title: Indiana

text: Despite its reliance on manufacturing, Indiana has been less affected by declines in traditional Rust Belt manufacturers than many of its neighbors. The explanation appears to be certain factors in the labor market. First, much of the heavy manufacturing, such as industrial machinery and steel, requires highly skilled labor, and firms are often willing to locate where hard-to-train skills already exist. Second, Indiana's labor force is primarily in medium-sized and smaller cities rather than in very large and expensive metropolises. This makes it possible for firms to offer somewhat lower wages for these skills than would normally be paid. Firms often see in Indiana a chance to obtain higher than average skills at lower than average wages.


title: Indiana

text: In 2016, Indiana was home to seven Fortune 500 companies with a combined $142.5billion in revenue. Columbus-based Cummins, Inc. and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company and Simon Property Group were recognized in "Fortune" publication's "2017 World's Most Admired Companies List", ranking in each of their respective industries.


title: Indiana

text: Northwest Indiana has been the largest steel producing center in the U.S. since 1975 and accounted for 27% of American-made steel in 2016.


title: Indiana

text: Indiana is home to the international headquarters and research facilities of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, the state's largest corporation, as well as the world headquarters of Mead Johnson Nutritionals in Evansville. Indiana ranks fifth among all U.S. states in total sales and shipments of pharmaceutical products and second in the number of biopharmaceutical related jobs.


title: Indiana

text: Indiana is in the U.S. Corn Belt and Grain Belt. It has a feedlot-style system raising corn to fatten hogs and cattle. Along with corn, soybeans are also a major cash crop. Its proximity to large urban centers, such as Indianapolis and Chicago, assure dairying, egg production, and specialty horticulture occur. Other crops include melons, tomatoes, grapes, mint, popping corn, and tobacco in the southern counties. Most of the original land was not prairie and had to be cleared of deciduous trees. Many parcels of woodland remain and support a furniture-making sector in southern Indiana.


title: Indiana

text: In 2011, "CEO" magazine ranked Indiana first in the Midwest and sixth in the country for best places to do business.


title: Indiana

text: Indiana has a flat state income tax rate of 3.23%. Many of the state's counties also collect income tax. The state sales tax rate is 7% with exemptions for food, prescription medications and over-the-counter medications. In some jurisdictions, an additional Food and Beverage Tax is charged, at a rate of 1% (Marion County's rate is 2%), on sales of prepared meals and beverages.


title: Indiana

text: Property taxes are imposed on both real and personal property in Indiana and are administered by the Department of Local Government Finance. Property is subject to taxation by a variety of taxing units (schools, counties, townships, municipalities, and libraries), making the total tax rate the sum of the tax rates imposed by all taxing units in which a property is located. However, a "circuit breaker" law enacted on March 19, 2008, limits property taxes to 1% of assessed value for homeowners, 2% for rental properties and farmland, and 3% for businesses.


title: Indiana

text: Indiana does not have a legal requirement to balance the state budget either in law or its constitution. Instead, it has a constitutional ban on assuming debt. The state has a Rainy Day Fund and for healthy reserves proportional to spending. Indiana is one of six U.S. states to not allow a line-item veto.


title: Indiana

text: Since 2010, Indiana has been one of a few states to hold AAA bond credit ratings with the Big Three credit rating agencies, the highest possible rating.


title: Indiana

text: Indiana's power production chiefly consists of the consumption of fossil fuels, mainly coal. It has 24 coal power plants, including the country's largest coal power plant, Gibson Generating Station, across the Wabash River from Mount Carmel, Illinois. Indiana is also home to the coal-fired plant with the highest sulfur dioxide emissions in the United States, the Gallagher power plant, just west of New Albany.


title: Indiana

text: In 2010, Indiana had estimated coal reserves of 57 billion tons, and state mining operations produced 35 million tons of coal annually. Indiana also has at least 900 million barrels of petroleum reserves in the Trenton Field, though they are not easily recoverable. While Indiana has made commitments to increasing the use of renewable resources such as wind, hydroelectric, biomass, or solar power, progress has been very slow, mainly because of the continued abundance of coal in southern Indiana. Most of the new plants in the state have been coal gasification plants. Another source is hydroelectric power.


title: Indiana

text: Wind power has been growing rapidly. Estimates in 2006 raised Indiana's wind capacity from 30 MW at 50 m turbine height to 40,000 MW at 70 m, and to 130,000 MW at 100 m, in 2010, the height of newer turbines. By the end of 2011, Indiana had installed 1,340 MW of wind turbines. In 2020, this total had more than doubled to 2,968 MW.


title: Indiana

text: Indianapolis International Airport serves the greater Indianapolis area. It opened in November 2008 and offers a midfield passenger terminal, concourses, air traffic control tower, parking garage, and airfield and apron improvements.


title: Indiana

text: Other major airports include Evansville Regional Airport, Fort Wayne International Airport (which houses the 122d Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard), and South Bend International Airport. A long-standing proposal to turn Gary Chicago International Airport into Chicago's third major airport received a boost in early 2006 with the approval of $48million in federal funding over the next ten years.


title: Indiana

text: No airlines operate out of Terre Haute Regional Airport but it is used for private planes. Since 1954, the 181st Fighter Wing of the Indiana Air National Guard was stationed there, but the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Proposal of 2005 stated the 181st would lose its fighter mission and F-16 aircraft, leaving the Terre Haute facility a general-aviation-only facility.


title: Indiana

text: Louisville International Airport, across the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky, serves southern Indiana, as does Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Kentucky. Many residents of Northwest Indiana, which is primarily in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, use Chicago's airports, O'Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport.


title: Indiana

text: The U.S. Interstate highways in Indiana are I-64, I-65, I-265, I-465, I-865, I-69, I-469, I-70, I-74, I-80, I-90, I-94, and I-275. The various highways intersecting in and around Indianapolis, along with its historical status as a major railroad hub, and the canals that once crossed Indiana, are the source of the state's motto, the Crossroads of America. There are also many U.S. routes and state highways maintained by the Indiana Department of Transportation. These are numbered according to the same convention as U.S. Highways. Indiana allows highways of different classifications to have the same number. For example, I-64 and Indiana State Road 64 both exist (rather close to each other) in Indiana, but are two distinct roads with no relation to one another.


title: Indiana

text: A $3 billion project extending I-69 is underway. The project was divided into six sections, with the first five sections (linking Evansville to Martinsville) now complete. The sixth and final phase from Martinsville to Indianapolis is under construction. When complete, I-69 will traverse an additional through the state.


title: Indiana

text: Most Indiana counties use a grid-based system to identify county roads; this system replaced the older arbitrary system of road numbers and names, and (among other things) makes it much easier to identify the sources of calls placed to the 9-1-1 system. Such systems are easier to implement in the glacially flattened northern and central portions of the state. Rural counties in the southern third of the state are less likely to have grids and more likely to rely on unsystematic road names (for example, Crawford, Harrison, Perry, Scott, and Washington Counties).


title: Indiana

text: There are also counties in the northern portions of the state that have never implemented a grid or have only partially implemented one. Some counties are also laid out in an almost diamond-like grid system (e.g., Clark, Floyd, Gibson, and Knox Counties). Such a system is also almost useless in those situations as well. Knox County once operated two different grid systems for county roads because the county was laid out using two different survey grids, but has since decided to use road names and combine roads instead.


title: Indiana

text: Notably, the county road grid system of St. Joseph County, whose major city is South Bend, uses perennial (tree) names (i.e. Ash, Hickory, Ironwood, etc.) in alphabetical order for north–south roads and presidential and other noteworthy names (i.e., Adams, Edison, Lincoln Way, etc.) in alphabetical order for east–west roads. There are exceptions to this rule in downtown South Bend and Mishawaka. Hamilton County's east–west roads continue Indianapolis's numbered street system from 96th Street at the Marion County line to 296th street at the Tipton County line.


title: Indiana

text: Indiana has more than , of which 91% are operated by Class I railroads, principally CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway. Other ClassI railroads in Indiana include the Canadian National Railway and Soo Line Railroad, a Canadian Pacific Railway subsidiary, as well as Amtrak. The remaining miles are operated by 37 regional, local, and switching and terminal railroads. The South Shore Line is one of the country's most notable commuter rail systems, extending from Chicago to South Bend. Indiana is implementing an extensive rail plan prepared in 2002 by the Parsons Corporation. Many recreational trails, such as the Monon Trail and Cardinal Greenway, have been created from abandoned rails routes.


title: Indiana

text: Indiana annually ships more than 70 million tons of cargo by water each year, which ranks 14th among all U.S. states. More than half of Indiana's border is water, which includes of direct access to two major freight transportation arteries: the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway (via Lake Michigan) and the Inland Waterway System (via the Ohio River). The Ports of Indiana manages three major ports which include Burns Harbor, Jeffersonville, and Mount Vernon.


title: Indiana

text: Indiana's 1816 constitution was the first in the country to implement a state-funded public school system. It also allotted one township for a public university. However, the plan turned out to be far too idealistic for a pioneer society, as tax money was not accessible for its organization. In the 1840s, Caleb Mills pressed the need for tax-supported schools, and in 1851 his advice was included in the new state constitution. In 1843 the Legislature ruled that African Americans could not attend the public schools, leading to the foundation of Union Literary Institute and other schools for them, funded by donations or the students themselves. The Indiana General Assembly authorized separate but equal schools for Black students in 1869, and in 1877 language in the law changed to allow for integrated schools.


title: Indiana

text: Although the growth of the public school system was held up by legal entanglements, many public elementary schools were in use by 1870. Most children in Indiana attend public schools, but nearly ten percent attend private schools and parochial schools. About half of all college students in Indiana are enrolled in state-supported four-year schools.


title: Indiana

text: Indiana public schools have gone through several changes throughout Indiana's history. Modern, public school standards, have been implemented all throughout the state. These new standards were adopted in April 2014. The overall goal of these new state standards is to ensure Indiana students have the necessary skills and requirements needed to enter college or the workforce upon high school graduation. State standards can be found for nearly every major subject taught in Indiana public schools. Mathematics, English/Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies are among the top, prioritized standards. In 2022, the Indiana Department of Education reported that the state's overall graduation rate was 86.7%, down one percent from 2021.


