INTRODUCTION

Akbar is generally recognized as the greatest and most capable of the

Mughal rulers. Under him Mughal polity and statecraft reached maturity;

and under his guidance the Mughals changed from a petty power to a major

dynastic state. From his time to the end of the Mughal period, artistic

production on both an imperial and sub-imperial level was closely linked to

notions of state polity, religion and kingship.

EARLY HISTORY OF THE MUGHALS

The 8th century began with a long, bloody clash between Hindus and

Muslims in this fragmented land. For almost 300 years, the Muslims were

able to advance only as far as the Indus River valley. Starting around the

year 1000, however, well-trained Turkish armies swept into India. Led by

Sultan Mahmud (muh MOOD) of Ghazni, they devastated Indian cities and

temples in 17 brutal campaigns. These attacks left the region weakened and

vulnerable to other conquerors. Delhi eventually became the capital of a

loose empire of Turkish warlords called the Delhi Sultanate. These sultans

treated the Hindus as conquered people. Delhi Sultanate Between the 13th

and 16th centuries, 33 different sultans ruled this divided territory from their

seat in Delhi. In 1398, Timur the Lame destroyed Delhi. The city was so

completely devastated that according to one witness, for months, not a bird

moved in the city. Delhi eventually was rebuilt. But it was not until the 16th

century that a leader arose who would unify the empire. Babur Founds an

Empire In 1494, an 11-year-old boy named Babur inherited a kingdom in the

area that is now Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. It was only a tiny kingdom, and

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his elders soon took it away and drove him south. But Babur built up an

army. In the years that followed, he swept down into India and laid the

foundation for the vast Mughal Empire. After Babur's death, his incompetent

son, Humayun, lost most of the territory Babur had gained. Babur's 13-year-

old grandson took over the throne after Humayun's death.

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AKBAR'S GOLDEN AGE

Babur's grandson was called Akbar, which means Greatest One. Akbar

certainly lived up to his name, ruling India with wisdom and tolerance from

1556 to 1605.

Early Life

The conditions of Akbar's birth in Umarkot, Sindh, India on October 15,

1542, gave no indication that he would be a great leader. Though Akbar was

a direct descendent of Ghengis Khan, and his grandfather Babur was the first

emperor of the Mughal dynasty, his father, Humayun, had been driven from

the throne by Sher Shah Suri. He was impoverished and in exile when Akbar

was born.

Humayun managed to regain power in 1555, but ruled only a few months

before he died, leaving Akbar to succeed him at just 14 years old. The

kingdom Akbar inherited was little more than a collection of frail fiefs.

Under the regency of Bairam Khan, however, Akbar achieved relative

stability in the region. Most notably, Khan won control of northern India

from the Afghans and successfully led the army against the Hindu king

Hemu at the Second Battle of Panipat. In spite of this loyal service, when

Akbar came of age in March of 1560, he dismissed Bairam Khan and took

full control of the government

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EMPEROR AKBAR AND HIS AMIRS

In 1556 Mughal rule had still not taken a firm hold in Hindustan. All around

them other kings and sultans were trying to drive the Mughals away. It was

at this critical time that Akbar became the emperor. Since Akbar was very

young, Amir Bairam Khan acted as the regent, running the administration on

behalf of the ruler. (In those times, high officials were called amirs.) Bairam

Khan also arranged to have Akbar educated in the duties of an emperor.

When Akbar turned 17 he took the reins of the empire into his own hands.

He made great efforts to expand the Mughal empire by fighting other kings,

and he was very successful.

The Conquest of Malwa and Garha Katanga

In those days there were two major kingdoms in the area that we now call

Madhya Pradesh. One was the kingdom of the Sultan of Malwa, Baaz

Bahadur, with its capital at Mandu. Mandu is near the city of Indore. The

other kingdom was Garha Katanga. Its capital was Chauragarh, which was

near what is now Jabalpur. Garha Katanga was under Gond rulers, and

during Akbar’s time it was ruled by Rani Durgavati. In 1561 Akbar sent his

foster brother, Aadham Khan, to capture Malwa. Aadham Khan defeated

Baaz Bahadur, the Sultan of Malwa. When Akbar came to know of this he

was furious. He forced Aadham Akbar hunting wild animals Khan to part

with what he had withheld.

