Akbar: The Radiant Emperor Who Forged Unity in Diversity (1556 to 1605)
Introduction
Akbar was the third Mughal ruler of India, who ruled from 1556 to 1605. He is known for his military conquests, for his administrative reforms, and, above all, for his religious policies that established an unprecedented level of tolerance in the time of deep sectarian cleavage. The Akbarian period is perhaps the most important syncretic period in Indian religious and cultural history. His innovative policies engendered harmony among different communities, especially between Hindus and Muslims. His policies were not only inspired by religious sentiment but also by pragmatic political considerations, since he sought to form a unified and stable empire.
Akbar’s Childhood and Accession to the Throne
Akbar was born in 1542 to Humayun, the second Mughal emperor, and Hamida Banu Begum. As a young man, he was forced into exile by his own father due to a precarious political position against the Afghan ruler, Sher Shah Suri, who threatened to destroy the Mughal empire. When, at 13 years of age, Akbar climbed up on to the throne in 1556 after Humayun’s death, the entire empire was reduced and confined to just two small regions around Delhi and Agra. The early reign of this young emperor was dominated by the regent, Bairam Khan who helped consolidate Mughal power by defeating the forces of Hemu in the Second Battle of Panipat.
Akbar, having asserted full control over the empire, began a series of wars that extended the territorial base of the Mughal empire to virtually the entire Indian subcontinent. Yet, he was very well aware that military conquest alone would not establish his empire. The empire people belonging to different races and castes were to be united, and religion, such an awesome divide, had to be bridged with utmost caution.
Akbar’s Religious Policies: From Orthodoxy to Pluralism
Akbar’s religious policies did indeed change quite significantly during the reign of this emperor, from initial orthodoxy to one of pluralism and tolerance.
Orthodoxy at the Outset of his Rule (Early Reign)
During his initial rule, Akbar followed orthodox Islamic practices. The court was held under the domination of ulema, that is, the Islamic scholars, and the empire maintained traditional Islamic law. Akbar’s early policies were exactly in line with orthodoxy, for he placed Muslim officials in important offices and incorporated Islamic law, specifically the Sharia.
But with the expansion of Akbar’s empire, conquering much more considerable populations that were not Muslim, and above all, not Muslim – Hindu and others – he came to the realization that a strictly Islamic state was not feasible. The Rajput kingdoms, who were Hindus with whom he contracted matrimonial alliances as well as alliances by conquest, stood as a powerful force within his empire. The more he grew in contact with non-Muslim subjects, the more questions of orthodoxy and exclusivity that the rigorously Islamic state represented in his view began to melt away.
Religious Tolerance and Synthesis (Middle Reign)
His religious tolerance began to change in the 1560s. One of the most memorable instances that showed such a change was his decision to abolish the jizya tax, which he did in 1564. The jizya was a tax leveled upon the non-Muslim population mainly Hindus, in which they underwent submission under Islamic law. Through abolishing it, Akbar gave a cold message of his commitment towards equality and religious freedom.
Another significant reform was the marriage alliances he made with Rajput princesses. These were not political marriage alliances but a token of his great efforts to assimilate Hindus into Mughal nobility. Akbar respected religious beliefs about his wives coming from Hinduism and also allowed them to continue their religious practices in the palace. This was in contrast to earlier Islamic rulers who had tried often to impose Islamic law upon their subjects.
In 1575, he established Ibadat Khana, or the House of Worship, in Fatehpur Sikri, where scholars and religious heads belonging to Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity, debated. These debates reflected a healthy intellectual curiosity about core tenets from different religions in the mind of Akbar. Initially, the discussions were conducted by Islamic scholars; however, Akbar soon grew disillusioned with their dogmatic views, which instead of helping to understand each other’s faiths, were increasingly coming in the way of them doing so.
Din-i Ilahi: The Religious Experiment of Akbar (Later Part of Reign)
Akbar’s heightened intolerance to orthodox Islam along with exposure to different religious philosophies finally bore fruit in the form of a religion by himself, Din-i Ilahi (Religion of God), in 1582. Din-i Ilahi was more a philosophy than a formal religion which tried to integrate the virtues from all the religions into one. It stressed on ethics such as honesty, justice, and tolerance and rejected both strictures of religious rituals and dogma.
Din-i Ilahi was never to be a religion for the masses, and it stayed within the inner circle of Akbar’s councilors and nobles. Only a handful of persons, such as Raja Birbal, one of Akbar’s Hindu courtiers, embraced the religion. Even though its influence was limited, Din-i Ilahi captured some of the essence of Akbar’s commitment to religious pluralism and his conviction that all religions were actually the same at their foundations.
Political Reasons for Akbar’s Religious Policies
While clearly shaped by personal belief, Akbar’s religious policies were formulated within a matrix of pragmatic political incentives. The empire over which Akbar held sway was one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse in the world; heterogeneity was to be managed with effort to maintain stability.
