Aurangzeb

Born in 1618, Muhi al-Din Muhammad served as viceroy and governor under his father Shah Jahan, building a reputation as a military commander through campaigns in the Deccan, Gujarat, and expeditions into Safavid territory. When Shah Jahan named his elder brother Dara Shikoh as successor in 1657, Aurangzeb refused the decision, proclaimed himself emperor in February 1658, and defeated Shikoh's forces at Dharmat and Samugarh. He declared his recovered father incompetent, imprisoned him in Agra Fort, and had Dara Shikoh beheaded - sending the head in a box to their father. Under Aurangzeb's rule the empire surpassed Qing China in economic output and built one of the world's strongest armies, but he reimposed the jizya tax on non-Muslims after a century's suspension, ordered the demolition of non-Muslim schools and temples, and governed under the strict Fatawa-i Alamgiri. He died in 1707 after nearly half a century on the throne, leaving an empire at its peak size and a legacy historians still contest.