title: Indiana

text: The rate of Indiana high school students attending college fell to 53% in 2022, a significant decline from 65% in 2017. Indiana's college-going rates have fallen further than most states'. Trends reveal widening gaps for students of color and low-income families.


title: Indiana

text: Indiana has a strong vocational school system. Charles Allen Prossor, known as the father of vocational education in the United States, was from New Albany. The Charles Allen Prosser School of Technology is named in his honor. There are vocational schools in every region of Indiana, and most Indiana students can freely attend a vocational school during their high school years and receive training and job placement assistance in trade jobs. The International Union Of Operating Engineers (IUOE) has seven local unions in Indiana, offering apprenticeship and training opportunities. According to the Electrical Training Alliance website, there are ten electrical training centers in Indiana.


title: Indiana

text: The largest educational institution is Indiana University, a multi-campus university system; its flagship campus was endorsed as Indiana Seminary in 1820. Indiana State University was established as the state's Normal School in 1865; Purdue University was chartered as a land-grant university in 1869 and is also a multi-campus institution. The three other independent state universities are Vincennes University (founded in 1801 by the Indiana Territory), Ball State University (1918), and the University of Southern Indiana (1965 as ISU–Evansville).


title: Indiana

text: Many of Indiana's private colleges and universities are affiliated with religious groups. The University of Notre Dame, Marian University, and the University of Saint Francis are popular Roman Catholic schools. Universities affiliated with Protestant denominations include Anderson University, Butler University, Huntington University, Manchester University, Indiana Wesleyan University, Taylor University, Franklin College, Hanover College, DePauw University, Earlham College, Valparaiso University, University of Indianapolis, and University of Evansville.


title: Indiana

text: The state's community college system, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, serves nearly 200,000 students annually, making it the state's largest public post-secondary educational institution and the nation's largest singly accredited statewide community college system. In 2008, the Indiana University system agreed to shift most of its associate (2-year) degrees to the Ivy Tech Community College System.


title: Indiana

text: The state has several universities ranked among the best by "U.S. News & World Report". The University of Notre Dame ranks among the top 20, Purdue University among the top 50, and Indiana University Bloomington among the top 100. Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has recently made it into the top 200 "U.S. News & World Report" rankings. Butler, Valparaiso, and the University of Evansville are ranked among the top ten in the Regional University Midwest Rankings. Purdue's engineering programs are ranked eighth in the country. In addition, Taylor University is ranked first in the Regional College Midwest Rankings and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has been considered the nation's top undergraduate engineering school for 24 consecutive years.


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as well as overdose potential among other possible adverse effects. They have been used recreationally for their anxiolytic and sedative effects, and are thus controlled in most countries due to the risks associated with such use.


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbiturates have largely been replaced by benzodiazepines and nonbenzodiazepines ("Z-drugs") in routine medical practice, particularly in the treatment of anxiety disorders and insomnia, because of the significantly lower risk of overdose, and the lack of an antidote for barbiturate overdose. Despite this, barbiturates are still in use for various purposes: in general anesthesia, epilepsy, treatment of acute migraines or cluster headaches, acute tension headaches, euthanasia, capital punishment, and assisted suicide.


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbiturates, such as phenobarbital, were long used as anxiolytics and hypnotics. Intermediate-acting barbiturates reduce time to fall asleep, increase total sleep time, and reduce REM sleep time. Today they have been largely replaced by benzodiazepines for these purposes because the latter are less toxic in drug overdose. However, barbiturates are still used as anticonvulsants (e.g., phenobarbital and primidone) and general anesthetics (e.g., sodium thiopental).


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbiturates in high doses are used for medical aid in dying, and in combination with a muscle relaxant for euthanasia and for capital punishment by lethal injection. Barbiturates are frequently employed as euthanizing agents in small-animal veterinary medicine.


title: Barbiturate

text: Sodium thiopental is an ultra-short-acting barbiturate that is marketed under the name Sodium Pentothal. It is often mistaken for "truth serum", or sodium amytal, an intermediate-acting barbiturate that is used for sedation and to treat insomnia, but was also used in so-called sodium amytal "interviews" where the person being questioned would be much more likely to provide the truth whilst under the influence of this drug. When dissolved in water, sodium amytal can be swallowed, or it can be administered by intravenous injection. The drug does not itself force people to tell the truth, but is thought to decrease inhibitions and slow creative thinking, making subjects more likely to be caught off guard when questioned, and increasing the possibility of the subject revealing information through emotional outbursts. Lying is somewhat more complex than telling the truth, especially under the influence of a sedative-hypnotic drug.


title: Barbiturate

text: The memory-impairing effects and cognitive impairments induced by sodium thiopental are thought to reduce a subject's ability to invent and remember lies. This practice is no longer considered legally admissible in court, owing to findings that subjects undergoing such interrogations may form false memories, putting the reliability of all information obtained through such methods into question. Nonetheless, it is still employed in certain circumstances by defense and law enforcement agencies as a "humane" alternative to torture interrogation when the subject is believed to have information critical to the security of the state or agency employing the tactic.


title: Barbiturate

text: In 1988, the synthesis and binding studies of an artificial receptor binding barbiturates by six complementary hydrogen bonds was published. Since this first article, different kind of receptors were designed, as well as different barbiturates and cyanurates, not for their efficiencies as drugs but for applications in supramolecular chemistry, in the conception of materials and molecular devices.


title: Barbiturate

text: The preferred IUPAC name of the base compound, barbituric acid, is 1,3-diazinane-2,4,6-trione. Different barbiturates have different substituents in the basic structure, mainly in position 5 on the ring.


title: Barbiturate

text: Sodium barbital and barbital have also been used as pH buffers for biological research, e.g., in immuno-electrophoresis or in fixative solutions.


title: Barbiturate

text: There are special risks to consider for older adults, and women who are pregnant. When a person ages, the body becomes less able to rid itself of barbiturates. As a result, people over the age of sixty-five are at higher risk of experiencing the harmful effects of barbiturates, including drug dependence and accidental overdose. When barbiturates are taken during pregnancy, the drug passes through the placenta to the fetus. After the baby is born, it may experience withdrawal symptoms and have trouble breathing. In addition, nursing mothers who take barbiturates may transmit the drug to their babies through breast milk. A rare adverse reaction to barbiturates is Stevens–Johnson syndrome, which primarily affects the mucous membranes.


title: Barbiturate

text: With regular use, tolerance to the effects of barbiturates develops. Research shows tolerance can develop with even one administration of a barbiturate. As with all GABAergic drugs, barbiturate withdrawal produces potentially fatal effects such as seizures, in a manner reminiscent of delirium tremens and benzodiazepine withdrawal although its more direct mechanism of GABA agonism makes barbiturate withdrawal even more severe than that of alcohol or benzodiazepines. It is considered one of the most dangerous withdrawals of any known addictive substance. Similarly to benzodiazepines, the longer acting barbiturates produce a less severe withdrawal syndrome than short acting and ultra-short acting barbiturates. Withdrawal symptoms are dose-dependent with heavier users being more affected than lower-dose addicts.


title: Barbiturate

text: The pharmacological treatment of barbiturate withdrawal is an extended process often consisting of converting the patient to a long-acting benzodiazepine (i.e. Valium), followed by slowly tapering off the benzodiazepine. Mental cravings for barbiturates can last for months or years in some cases and counselling/support groups are highly encouraged by addiction specialists. Patients should never try to tackle the task of discontinuing barbiturates without consulting a doctor, owing to the high lethality and relatively sudden onset of the withdrawal. Attempting to quit "cold turkey" may result in neurological damage due to excitotoxicity, severe physical injuries received during convulsions, and even death resulting from arrhythmias during grande Mal seizures, paralleling death caused by delirium tremens.


title: Barbiturate

text: Some symptoms of an overdose typically include sluggishness, incoordination, difficulty in thinking, slowness of speech, faulty judgement, drowsiness, shallow breathing, staggering, and, in severe cases, coma or death. The lethal dosage of barbiturates varies greatly with tolerance and from one individual to another. The lethal dose is highly variable among different members of the class, with superpotent barbiturates such as pentobarbital being potentially fatal in considerably lower doses than the low-potency barbiturates such as butalbital. Even in inpatient settings, the development of tolerance is still a problem, as dangerous and unpleasant withdrawal symptoms can result when the drug is stopped after dependence has developed. Tolerance to the anxiolytic and sedative effects of barbiturates tends to develop faster than tolerance to their effects on smooth muscle, respiration, and heart rate, making them generally unsuitable for a long time psychiatric use. Tolerance to the anticonvulsant effects tends to correlate more with tolerance to physiological effects, however, meaning that they are still a viable option for long-term epilepsy treatment.


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbiturates in overdose with other CNS (central nervous system) depressants (e.g. alcohol, opiates, benzodiazepines) are even more dangerous owing to additive CNS and respiratory depressant effects. In the case of benzodiazepines, not only do they have additive effects, barbiturates also increase the binding affinity of the benzodiazepine binding site, leading to exaggerated benzodiazepine effects. (ex. If a benzodiazepine increases the frequency of channel opening by 300%, and a barbiturate increases the duration of their opening by 300%, then the combined effects of the drugs increases the channels' overall function by 900%, not 600%).


title: Barbiturate

text: The longest-acting barbiturates have half-lives of a day or more, and subsequently result in bioaccumulation of the drug in the system. The therapeutic and recreational effects of long-acting barbiturates wear off significantly faster than the drug can be eliminated, allowing the drug to reach toxic concentrations in the blood following repeated administration (even when taken at the therapeutic or prescribed dose) despite the user feeling little or no effects from the plasma-bound concentrations of the drug. Users who consume alcohol or other sedatives after the drug's effects have worn off, but before it has cleared the system, may experience a greatly exaggerated effect from the other sedatives which can be incapacitating or even fatal.


