Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir is often vilified for imprisoning his father Shahjahan and killing his brothers to seize the Mughal throne for himself.
However, a careful analysis of Indian History shows that he was not alone in mistreating or killing close relatives for the throne and sovereignty.
Many other famous Indian rulers before and after him also engaged in the brutal elimination of close blood relatives like fathers, uncles, brothers and nephews for capturing thrones and kingdoms.
In this article, we have presented a few notable historical examples to show that evil acts are not limited to people of any particular caste, class or community.
Ajatashatru
Ajatashatru was the 2nd ruler of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha and ruled from 492 BC – 460 BC.
He forcefully seized the Magadhan throne from his father Bimbisara who was a contemporary and friend of Gautam Buddha.
While historians believe that Ajatashatru killed Bimbisara to seize the throne, Jain and Buddhist texts indicate that Bimbisara committed suicide in prison.
Some scholars think that the suicide aspect was concocted later by Buddhist and Jain philosophers to soften and legitimize the image of Ajatashatru as he became a great patron of Buddhism and Jainism.
For the unversed, Ajatshatru organized the 1st Buddhist Council at Rajgriha in 483 BC where major Buddhist texts like Sutta-Pitaka and Vinaya Pitaka were compiled by Ananda and Upali.
Buddhist writings claim that Ajatashatru was also murdered by his son Udaybhadra who became the new ruler.
Mahapadma Nanda
Mahapadma Nanda was allegedly an illegitimate son of Mahanandin, the last king of the Shishunaga dynasty of Magadha.
He secretly desired the throne of Magadha for himself. So after his father’s death, he killed his step-brothers in a brutal war of succession.
Thus, he founded the Nanda dynasty of Magadha and made Pataliputra (Patna, Bihar) the seat of his kingdom.
This Nanda dynasty was later overthrown by Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya who founded the Mauryan dynasty.
Emperor Ashoka
One of the most celebrated Mauryan rulers Ashoka was King Bindusara’s third son and thus was neither a crown prince nor the obvious heir.
Thus, he also murdered his siblings to seize the Magadhan kingdom shortly after his father Bindusara passed away.
According to historians and Buddhist texts, Ashoka usurped the Mauryan throne after killing his 99 brothers.
Radhagupta, a minister of Bindusara helped Ashoka in the brutal fratricidal war of succession that lasted for over a decade.
Later, King Ashoka butchered over 3 lakh people in the infamous battle of Kalinga in 261 BC before renouncing wars and converting to Buddhism.
According to Historians, the whole area of Kalinga (Orissa) was mercilessly plundered and destroyed for days by Mauryan armies.
Chandragupta Vikramaditya
Chandragupta II who is famous as Chandragupta Vikramaditya was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta dynasty, the supposedly golden period of Indian history.
According to Devichandraguptam of Kalidas, he captured the throne by killing his elder brother Ramagupta and marrying his widow Dhruvadevi.
It is said that Chandragupta took the extreme step after Ramagupta decided to surrender his queen Dhruvadevi to a Shaka enemy when besieged.
Chandragupta II Vikramaditya had a illustrious military career. The Udayagiri cave inscriptions in Madhya Pradesh mention that the king “bought the earth, paying for it with his prowess, and reduced the other kings to the status of slaves”.
Alauddin Khilji
According to Historians, Alauddin Khilji reportedly killed his uncle Jalaluddin Khilji to seize the Delhi throne.
Some historical accounts suggest that Alauddin actually plotted and carried out the assassination of his father-in-law and predecessor, while others suggest that Jalaluddin was killed by his own guards.
According to one account, Alauddin convinced Jalaluddin to visit his camp outside Delhi and then murdered him on the pretext of discussing matters of state. Another account suggests that Alauddin may have given poison to Jalaluddin, causing him to fall seriously ill and eventually die.
There are also accounts that suggest Jalaluddin’s own guards may have been involved in his assassination, possibly at the behest of Alauddin or other rivals for the throne.
Whatever the actual cause of Jalaluddin’s death, it is clear that Alauddin emerged as the new ruler of the Delhi Sultanate after his death.
