Andrew Ehrensperger History 9 C Block January 13 , 2013

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SuleymanS & akbarS Caf DiSCuSSion

Akbar: How is it that you earned your title as The Magnificent and I The Great? I became the emperor of my empire at age thirteen, and you only at age twenty six.
(http://www.markedbyteachers.com/university-degree/historical-and-philosophical-studies/does-akbar-deserve-the-title-great.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleiman_the_Magnificent)

Suleyman: You are correct in what you speak of, but age is no accomplishment in my vision. My social accomplishments included taxes which were posted in public; my people knew where they stood.
(Source 4 Suleyman Source Chart.)

Akbar: You did have officials assigning fraudulent taxes; you shouldnt be speaking of social success, I should. I abolished the Jizya Tax in 1564, and this tax charged people money for being non-Muslim. I repealed the pilgrimage taxes in 1563 as well, and this let my Hindus visit sacred sites without paying any fee to my government! My actions made my empire cohesive, and that is why I deserve the title of The Magnificent.
(Source 1 & 3 from the Akbar Sources Source 1: Professor Edmond Turner, Washington State University http://www.wsu.edu:8080/%7Edee/MUGHAL/AKBAR.HTM http://asianhistory.about.com/od/india/p/akbarthegreatbio.htm )

Suleyman: Actually, my government directly distributed laws and taxes to everybody and for everyone to be aware of what actually is being assigned by the fair government. I eliminated corruption and made people feel safe with their money and to who it went; I was able to gain societies trust with my government! Ever since I gained societies trust, my empire grew to be very cohesive. I know for a fact that I am powerful in my social accomplishments.
(Source 4 Suleyman Source Chart.)

Akbar: Well, I suppose both of us have done well in the social field. We both did something with taxes which made our Empires even better than they were before. By the way, I need some advice from you. I am struggling to do it how you did. Ive heard you acquired an immense amount of land; you spread your empires territory to three continents. How did you do it? I want to expand my land to at least one more continent.
(http://www.naqshbandi.org/ottomans/maps/ )

Suleyman: Taking over all the land I did was hard work, and you should prepare for that responsibility before blindly going in and fighting with a fifty-fifty percent chance of winning

or losing. You want to sustain a plan with tactics before going in to battle, so that you have a chance in outsmarting your enemies. At the age of seven, I went to the Topkapi Palace schools in Istanbul and studied military tactics; I took the knowledge from my studies with me to the battlefield. I even expanded to Europe and began from the city of Belgrade in 1521. From there I captured Rhodes in 1522. You see, tactics get you ahead of the battles.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_of_the_Ottoman_Empire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleiman_the_Magnificent)

Akbar: Those are some impressive conquers, but I was known as a military genius. Sure I didnt expand to many continents, but what I had with me in battles let me conquer most of India. I had the manufacture of the finest chain-plate armors and had much more protection gear produced, the armor was almost invincible. My war elephants and sowars were the main powerful weapons in my combats; these elephants and sowars wore the armor I had manufactured for them. With 5000 war elephants of mine, I even had Sikandar surrender to me in the siege of Mankot. My elephants trampled over my enemies and swung their tusks at them; many of my elephants grabbed my enemies and ripped their bodies in half. They were trained very well.
(http://worldvisitguide.com/contact/A011851.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akbar#Military_achievements http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_elephant )

Suleyman: I am impressed with your trained elephants and armory, but you are lacking tactics. Tactics in the matter of fact can help you win almost every battle you engage in. You just put your elephants out there in the battle field knowing theres a fifty percent chance of winning or losing. We do have strong war weaponry in common though. You have war elephants, and I have canons; these two things made us win many battles, which led to both of our Empires expanding. Anyway, I have the urge to ask, while were still here, can you tell me some of your political accomplishments? Im in search of some ideas. Akbar: Ill tell you about my political achievements, but I want to hear yours as well. Let this be like an exchange. Suleyman: Agreed. Akbar: To make my empire satisfied with cultural and religious tolerance, I married thousands of women. Soon enough I actually fell in love with my favorite Hindu Princess, Jodhaa. My love was pure and eternal with her. Our marriage gave people a message that said we have created a religion unity. My population of 4/5 Hindus felt accepted in my Empire and didnt revolt against my leadership.
(http://hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b3akbar.htm http://www.indiancentury.com/hist7.htm http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080220195522AA73Z5p Source 1: Professor Edmond Turner, Washington State University http://www.wsu.edu:8080/%7Edee/MUGHAL/AKBAR.HTM

Suleyman: So youre saying I should marry many women of different religions? My most beautiful and lovely wife Roxelana was from Rohatyn, Kingdom of Poland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxelana )

Akbar: That is an option for you. Suleyman: What else led you to political success in the Mughal Empire? Akbar: My laws are very intricate, but they keep the chances of an uprising against my rule low. Common laws for both Muslims in my empire and Hindus in my empire were brought into one; both religions could be satisfied with the laws since they get some of their rules, and the other religion gets some of theirs as well. People in my empire were trialed by their own code of laws, and therefore the factor of unfairness was eliminated.
(Source 2 Professor Edmond Turner, Washington State University http://www.wsu.edu:8080/%7Edee/MUGHAL/AKBAR.HTM )