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbiturates induce a number of hepatic CYP enzymes (most notably CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP3A4), leading to exaggerated effects from many prodrugs and decreased effects from drugs which are metabolized by these enzymes to inactive metabolites. This can result in fatal overdoses from drugs such as codeine, tramadol, and carisoprodol, which become considerably more potent after being metabolized by CYP enzymes. Although all known members of the class possess relevant enzyme induction capabilities, the degree of induction overall as well as the impact on each specific enzyme span a broad range, with phenobarbital and secobarbital being the most potent enzyme inducers and butalbital and talbutal being among the weakest enzyme inducers in the class.


title: Barbiturate

text: People who are known to have killed themselves by barbiturate overdose include Stefan Zweig, Charles Boyer, Ruan Lingyu, Dalida, Jeannine Deckers, Felix Hausdorff, Abbie Hoffman, Phyllis Hyman, C. P. Ramanujam, George Sanders, Jean Seberg, Lupe Vélez and the members of Heaven's Gate cult. Others who have died as a result of barbiturate overdose include Pier Angeli, Brian Epstein, Judy Garland, Jimi Hendrix, Marilyn Monroe, Inger Stevens, Dinah Washington, Ellen Wilkinson, and Alan Wilson; in some cases these have been speculated to be suicides as well. Those who died of a combination of barbiturates and other drugs include Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Dorothy Kilgallen, Malcolm Lowry, Edie Sedgwick and Kenneth Williams. Dorothy Dandridge died of either an overdose or an unrelated embolism. Ingeborg Bachmann may have died of the consequences of barbiturate withdrawal (she was hospitalized with burns, the doctors treating her not being aware of her barbiturate addiction).


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbiturates act as positive allosteric modulators and, at higher doses, as agonists of GABA receptors. GABA is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). Barbiturates bind to the GABA receptor at multiple homologous transmembrane pockets located at subunit interfaces, which are binding sites distinct from GABA itself and also distinct from the benzodiazepine binding site. Like benzodiazepines, barbiturates potentiate the effect of GABA at this receptor. In addition to this GABAergic effect, barbiturates also block AMPA and kainate receptors, subtypes of ionotropic glutamate receptor. Glutamate is the principal excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian CNS. Taken together, the findings that barbiturates potentiate inhibitory GABA receptors and inhibit excitatory AMPA receptors can explain the superior CNS-depressant effects of these agents to alternative GABA potentiating agents such as benzodiazepines and quinazolinones. At higher concentration, they inhibit the Ca-dependent release of neurotransmitters such as glutamate via an effect on P/Q-type voltage-dependent calcium channels.


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbiturates produce their pharmacological effects by increasing the duration of chloride ion channel opening at the GABA receptor (pharmacodynamics: This increases the efficacy of GABA), whereas benzodiazepines increase the frequency of the chloride ion channel opening at the GABA receptor (pharmacodynamics: This increases the potency of GABA). The direct gating or opening of the chloride ion channel is the reason for the increased toxicity of barbiturates compared to benzodiazepines in overdose.


title: Barbiturate

text: Further, barbiturates are relatively non-selective compounds that bind to an entire superfamily of ligand-gated ion channels, of which the GABA receptor channel is only one of several representatives. This Cys-loop receptor superfamily of ion channels includes the neuronal nACh receptor channel, the 5-HT receptor channel, and the glycine receptor channel. However, while GABA receptor currents are increased by barbiturates (and other general anesthetics), ligand-gated ion channels that are predominantly permeable for cationic ions are blocked by these compounds. For example, neuronal nAChR channels are blocked by clinically relevant anesthetic concentrations of both thiopental and pentobarbital. Such findings implicate (non-GABA-ergic) ligand-gated ion channels, e.g. the neuronal nAChR channel, in mediating some of the (side) effects of barbiturates. This is the mechanism responsible for the (mild to moderate) anesthetic effect of barbiturates in high doses when used in anesthetic concentration.


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbituric acid was first synthesized 27 November 1864, by German chemist Adolf von Baeyer. This was done by condensing urea with diethyl malonate. There are several stories about how the substance got its name. The most likely story is that Baeyer and his colleagues went to celebrate their discovery in a tavern where the town's artillery garrison were also celebrating the feast of Saint Barbara – the patron saint of artillerymen. An artillery officer is said to have christened the new substance by amalgamating "Barbara" with "urea". Another story was barbiturate was invented on the feast day of St. Barbara. Another story holds that Baeyer synthesized the substance from the collected urine of a Munich waitress named Barbara. No substance of medical value was discovered, however, until 1903 when two German scientists working at Bayer, Emil Fischer and Joseph von Mering, discovered that barbital was very effective in putting dogs to sleep. Barbital was then marketed by Bayer under the trade name Veronal. It is said that Mering proposed this name because the most peaceful place he knew was the Italian city of Verona.


title: Barbiturate

text: It was not until the 1950s that the behavioral disturbances and physical dependence potential of barbiturates became recognized.


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbituric acid itself does not have any direct effect on the central nervous system and chemists have derived over 2,500 compounds from it that possess pharmacologically active qualities. The broad class of barbiturates is further broken down and classified according to speed of onset and duration of action. Ultrashort-acting barbiturates are commonly used for anesthesia because their extremely short duration of action allows for greater control. These properties allow doctors to rapidly put a patient "under" in emergency surgery situations. Doctors can also bring a patient out of anesthesia just as quickly, should complications arise during surgery. The middle two classes of barbiturates are often combined under the title "short/intermediate-acting." These barbiturates are also employed for anesthetic purposes, and are also sometimes prescribed for anxiety or insomnia. This is not a common practice anymore, however, owing to the dangers of long-term use of barbiturates; they have been replaced by the benzodiazepines and Z-drugs such as zolpidem, zaleplon and eszopiclone for sleep. The final class of barbiturates are known as long-acting barbiturates (the most notable one being phenobarbital, which has a half-life of roughly 92 hours). This class of barbiturates is used almost exclusively as anticonvulsants, although on rare occasions they are prescribed for daytime sedation. Barbiturates in this class are not used for insomnia, because, owing to their extremely long half-life, patients would awake with a residual "hang-over" effect and feel groggy.


title: Barbiturate

text: Barbiturates can in most cases be used either as the free acid or as salts of sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, lithium, etc. Codeine- and dionine-based salts of barbituric acid have been developed. In 1912, Bayer introduced another barbituric acid derivative, phenobarbital, under the trade name Luminal, as a sedative–hypnotic.


title: Barbiturate

text: During World War II, military personnel in the Pacific region were given "goofballs" to allow them to tolerate the heat and humidity of daily working conditions. Goofballs were distributed to reduce the demand on the respiratory system, as well as maintaining blood pressure, to combat the extreme conditions. Many soldiers returned with addictions that required several months of rehabilitation before discharge. This led to growing dependency problems, often exacerbated by indifferent doctors prescribing high doses to unknowing patients through the 1950s and 1960s.


title: Barbiturate

text: In the late 1950s and 1960s, an increasing number of published reports of barbiturate overdoses and dependence problems led physicians to reduce their prescription, particularly for spurious requests. This eventually led to the scheduling of barbiturates as controlled drugs.


title: Barbiturate

text: In the Netherlands, the Opium Law classifies all barbiturates as List II drugs, with the exception of secobarbital, which is on List I.


title: Barbiturate

text: There is a small group of List II drugs for which doctors have to write the prescriptions according to the same, tougher guidelines as those for List I drugs (writing the prescription in full in letters, listing the patients name, and have to contain the name and initials, address, city and telephone number of the licensed prescriber issuing the prescriptions, as well as the name and initials, address and city of the person the prescription is issued to). Among that group of drugs are the barbiturates amobarbital, butalbital, cyclobarbital, and pentobarbital.


title: Barbiturate

text: In the United States, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified most barbiturates as controlled substances—and they remain so . Barbital, methylphenobarbital (also known as mephobarbital), and phenobarbital are designated schedule IV drugs, and "Any substance which contains any quantity of a derivative of barbituric acid, or any salt of a derivative of barbituric acid" (all other barbiturates) were designated as being schedule III. Under the original CSA, no barbiturates were placed in schedule I, II, or V; however, amobarbital, pentobarbital, and secobarbital are schedule II controlled substances unless they are in a suppository dosage form.


title: Barbiturate

text: In 1971, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances was signed in Vienna. Designed to regulate amphetamines, barbiturates, and other synthetics, the 34th version of the treaty, , regulates secobarbital as schedule II, amobarbital, butalbital, cyclobarbital, and pentobarbital as schedule III, and allobarbital, barbital, butobarbital, mephobarbital, phenobarbital, butabarbital, and vinylbital as schedule IV on its "Green List". The combination medication Fioricet, consisting of butalbital, caffeine, and paracetamol (acetaminophen), however, is specifically exempted from controlled substance status, while its sibling Fiorinal, which contains aspirin instead of paracetamol and may contain codeine phosphate, remains a schedule III drug.


title: Barbiturate

text: Recreational users report that a barbiturate high gives them feelings of relaxed contentment and euphoria. Physical and psychological dependence may also develop with repeated use. Chronic misuse of barbiturates is associated with significant morbidity. One study found that 11% of males and 23% of females with a sedative-hypnotic misuse die by suicide. Other effects of barbiturate intoxication include drowsiness, lateral and vertical nystagmus, slurred speech and ataxia, decreased anxiety, and loss of inhibitions. Barbiturates are also used to alleviate the adverse or withdrawal effects of illicit drug use, in a manner similar to long-acting benzodiazepines such as diazepam and clonazepam. Often polysubstance use occurs and barbiturates are consumed with or substituted by other available substances, most commonly alcohol.


title: Barbiturate

text: People who use substances tend to prefer short-acting and intermediate-acting barbiturates. The most commonly used are amobarbital (Amytal), pentobarbital (Nembutal), and secobarbital (Seconal). A combination of amobarbital and secobarbital (called Tuinal) is also highly used. Short-acting and intermediate-acting barbiturates are usually prescribed as sedatives and sleeping pills. These pills begin acting fifteen to forty minutes after they are swallowed, and their effects last from five to six hours.


title: Barbiturate

text: Slang terms for barbiturates include barbs, barbies, bluebirds, dolls, wallbangers, yellows, downers, goofballs, sleepers, 'reds & blues', and tooties.