Maharana Kumbha
Maharana Kumbha was the ruler of the Mewar kingdom from 1433 AD to 1468 AD.
He belonged to the Sisodia clan of Rajputs and was murdered by his son Udai Singh who then succeeded as Maharana Udai Singh I of Mewar.
Udai Singh met his karma when he was also killed 5 years later by his younger brother Raimal who wanted to take revenge for his father’s death.
However, Raimal also met his karma when his son and heir Prithviraj Singh was poisoned and killed by his brother-in-law.
After the death of Raimal, Sangram Singh occupied the throne of Mewar and became famous as Maharana Sanga who challenged Babur in the Battle of Khanwa in 1527.
As a ruler of Mewar, Maharana Kumbha resorted to various tricks, treacheries and betrayals to consolidate his rule. He entered into an alliance with Ranmal (Ranamalla) Rathore of Mandore to destroy the Muslim principality of Malwa.
However, later he got his friend Ranmal Rathore assassinated because of his growing power, leading to an enmity between the Sisodia and Rathore clans, which lasted for decades.
Rama Raya of Vijayanagar
The famous Krishna Deva Raya Rai was succeeded by his younger brother Achyuta Deva Raya in 1529.
After the death of Achyuta Deva Raya in 1542, his teenage nephew Sadashiva Raya was appointed as the king.
Rama Raya, who was Krishna Deva Raya’s son-in-law, became the caretaker during this time.
However, when Sadashiva Raya was old enough to claim the throne independently, Rama Raya made him a virtual prisoner and became the de facto ruler.
Rama Raya hired Muslim generals in his army from his previous diplomatic connections with the Sultanates and referred to himself as the “Sultan of the World”.
This included both Deccani Muslims recruited from anywhere in the Deccan region or Westerners from beyond the Persian Gulf.
Maharana Sanga
Maharana Sangram Singh also known as Rana Sanga was the powerful Rajput king of the Mewar kingdom in Rajasthan.
He challenged the 1st Mughal Emperor Babur in the Battle of Khanwa in March 1527.
It is said that Rana Sanga was very ambitious and conspired with Babur to overthrow the Lodhi dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.
When he exchanged emissaries with the Mughals, he believed that Babur would return to Afghanistan and Central Asia after defeating Ibrahim Lodhi and thus making him the ruler of Delhi and North India.
However, when Babur decided to stay in India, Rana Sanga decided to challenge him but was defeated and badly wounded in the Battle of Khanwa.
Sanga was rescued from the battlefield in an unconscious state by Prithviraj Singh I Kachwaha and Maldeo Rathore of Marwar.
It is said that the Rana was so saddened by the defeat at the hand of Mughals that he swore not to return to Chittor until he had defeated Babur and conquered Delhi.
Thus, he started to prepare for another war against Babur against the wishes of his family and nobles who did not want another conflict with Babur.
When Rana refused to budge, he was secretly poisoned and killed by his own people. His son Ratan Singh II succeeded him as the next ruler of Marwar.
Aurangzeb Alamgir
Aurangzeb was the third son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who ruled India from 1628 to 1658. When Shah Jahan fell ill in 1657, a power struggle ensued among his four sons over the succession to the throne.
In 1658, Aurangzeb marched with his army to Agra, where his father was planning to crown Dara Shikoh as heir apparent.
In the ensuing battle, Dara was defeated and fled while Shahjahan was house arrested for the rest of his life.
Aurangzeb proceeded to eliminate his other brothers and potential rivals for the throne.
Dara Shikoh was later captured and tried in a religious court for religious heresy and consequently beheaded.
Though Aurangzeb is often criticised for taking drastic steps to capture the Mughal throne, his justifications coupled with his conduct and simple lifestyle during his long reign shows that all he did was not for greed or worldly possessions but for his religious zeal to defend and protect Islam from his heretic brothers who entertained wine, dancing girls or Brahmins.
Baba Ram Rai
Guru Tegh Bahadur, the 9th Sikh Guru was executed by Mughal Authorities on November 24, 1675.