Aadham Khan was not the only official to try to cheat the emperor. At

around the same time another amir, Aasaf Khan, attacked the kingdom of

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Garha Katanga and defeated Rani Durgavati. Though wounded in battle, the

queen fought with great valour. But upon seeing her army losing, she killed

herself. Aasaf Khan looted diamonds, other gems, priceless objects of gold

and silver and many other things from Garha Katanga. But out of these vast

treasures he sent only 200 elephants to Akbar. Once again Akbar took harsh

steps against the disloyalty and dishonesty of an amir. He forced Aasaf Khan

to yield the entire treasure.

Conflicts between Akbar and the Turani Amirs

When Akbar became the emperor in 1556 he had 51 high officials, or amirs,

in his court. These amirs were very wealthy. Akbar had divided

responsibility for different parts of his empire among them. Each amir kept

an army with him, which had to be presented before the emperor whenever it

was ordered. In return for all this the emperor granted each amir several

villages and towns. This was called their jagir. The amirs kept the revenue

that was collected from the villages and towns of their jagirs. The revenue

was for their own use as well as for running the administration of the jagirs.

Akbar Attempts to Recruit Indian Muslims (Sheikhzadas) as Amirs

A major obstacle in strengthening the empire was that the amirs looked upon

themselves as equal to the emperor and did not want to be under his control.

In addition to this, Akbar faced another problem that had slowly become

very serious. He himself had come from Kabul, and his amirs were from Iran

and Turan. Those who had come from outside had difficulty establishing a

strong rule in new places because the powerful local people would oppose

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them. Akbar realised that so long as the powerful Hindustanis did not accept

his authority, Mughal rule would never be secure. In those days two kinds of

people were very powerful in Hindustan: Rajput kings, and Muslim families

who had been staying in India for centuries and had acquired land and

wealth. These Muslims were known as Sheikhzadas. Akbar wanted both of

these kinds of powerful Hindustani families to be on his side. To win them

over he gave many Sheikhzadas positions in his court and made them his

amirs. He also showed great respect towards their religious practices.

Attempts to Make the Rajputs Amirs

As for the Rajputs, Akbar found that they had no great desire to be his amirs.

What they wanted was to remain free and rule their own kingdoms. Akbar

thought that if he wanted to bring over Rajput kings to his court he would

have to show that he did not discriminate against Hindus and that he really

wanted to carry all the different kinds of people of Hindustan along with

him. In those days Hindus had to pay two special kinds of taxes that

Muslims did not have to pay – the jeziya tax and a tax on pilgrimages to

holy places. Only those Hindus who were employees of the king or who

were orphans did not have to pay the jeziya. In 1562 Akbar abolished the

pilgrimage tax and in 1564 he stopped collecting jeziya from Hindus.

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AKBAR’S ADMINISTRATION POLICIES DURING THE MUGHAL

RULE

As the real founder of the Mughal empire, Akbar immensely improved the

organization of the government. There was no curtailment of the abs power

or autocracy of the absolute padshah and it was the character of the supreme

ruler on which the merits of the administration mainly depended. The power

of the wazir was reduced, and his duties were divided among the heads of

departments. Akbar "chose, transferred, dismissed his great officials without

respect for rank, race or creed.

He created regular departments with written regulations within which

officials could freely work without dependence upon the royal whim. He

developed an improved system for the assessment and collection of the

revenue, with the help of Raja Todar Mai, whole was on the w the ablest and

most upright of imperial officers" (V.A. Smith, The Oxford History of

India).

The administration, formed on military lines, invested the governor of a

province (subahdar/ sipahsalar) with practically full powers so long as he

retained office and allowed him to maintain a court like his sovereign. All

officials, civil and military ( the roles were interchangeable) were called

mansabdars as in Persia, the word meaning officeholder.

They were divided into thirty-three categories, and member of each category

was required to supply a certain number of troops to the royal army. The

highest mansabs ranging from 7,000 to 10,000 were meant for the princes

while the rest varying from 5,000 to 10 were given to others. The standing

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army was very small; the contingents furnished by the rajas and the

mansabdars (each under its own chief) formed the bulk of the imperial

forces.

All officers of some importance exercised administrative and judicial powers

and dealt with criminal cases. Qazis dispensed civil justice according to

Quranic laws.

The Mughal government was called a Kaghzi Raj or paper government, as a

large number of books had to be maintained. The emperor was the fountain

head of all honours, source of all administrative power and the dispenser of

supreme justice, implying that the Mughal emperors did not regard the

Khalifa as their formal overlord. But they were not despots as they kept the

interest of the people uppermost in their mind.

The Mughal nobility was a heterogeneous body, composed of diverse

elements like Turks, Tartars, Persians, and Indians and therefore it could not

organise itself as a powerful baronial class. It was further not hereditary but

purely official in character.

