Rdg_03-Ch18_The Mughal Empire in India: Akbar

The Mughal Empire in India: Akbar

By Brijen K. Gupta

Jalal-ud-din Mohammed Akbar (1542-1605) was the third Mogul emperor of India. The administrative system
that he built was copied by the British, and it is discernible in contemporary India.

"On Nov. 23, 1542, Akbar (pronounced ak'bar) was born at Umarkot, Sind, while his father, the
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emperor Humayun, driven from the throne of Delhi, was escaping to Persia. Humayun died in 1556 soon
after his return to Delhi, and Akbar was proclaimed emperor on February 14, under the regency of Bairam
Khan. The regent wrested control of northern India from the Afghans, who had defeated Humayun, but in
1560 Akbar rid himself of the regent and assumed full imperial powers. By 1605 Akbar had made himself
the master of the Indo-Gangetic Basin, Kashmir and Afghanistan in the north, Gujarat and Sind in the
west, Bengal in the east, and part of the Deccan to the Godavari River in the south.
The Emperor presided over a Hindu-Muslim cultural synthesis which culminated in a golden age
of culture. Though he never learned to read or write, he was a cultivated man, and surrounded himself
with the best minds in his generation. He patronized liberal Muslim intellectuals such as Shirazi, Faizi,
and Abul Fazl, the author of Ain-i-Akbari and Akbar Nama, two important Mogul historical works. Akbar
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welcomed to his court mystics such as Salim Chishti and engaged in dialogues with Jesuit priests. He
also invited Abul Fatah Gilana, who had written a commentary on Avicenna, to his court.
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Committed to the policy of universal tolerance (sulah-kul) Akbar considered himself the ruler of all
his subjects and not only the Commander of the Faithful. Through his marriages with Rajput princess', he
brought Hindus to the ruling dynasty and gave three of the highest positions in his cabinet to Hindus. He
abolished taxes such as the jizya, a poll tax, that discriminated against non-Muslims. Akbar patronized
Indian music and arts, and in many buildings, notable at Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra, he adopted Hindu
elements in architecture. Every week he appeared in public, and he held an open court.
Akbar participated in the religious festivities of all groups, allowed the Jesuit fathers to establish a
church at Agra, and discouraged cow slaughter. In 1575 at Fatehpur Sikri he built a house of worship to
which Muslim, Hindu, Jain, Christian, Parsi, and other theologians were invited for dialogue. In 1582 he
promulgated a new religious movement, din-i-ilahi, which did not attract many converts.
In administration, Akbar introduced far reaching changes in revenue collection. To achieve
balance of power, he separated revenue collection in each province from military administration, thereby
using the collector to check the power of the commander. He built up a military cadre, preferring to pay
cash salaries rather than award land grants. The emperor died on Oct. 17, 1605."

From:McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography Vol.1, New York, McGraw Hill, 1973, p.79.
Teacher Note: The document has been edited by Mr. V for classroom use.

Questions:
1. How is Akbar like Charlemagne (of the Frankish kingdom)?
2. What evidence could you extract from this document that supports these claims regarding Akbar:
! He was a culturally tolerant individual.
! He endorsed religious tolerance as a government policy.
! He was skilled as an administrator.
In Arabic, it means The Great.
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Alternatively spelled as Mughal. The word is a corruption of Mongol.
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Medieval European reference for the Islamic author of medical texts, Ibn-Sina.
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