The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c19.33

v4.c19.33

But this attempt to elevate mankind by one stroke of the official pen failed, as Akbar's social reforms had failed before. Aurangzīb's government made itself ridiculous by violently enforcing for a time, then relaxing, and finally abandoning a code of puritanical morals opposed to the feelings of the entire population, without first trying to educate them to a higher level of thought. As Manucci observed, there were few who did not drink secretly, and even the ministers and *qāzīs* loved to get drunk at home. Gambling continued to be practised in his camp, and his order to all the courtesans and dancing girls to marry or leave the realm remained a dead letter. In 1664 he issued an edict forbidding *satī* (the voluntary burning of Hindu widows), but his government was powerless to enforce the prohibition everywhere in the face of popular opposition. The castration of children for sale as eunuchs, though again and again denounced by him, continued in certain provinces.