Aurangzeb had reimposed the hated jizya on Hindus in 1679.

Coming after a series of other taxes and also discriminatory measures favoring Sunni Muslims, this action by the "prayer-monger," as he is called, had incited rebellion among Hindus and others in many parts of the empire—Jat, Sikh, and Rajput forces in the north and Maratha forces in the Deccan.

The emperor manages to crush the rebellions in the north, but at a high cost to agricultural productivity and to the legitimacy of Mughal rule.

Aurangzeb is compelled to move his headquarters to Daulatabad in the Deccan to mount a costly campaign against Maratha guerrilla fighters, which lasts twenty-six years until he dies in 1707 at the age of ninety.

Oppressed by a sense of failure, isolation, and impending doom, Aurangzeb had lamented that in life he "came alone" and would "go as a stranger."