AURANGZEBS APPROACH APPLIED IN THE MUGHAL MILITARY CAMPAIGN INVOLVING THE DECCAN REGION: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Aurangzeb (1658-1707) was the Mughal emperor who succeeded his father Shah Jahan after successfully defeating his siblings in his efforts to seize the throne of the Mughal Empire. He is known for his strict religious personality and adherence to Sunni beliefs, besides exercising a firm and disciplined leadership. Aurangzeb decided to launch a military campaign during his reign into the Deccan region with the intention of overthrowing the Bijapur and Golconda Sultanates. Aurangzeb decided to conquer the region as he had the experience of once being the Viceroy of Deccan and faced numerous conflicts that threatened the Mughal rule. Hence, Aurangzeb designed an approach to expand his power and deal with the problem. This study aims to conduct a literature review of Aurangzebs approach in the Mughal power expansion campaign into the Deccan region. This qualitative study adopted the historical study and content analysis methods for the data collection and analysis processes, particularly involving primary and secondary data sources. The literature review was divided into three main sections, namely the history and development of the Deccan region, the Mughal Empires relationship with the Deccan region and Aurangzebs political biography. Discussions of the three main themes of this literature review facilitates further research, specifically in identifying factors that influenced the expansion of the Mughal Empire into the Deccan region.