The entire kingdom was divided into suba or pranta, suba into sarkar, sarkar

into pargana and the pargana into villages.

The wazir was the prime minister. All matters concerning revenue were

settled by the diwan. He had two assistants known as diwan-i-am or diwan

of salaries and the diwan-i-khas (or Khalisa) or diwan of crown-lands. The

mir bakshi was the paymaster. He was entrusted with the task of recruiting

the army and maintaining the troops in good order.

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The khan- i-saman was the lord high steward and was thus in charge of the

emperor's department of manufactures, stores and supply. The sadr-us-sudur,

also known as sadr-i-kul and sadr-i-jahan, was the link between the king and

the people. He acted as the guardian of Islamic law and the spokesman of the

ulema. The muhtasib was the censor of public morals.

Sometimes, he was asked to fix the prices of the goods and enforce the use

of correct weights and measures. The qazi-ul-quzflt was the chief qazi, that

is, the highest judicial officer. The qazis were helped by the muftis. The title

of diwan-i-buyutat was given to the officer who registered the wealth and

property of the deceased. He also fixed the price of articles, and made

provision for the royal karkhanas.

The administrative agency in the provinces (subah) was an exact miniature

of that of the central government. The number of provinces varied from time

to time. It was 12 during Akbar's time (and 21 during Aurangazeb's). The

provincial administration developed by Akbar was based on the principles of

'uniformity' and 'check and balance'. Rights and duties of the provincial

officials were distributed in a way which prevented the misuse of offices and

promoted interdependence among various officials.

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The officials appointed at the provincial level were as follows.

(i) Subahdar or nizam. He was the head of the provincial administration.

He was also known as prantapati or sipahsalara or sahib-i-suba. Appointed

by the king, subahdar maintained law and order and security of the people

and property throughout his province. His other responsibilities included

implementation of royal orders and collection of taxes from landlords and

subordinate rulers.

(ii) Diwan-i-suba. Appointed by the king on the recommendation of diwan-

i-ala, he was responsible for revenue collection in his province. Though he

was under the subahdar for the administrative purposes, diwan-i-ala had a

direct control over him.

(iii) Provincial bakshi. Appointed by the king on the recommendation of

the central mir bakshi, his responsibilities included maintenance of

mansabdars and fixing of recruitment pay of soldiers. He sent reports to the

king from time to time about the working of the mansabdars. As a wakiya

nigara, he sent reports to the king on the incidents of the province.

(iv) Sadr. At the provincial level, sadr also worked as qazi. Appointed by

the king on the recommendation of sadr-us-sadr, he, as a sadr, watched the

religious activities of Muslims. As a qazi, he performed judicial functions.

Besides these officials, kotwal, wakiya navis, muhtasib, mir-fahr, etc. were

appointed at the provincial level.

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The Mughal sarkars were equivalent to modern- day districts. Many officials

were appointed at this level of administration. Important among them were

the following.

(i) Fauzdar. He was responsible for maintaining law and order.

(ii) Amalgtijar Amalgujars. were appointed for collecting revenue and

looking after other financial matters.

(iii) Kotwal. Appointed by the king on the recommendation of the Mir-

Atish, his main function was to punish the criminals. He also informed the

centre about all the happenings within a sarkar.

Following officers were appointed at the pargana level.

(i) Shiqdar. Shiqdar was responsible for maintaining law and order at the

pargana level and informing the state government about the same. He helped

the amil in revenue collection. He was also entitled to punish criminals.

(ii) Amil. Also known as munsif, amil determined revenue at the pargana

level. He established direct contact with the peasants for collecting revenue.

(iii) Kanungo. He was responsible for surveying land in pargana.

(iv) Qazi Qazis. were appointed at the pargana level to perform judicial

function. They were under the provincial qazi.

.

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NINE FAMOUS COURTIERS OF AKBAR

As a great administrator and patron of the arts, Akbar attracted the many of

the best contemporary minds to his court. Nine such extraordinary talents,

who shone brightly in their respective fields, were known as Akbar’s nau-

rathan, or nine gems. They were:

Abul Fazl (1551 – 1602), the chronicler of Akbar’s rule. He authored

the biographical Akbarnama, which was the result of seven years of

painstaking work. He documented the history meticulously, giving a

full and accurate picture of the prosperous life during the monarch’s

reign. His account also shed light on the brilliant administrative

capacity of the emperor.

Faizi (1547 – 1595), Abul Fazl’s brother. He was a poet who

composed verse in the Persian language. Akbar had enormous respect

for this genius and appointed him as a tutor for his son. His most

famous work is a translation into Farsi of a twelfth-century treatise on

mathematics called “Lilavati.”