title: Barbiturate

text: Thiopental is a barbiturate with one of the C=O double bonds (with the carbon being labelled 2 in the adjacent diagram) replaced with a C=S double bond, R being CHCH and R being CH(CH)CHCHCH. Thiopental is no longer available in the United States.


title: Mother!

text: Mother! (stylized as mother!) is a 2017 American psychological horror film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, Brian Gleeson, and Kristen Wiig. It follows a young woman whose tranquil life with her husband at their country home is disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious couple.


title: Mother!

text: The film premiered on September 5, 2017 at the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it was selected to compete for the Golden Lion. It was released in the United States on September 15, 2017 by Paramount Pictures, and grossed $44 million worldwide against its $30 million budget. Although it received generally positive reviews, its biblical allegories and depiction of violence sparked controversy.


title: Mother!

text: In the burned-out remains of a large house, Him, an acclaimed poet struggling with writer's block, places a crystal object on a pedestal in his study, and the building morphs into a beautiful home in an edenic landscape. Mother, the poet's wife and muse, awakens in her bed and wonders aloud where Him is. While renovating the house, she occasionally visualizes a beating heart within its walls.


title: Mother!

text: One day, a stranger called Man turns up at the house, asking for a room and claiming to be a local doctor. Him readily agrees, and Mother reluctantly follows suit. Late that night, Man suffers from dry heaves and Mother observes a wound on his side.


title: Mother!

text: Man's wife, Woman, arrives the next day. Mother is increasingly frustrated by her guests, but Him begs her to let them stay, revealing that Man is actually a fan whose dying wish was to meet Him. However, when Man and Woman accidentally shatter the crystal object, which Him had forbidden them to touch, Him becomes angry and boards up his study. Mother tells Man and Woman to leave, but, before they can go, their two sons arrive unexpectedly and fight over Man's will. The oldest son, who is concerned about his impending inheritance, argues and fights with his younger brother, severely wounding him, and the older brother flees after having his head smashed against glass by Him.


title: Mother!

text: Him, Man, and Woman take the injured son to the hospital. Alone in the house, Mother cleans up and follows a trail of blood to a tank of heating oil hidden behind the basement walls. Upon returning, Him informs Mother the son has died.


title: Mother!

text: Mother and Him are roused that night when dozens of people arrive unannounced at the house to mourn the dead son. The visitors behave in rude and presumptuous ways that irritate Mother, and she snaps and orders everyone to leave when they break a sink, partially flooding the house. She berates Him for allowing so many people inside and ignoring her needs, but their argument leads to passionate lovemaking. The next morning, Mother announces she is pregnant, which elates Him and inspires him to start writing again.


title: Mother!

text: Time passes. Mother prepares for the arrival of the child and reads Him's beautiful new poem. Upon publication, it is acclaimed and sells well. In celebration, Mother prepares a big dinner, but a group of fans interrupt. Though she asks Him to send them away, he insists he has to be polite and show his appreciation. Mother tries to lock the doors, but droves of fans pour into the house and begin to wreak havoc, stealing things as souvenirs and damaging the house. Due to the adulation he is receiving, Him is oblivious to what is happening, but a disoriented Mother watches helplessly as military forces turn up to battle members of the cult that has sprung up around Him and as his publicist organizes mass executions. Mother goes into labor and finds Him, who reopens his study, which he had previously boarded up, so she can give birth inside.


title: Mother!

text: The havoc outside subsides. Him tells Mother his fans want to see their Their newborn son, but she refuses to hand over the boy. Eventually, she falls asleep, and Him takes the child outside to the crowd, which passes the baby around wildly until he is inadvertently killed. Mother wades into the throng and finds people eating her son's mutilated corpse. Furious, she calls them murderers and attacks them with a shard of glass. They turn on her and beat her savagely until Him intervenes. He begs Mother to forgive them, but she runs down to the basement oil tank and punctures it with a wrench. She ignites the oil, causing an explosion that incinerates the crowd and destroys the house.


title: Mother!

text: Him is unscathed by the inferno, but Mother is horrifically burned. She asks him what he is, and he replies, "I am I" and Mother was "home." He asks for her love, and, when she agrees, reaches into her chest and removes her heart, which he tears open to reveal a new crystal object. He places it on the pedestal and the house is transformed back into a beautiful home. A new Mother appears in the bed and awakens, wondering aloud where Him is.


title: Mother!

text: In an interview, Lawrence stated that the film is an allegory and "depicts the rape and torment of Mother Earth ... I represent Mother Earth; Javier, whose character is a poet, represents a form of God, a creator; Michelle Pfeiffer is an Eve to Ed Harris's Adam, there's Cain and Abel and the setting sometimes resembles the Garden of Eden".


title: Mother!

text: Aronofsky said the exclamation mark in the title "reflects the spirit of the film", which ends with "a big exclamation point". He discussed the film's unusual choice of not capitalizing the letter 'm' in the title during a Reddit interview, saying: "To find out why there's a lowercase 'm', read the credits and look for the letter that is capitalised. Ask yourself what's another name for this character?" (In the credits, the characters' names are all shown in lowercase, except for Him.)


title: Mother!

text: The lighter that appears throughout the film bears the Wendehorn, a runic symbol that represents "the cooperation between nature's eternal laws, working in effect and in accordance with each other." One of the film's unexplained elements is the yellow powder Lawrence's character drinks, which "The Daily Beast" suggests is a reference to Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper".


title: Mother!

text: After 2014's "Noah", Aronofsky began working on a children's film. During that process, he came up with a new idea. He ended up writing the screenplay for "Mother!" in five days, much faster than his usual pace. The film uses a dream-logic narrative, of which Aronofsky has noted: "if you try to unscrew it, it kind of falls apart ... it's a psychological freak-out. You shouldn't over-explain it."


title: Mother!

text: Jennifer Lawrence was reportedly in talks to join the film by October 2015 and, by January 2016, Javier Bardem was also in talks to star. In March, it was announced Kristen Wiig had been cast in the film and, by April, Domhnall Gleeson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Harris, and Brian Gleeson were added to the cast.


title: Mother!

text: Principal photography began on June 13, 2016 and concluded on August 28, 2016. The cast first rehearsed for three months in a warehouse, during which time Aronofsky was able to "get a sense of movement and camera movement, and learn from that." Lawrence was reportedly quite relaxed through rehearsals; Aronofsky said that he "didn't get to know the character until we started shooting, and she showed up."


title: Mother!

text: "Mother!" was the first of Aronofsky's films without the involvement of composer Clint Mansell. It initially had a score composed by Jóhann Jóhannsson, but after seeing the 90-minute score synced up with a rough cut of the film, Aronofsky and Jóhannsson agreed not to use it. They tried using the score at only a few moments, then a minimal version of the score with sound design by Craig Henighan, incorporating noises into the soundscape of the house. They ultimately decided the film worked best with no music. Composer Ólafur Arnalds recounted the following story about this decision:


title: Mother!

text: Over the closing credits, the film features a cover of Skeeter Davis's "The End of the World" performed by Patti Smith.


title: Mother!

text: The film was originally scheduled to be released on October 13, 2017, but was moved up to September 15. It had its world premiere at the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it was selected to compete for the Golden Lion; premiered in London on 6 September 2017; and was screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.


title: Mother!

text: "Mother!" was released digitally on December 5, 2017, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on December 19. It is available to stream on Paramount+.


title: Mother!

text: The film grossed $17.8 million in the United States and Canada and $26.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $44.5 million, against a production budget of $30 million.


title: Mother!

text: In North America, the film was released alongside "American Assassin" and was projected to gross $12–14 million from 2,368 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $700,000 from Thursday night previews, $3.1 million on its first day, and went on to open to just $7.5 million, finishing third at the box office and marking the worst debut for a film in which Lawrence had top billing. Deadline Hollywood attributed the film's underperformance to its controversial narrative, misleading advertisements, and "F" CinemaScore grade (, it is one of only 22 films to receive such a rating). Other publications wrote that the film's CinemaScore grade, which is extremely rare, is typically associated with "a movie that goes out of its way to artfully alienate or confuse audiences." In its second weekend, the film dropped 56.3% to $3.3 million, finishing sixth at the box office.


title: Mother!

text: Aronofsky responded to the film's CinemaScore rating by saying that "Mother!" was meant to be difficult viewing for audiences: "How if you walk out of this movie are you not going to give it an 'F'? ... We wanted to make a punk movie and come at you. And the reason I wanted to come is because I was very sad and I had a lot of anguish and I wanted to express it."


title: Mother!

text: "Mother!" received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Aronofsky's direction and the performances, particularly those of Lawrence and Pfeiffer, while its biblical allegories and depiction of violence sparked controversy. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 68% based on 376 reviews, with an average rating of 7.0/10; the website's critical consensus reads: "There's no denying that "Mother!" is the thought-provoking product of a singularly ambitious artistic vision, though it may be too unwieldy for mainstream tastes." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on reviews from 51 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film received both boos and a standing ovation during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "F" on an A+ to F scale, making it one of twenty-two films to receive the score, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave a 51% overall positive and a 33% "definite recommend".


title: Mother!

text: Owen Gleiberman of "Variety", in a positive review of the film, called "Mother!" "a piece of ersatz humanity", and wrote: "By all means, go to "Mother!" and enjoy its roller-coaster-of-weird exhibitionism. But be afraid, very afraid, only if you're hoping to see a movie that's as honestly disquieting as it is showy." Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" awarded the film three and a half out of four stars, describing it and Aronofsky's direction as an "artist's cry from his own corrupt heart" and "a work of a visionary". He also praised the film's allegorical narrative and the performances of Lawrence, Bardem, and Pfeiffer, and said, positively, that the cinematography "always seems on the verge of exploding". Writing for the "Chicago Tribune", Michael Phillips said: "Darren Aronofsky delivers a damning critique of the artist/muse arrangement, even as he admits to its old-fashioned patriarchal simplicity." He also referred to the film and its script as "grandiose and narcissistic and, in quick strokes, pretty vicious," while drawing a similarity to Aronofsky's film "Black Swan".


title: Mother!

