Aurangzeb was last of the great Mughal emperors of India. He lived from November 3, 1618 to March 3, 1707. He attained the imperial throne by overthrowing and imprisoning his father, the Emperor Shah Jahan, in 1658. Under Aurangzeb's rule, the Mughal Empire reached its greatest extent, although his policies - inspired by Islamic sectarianism - helped lead to its decline and ultimate collapse. An austere and narrow-minded religious bigot, he passed laws strictly in keeping with Islamic practices and reinstated the Islamic lunar calendar.