Tansen (often "Miyan Tansen"), a classical singer of unparalleled

fame. He was born a Hindu in 1520 near Gwalior to Mukund Mishra,

who was a poet himself. He was instructed in music by Swami

Haridas and later from Hazrat Mohammad Ghaus. He was a court

musician with the prince of Mewar and later recruited by Akbar as his

court musician. The prince of Mewar was said to have been

heartbroken to part with him. lamp and caused rain showers.

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Birbal (1528 – 1583) was a poor Brahmin who was appointed to the

court of Akbar for his wit as well as wisdom. Born by the name

Maheshdas, he was conferred the name Raja Birbal by the emperor. A

man of tireless wit and charm, he enjoyed the emperor’s favor in

administration as his trusted minister, and for his entertainment as his

court jester.

Raja Todar Mal was Akbar’s finance minister, or diwan, who was

instructed by Sher Shah. From 1560 onwards, he overhauled the

revenue system in the kingdom. He introduced standard weights and

measures, revenue districts, and officers. His systematic approach to

revenue collection became a model for the future Moghuls as well as

the British Raj.

Raja Man Singh, the rajput raja of Amber. This trusted lieutenant of

Akbar was the grandson of Akbar’s father-in-law. His family had

been inducted into the Moghul hierarchy as emirs (nobles).

Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khan, a poet, was the son of Akbar’s trusted

protector and caretaker when he was a teenager, Bairam Khan.

Fagir Aziao Din and Mullan Do Piaza were two advisors belonging to

Akbar’s inner circle.

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RELIGION

At the time of Akbar's rule, the Moghul Empire included both Hindus and

Muslims. Profound differences separate the Islamic and Hindu faith;

Muslims are allowed to eat beef, while for those of the Hindu religion it is

forbidden to harm cows because they are worshiped as sacred. Hindus are

allowed to drink alcoholic beverages (such as wine), a practice which is

forbidden by Islam.

During the period of the Moghul Empire, the majority of the Indian

population was Hindu, but the rulers of the empire were almost exclusively

Muslim. It was in this polarized religious arena that Akbar commenced his

rule. Akbar himself fostered tolerance for all religions, which was known as

his policy of sulh-i-kull (universal tolerance) (Davies, 317).

Akbar and Orthodox Islam

Akbar's policies were also aimed at attracting the support of non-Sunni

Muslims. He is said to have been disgusted with the internal disagreement

between different Muslims. He appears to have disliked the immense

authority exercised by the traditional Muslim scholars, the ulama, and

wanted to curb this. Advocating something similar to King Charles I of

England's doctrine of the “divine right of kings,” he believed that the

monarch exercises authority under God, which contravened the orthodox

Muslim understanding that the shariah (divine law) is above the caliph, or

sultan.

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MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS

Early conquests

Akbar decided early in his reign that he should eliminate the threat of Sher

Shah's dynasty, and decided to lead an army against the strongest of the

three, Sikandar Shah Suri, in the Punjab. He left Delhi under the regency of

Tardi Baig Khan. Sikandar Shah Suri presented no major concern for Akbar,

and often withdrew from territory as Akbar approached.

The Hindu king Hemu, however, commanding the Afghan forces, defeated

the Mughal Army and captured Delhi on 6 October 1556. Urged by Bairam

Khan, who remarshalled the Mughal army before Hemu could consolidate

his position, Akbar marched on Delhi to reclaim it. Akbar's army, led by

Bairam Khan, met the larger forces of Hemu on November 5, 1556 at the

Second Battle of Panipat, 50 miles (80 km) north of Delhi. The battle was

going in Hemu's favour when an arrow pierced Hemu's eye, rendering him

unconscious. The leaderless army soon capitulated and Hemu was captured

and executed.

The victory also left Akbar with over 1,500 war elephants which he used to

re-engage Sikandar Shah at the siege of Mankot. Sikandar, along with

several local chieftains who were assisting him, surrendered and so was

spared death. With this, the whole of Punjab was annexed to the Mughal

empire. Before returning to Agra, Akbar sent a detachment of his army to

Jammu, which defeated the ruler Raja Kapur Chand and captured the

kingdom. Between 1558 and 1560, Akbar further expanded the empire by

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capturing and annexing the kingdoms of Gwalior, northern Rajputana and

Jaunpur.