text: Writing for "The Guardian", Peter Bradshaw gave the film five stars, saying: "Darren Aronofsky's toweringly outrageous film leaves no gob unsmacked. It is an event-movie detonation, a phantasmagorical horror and black-comic nightmare that jams the narcosis needle right into your abdomen." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of "The A.V. Club" gave the film a B+, writing: "the filmmaking ranks as some of Aronofsky's most skillful". Ben Croll of "IndieWire" gave the film an A−, noting: "Awash in both religious and contemporary political imagery, Darren Aronofsky's allusive film opens itself to a number of allegorical readings, but it also works as a straight-ahead head rush." In an essay for "The Hollywood Reporter", Martin Scorsese said: "It was so tactile, so beautifully staged and acted—the subjective camera and the POV reverse angles, always in motion ... the sound design, which comes at the viewer from around corners and leads you deeper and deeper into the nightmare ... the unfolding of the story, which very gradually becomes more and more upsetting as the film goes forward. The horror, the dark comedy, the biblical elements, the cautionary fable—they're all there, but they're elements in the total experience, which engulfs the characters and the viewers along with them. Only a true, passionate filmmaker could have made this picture, which I'm still experiencing weeks after I saw it." Director William Friedkin praised the film.


title: Mother!

text: Rex Reed gave the film zero stars in "The New York Observer", and wrote that, despite some good cinematography, "Nothing about "Mother!" makes one lick of sense as Darren Aronofsky's corny vision of madness turns more hilarious than scary. With so much crap around to clog the drain, I hesitate to label it the 'Worst movie of the year' when 'Worst movie of the century' fits it even better." Reed further dismissed other critics' positive reviews of the film as "equally pretentious" and "even nuttier than the film itself. ... they all insist "Mother!" is a metaphor for something, although they are not quite sure what it is." Similarly, "The New Republic"s Jo Livingstone stated that the film has "no human center to hold it down." Anthony Lane wrote in his review in "New Yorker" that "My patience was tested beyond repair, I am afraid, by the nimbus of nonsense." In "The Wall Street Journal", John Anderson said: "it achieves a level of excess that makes the whole enterprise increasingly cartoonish, rather than just awful." Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" rated the film two out of four stars, writing that, while he appreciated Lawrence's performance, he questioned whether Aronofsky was mocking certain biblical passages featured in the film or presenting a commentary on an artistic process. Writing for "The Washington Post", Anne Hornaday gave the film two stars, saying: "Even Lawrence's magnetic powers can't keep "Mother!" from going off the rails, which at first occurs cumulatively, then in a mad rush during the film's outlandish climax."


title: Mother!

text: Stephen Whitty of the "Newark Star Ledger" wrote: "one part early Roman Polanski, one part pseudo Harold Pinter, and two parts apology-from-a-driven-artist. And none of it adds up. The feeble idea behind "Mother!" isn't strong enough to bear the weight of all the overwrought style he hangs on it. Unlike the mansion it's set in, it's a small, hammered-together thing, and it can't bear all this meaning and metaphor." Chris Nashawaty of "Entertainment Weekly" said: "Darren Aronofsky's "Mother!" is "Rosemary's Baby" amped up into a fugue state of self-indulgent solipsism. He's an artist. And he really wants you to know that he's been thinking a lot about what that means. Unfortunately, his gaze is so deep into his own navel that it's just exasperating." David Edelstein of "New York" magazine shrugged off the film and any talk of its craft, writing: "Most of the dialogue and effects are clunky, repetitive, second rate."


title: Mother!

text: The film's nominations at the 38th Golden Raspberry Awards received backlash from audiences and critics, especially Lawrence's nomination, whose performance was praised by critics.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as () and by his regnal title Alamgir (), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling from July 1658 until his death in 1707. Under his emperorship, the Mughals reached their greatest extent with their territory spanning nearly the entirety of South Asia.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Widely considered to be the last effective Mughal ruler, Aurangzeb compiled the Fatawa 'Alamgiri and was amongst the few monarchs to have fully established Sharia and Islamic economics throughout South Asia.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Belonging to the aristocratic Timurid dynasty, Aurangzeb's early life was occupied with pious pursuits. He held administrative and military posts under his father Shah Jahan () and gained recognition as an accomplished military commander. Aurangzeb served as the viceroy of the Deccan in 1636–1637 and the governor of Gujarat in 1645–1647. He jointly administrated the provinces of Multan and Sindh in 1648–1652 and continued expeditions into the neighboring Safavid territories. In September 1657, Shah Jahan nominated his eldest and liberalist son Dara Shikoh as his successor, a move repudiated by Aurangzeb, who proclaimed himself emperor in February 1658. In April 1658, Aurangzeb defeated the allied army of Shikoh and the Kingdom of Marwar at the battle of Dharmat. Aurangzeb's decisive victory at the battle of Samugarh in May 1658 cemented his sovereignty and his suzerainty was acknowledged throughout the Empire. After Shah Jahan recovered from illness in July 1658, Aurangzeb declared him incompetent to rule and imprisoned his father in the Agra Fort.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Under Aurangzeb's emperorship, the Mughals reached its greatest extent with their territory spanning nearly the entire South Asia. His reign is characterized by a period of rapid military expansion, with several dynasties and states being overthrown by the Mughals. His conquests acquired him the regnal title "Alamgir" ('Conqueror'). The Mughals also surpassed Qing China as the world's largest economy and biggest manufacturing power. The Mughal military gradually improved and became one of the strongest armies in the world. A staunch Muslim, Aurangzeb is credited with the construction of numerous mosques and patronizing works of Arabic calligraphy. He successfully imposed the Fatawa 'Alamgiri as the principal regulating body of the empire and prohibited religiously forbidden activities in Islam. Although Aurangzeb suppressed several local revolts, he maintained cordial relations with foreign governments.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb is generally considered by Islamic historians to be one of the greatest emperors of the Mughals. While there is considerable admiration for Aurangzeb in the contemporary sources, he has been criticized for his executions and demolition of Hindu temples. Furthermore, his Islamization of the region, introduction of the "Jizya" tax and abandonment of un-Islamic practices caused resentment among non-Muslims. Aurangzeb is commemorated by Muslims as a just ruler and the Mujaddid (centennial reviver) of the 11th–12th Islamic century.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb was born in Dahod in . His father was Emperor Shah Jahan (), who hailed from the Mughal house of the Timurid dynasty. The latter was descended from Emir Timur (), the founder of the Timurid Empire. Aurangzeb's mother Mumtaz Mahal was the daughter of the Persian noblemen Asaf Khan, who was the youngest son of vizier Mirza Ghiyas. Aurangzeb was born during the reign of his patrilineal grandfather Jahangir (), the fourth emperor of the Mughal Empire.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In June 1626, after an unsuccessful rebellion by his father, eight-year-old Aurangzeb and his brother Dara Shikoh were sent to the Mughal court in Lahore as hostages of their grandfather Jahangir and his wife, Nur Jahan, as part of their father's pardon deal. After Jahangir died in 1627, Shah Jahan emerged victorious in the ensuing war of succession to the Mughal throne. Aurangzeb and his brother were consequently reunited with Shah Jahan in Agra.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb received a Mughal princely education covering subjects like combat, military strategy, and administration. His curriculum also included scholarly areas like Islamic studies and Turkic and Persian literature. Aurangzeb grew up fluent in the Hindi of his time.


title: Aurangzeb

text: On 28 May 1633, Aurangzeb escaped death when a powerful war elephant stampeded through the Mughal imperial encampment. He rode against the elephant and struck its trunk with a lance, and successfully defended himself from being crushed. Aurangzeb's valour was appreciated by his father who conferred him the title of "Bahadur" (Brave) and had him weighed in gold and presented gifts worth Rs. 200,000. This event was celebrated in Persian and Urdu verses, and Aurangzeb said:


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb was nominally in charge of the force sent to Bundelkhand with the intent of subduing the rebellious ruler of Orchha, Jhujhar Singh, who had attacked another territory in defiance of Shah Jahan's policy and was refusing to atone for his actions. By arrangement, Aurangzeb stayed in the rear, away from the fighting, and took the advice of his generals as the Mughal Army gathered and commenced the siege of Orchha in 1635. The campaign was successful and Singh was removed from power.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb was appointed viceroy of the Deccan in 1636. After Shah Jahan's vassals had been devastated by the alarming expansion of Ahmednagar during the reign of the Nizam Shahi boy-prince Murtaza Shah III, the emperor dispatched Aurangzeb, who in 1636 brought the Nizam Shahi dynasty to an end. In 1637, Aurangzeb married the Safavid princess Dilras Banu, posthumously known as Rabia-ud-Daurani. She was his first wife and chief consort as well as his favourite. He also had an infatuation with a slave girl, Hira Bai, whose death at a young age greatly affected him. In his old age, he was under the charms of his concubine, Udaipuri Bai. The latter had formerly been a companion to Dara Shukoh. In the same year, 1637, Aurangzeb was placed in charge of annexing the small Rajput kingdom of Baglana, which he did with ease. In 1638, Aurangzeb married Nawab Bai, later known as Rahmat al-Nisa. At some point, Aurangzeb married Aurangabadi Mahal, who was a Circassian or Georgian.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1644, Aurangzeb's sister, Jahanara, was burned when the chemicals in her perfume were ignited by a nearby lamp while in Agra. This event precipitated a family crisis with political consequences. Aurangzeb suffered his father's displeasure by not returning to Agra immediately but rather three weeks later. Shah Jahan had been nursing Jahanara back to health in that time and thousands of vassals had arrived in Agra to pay their respects. Shah Jahan was outraged to see Aurangzeb enter the interior palace compound in military attire and immediately dismissed him from his position of viceroy of the Deccan; Aurangzeb was also no longer allowed to use red tents or to associate himself with the official military standard of the Mughal emperor. Other sources tell us that Aurangzeb was dismissed from his position because Aurangzeb left the life of luxury and became a "faqir".