While it is generally believed that there were religious and political reasons behind Guru’s death, some pre-modern Sikh accounts have pointed out an acrimonious succession and family dispute behind the gruesome tragedy.
They argue that Baba Ram Rai, the elder brother of Guru Har Krishan, the 8th Sikh Guru, was also responsible for Guru’s death as he often instigated Mughals against Guru Tegh Bahadur.
Historians too believe that one of the major causes behind the Sikh rebellion during Aurangzeb’s reign was the political intrigues of Baba Ram Rai, a claimant for the position of 9th Sikh Guru, against the incumbent Guru Tegh Bahadur.
It may be noted that Baba Ram Rai was a frequent visitor to the Mughal court in Delhi and Lahore and even enjoyed good interpersonal relations with the Mughal Emperor and the Governor of Lahore.
According to Satish Chandra, Aurangzeb was also conscious of the growing importance of the Sikhs, and thus honored Ram Rai, the elder son and heir of Guru Har Rai, at the Mughal court in Delhi.
Unfortunately, Baba Ram Rai later fell from Guru Har Rai’s grace and lost the Guru’s gaddi to his younger brother Guru Har Kishan, who was only six years old at that time.
Guru Har Kishan died soon afterwards due to smallpox and was succeeded by Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1664 AD.
Baba Ram Rai desperately tried to put forward his claims to the Sikh gaddi both before the accession of 8th Guru Har Kishan and after his death.
But Aurangzeb choose not to interfere in the succession matters of Sikhs and gave Ram Rai a grant of land at Dehradun to build his gurudwara there.
But most of the time Ram Rai remained with the Emperor in Delhi and continued to conspire against Guru Tegh Bahadur constantly trying to poison the mind of the Young Emperor against him.
All this finally culminated in the brutal execution of the 9th Guru at Chandni Chowk in Delhi.
Maharaja Ajit Singh Rathore
Maharaja Ajit Singh of Marwar (1679-1724) was murdered by his sons Bakht Singh and Abhai Singh in 1724 after the two plotted to take his place as Maharaja of Marwar.
It is reported that Abhai Singh also wanted his father to submit to the Mughal Emperor and seek pardon for mistreating and torturing his predecessor.
According to Jodhpur historians, Abhai Singh felt that his father would lead to the ruin of his country and planned for his murder as “it is the Rajput practice to regard his patrimony as his mother, who is a nearer and dearer relative than the natural father”.
However Persian sources indicate that it was Bakht Singh and not Abhai Singh who eventually assassinated Ajit Singh.
As the practice of Sati was common among Rajput nobility in the region, 63 women accompanied Maharaja Ajit Singh onto the funeral pyre.
Peshwa Raghunath Rao Bhat
Ragunath Rao Bhat was the uncle and regent of Peshwa Narayanrao, the 10th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire.
For the unversed, Narayanrao was the son of the famous Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao (also known as Nana Saheb).
However, in a flagrant betrayal of his duty to protect his minor nephew and Peshwa, Ragunath Rao got him brutally assassinated on 30 August 1773 in an elaborate conspiracy hatched with the support of his wife Anandibai and other dissenters of the minor Peshwa.
It is said that the plot was carried out in broad daylight during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. As the assassins entered the palace room and attacked the unarmed Peshwa, he desperately tried to escape to his uncle for help.
The palace was filled with horror as the boy king wailing in pain ran through the palace corridors with assassins pursuing him from behind and inflicting fatal wounds.
Though badly wounded, Narayanrao somehow reached his uncle’s room and begged to be saved and even offered to renounce his title.
However, Raghunath Rao didn’t respond and the assassins violently seized Narayanrao and hacked him to pieces in front of him in a horrendous act of cruelty.
Within a span of less than 30 minutes, 11 people were also slaughtered including two Maratha servants, two maids, seven Brahmin priests and one cow.
Thus, in this grotesque manner, Raghunath Rao Bhat became the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire.
Also Read| Respecting Parents, Relatives and Kinship Ties
Whoever severs his bonds of Kinship, Allah too will sever His relations with him.
Prophet Muhammd (PBUH) Sahih Bukhari Volume 8, Book 73, Number 18