After a dispute at court, Akbar dismissed Bairam Khan in the spring of 1560

and ordered him to leave on Hajj to Mecca. Bairam left for Mecca, but on

his way was goaded by his opponents to rebel. He was defeated by the

Mughal army in the Punjab and forced to submit. Akbar, however forgave

him and gave him the option of either continuing in his court or resuming his

pilgrimage, of which Bairam chose the latter.

Expansion

Mughal empire under Akbar

After dealing with the rebellion of Bairam Khan and establishing his

authority. Akbar went on to expand the Mughal empire by subjugating local

chiefs and annexing neighbouring kingdoms. The first major conquest was

of Malwa in 1561, an expedition that was led by Adham Khan and carried

out with such savage cruelty that it resulted in a backlash from the kingdom

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enabling its ruler Baz Bahadur to recover the territory while Akbar was

dealing with the rebellion of Bairam Khan. Subsequently, Akbar sent

another detachment which captured Malwa in 1562, and Baz Bahadur

eventually surrendered to the Mughals and was made an administrator.

Around the same time, the Mughal army also conquered the kingdom of the

Gonds, after a fierce battle between the Asaf Khan, the Mughal governor of

Allahabad, and Rani Durgavati, the queen of the Gonds. However, Asaf

Khan misappropriated most of the wealth plundered from the kingdom,

which Akbar subsequently forced him to restore, apart from installing

Durgavati's son as the administrator of the region.

Over the course of the decade following his conquest of Malwa, Akbar

brought most of present-day Rajasthan, Gujarat and Bengal under his

control. A major victory in this campaign was the siege of Chittor. The

fortress at Chittor, ruled by Maharana Udai Singh, was of great strategic

importance as it lay on the shortest route from Agra to Gujarat and was also

considered a key to central Rajasthan. On the advice of his nobles, Udai

Singh retired to the hills, leaving two warriors Jaimal and Patta in charge of

the fort. The Mughal army surrounded the fortress in October 1567 and it

fell in February 1568 after a siege of six months. The fort was then stormed

by the Mughal forces, and a fierce resistance was offered by members of the

garrison stationed inside, as well as local peasants who came to their

assistance.

Carthaginian on gaining the Battle of Cannae measured his success by

bushels of rings taken from the fingers of equestrian roman soldiers and

similarly Akbar measured his by the quantity of cordons of distinction

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(Janeu or the sacred thread) collected from the fallen rajput soldiers and

other civilians of Chittor, which amounted to seventy four and half man (a

unit of weight in India equalling 40 kg) by weight. To eternise the memory

of this deed the number 74.5 is accursed and marked on a banker's letter in

Rajasthan it is the strongest of seals, for "the sin of the sack of Chittor" is

invoked on him who violates a letter under the safeguard of this mysterious

number. In commemoration of the gallantry of Jaimal and Patta, he ordered

that stone statues of them seated on elephants be carved and erected at the

chief gate of the Agra Fort. The fortress was completely destroyed and its

gates were carried off to Agra, while the brass candlesticks taken from the

Kalika temple after its destruction were given to the shrine of Moinuddin

Chishti in Ajmer. Akbar celebrated the victory over Chittor and

Ranthambore by laying the foundation of a new city, 23 miles (37 km)

W.S.W of Agra in 1569. It was called Fatehpur Sikri (city of victory).

Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri

Akbar, bolstered by his success, was looking forward to widespread

acclamation as a great conqueror of Islam and his vigorous Islamic policy is

illustrated by Fatahnama-i-Chittor issued by him after the conquest of

Chittor at Ajmer, where he stayed for some time en route to Agra, on

Ramazan 10, 975/March 9, 1568, where the infidels (Hindus) are reviled:

..the Omnipotent one who enjoined the task of destroying the wicked

infidels (Hindus) on the dutiful mujahids through the blows of their thunder-

like scimitars laid down: "Fight them! Allah will chastise them at your hands

and He will lay them low and give you victory over them".

Further on the call to Jihad against Hindu kings of India is raised and also a

call to the destruction of Hindu temples:

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This is of the grace of my Lord that He may try me whether I am grateful or

ungrateful — we spend our precious time to the best of our ability in war

(ghiza) and Jihad and with the help of Eternal Allah, who is the supporter of

our ever-increasing empire, we are busy in subjugating the localities,

habitations, forts and towns which are under the possession of the infidels

(Hindus), may Allah forsake and annihilate all of them, and thus raising the

standard of Islam everywhere and removing the darkness of polytheism and

violent sins by the use of sword. We destroy the places of worship of idols in

those places and other parts of India.

