Aurangzeb Dies and the Empire Begins to Break Apart
Within years of the last great emperor's death, regional governors stop answering to Delhi
Quick facts
- Aurangzeb's death
- 1707
- Reign length
- 49 years
- Immediate effect
- Regional governors become effectively independent
What happened
Aurangzeb died in 1707 after 49 years on the throne, the longest reign of any Mughal emperor and the one that had brought the empire to its largest territorial extent. According to the Victoria and Albert Museum's account, the empire began slowly but irreversibly to break up almost immediately after his death, as regional governors became virtually independent and new rulers seized land that nominally still belonged to Delhi. Power drained away from the Mughal emperors toward regional courts, many of which continued to follow the artistic and architectural conventions Shah Jahan had established, though on a much reduced scale, since none could match the wealth of the Mughal court at its peak.
Why it matters
The speed of the collapse, breaking apart within a generation of the empire's greatest territorial extent, shows how much Aurangzeb's decades of Deccan campaigning had hollowed out the central government's finances and authority even while extending its borders. The regional successor states this collapse produced, in Bengal, Awadh, Hyderabad, and elsewhere, became the political order the East India Company would spend the next century picking apart.
How we know
The rapid fragmentation after 1707 is documented in Mughal administrative records showing declining tax revenue reaching Delhi and in the rise of independent regional dynasties, summarized by the V&A's institutional history and corroborated by the Smithsonian's overview of the empire's territorial contraction through the 18th century.
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum. The arts of the Mughal Empire · Reputable sourcevam.ac.uk · The domain "vam.ac.uk" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art. The Mughal Empire · Reputable sourceasia-archive.si.edu · The domain "asia-archive.si.edu" is on our Reputable source registry.
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