Aurangzeb on Religious policy of the Mughals after Akbar

“"The Emperor said to Shaikh Nizam that his prayers were not having any effect. What could be the reason for this ? The Shaikh said, 'The reason is that a large number of Hindus are serving as ahlikhidmat (officials and officers) and as musahibs (courtiers) and they are ever (seen) in the Royal presence, and, as a result, the prayers do not have any effect'. The Emperor ordered that it is necessary that the Musalmans be appointed to serve in place of the Hindus."”

“To all fojdars, garrison commanders, accountants, district collectors of land revenue and their officials from Katak to Midnapur on the frontiers of Orissa. The imperial bakhshi Asad Khan has sent a letter written according to the instructions of the emperor to say that the emperor, learning from the News Letters of the province of Orissa that at the village of Tilkkuti in Mednipur a temple has been built, has issued his august mandate for its destruction and the destruction of all temples built anywhere in the province. Therefore, you are hereby commanded with extreme urgency that immediately on the receipt of this letter you should destroy the above-mentioned temples. Every temple built during the last ten or twelve years should be demolished without delay, Also do not allow the Hindus and infidels to repair their old temples. Reports of the destruction of temples should be sent to the court under the seal of Qazis and attested by pious Shaikhs.”

“Aurangzeb entrusted Prince Azam with the campaign to subjugate Shambuji….En route, the prince carried out the Emperor’s instructions to ‘raze to the ground such strongholds of infidelity (i.e., temples) as cross your way and to build in their place grandiose houses of God (i.e., mosques) such as would do credit to our mission’. In the course of his sweep to Bijapur, Prince Azam demolished eight ancient temples and desecrated many more by sacrificing calves at the sacred altar. At some places, the small armies of the local Raja’s offered resistance, but they could make no impression on the gigantic Mughal force.... He razed many a magnificent Hindu temples to the ground, built mosques in their place, desecrated images of Hindu gods and goddesses, banned all forms of music, prohibited the use of Hindu modes of salutation, declared astrology and allied sciences to be atheistic in character, discontinued the tilak ceremonial when Hindu Rajas came to the court to pay tributes…”