had two Hindu wives. This is such an aspect of Aurangzeb's personality that strongly challenges his image of being an 'orthodox-Muslim and a hater of Hindus'.

Aurangzeb had two Hindu wives whose names were Nawab Bai and Udaipuri. Both of them loved their husband Aurangzeb very much. Not only this, their devotion was so deep that one wife Udaipuri had intended that if for any reason Aurangzeb dies

before her, she would prefer to become Sati instead of living. Aurangzeb himself had revealed this wish of his Hindu wife Udaipuri in a letter written to his son. However, it was a coincidence that Aurangzeb and Udaipuri died in the same year. Udaipuri also died a few months after Aurangzeb's death in the year 1707. 

Aurangzeb loved her a lot

This has been mentioned in the English translation of Rukkate Alamgiri, 'Letters of Aurangzeb'. When Alamgir Aurangzeb writes a letter to his son Kam Bakhsh and tells him about Udaipuri's desire to become a sati. As much as Udaipuri loved Aurangzeb, Aurangzeb also loved his Hindu wife Udaipuri equally. In a letter written in his last days, Aurangzeb has spoken his heart out to his sons. Along with this, he has also given some instructions to his son Kam Bakhsh, born to his Hindu wife Udaipuri. At the end of the letter, he has mentioned Kam Bakhsh's mother. He writes, "Kambakhsh... your mother is with me in my illness. She is ready to go to the other world with me (she is preparing to become a sati as soon as I die). May God give you peace."

Udaipuri gave birth to Kam Bakhsh in 1667. When Aurangzeb was fifty years old, she was young. The effect of his wife's love and beauty remained on Aurangzeb till his last breath. Due to her influence, Aurangzeb kept forgiving

many mistakes of Kam Bakhsh. Kam Bakhsh used to drink a lot. He was not interested in governance and work. In such a situation, he used to commit many mistakes which the king did not like, but under the influence of his wife, he kept forgiving him.

There are many controversies about Udaipuri being a Hindu

Some people believed Kam Baksh's mother to be a Christian woman from Georgia. They said that she was bought by Dara and after his death she went to Aurangzeb. Contemporary European traveler Manucci has also described her as a Georgian maid whom Aurangzeb had acquired from Dara's palace. Who went to Aurangzeb after her first master Dara was defeated. She was underage at that time. According to other writers, she was a Sisodia Rajput woman from Jodhpur. Once she was captured by Rana Rajput of Chittor, but he sent her back to Aurangzeb with respect. This was in 1679. Major Todd, who wrote the history of Rajputs, and Grand Duff, who wrote the history of Marathas, have described her as a resident of Jodhpur.

What other historians say

However, Jadunath Sarkar has rejected Todd's statement in his book History of Aurangzeb. He has written that Udaipuri was not Aurangzeb's maid but his wife. Not only this, Jadunath also rejected the letter written by Aurangzeb in Rukkate Alamgiri which clearly confirms that Udaipuri was Aurangzeb's wife. But no strong reason was given by Jadunath to reject it. Here Jadunath said that no Rajputani who was married to a king has ever died after the death of any king. However, his argument does not stand true on the fact that Udaipuri was not Aurangzeb's wife. 

PC:News18