Discuss the religious policy of Akbar.
Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, who was the greatest Mughal emperor, was born on October 15, 1543 A.D. at Amarkotin the palace of the Rajput ruler Rana Virsal because Humayun had taken shelter there during his exile. The early life of Akbar passed in miserable situations. He received little education and lived under the tutelage of Bairam Khan. However, he was fond of playing and hunting and trained himself in the field of warfare. He was appointed Governor of Ghazni in 1551 A.D. Akbar ascended the throne of the empire on Feb 14, 1556 A.D. Bairam Khan, who was working as regent of Akbar, was appointed Wazir of the empire and å title of Khan-i-Khana was bestowed upon him.
Early difficulties : Akbar was surrounded with a series of problems because there were many independent kingdoms which created problems for Akbar. However Akbar overpowered the revolting chieftains and rulers and brought them under control. He fought against Hemu at Tughlaqabad as he had occupied Delhi.So the battle took place in 1556 at Panipat This battle is known as the Second Battle of Panipat in which Hemu was captured and killed. Akbar Followed a liberal religious policy and carried out many important reforms.
Religious policy of Akbar: Great as a conqueror Akbar was equally great as a religious reformer. He followed a policy of religious toleration and allowed the people to observe their religion in their own way The religious policy of Akbar can be studied under the following heads:
A) Matrimonial Relations : Akbar was tolerant to other religions and established matrimonial relations with the important Hindu families. In 1562 he married the daughter of king Bharmal who was the ruler of Ajmer Akbar appointed him in his royal service. In addition to it, Akbar also established matrimonial relations with the royal Rajput families of Marwar, Bikaner and Jaisalmer. in 1584 Akbar married his son Salim (Jahangir) with the grand daughter of Bhagwan Das. Thus prince Khusrau was born of Jehangir and Rajput princes. Akbar granted full religious freedom to all his Hindu wives and ministers including officials. Thus a cordial situation was created by Akbar who obtained the support of Rajput kings and princes.
B) Religious freedom: Akbar was not conservative Mughal because he believed in the equality of all religions, There were a great many Hindu officials, soldiers, ministers, advisors, well-wishers who were allowed to live with equal religious freedom. The Hindus were allowed to celebrate all their religious festivals without any hesitation. Not only this, Akbar himself also took part in the Hindu festivals like Holi and Diwali. All the royal Hindu officials were granted freedom to observe their religious traditions and customs. Akbar gave full freedom to the Hindu subjects to construct temples and repair old ones. Besides, he prohibited the slaughter of cows which won the sympathy and support of Hindu subjects.
C) Removal of Jaziya : It is well known that the Muslim rulers in India had imposed various taxes on the Hindu subjects. Among such taxes one was called Jaziya. It was a tax which was imposed on the Hindus only. Each and every Hindu was bound to pay this tax. If a Hindu subject accepted Islam he was relieved from Jizya tax. by Akbar was very religious minded king who removed Jizya and people were not forced to accept Islam. In addition to it, Akbar removed no pilgrimage tax which was earlier imposed by the Muslim rulers.
(D). Formation of ibadat Khana : Akbar was very anxious to know about different religion and philosophy. He was very much disgusted with the orthodox behaviour and activities of the Ulemas. So d he removed the head priest of the Jammi Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar visited the shrine of Sheikh Muinuddin Salim Chisti to quench the thirst for knowledge and religion. But he was not satisfied. alia Hence he ordered for the construction of Ibadat Khana (place of worship) at Fatehpur Sikri and invited renowned Muslim saints and Sunni scholars but these scholars were divided in their opinion about religion. So he was much disappointed and invited the religious scholars and intellectuals from other faiths such as Hindus, Persians, Jains and Christians After coming in contact with the intellectuals and scholars of different religions, Akbar realised that no religion is complete and in every religion there is some truth. Thus Ibadat Khana became an important centre of discussion and discourses among the theologian and religions saints or monks.
E) Din-i-ilahi : Akbar learnt many things about religion and culture about whom discussion used to take place in Ibadat Khana, So he decided to create cordial and harmonious situations among his subjects who belonged to several communities and religion. In 1582 Akbar announced a new religion called Din-i-ilahi. Abul Fazal Was declared the Chief Priest of this Divine Faith. Thus Akbar established himself as a spiritual Guru. In fact, Akbar took out most of the good principles from other religions and combined them into a separate religion which came to be known as Din-i-ilahi. In the beginning most of his royal officials, workers, ministers, soldiers accepted the new religion propagated by Akbar. Among Hindus only Raja Birbal accepted Din i-llahi. The religion Din-i-ilahi flourished widely in the beginning but after the death of Akbar Din-i-ilahi got buried with its founder.
An estimate of Akbar: Akbar was very much eager to establish cordial relations between the Mughals and the Indians. He worked thoroughly in this respect but he was not total successful. He declared Persian to be the court language throughout the empire. He established a department of translation and got the books of Sanskrit, Arabic, Turkish and Greek translated into Persian. He also constructed many huge and palatial buildings in different parts of his empire. He also loved art and music and patronised important scholars, architect, musician, poet etc. in his court. Thus Akbar was not only the most remarkable kings in the annals of medieval Indian history but also he occupies a unique place in the history of the world.