Rajput Alliances and the Hindu Nobility
One of the pillars of Akbar’s religious policy was his alliance with the Hindu Rajputs. Through marriage with Rajput princesses and incorporation of notable Rajput leaders into his administration, he secured the loyalty of a powerful and influential group. On their part, the Rajputs accepted Mughal suzerainty and began investing heavily in the empire’s military and administrative apparatus.
This inclusiveness policy extended even to other Hindu communities. Hindus were appointed to key positions in Akbar’s administration, including Raja Todar Mal-though perhaps most famously-the finance minister of the empire, to whom he assigned great reforms of the revenue system. Such appointments were not merely symbolic in nature. Akbar believed truly in meritocracy and the creation of an empire that was above sectarian divisions.
Religious Toleration as the Means of Empire
Akbar’s religious toleration was also the pragmatic answer to empire-wide problems. He could reduce the chances for the religious conflict and revolution by creating space for religious toleration. The policy of abolishing jizya taxes and other fiscal policies seriously discriminatory towards the non-Muslim persons helped him win the loyalty of the majority Hindus, who constituted the population of the empire.
Second, Akbar’s policies increased the legitimacy of Mughal rule in the eyes of non-Muslim communities. Unlike any previous ruler, Muslim or non-Muslim, Akbar was the first Muslim ruler who did not try to impose his religion on his subjects. This indicated a sense of accommodation and respect; this was a way to create identity, loyalty, and unity among the empire rather than individual religious communities.
Effects of the Religious Policies of Akbar on Indian Society
The religious policies of Akbar affected Indian society in many ways up to and even after his time and for several centuries as well.
Cultural Synthesis
This phenomenon of Indo-Islamic culture developed in great luxury during the reign of Akbar, with respect to the Persian and Central Asian traditions combined with Indian traditions. This cultural synthesis is surely manifest with the grace of art, architecture, music, and literature. During Akbar’s reign, all these types of scholars, poets, artists, and musicians thronged his court, making it a centre of cultural and intellectual activity within the empire.
One of the most obvious manifestations of this was in Mughal architecture, in which Islamic, Persian, and Indian architectural styles were all subsumed into one style. This is perhaps best reflected in the fate of the city of Fatehpur Sikri, the capital city constructed by the Emperor Akbar as a non-fortified, thriving new Mughal capital. Buildings representing only one architectural style – intricate carvings and mighty domes – exemplified the vision of a unified but diverse empire that the emperor had before him.
In music, the courts of Akbar patronized Hindu artists, such as Tansen, who is said to have been one of the Navaratnas, nine jewels, of the court. Tansen is credited with giving India the requisite shape to its music in its rich Persian and Islamic influences that underpinned Hindustani classical music to this day.
Religious Tolerance Legacy
Akbar’s policy marked a precedent of religious tolerance and which the following Mughal rulers applied during his grandson’s period, Jahangir and especially his great-grandson, Shah Jahan. However, it was not even ever unbroken. His great grandson Aurangzeb renounced many of Akbar’s policies such as re-introducing jiziya tax and enforcing the orthodoxy of Islam. But despite the period under his rule being known by turning points and bad starts to reign, his reign is often remembered as a golden age of harmony in Indian religious history.
The policies of Akbar had a far-reaching long-term implication on the Hindu-Muslim relations in India. Akbar promoted the spirit of inclusiveness and forbearance, helping give rise to a shared identity and cohabitation that, in many parts of the subcontinent, survived even through later times of religious conflict.
Criticisms and Limitations of Akbar’s Religious Policies
Critics notwithstanding, Akbar’s religious toleration remained on many people’s lips and in most people’s hearts. Akbar was not without his share of orthodox Muslim scholars and chieftains who looked at his policies as a betrayal of some basic Islamic tenets. The creation of Din-i Ilahi was considered heretic by many as an apostasy to the basic doctrine of Islam.
That was the situation with Akbar, whose policies, though progressive, were by no means all-inclusive. For example, Din-i Ilahi remained the philosophy of the elite led in the activities of a select few nobility and courtiers. Its influence did not trickle down to the mass majority that inhabited the empire, who went on to practice their respective religions and practices with minimal alterations.
Conclusion:-
That completes the story of Akbar’s reign. He marks an important point in Indian history, especially as far as the lines of religious tolerance and cultural synthesis are concerned. His religious policies, commensurate both with personal conviction and political prudence, created a unified and diversified empire that could accommodate such an extensive range of religious beliefs. The heritage of tolerance founded by Akbar has continually influenced Indian society since then.
Apart from its faults, the approach taken by Akbar in his view of religion was an important lesson toward pluralism and coexistence in diverse societies. He rose above religious dogma, at least within his own epoch, when he adopted a more inclusive version of governance.
Also Read :- Delhi Sultanate: The Rise and Fall of an Empire That Shaped India’s Destiny ( 1206 A.D. to 1526 A.D)