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1645, he was barred from the court for seven months and mentioned his grief to fellow Mughal commanders. Thereafter, Shah Jahan appointed him governor of Gujarat. His rule in Gujarat was marked with religious disputes but he was rewarded for bringing stability.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1647, Shah Jahan moved Aurangzeb from Gujarat to be governor of Balkh, replacing a younger son, Murad Baksh, who had proved ineffective there. The area was under attack from Uzbek and Turkmen tribes. While the Mughal artillery and muskets were a formidable force, so too were the skirmishing skills of their opponents. The two sides were in stalemate and Aurangzeb discovered that his army could not live off the land, which was devastated by war. With the onset of winter, he and his father had to make a largely unsatisfactory deal with the Uzbeks, giving away territory in exchange for nominal recognition of Mughal sovereignty. The Mughal force suffered still further with attacks by Uzbeks and other tribesmen as it retreated through the snow to Kabul. By the end of this two-year campaign, into which Aurangzeb had been plunged at a late stage, a vast sum of money had been expended for little gain.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Further inauspicious military involvements followed, as Aurangzeb was appointed governor of Multan and Sindh. His efforts in 1649 and 1652 to dislodge the Safavids at Kandahar, which they had recently retaken after a decade of Mughal control, both ended in failure as winter approached. The logistical problems of supplying an army at the extremity of the empire, combined with the poor quality of armaments and the intransigence of the opposition have been cited by John Richards as the reasons for failure, and a third attempt in 1653, led by Dara Shikoh, met with the same outcome.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb became viceroy of the Deccan again after he was replaced by Dara Shukoh in the attempt to recapture Kandahar. Aurangzeb regretted this and harboured feelings that Shikoh had manipulated the situation to serve his own ends. Aurangbad's two "jagirs" (land grants) were moved there as a consequence of his return and, because the Deccan was a relatively impoverished area, this caused him to lose out financially. So poor was the area that grants were required from Malwa and Gujarat in order to maintain the administration and the situation caused ill-feeling between father and son. Shah Jahan insisted that things could be improved if Aurangzeb made efforts to develop cultivation. Aurangzeb appointed Murshid Quli Khan to extend to the Deccan the "zabt" revenue system used in northern India. Murshid Quli Khan organised a survey of agricultural land and a tax assessment on what it produced. To increase revenue, Murshid Quli Khan granted loans for seed, livestock, and irrigation infrastructure. The Deccan returned to prosperity,


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb proposed to resolve the situation by attacking the dynastic occupants of Golconda (the Qutb Shahis) and Bijapur (the Adil Shahis). As an adjunct to resolving the financial difficulties, the proposal would also extend Mughal influence by accruing more lands. Aurangzeb advanced against the Sultan of Bijapur and besieged Bidar. The "Kiladar" (governor or captain) of the fortified city, Sidi Marjan, was mortally wounded when a gunpowder magazine exploded. After twenty-seven days of hard fighting, Bidar was captured by the Mughals and Aurangzeb continued his advance. Again, he was to feel that Dara had exerted influence on his father: believing that he was on the verge of victory in both instances, Aurangzeb was frustrated that Shah Jahan chose then to settle for negotiations with the opposing forces rather than pushing for complete victory.


title: Aurangzeb

text: The four sons of Shah Jahan all held governorships during their father's reign. The emperor favoured the eldest, Dara Shukoh. This had caused resentment among the younger three, who sought at various times to strengthen alliances between themselves and against Dara. There was no Mughal tradition of primogeniture, the systematic passing of rule, upon an emperor's death, to his eldest son. Instead it was customary for sons to overthrow their father and for brothers to war to the death among themselves. Historian Satish Chandra says that "In the ultimate resort, connections among the powerful military leaders, and military strength and capacity [were] the real arbiters". The contest for power was primarily between Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb because, although all four sons had demonstrated competence in their official roles, it was around these two that the supporting cast of officials and other influential people mostly circulated. There were ideological differences — Dara was an intellectual and a religious liberal in the mould of Akbar, while Aurangzeb was much more conservative — but, as historians Barbara D. Metcalf and Thomas R. Metcalf say, "To focus on divergent philosophies neglects the fact that Dara was a poor general and leader. It also ignores the fact that factional lines in the succession dispute were not, by and large, shaped by ideology." Marc Gaborieau, professor of Indian studies at l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, explains that "The loyalties of [officials and their armed contingents] seem to have been motivated more by their own interests, the closeness of the family relation and above all the charisma of the pretenders than by ideological divides." Muslims and Hindus did not divide along religious lines in their support for one pretender or the other nor, according to Chandra, is there much evidence to support the belief that Jahanara and other members of the royal family were split in their support. Jahanara, certainly, interceded at various times on behalf of all of the princes and was well-regarded by Aurangzeb even though she shared the religious outlook of Dara.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1656, a general under Qutb Shahi dynasty named Musa Khan led an army of 12,000 musketeers to attack Aurangzeb, who was besieging Golconda Fort. Later in the same campaign, Aurangzeb, in turn, rode against an army consisting of 8,000 horsemen and 20,000 Karnataki musketeers.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Having made clear that he wanted Dara to succeed him, Shah Jahan became ill with stranguary in 1657 and was closeted under the care of his favourite son in the newly built city of Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi). Rumours of the death of Shah Jahan abounded and the younger sons were concerned that Dara might be hiding it for Machiavellian reasons. Thus, they took action: Shah Shuja In Bengal, where he had been governor since 1637, Prince Muhammad Shuja crowned himself King at RajMahal, and brought his cavalry, artillery and river flotilla upriver towards Agra. Near Varanasi his forces confronted a defending army sent from Delhi under the command of Prince Sulaiman Shukoh, son of Dara Shukoh, and Raja Jai Singh while Murad did the same in his governorship of Gujarat and Aurangzeb did so in the Deccan. It is not known whether these preparations were made in the mistaken belief that the rumours of death were true or whether the challengers were just taking advantage of the situation.


title: Aurangzeb

text: After regaining some of his health, Shah Jahan moved to Agra and Dara urged him to send forces to challenge Shah Shuja and Murad, who had declared themselves rulers in their respective territories. While Shah Shuja was defeated at Banares in February 1658, the army sent to deal with Murad discovered to their surprise that he and Aurangzeb had combined their forces, the two brothers having agreed to partition the empire once they had gained control of it. The two armies clashed at Dharmat in April 1658, with Aurangzeb being the victor. Shuja was being chased through Bihar and the victory of Aurangzeb proved this to be a poor decision by Dara Shikoh, who now had a defeated force on one front and a successful force unnecessarily pre-occupied on another. Realising that his recalled Bihar forces would not arrive at Agra in time to resist the emboldened Aurangzeb's advance, Dara scrambled to form alliances in order but found that Aurangzeb had already courted key potential candidates. When Dara's disparate, hastily concocted army clashed with Aurangzeb's well-disciplined, battle-hardened force at the battle of Samugarh in late May, neither Dara's men nor his generalship were any match for Aurangzeb. Dara had also become over-confident in his own abilities and, by ignoring advice not to lead in battle while his father was alive, he cemented the idea that he had usurped the throne. "After the defeat of Dara, Shah Jahan was imprisoned in the fort of Agra where he spent eight long years under the care of his favourite daughter Jahanara."


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb then broke his arrangement with Murad Baksh, which probably had been his intention all along. Instead of looking to partition the empire between himself and Murad, he had his brother arrested and imprisoned at Gwalior Fort. Murad was executed on 4 December 1661, ostensibly for the murder of the "diwan" of Gujarat sometime earlier. The allegation was encouraged by Aurangzeb, who caused the "diwan's" son to seek retribution for the death under the principles of Sharia law. Meanwhile, Dara gathered his forces, and moved to the Punjab. The army sent against Shuja was trapped in the east, its generals Jai Singh and Dilir Khan submitted to Aurangzeb, but Dara's son, Suleiman Shikoh, escaped. Aurangzeb offered Shah Shuja the governorship of Bengal. This move had the effect of isolating Dara Shikoh and causing more troops to defect to Aurangzeb. Shah Shuja, who had declared himself emperor in Bengal began to annex more territory and this prompted Aurangzeb to march from Punjab with a new and large army that fought during the battle of Khajwa, where Shah Shuja and his chain-mail armoured war elephants were routed by the forces loyal to Aurangzeb. Shah Shuja then fled to Arakan (in present-day Burma), where he was executed by the local rulers.


title: Aurangzeb

text: With Shuja and Murad disposed of, and with his father immured in Agra, Aurangzeb pursued Dara Shikoh, chasing him across the north-western bounds of the empire. Aurangzeb claimed that Dara was no longer a Muslim and accused him of poisoning the Mughal Grand Vizier Saadullah Khan. After a series of battles, defeats and retreats, Dara was betrayed by one of his generals, who arrested and bound him. In 1658, Aurangzeb arranged his formal coronation in Delhi.


title: Aurangzeb

text: On 10 August 1659, Dara was executed on grounds of apostasy and his head was sent to Shahjahan. The first prominent execution of Aurangzeb was that of his brother Prince Dara Shikoh, who was accused of being influenced by Hinduism although some sources argue it was done for political reasons. Aurangzeb had his allied brother Prince Murad Baksh held for murder, judged and then executed. Aurangzeb is accused of poisoning his imprisoned nephew Sulaiman Shikoh. Having secured his position, Aurangzeb confined his frail father at the Agra Fort but did not mistreat him. Shah Jahan was cared for by Jahanara and died in 1666.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Between 1679 and 1707, the number of Hindu officials in the Mughal administration rose by half, to represent 31.6% of Mughal nobility, the highest in the Mughal era. Many of them were Marathas and Rajputs, who were his political allies. However, Aurangzeb encouraged high ranking Hindu officials to convert to Islam.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Under his reign, the Mughal Empire contributed to the world's GDP by nearly 25%, surpassing Qing China, making it the world's largest economy and biggest manufacturing power, more than the entirety of Western Europe, and its largest and wealthiest subdivision, the Bengal Subah, signaled proto-industrialization.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb was an orthodox Muslim ruler. Subsequent to the policies of his three predecessors, he endeavored to make Islam a dominant force in his reign. However these efforts brought him into conflict with the forces that were opposed to this revival. Aurangzeb was a follower of the Mujaddidi Order and a disciple of the son of Ahmad Sirhindi. He sought to establish Islamic rule as instructed and inspired by him.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Historian Katherine Brown has noted that "The very name of Aurangzeb seems to act in the popular imagination as a signifier of politico-religious bigotry and repression, regardless of historical accuracy." The subject has also resonated in modern times with popularly accepted claims that he intended to destroy the Bamiyan Buddhas. As a political and religious conservative, Aurangzeb chose not to follow the secular-religious viewpoints of his predecessors after his ascension. He made no mention of the Persian concept of kinship, the Farr-i-Aizadi, and based his rule on the Quranic concept of kingship. Shah Jahan had already moved away from the liberalism of Akbar, although in a token manner rather than with the intent of suppressing Hinduism, and Aurangzeb took the change still further. Though the approach to faith of Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan was more syncretic than Babur, the founder of the empire, Aurangzeb's position is not so obvious.