After Akbar's conquest of Chittor, two major Rajput clans remained opposed

to him - the Sisodiyas of Mewar and Hadas of Ranthambore. The latter,

reputed to be the most powerful fortress in Rajasthan, was conquered by the

Mughal army in 1569, making Akbar the master of almost the whole of

Rajputana. As a result, most of the Rajput kings, including those of Bikaner,

Bundelkhand and Jaisalmer submitted to Akbar. Only the clans of Mewar

continued to resist Mughal conquest and Akbar had to fight with them from

time to time for the greater part of his reign. Among the most prominent of

them was Maharana Pratap who declined to accept Akbar's suzerainty and

also opposed the marriage etiquette of Rajputs who had been giving their

daughters to Mughals. He renounced all matrimonial alliances with Rajput

rulers who had married into the Mughal dynasty, refusing such alliances

even with the princes of Marwar and Amer until they agreed to sever ties

with the Mughals.

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Military organization

Akbar organized his army as well as the nobility by means of a system

called the mansabdari. Under this system, each officer in the army was

assigned a rank (a mansab), and assigned a number of cavalry that he had to

supply to the imperial army. The mansabdars were divided into 33 classes.

The top three commanding ranks, ranging from 7000 to 10000 troops, were

normally reserved for princes. Other ranks between 10 and 5000 were

assigned to other members of the nobility. The empire's permanent standing

army was quite small and the imperial forces mostly consisted of

contingents maintained by the mansabdars. Persons were normally

appointed to a low mansab and then promoted, based on their merit as well

as the favour of the emperor. Each mansabdar was required to maintain a

certain number of cavalrymen and twice that number of horses. The number

of horses was greater because they had to be rested and rapidly replaced in

times of war. Akbar employed strict measures to ensure that the quality of

the armed forces was maintained at a high level; horses were regularly

inspected and only Arabian horses were normally employed. The

mansabdars were remunerated well for their services and constituted the

highest paid military service in the world at the time.

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DIPLOMACY

Matrimonial alliances

The practice of giving Hindu princesses to Muslim kings in marriage was

known much before Akbar's time, but in most cases these marriages did not

lead to any stable relations between the families involved, and the women

were lost to their families and did not return after marriage. However,

Akbar's policy of matrimonial alliances marked a departure from previous

practice in that the marriage itself marked the beginning of a new order of

relations, wherein the Hindu Rajputs who married their daughters or sisters

to him would be treated on par with his Muslim fathers and brothers in-law

in all respects except being able to dine and pray with him or take Muslim

wives. These Rajputs were made members of his court and their daughters'

or sisters' marriage to a Muslim ceased to be a sign of degradation, except

for certain orthodox elements who still considered it a sign of humiliation.

Other Rajput kingdoms also established matrimonial alliances with Akbar,

but matrimony was not insisted on as a precondition for forming alliances.

Two major Rajput clans remained aloof – the Sisodiyas of Mewar and Hadas

of Ranthambore. In another turning point of Akbar's reign, Raja Man Singh I

of Amber went with Akbar to meet the Hada leader, Surjan Hada, to effect

an alliance. Surjan accepted an alliance on the condition that Akbar did not

marry any of his daughters. Consequently, no matrimonial alliance was

entered into, yet Surjan was made a noble and placed in charge of Garh-

Katanga. Certain other Rajput nobles did not like the idea of their kings

marrying their daughters to Mughals. Rathore Kalyandas threatened to kill

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both Mota Raja Rao Udaisingh and Jahangir because Udai Singh had

decided to marry his daughter to Jahangir. Akbar on hearing this ordered

imperial forces to attack Kalyandas at Siwana. Kalyandas died fighting

along with his men and the women of Siwana committed Jauhar.

Relations with the Portuguese

At the time of Akbar's ascension in 1556, the Portuguese had established

several fortresses and factories on the western coast of the subcontinent, and

largely controlled navigation and sea-trade in that region. As a consequence

of this colonialism, all other trading entities were subject to the terms and

conditions of the Portuguese, and this was resented by the rulers and traders

of the time. The Mughal empire acquired its first access to the sea after

Akbar's conquest of Gujarat in 1572, and for the first few years, conscious of

the threat posed by the presence of the Portuguese, remained content with

obtaining a cartaz from them for sailing in the Persian Gulf region. At the

initial meeting of the Mughals and the Portuguese during the siege of Surat

in 1572, the Portuguese, recognising the superior strength of the Mughal

army, chose to adopt diplomacy instead of war, and the Portuguese

Governor, upon the request of Akbar, sent him an ambassador to establish

friendly relations. Akbar accepted the offer of diplomacy, in order to

facilitate the safe passage of the members of his harem on their projected

pilgrimage to Mecca. In 1573, he issued a firman directing his

administrative officials in Gujarat not to disturb the Portuguese in their

adjoining territory of Daman. The Portuguese, in turn, issued passes for the

members of Akbar's family to go on Hajj to Mecca. The cartaz thus issued

made mention of the extraordinary status of the vessel and the special status

to be accorded to its occupants.

