Question

Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi? (Answer the question in 30-40 words.)

Answer 1

Hint: Aurangzeb Alamgir was the sixth Mughal emperor and is the most hated king in Indian history. Pungi is also referred to as the been, or the murli, and is a wind instrument

Complete answer:
Aurangzeb Alamgir was the sixth Mughal Emperor. He was the son of Emperor Shah Jahan. He is also the most hated king in the history of India. He ruled from 1658 until 1707, for nearly 50 years and was the last significant or effective ruler among the Mughals.

During the reign of Mughals, the sole medium of Hindu-Muslim unity was music. Mughal emperor Aurangzeb banished singing from his court but he did not prohibit the playing of musical instruments. Despite his extremely religious bent, he was a connoisseur of music and an accomplished veena player himself.

But he banned the playing of the musical instrument pungi in the royal residence due to its loud, shrill and unpleasant sound. It is also referred to as the been or the murli, and is a wind instrument. It consists of a reservoir into which the player blows the air and then the air is channelled into two reed pipes. The instrument is played with no pauses. It was regarded as a noise-maker rather than a musical instrument. Thus Aurangzeb banned the playing of musical instrument pungi because it had a shrill and unpleasant sound.

Note:
-Traditionally, the Shehnai was a part of the naubat or traditional collection of nine instruments present in the royal court.
-In comparison to pungi, the tonal quality of shehnai is better. In a way, shehnai is an improvement upon the pungi.