Suleyman: Talking about laws, how did you deal with wealth taxation? Ive heard people speaking about your tax changes and revolutionary techniques of taxing others. Akbar: My people were taxed based on crop yields. Everybody called this system the gradual income tax. I got rid of the flat taxation which taxed everybody the same. With the new fairly based taxes, my people gained more trust in me and my leadership politically. Peasants didnt pay too much money anymore, and wealthy aristocrats didnt pay too little. There are wealthy and poor districts in my empire. Tax collectors have their own district tables; they are in charge of working out how much grain farmers should contribute based on their amounts. The contribution was converted into cash value. With the cash value, food prices in different districts varied depending on wealth. Since peasants had more money with the fair gradual income tax, they kept away from starvation and therefore they were satisfied with living conditions in my empire. They stayed away from revolts against my rule due to this dramatic change.
(Source 4 Richard Stein, Rutgers University http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_was_king_Akbar_famous )

Suleyman: I have a question I am eager to find out about. How did you alone govern a population over 100 million? Akbar: It wasnt me alone who governed all my land. I put military governors in charge of each region under my rule. These governors enforced my decisions into their regions. My mansabdars commanded the armies under my name as well.
(Source 7 in the source chart. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansabdar)

Suleyman: This reminds me of the millet system I have established. Akbar: Tell me more about your millet system. Suleyman: Well, these millets were like nations of different religions. The people in the millets can live their life in their regions under their religious law, but in any case something went wrong, they must defend my empire. I had main millets, which would be similar to one of your governors, and they would report anything happening in the region they live in. These reports helped me calm situations, and without the reports concept, I wouldnt be in this caf today. If there was a religious war about to break out due to a conflict between millets, I would have the conflict be settled and stopped immediately. You also said before that you married thousands of women, and people knew you were accepting Hinduism; with my millet system, I too prove myself as a religion-tolerant man. You see, we have more in common than I thought.
(Source 7 in the source chart.)

Akbar: I would like to say that the millet system was a genius idea in terms of having religious tolerance towards your people. I wish I could come up with that. I too didnt know we had a lot in common; its pleasurable to know we think alike. I have a big question for you and I would like to hear it detailed since I am very interested. You are very popular for your laws, and many people in my empire speak your name for this. Can you tell me about some of your important and yet, most famous laws? Suleyman: I looked into scenarios in which laws might be cheated. I thought of the shariah laws which derived from the quran. The shariah laws did not fit into every single scenario, and therefore I created a new set of laws called the kanun laws. I made sure that if something fell outside of the shariah laws, a judgment could be made with the kanun laws. Politically, the kanun laws made my empire very cohesive. The kanun laws ensured that every law aspect was covered and that it would be hard to cheat the laws; there was a set for every case. At the same time while getting politically stronger, the kanun laws increased social trust in the empire and me.
(Source 8 of the Revision Table Suleyman)

Akbar: No wonder people say your laws are revolutionary. Can I know more about your political accomplishments? They sound perfectly planned out. Suleyman: I can speak to you about my ways of indirectly using citizens to find corrupt officials. Akbar: Thatd be great to hear about. Suleyman: All the citizens of my empire could approach the imperial council and turn in complaints against the government. My people knew they had the right to voice their opinion, and this improved the government basing things on complaints from the majority. Corruption was also reported to the imperial council. Corruption decreased when people could turn in complaints, and this formed a cohesive empire.
(Source 3 Revision Table Suleyman)

Akbar: How were your economic accomplishments? You had this colossal empire which makes me want to ask you how you managed your economics. Suleyman: I am mostly proud of organizing a balanced budget for the government. Introducing this budget system would mean giving money to areas of the government in need, instead of going into the pockets of government officials. The money finally had some use that would improve the empires economy. As soon as the places in need improved from government money, other areas lacking important things got the money to use for improvements. People wouldnt have too much access to money anymore, especially government officials with financial corruption. Money value was kept at a great level, and people didnt have too much access to it, which would decrease the value. Another factor in my economic accomplishments was the elimination of bribery. Wealthy citizens would pay officials for something to be done without me knowing about it, or prisoners would pay high amounts of money to government officials to be let free without serving a time in prison. Ever since bribery was abolished, people less fortunate with no money felt like they were treated equally among the wealthy. Prisoners wouldnt be allowed to bypass punishment, and that is what led to a very cohesive empire. I would say that the elimination of bribery also helped the empire and me socially. What did you accomplish economically?
(Source 1 Revision Table Suleyman blogs.zis.ch/2132/2013/01/09/suleyman-essay-reflection/)

Akbar: Because of the requirement for cash payment of taxes in my empire, it led to an expansion of regional markets as well to a very quick economic development. I also made a currency for my empire which consisted of copper, silver and gold coins. The currency became one of the widest known currencies of all time.
(http://www.es.flinders.edu.au/~mattom/science+society/lectures/illustrations/lecture19/akbar.html)

Suleyman: That sounds very interesting, but you said before that your gradual income tax helped many people with money and starvation; wouldnt you classify that tax into the economic side? Akbar: You are partially correct, since taxes are associated with money and the government. The government regulates the economy with the money they receive from taxes. When I said that it was political, I referred to the public, and my image to them. Suleyman: Yet we both have accomplished so much; we have gotten titles with meaning. I was given The Magnificent title, and you The Great. Akbar: Im going to be honest here, but since we found many similarities in our Empires, it made me feel as if we are alike and both very successful Emperors. It is true, our titles are both positive, and that is whats important. Suleyman: I feel completely the same about that. Akbar: We had a very nice chat; I will have to get going now. I have to travel all the way back to my empire now. Suleyman: Thank you so much for visiting my Empire, and my most cherished city of all, Istanbul. I will take care of the tab. Have a safe trip home!

Akbar: It was very honorable, thank you. We should do this another time and maybe in my Empire. Suleyman: It shall be scheduled!