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RELIGIOUS POLICY

Akbar was a highly respected figure among various communities due to his

inclusive personality.

Akbar, as well as his mother and other members of his family, are believed

to have been Sunni Hanafi Muslims. His early days were spent in the

backdrop of an atmosphere in which liberal sentiments were encouraged and

religious narrow-mindednness was frowned upon. From the 15th century, a

number of rulers in various parts of the country adopted a more liberal

policy of religious tolerance, attempting to foster communal harmony

between Hindus and Muslims. These sentiments were further encouraged by

the teachings of popular saints like Guru Nanak, Kabir and Chaitanya, the

verses of the Persian poet Hafez which advocated human sympathy and a

liberal outlook, as well as the Timurid ethos of religious tolerance that

persisted in the polity right from the times of Timur to Humayun, and

influenced Akbar's policy of tolerance in matters of religion. Further, his

childhood tutors, who included two Irani Shias, were largely above sectarian

prejudices, and made a significant contribution to Akbar's later inclination

towards religious tolerance.

One of Akbar's first actions after gaining actual control of the administration

was the abolition of jizya, a tax which all non-Muslims were required to pay,

in 1562. The tax was reinstated in 1575, a move which has been viewed as

being symbolic of vigorous Islamic policy, but was again repealed in 1580.

Akbar adopted the Sulh-e-Kul concept of Sufism as official policy,

integrated many Hindus into high positions in the administration, and

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removed restrictions on non-Muslims, thereby bringing about a composite

and diverse character to the nobility. As a mark of his respect for all

religions, he ordered the observance of all religious festivals of different

communities in the imperial court.

Relation with Hindus

Akbar's attitudes towards his Hindu subjects were an amalgam of Timurid,

Persian and Indian ideas of sovereignty. The liberal principles of the empire

were strengthened by incorporating Hindus into the nobility. However,

historian Dasharatha Sharma states that court histories like the Akbarnama

idealize Akbar's religious tolerance, and give Akbar more credit than he is

due.

Akbar in his early years was not only a practising Muslim but is also

reported to have had an intolerant attitude towards Hindus. In 1579, towards

the middle of his reign, he boasted of being a great conqueror of Islam in a

letter to the ruler of Turan, Abdullah Khan and was also looked upon by

orthodox Muslim elements as a devout believer committed to defending the

religion against infidels. His attitude towards the Hindu religion and its

practices did not have appreciable impact after his marriage alliances with

Rajput princesses which all took place in early 1560s though he was also

perceived as not being averse to performing Hindu rituals despite his Islamic

beliefs.

Relation with Jains

Akbar regularly hold discussions with Jain scholars and was also greatly

impacted by some of their teachings. His first encounter with Jain rituals

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was when he saw a Jain shravika named Champa's procession after a six

month long fast. Impressed by her power and devotion, he invited her guru

or spiritual teacher AcharyaHiravijaya Suri to Fatehpur Sikri. Acharya

accepted the invitation and began his march towards the Mughal capital

from Gujarat.

Akbar was greatly impressed by the scholastic qualities and character of the

Acharya. He held several debates and discussions on religion and

philosophy in his courts. Arguing with Jains, Akbar remained sceptical of

their rituals, and yet became convinced by their arguments for vegetarianism

and end up deploring the eating of all flesh.

Relations with Shias and Islamic clergy

During the early part of his reign, Akbar adopted an attitude of suppression

towards Muslim sects that were condemned by the orthodoxy as heretical.[11]

In 1567, on the advice of Shaikh Abdu'n Nabi, he ordered the exhumation of

Mir Murtaza Sharifi Shirazi - a Shia buried in Delhi - because of the grave's

proximity to that of Amir Khusrau, arguing that a "heretic" could not be

buried so close to the grave of a Sunni saint, reflecting a restrictive attitude

towards the Shia, which continued to persist till the early 1570s. He

suppressed Mahdavism in 1573 during his campaign in Gujarat, in the

course of which the Mahdavi leader Bandagi Miyan Shiek Mustafa was

arrested and brought in chains to the court for debate and released after

eighteen months. However, as Akbar increasingly came under the influence

of pantheistic Sufi mysticism from the early 1570s, it caused a great shift in

his outlook and culminated in his shift from orthodox Islam as traditionally

professed, in favor of a new concept of Islam transcending the limits of

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religion. Consequently, during the latter half of his reign, he adopted a

policy of tolerance towards the Shias and declared a prohibition on Shia-

Sunni conflict, and the empire remained neutral in matters of internal

religious conflict within Islam.

