Factors in Leadership: The Social and the Individual

scholar rather than an emperor. However, he did not accept this role. In 1658, his father was dethroned and imprisoned in the Agra Fort. Subsequently, in 1659, he killed his elder brother, Dara Shikoh. Afterwards, he ruled for about half a century as the head of the Mughal Empire. Even without possessing the “throne”, Aurangzeb had great resources at his disposal. Had he played the role of a religious scholar instead of an emperor, he could have effectively carried out this task of laying the foundation and become a model for the Islamic scholars to emulate for several centuries. The foundations of modern science were being laid in Europe during Aurangzeb’s reign. The impact of this had reached India’s shores by Aurangzeb’s time. However, he remained blissfully unaware of this development. Instead, he remained engrossed in his political quest of a temporary nature. His father, emperor Shah Jahan, had built the enormous mausoleum, Taj Mahal. Aurangzeb had every opportunity to build a ‘palace’ of knowledge. By letting Dara Shikoh handle the governance of the Empire, he could have focused on establishing an ‘educational empire’ in India. Had he devoted himself to this task, he would have benefitted Islam and the