title: Aurangzeb

text: His emphasis on sharia competed, or was directly in conflict, with his insistence that "zawabit" or secular decrees could supersede sharia. The chief qazi refusing to crown him in 1659, Aurangzeb had a political need to present himself as a "defender of the sharia" due to popular opposition to his actions against his father and brothers. Despite claims of sweeping edicts and policies, contradictory accounts exist. Historian Katherine Brown has argued that Aurangzeb never imposed a complete ban on music. He sought to codify Hanafi law by the work of several hundred jurists, called Fatawa 'Alamgiri. It is possible the War of Succession and continued incursions combined with Shah Jahan's spending made cultural expenditure impossible.


title: Aurangzeb

text: He learnt that at Multan, Thatta, and particularly at Varanasi, the teachings of Hindu Brahmins attracted numerous Muslims. He ordered the subahdars of these provinces to demolish the schools and the temples of non-Muslims. Aurangzeb also ordered subahdars to punish Muslims who dressed like non-Muslims. The executions of the antinomian Sufi mystic Sarmad Kashani and the ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur bear testimony to Aurangzeb's religious policy; the former was beheaded on multiple accounts of heresy, the latter, according to Sikhs, because he objected to Aurangzeb's forced conversions. Aurangzeb had also banned the celebration of the Zoroastrian festival of Nauroz along with other un-Islamic ceremonies, and encouraged conversions to Islam; instances of persecution against particular Muslim factions were also reported.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Shortly after coming to power, Aurangzeb remitted more than 80 long-standing taxes affecting all of his subjects.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1679, Aurangzeb chose to re-impose "jizya", a military tax on non-Muslim subjects in lieu of military service, after an abatement for a span of hundred years, in what was critiqued by many Hindu rulers, family-members of Aurangzeb, and Mughal court-officials. The specific amount varied with the socioeconomic status of a subject and tax-collection were often waived for regions hit by calamities; also, Brahmins, women, children, elders, the handicapped, the unemployed, the ill, and the insane were all perpetually exempted. The collectors were mandated to be Muslims. A majority of modern scholars reject that religious bigotry influenced the imposition; rather, realpolitik — economic constraints as a result of multiple ongoing battles and establishment of credence with the orthodox Ulemas — are held to be primary agents.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb also enforced a higher tax burden on Hindu merchants at the rate of 5% (as against 2.5% on Muslim merchants), which led to considerable dislike of Aurangzeb's economic policies; a sharp turn from Akbar's uniform tax code. According to Marc Jason Gilbert, Aurangzeb ordered the jizya fees to be paid in person, in front of a tax collector, where the non Muslims were to recite a verse in the Quran which referred to their inferior status as non Muslims. This decision led to protests and lamentations among the masses as well as Hindu court officials. In order to meet state expenditures, Aurangzeb had ordered increases in land taxes; the burden of which fell heavily upon the Hindu Jats. The reimposition of the jizya encouraged Hindus to flee to areas under East India Company jurisdiction, under which policies of religious sufferance and pretermissions of religious taxes prevailed.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb issued land grants and provided funds for the maintenance of shrines of worship but also (often) ordered their destruction. Modern historians reject the thought-school of colonial and nationalist historians about these destruction being guided by religious zealotry; rather, the association of temples with sovereignty, power and authority is emphasized upon.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Whilst constructing mosques were considered an act of royal duty to subjects, there are also several "firmans" in Aurangzeb's name, supporting temples, "maths", chishti shrines, and gurudwaras, including Mahakaleshwar temple of Ujjain, a gurudwara at Dehradun, Balaji temple of Chitrakoot, Umananda Temple of Guwahati and the Shatrunjaya Jain temples, among others. Numerous new temples were built, as well.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Contemporary court-chronicles mention hundreds of temple which were demolished by Aurangzab or his chieftains, upon his order. In September 1669, he ordered the destruction of Vishvanath Temple at Varanasi, which was established by Raja Man Singh, whose grandson Jai Singh was believed to have facilitated Shivaji's escape. After the Jat rebellion in Mathura (early 1670), which killed the patron of the town-mosque, Aurangzeb suppressed the rebels and ordered for the city's Kesava Deo temple to be demolished, and replaced with an "Eidgah". In 1672-73, Aurangzeb ordered the resumption of all grants held by Hindus throughout the empire, though this was not followed absolutely in regions such as Gujarat, where lands granted in in’am to Charans were not affected. In around 1679, he ordered destruction of several prominent temples, including those of Khandela, Udaipur, Chittor and Jodhpur, which were patronaged by rebels. The Jama Masjid at Golkunda was similarly treated, after it was found that its ruler had built it to hide revenues from the state; however desecration of mosques are rare due to their complete lack of political capital contra temples.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In an order specific to Benaras, Aurangzeb invokes Sharia to declare that Hindus will be granted state-protection and temples won't be razed (but prohibits construction of any new temple); other orders to similar effect can be located. Richard Eaton, upon a critical evaluation of primary sources, counts 15 temples to have been destroyed during Aurangzeb's reign. Ian Copland and others reiterate Iqtidar Alam Khan who notes that, overall, Aurangzeb built more temples than he destroyed.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1689, the second Maratha Chhatrapati (King) Sambhaji was brutally executed by Aurangzeb. In a sham trial, he was found guilty of murder and violence, atrocities against the Muslims of Burhanpur and Bahadurpur in Berar by Marathas under his command.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1675 the 9th Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur was arrested on orders by Aurangzeb and later execute after he refused to Convert in Islam,


title: Aurangzeb

text: The 32nd Da'i al-Mutlaq (Absolute Missionary) of the Dawoodi Bohra sect of Musta'lī Islam Syedna Qutubkhan Qutubuddin was executed by Aurangzeb, then governor of Gujarat, for heresy; on 27 Jumadil Akhir 1056 AH (1648 AD), Ahmedabad, India.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1663, during his visit to Ladakh, Aurangzeb established direct control over that part of the empire and loyal subjects such as Deldan Namgyal agreed to pledge tribute and loyalty. Deldan Namgyal is also known to have constructed a Grand Mosque in Leh, which he dedicated to Mughal rule.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1664, Aurangzeb appointed Shaista Khan subedar (governor) of Bengal. Shaista Khan eliminated Portuguese and Arakanese pirates from the region, and in 1666 recaptured the port of Chittagong from the Arakanese king, Sanda Thudhamma. Chittagong remained a key port throughout Mughal rule.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1685, Aurangzeb dispatched his son, Muhammad Azam Shah, with a force of nearly 50,000 men to capture Bijapur Fort and defeat Sikandar Adil Shah (the ruler of Bijapur) who refused to be a vassal. The Mughals could not make any advancements upon Bijapur Fort, mainly because of the superior usage of cannon batteries on both sides. Outraged by the stalemate Aurangzeb himself arrived on 4 September 1686 and commanded the siege of Bijapur; after eight days of fighting, the Mughals were victorious.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Only one remaining ruler, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah (the Qutbshahi ruler of Golconda), refused to surrender. He and his servicemen fortified themselves at Golconda and fiercely protected the Kollur Mine, which was then probably the world's most productive diamond mine, and an important economic asset. In 1687, Aurangzeb led his grand Mughal army against the Deccan Qutbshahi fortress during the siege of Golconda. The Qutbshahis had constructed massive fortifications throughout successive generations on a granite hill over 400 ft high with an enormous eight-mile long wall enclosing the city. The main gates of Golconda had the ability to repulse any war elephant attack. Although the Qutbshahis maintained the impregnability of their walls, at night Aurangzeb and his infantry erected complex scaffolding that allowed them to scale the high walls. During the eight-month siege the Mughals faced many hardships including the death of their experienced commander Kilich Khan Bahadur. Eventually, Aurangzeb and his forces managed to penetrate the walls by capturing a gate, and their entry into the fort led Abul Hasan Qutb Shah to surrender peacefully.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Mughal cannon making skills advanced during the 17th century. One of the most impressive Mughal cannons is known as the Zafarbaksh, which is a very rare "composite cannon", that required skills in both wrought-iron forge welding and bronze-casting technologies and the in-depth knowledge of the qualities of both metals.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb military entourage consisted of 16 cannons including the "Azdaha Paikar" (which, was capable of firing a 33.5 kg ordnance) and "Fateh Rahber" (20 feet long with Persian and Arabic inscriptions).


title: Aurangzeb

text: The "Ibrahim Rauza" was also a famed cannon, which was well known for its multi-barrels. François Bernier, the personal physician to Aurangzeb, observed versatile Mughal gun-carriages each drawn by two horses.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Despite these innovations, most soldiers used bows and arrows, the quality of sword manufacture was so poor that they preferred to use ones imported from England, and the operation of the cannons was entrusted not to Mughals but to European gunners. Other weapons used during the period included rockets, cauldrons of boiling oil, muskets and manjaniqs (stone-throwing catapults).


title: Aurangzeb

text: Infantry who were later called Sepoy and who specialised in siege and artillery emerged during the reign of Aurangzeb.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1703, the Mughal commander at Coromandel, Daud Khan Panni spent 10,500 coins to purchase 30 to 50 war elephants from Ceylon.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb was noted for his religious piety; he memorized the entire Quran, studied hadiths and stringently observed the rituals of Islam, and "transcribe[d] copies of the Quran."


