Blood-thirsty Mughals

The mughal dynasty was notorious for its blood-thirstiness. Being a military state, it was always engaged in wars of conquests and collecting brides and revenue from the conquered states. Whenever a reigning monarch passed away or fell ill, a bloody war of succession commenced in which the axiom of ‘Winner-takes-all’ prevailed. The losing princes lost, in addition to the empire, their eye-sight and more probably, their lives too. Blinding by gouging out eyes was a common pastime enjoyed by the victorious princes on their unlucky brothers, nephews or sons. The following is a list of such occurrences obtained from ‘The Mughal Empire (New Cambridge History of India)’ by J F Richards.

Sl.No	Killer/Torturer	Victim	Relation and cause
1	Humayun	Kamran	Humayun’s brother who ruled north-west provinces. When Humayun returned from Persian exile, he was arrested and blinded.
2	Akbar	Adham Khan	Akbar’s foster brother. Killed for insubordination. He was thrown down from the palace terrace by Akbar himself. Whe he didn’t die, he was again pushed from the terrace and killed.
3	Jahangir	Khusrau	Jahangir’s eldest son. Blinded in war of succession.
4	Shah Jahan	Khusrau	Shah Jahan’s brother (same person as above). Killed by Shah Jahan’s troops to wipe off all opposition
5	Shah Jahan	Parvez	Shah Jahan’s brother. Died of alcoholism, even though allegations of poisoning were prominent
6	Shah Jahan	Shahryar	Shah Jahan’s brother. Blinded in war of succession
7	Shah Jahan	Dawar Bakhsh	Shah Jahan’s nephew (son of Khusrau). Killed by Shah Jahan
8	Aurangzeb	Dara Shukoh	Aurangzeb’s brother. Killed in war of succession by Aurangzeb and Raushan Ara Begum for apostasy from Islam and idolatry.
9	Aurangzeb	Sipihr Shukoh	Aurangzeb’s nephew (Dara Shukoh’s son). Killed in war of succession by Aurangzeb and Raushan Ara Begum
10	Aurangzeb	Murad Bakhsh	Aurangzeb’s brother. Killed on a trumped-up murder charge.
11	Bahadur Shah	Azad Shah	Bahadur Shah (Muazzam)’s brother and son of Aurangzeb. Killed in war of succession.
12	Bahadur Shah	Mohammed Kam Bakhsh	Bahadur Shah (Muazzam)’s brother and son of Aurangzeb. Killed in war of succession
13	Jahandar Shah	Azim-ush-Shan	Jahandar Shah’s brother and Bahadur Shah’s son. Killed by Jahandar Shah
14	Jahandar Shah	Rafi-ush-Shan	Jahandar Shah’s brother and Bahadur Shah’s son. Killed by Jahandar Shah
15	Jahandar Shah	Jahan Shah	Jahandar Shah’s brother and Bahadur Shah’s son. Killed by Jahandar Shah
16	Farrukhsiyar	Jahandar Shah	Farrukhsiyar’s uncle and then Emperor. Killed in war of usurpation.
17	Rafi-ud-Darjat	Farrukhsiyar	Rafi-ud-Darjat’s uncle and then Emperor. Blinded and killed in war of accession

The list is applicable till 1726 only. For the remaining lesser monarchs, the data is being compiled, though it is sure that it is not going to be any less sanguine. We can also notice that the killer in one generation becomes the victim in the next!

It is true that fratricide was practised by all kings at all places in the world. There is not an iota of doubt that power corrupts and lust and greed can surpass all emotions of love and comradeship. Hindu kings also resorted to occasional murders in the family. Emperor Ashoka had killed his half-brother Sushima in the war of succession and Shambhaji, son of Shivaji, killed his step-mother, Sorya Bai (but he spared his brother, Rajaram who was the contender for the throne). But, nowhere in the history of India, fratricide has been elevated to the status of state policy as had been done by the Mughals. Every Mughal’s hand was red with his sibling’s blood.

Here's a good page on Mughal dynasty:

http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/misc/mughal.html