Why did aurangzeb insult shivaji when the latter came to accept mughal authority?
Answers
What are the consequences of Aurangzeb insulting Shivaji?
Shivaji is known to be a very ambitious and extremely talented leader. He was able to consolidate Maharashtra region in one. In spite of having a smaller force, his planning abilities and war tactics were superior of his time.
Aurangzeb, on the other hand was a very well established Emperor of the strongest empire in the region. When you are in such a position, there definitely is certain aura in your behavior and you cannot take defiance from a small ruler of the region. And this caused problems between the two. But i think the situation was similar to a condition when an unstoppable wind meets an immovable mountain. And the biggest mistake Aurangzeb made in my opinion is that of underestimating his enemy.
I think following would have been a better choice for him:
Would have made friendly relationship with Shivaji like other Hindu Kings of his court.
If it was not possible, being the strongest ruler with a equally strong army of that time, he had the chance to put all his energy and resources towards finishing his enemy. He even got a chance when Shivaji was imprisoned by him. He underestimated the capabilities of Shivaji a big time.
And lost his empire because of his inability to judge things.