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb had a more austere nature than his predecessors, and greatly reduced imperial patronage of the figurative Mughal miniature. This had the effect of dispersing the court atelier to other regional courts. Being religious he encouraged Islamic calligraphy. His reign also saw the building of the Lahore Badshahi Masjid and Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad for his wife Rabia-ud-Daurani. Aurangzeb was considered a "Mujaddid" by contemporary Muslims considered Aurangzeb.


title: Aurangzeb

text: The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb is known to have patronised works of Islamic calligraphy; the demand for Quran manuscripts in the "naskh" style peaked during his reign. Having been instructed by Syed Ali Tabrizi, Aurangzeb was himself a talented calligrapher in "naskh", evidenced by Quran manuscripts that he created.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb was not as involved in architecture as his father. Under Aurangzeb's rule, the position of the Mughal Emperor as chief architectural patron began to diminish. However, Aurangzeb did endow some significant structures. Catherine Asher terms his architectural period as an "Islamization" of Mughal architecture. One of the earliest constructions after his accession was a small marble mosque known as the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque), built for his personal use in the Red Fort complex of Delhi. He later ordered the construction of the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, which is today one of the largest mosques in the Indian subcontinent. The mosque he constructed in Srinagar is still the largest in Kashmir.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Most of Aurangzeb's building activity revolved around mosques, but secular structures were not neglected. The Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad, the mausoleum of Rabia-ud-Daurani, was constructed by his eldest son Azam Shah upon Aurangzeb's decree. Its architecture displays clear inspiration from the Taj Mahal. Aurangzeb also provided and repaired urban structures like fortifications (for example a wall around Aurangabad, many of whose gates still survive), bridges, caravanserais, and gardens.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb was more heavily involved in the repair and maintenance of previously existing structures. The most important of these were mosques, both Mughal and pre-Mughal, which he repaired more of than any of his predecessors. He patronised the "dargahs" of Sufi saints such as Bakhtiyar Kaki, and strived to maintain royal tombs.


title: Aurangzeb

text: The textile industry in the Mughal Empire emerged very firmly during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and was particularly well noted by Francois Bernier, a French physician of the Mughal Emperor. Francois Bernier writes how "Karkanahs", or workshops for the artisans, particularly in textiles flourished by "employing hundreds of embroiderers, who were superintended by a master". He further writes how "Artisans manufacture of silk, fine brocade, and other fine muslins, of which are made turbans, robes of gold flowers, and tunics worn by females, so delicately fine as to wear out in one night, and cost even more if they were well embroidered with fine needlework".


title: Aurangzeb

text: He also explains the different techniques employed to produce such complicated textiles such as "Himru" (whose name is Persian for "brocade"), "Paithani" (whose pattern is identical on both sides), "Mushru" (satin weave) and how "Kalamkari", in which fabrics are painted or block-printed, was a technique that originally came from Persia. Francois Bernier provided some of the first, impressive descriptions of the designs and the soft, delicate texture of Pashmina shawls also known as "Kani", which were very valued for their warmth and comfort among the Mughals, and how these textiles and shawls eventually began to find their way to France and England.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb sent diplomatic missions to Mecca in 1659 and 1662, with money and gifts for the Sharif. He also sent alms in 1666 and 1672 to be distributed in Mecca and Medina. Historian Naimur Rahman Farooqi writes that, "By 1694, Aurangzeb's ardour for the Sharifs of Mecca had begun to wane; their greed and rapacity had thoroughly disillusioned the Emperor ... Aurangzeb expressed his disgust at the unethical behavior of the Sharif who appropriated all the money sent to the Hijaz for his own use, thus depriving the needy and the poor."


title: Aurangzeb

text: Subhan Quli Khan, Balkh's Uzbek ruler was the first to recognise him in 1658 and requested for a general alliance, he worked alongside the new Mughal Emperor since 1647, when Aurangzeb was the Subedar of Balkh.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb received the embassy of Abbas II of Persia in 1660 and returned them with gifts. However, relations between the Mughal Empire and the Safavid dynasty were tense because the Persians attacked the Mughal army positioned near Kandahar. Aurangzeb prepared his armies in the Indus River Basin for a counteroffensive, but Abbas II's death in 1666 caused Aurangzeb to end all hostilities. Aurangzeb's rebellious son, Sultan Muhammad Akbar, sought refuge with Suleiman I of Persia, who had rescued him from the Imam of Musqat and later refused to assist him in any military adventures against Aurangzeb.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1667, the French East India Company ambassadors Le Gouz and Bebert presented Louis XIV of France's letter which urged the protection of French merchants from various rebels in the Deccan. In response to the letter, Aurangzeb issued a "firman" allowing the French to open a factory in Surat.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In the 1660s, the Sultan of the Maldives, Ibrahim Iskandar I, requested help from Aurangzeb's representative, the Faujdar of Balasore. The Sultan wished to gain his support in possible future expulsions of Dutch and English trading ships, as he was concerned with how they might impact the economy of the Maldives. However, as Aurangzeb did not possess a powerful navy and had no interest in providing support to Ibrahim in a possible future war with the Dutch or English, the request came to nothing.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Like his father, Aurangzeb was not willing to acknowledge the Ottoman claim to the caliphate. He often supported the Ottoman Empire's enemies, extending cordial welcome to two rebel Governors of Basra, and granting them and their families a high status in the imperial service. Sultan Suleiman II's friendly postures were ignored by Aurangzeb. The Sultan urged Aurangzeb to wage holy war against Christians.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1686, the East India Company, which had unsuccessfully tried to obtain a "firman" that would grant them regular trading privileges throughout the Mughal Empire, initiated the Anglo-Mughal War. This war ended in disaster for the English after Aurangzeb in 1689 dispatched a large fleet from Janjira that blockaded Bombay. The ships, commanded by Sidi Yaqub, were manned by Indians and Mappilas. In 1690, realising the war was not going favourably for them, the Company sent envoys to Aurangzeb's camp to plead for a pardon. The company's envoys prostrated themselves before the emperor, agreed pay a large indemnity, and promise to refrain from such actions in the future.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In September 1695, English pirate Henry Every conducted one of the most profitable pirate raids in history with his capture of a Grand Mughal grab convoy near Surat. The Indian ships had been returning home from their annual pilgrimage to Mecca when the pirate struck, capturing the "Ganj-i-Sawai", reportedly the largest ship in the Muslim fleet, and its escorts in the process. When news of the capture reached the mainland, a livid Aurangzeb nearly ordered an armed attack against the English-governed city of Bombay, though he finally agreed to compromise after the Company promised to pay financial reparations, estimated at £600,000 by the Mughal authorities. Meanwhile, Aurangzeb shut down four of the English East India Company's factories, imprisoned the workers and captains (who were nearly lynched by a rioting mob), and threatened to put an end to all English trading in India until Every was captured. The Privy Council and East India Company offered a massive bounty for Every's apprehension, leading to the first worldwide manhunt in recorded history. However, Every successfully eluded capture.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1702, Aurangzeb sent Daud Khan Panni, the Mughal Empire's Subhedar of the Carnatic region, to besiege and blockade Fort St. George for more than three months. The governor of the fort Thomas Pitt was instructed by the East India Company to sue for peace.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Ethiopian Emperor Fasilides dispatched an embassy to India in 1664-5 to congratulate Aurangzeb upon his accession to the throne of the Mughal Empire.


title: Aurangzeb

text: After 1679, the Tibetans invaded Ladakh, which was in the Mughal sphere of influence. Aurangzeb intervened on Ladakh's behalf in 1683, but his troops retreated before Dzungar reinforcements arrived to bolster the Tibetan position. At the same time, however, a letter was sent from the governor of Kashmir claiming the Mughals had defeated the Dalai Lama and conquered all of Tibet, a cause for celebration in Aurangzeb's court.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb received an embassy from Muhammad Amin Khan of Chagatai Moghulistan in 1690, seeking assistance in driving out "Qirkhiz infidels" (meaning the Buddhist Dzungars), who "had acquired dominance over the country".


title: Aurangzeb

text: Russian Czar Peter the Great requested Aurangzeb to open Russo-Mughal trade relations in the late 17th century. In 1696 Aurangzeb received his envoy, Semyon Malenkiy, and allowed him to conduct free trade. After staying for six years in India, and visiting Surat, Burhanpur, Agra, Delhi and other cities, Russian merchants returned to Moscow with valuable Indian goods.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb received tribute from all over the Indian subcontinent, using this wealth to establish bases and fortifications in India, particularly in the Carnatic, Deccan, Bengal and Lahore.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb's exchequer raised a record £100 million in annual revenue through various sources like taxes, customs and land revenue, "et al." from 24 provinces. He had an annual yearly revenue of $450 million, more than ten times that of his contemporary Louis XIV of France.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb felt that verses from the "Quran" should not be stamped on coins, as done in former times, because they were constantly touched by the hands and feet of people. His coins had the name of the mint city and the year of issue on one face, and, the following couplet on other:


title: Aurangzeb

text: Traditional and newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, Rajputs, Hindu Jats, Pashtuns, and Sikhs, gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or opposition, gave them both recognition and military experience.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1669, Hindu Jats began to organise a rebellion that is believed to have been caused by the re-imposition of "jizya" and destruction of Hindu temples in Mathura. The Jats were led by Gokula, a rebel landholder from Tilpat. By the year 1670 20,000 Jat rebels were quelled and the Mughal Army took control of Tilpat, Gokula's personal fortune amounted to 93,000 gold coins and hundreds of thousands of silver coins.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Gokula was caught and executed. But the Jats once again attempted began their rebellion. Raja Ram Jat, in order to avenge his father Gokula's death, plundered Akbar's tomb of its gold, silver and fine carpets, opened Akbar's grave and dragged his bones and burned them in retaliation. Jats also shot off the tops of the minarets on the gateway to Akbar's Tomb and melted down two silver doors from the Taj Mahal. Aurangzeb appointed Mohammad Bidar Bakht as commander to crush the Jat rebellion. On 4 July 1688, Raja Ram Jat was captured and beheaded. His head was sent to Aurangzeb as proof.


title: Aurangzeb

text: However, after Aurangeb's death, Jats under Badan Singh later established their independent state of Bharatpur.