Relation with Christians

Akbar met Portuguese Jesuit priests and sent an ambassador to Goa,

requesting them to send two missionaries to his court so that he could

understand Christian doctrines better. In response, the Portuguese sent

Monserrate and Acquaviva who remained at Akbar's court for three years

and left accounts of their visit. In 1603 a written firman was granted at the

request of the Christian priests allowing them to make willing converts.

Even armed with the firman, however, the missionaries found it extremely

difficult to carry out their work: the Viceroy of Lahore, Qulij Khan, a

staunch Muslim official, employed tactics of harassment that caused many

Christians to flee from Lahore and Father Pinheiro went in fear of death.

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DIN-I-ILAHI

Akbar holds a religious assembly of different faiths in the Ibadat Khana in

Fatehpur Sikri.

Akbar was deeply interested in religious and philosophical matters. An

orthodox Muslim at the outset, he later came to be influenced by Sufi

mysticism that was being preached in the country at that time, and moved

away from orthodoxy, appointing to his court several talented people with

liberal ideas, including Abul Fazl, Faizi and Birbal. In 1575, he built a hall

called the Ibadat Khana ("House of Worship") at Fatehpur Sikri, to which he

invited theologians, mystics and selected courtiers renowned for their

intellectual achievements and discussed matters of spirituality with them.

These discussions, initially restricted to Muslims, were acrimonious and

resulted in the participants shouting at and abusing each other. Upset by this,

Akbar opened the Ibadat Khana to people of all religions as well as atheists,

resulting in the scope of the discussions broadening and extending even into

areas such as the validity of the Quran and the nature of God. This shocked

the orthodox theologians, who sought to discredit Akbar by circulating

rumours of his desire to forsake Islam.

AKBARNĀMA, THE BOOK OF AKBAR

The Akbarnāma which literally means Book of Akbar, is a official

biographical account of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor (r. 1556–1605),

written in Persian. It includes vivid and detailed descriptions of his life and

times.

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The work was commissioned by Akbar, and written by Abul Fazl, one of the

Nine Jewels (Hindi: Navaratnas) of Akbar’s royal court. It is stated that the

book took seven years to be completed and the original manuscripts

contained a number of paintings supporting the texts, and all the paintings

represented the Mughal school of painting, and work of masters of the

imperial workshop, including Basawan, whose use of portraiture in its

illustrations was an innovation in Indian art.

DEATH AND LEGACY

On 3 October 1605, Akbar fell ill with an attack of dysentery, from which he

never recovered. He is believed to have died on or about 26 October 1605,

after which his body was buried at a mausoleum in Sikandra, Agra.

Akbar left behind a rich legacy both for the Mughal Empire as well as the

Indian subcontinent in general. He firmly entrenched the authority of the

Mughal empire in India and beyond, after it had been threatened by the

Afghans during his father's reign,

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CONCLUSION

A Flowering of Culture As Akbar extended the Mughal Empire, he

welcomed influences from the many cultures in the empire. This cultural

blending affected art, education, politics, and language. Persian was the

language of Akbar's court and of high culture. The common people,

however, spoke Hindi, a mixture of Persian and a local language. Hindi

remains one of the most widely spoken languages in India today. Out of the

Mughal armies, where soldiers of many backgrounds rubbed shoulders,

came yet another new language. This language was Urdu, which means from

the soldier's camp. A blend of Arabic, Persian, and Hindi, Urdu is today the

official language of Pakistan. The Arts and Literature The arts flourished at

the Mughal court, especially in the form of book illustrations. These small,

highly detailed, and colorful paintings were called miniatures. They were

brought to a peak of perfection in the Safavid Empire. Babur's son,

Humayun, brought two masters of this art to his court to teach it to the

Mughals. Some of the most famous Mughal miniatures adorned the

Akbarnamah ( Book of Akbar ), the story of the great emperor's campaigns

and deeds. Indian art drew from Western traditions as well. Hindu literature

also enjoyed a revival in Akbar's time.

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REFERENCES

Medieval India : K. L. Khurana, MA, Ph.D, ( Author of ancient India,

modern India, World History

History of Medieval India: J. L. Mehta, MA, Ph.D,

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