Azam Khan, one of Shahjahan’s nobles invited some courtesans for a dance performance. They declined the invitation on the pretext that they were not well. In turn Azam Khan became angry and forced them to come to his palace.
On their arrival, they confessed that the real reason behind the refusal was that they knew that they would not get paid for their performance. Upon hearing this, Azam Khan ordered them to be killed as he believed that people required harsh treatment to be obedient.
During the time of Aurangzeb, Nijabat Khan, the third son of Mirza Shahrukh, the ruler of Badakhshan, got Abul Fazl Mamuri killed. He was punished temporarily by demotion and withdrawal of his title. But soon all his privileges were restored.
Generally, the nobles adopted the policy of oppression and tried to get maximum revenue from peasants, even forcing them to work without payment. Artisans were not spared either and had to pay huge taxes. However, in spite of their brutality and exploitation, the nobles were not punished.
Hussain Khan takriya, another one of Akbar’s noblesman also had the reputation of treating his subjects with cruelty. Raza Bahadur, who was awarded the title of khidmat parast, massacred the Mewatis. Some people, who survived, were castrated.Women and children were starved as captives. Even after committing such gruesome acts of violence, Raza Bahadur was neither reprimanded nor punished.
As a governor of Deccan, Khan Duran Nusrat Jang imposed illegal taxes and fines on people. His actions remained unchallenged and the voice of the oppressed was not heard at the imperial court. To please the emperor, he sent one crore rupees to him from his plundered wealth. When people received the news of his death at Burhanpur, they were so happy that they distributed sweets. It was hard to get sugar in the market that day as the commodity was sold out.
The nobles were independent in all their actions and punished subordinates according to their own judgment. During the period of Jahangir, Abdul Allah Khan, the governor of Gujarat, beheaded one of his advisors who being in a state of intoxication offended the nobles by his jokes.
The Mughal nobles and high officials regarded themselves as being above the law. They were punished only when they either conspired or rebelled against the emperor. Otherwise for crimes like extortion, kidnapping and assaulting women or killing anyone who annoyed them, they were spared punishment and ignored by the royal court.
Yusuf Mirak, in his book Mazhar-i-Shahjahani gives graphic details of the crimes of the Mughal officials in Sindh. He points out how Amir Ahmad Beg, the grandson of Mirza Ghayas Beg Aitimad al Daula, during the reign of Shahjahan committed crimes against people. Since he belonged to an influential family, nobody dared to say a word against him.
He subjected the wealthy to false charges and their wealth and property were confiscated. He imposed a tax on all those who possessed land. Those who travelled from one village to another were forced to pay a tax. Traders were forced to sell stuff to him on lower rates. High taxes were imposed on peasants. If they were unable to pay revenue, their cattle were taken away.
The result of the such hardship and helplessness was that people were totally demoralised and resigned to fate. They had no courage to raise their voice against the system. But eventually their anger was expressed through a rebellion.