akbar

Akbar maintained a luxurious and brilliant court at which elaborate ceremonies emphasized his distance from other men, though he was careful to cultivate public opinion outside court circles. Every morning at dawn he stood at an open window to be seen and reverenced by the people. Foreign observers commented on the graceful manner in which he accepted little gifts from the people and showed himself ready to hear the complaint of any man who dared to approach him.

Physically, he was strong and could withstand hardship on campaigns. Although he seems to have been no more than five feet seven inches tall, he impressed observers as a dominating personality. Clearly, although he was illiterate, he had a powerful and original mind. His unprejudiced inquiries into Christian doctrines misled the Jesuit missionaries he invited to his court into thinking that he was on the point of conversion. He persuaded the Muslim theologians at his court to accept him as arbiter on points of Islamic law in dispute among them. Although this seems to have been little more than an expression of his systematic approach to problems, the orthodox were offended. He gave further offense by the religious discussions he encouraged between Muslims, Hindus, Parsis, and Christians. These discussions were continued by a small group of courtiers who shared with Akbar a taste for mysticism. Although their doctrines and ceremonies, known as the Divine Faith (D?n e Ilah?), assigned a central place to Akbar himself, it would be an oversimplification to ascribe political motives to these developments.

Begun in 1570 and abandoned in 1586, Akbars capital of Fatehpur Sikri, near Delhi, is evidence of the resources he could command. Its combination of Hindu and Muslim architectural styles symbolizes the contact of cultures that he encouraged. Similarly, he commissioned the translation of Sanskrit classics into Persian, giving illustrated copies to his courtiers. He also received with enthusiasm the European pictures brought by the Jesuits, and his painters incorporated European techniques of realism and perspective into the distinctive Mughal style (characterized by a vivid treatment of the physical world) that began to develop during his reign. Akbars reign was an example of the stimulating effects of cultural encounter. It has also often been portrayed as a model for future governments strong, benevolent, tolerant, and enlightened. Effective government in a country as geographically vast and as socially complex as India demands a wide measure of social support. Akbar understood this need and satisfied it.

Akbar was accorded the epithet the Great due to his many accomplishments,among which was his record of unbeaten military campaigns that both established and consolidated Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent. The basis of this military prowess and authority was Akbars skillful structural and organisational calibration of the Mughal army.The Mansabdari system in particular has been acclaimed for its role in upholding Mughal power in the time of Akbar. The system persisted with few changes down to the end of the Mughal Empire, but was progressively weakened under his successors.Organisational reforms were accompanied by innovations in cannons, fortifications, and the use of elephants.Akbar also took an interest in matchlocks and effectively employed them during various conflicts. He sought the help of Ottomans, and also increasingly of Europeans, especially Portuguese and Italians, in procuring firearms and artillery.Mughal firearms in the time of Akbar came to be far superior to anything that could be deployed by regional rulers, tributaries, or by zamindars.Such was the impact of these weapons that Akbars Vizier, Abul Fazl, once declared that with the exception of Turkey, there is perhaps no country in which its guns has more means of securing the Government than [India].The term Gunpower Empire has thus often been used by scholars and historians in analysing the success of the Mughals in India. Mughal power has been seen as owing to their mastery of the techniques of warfare, especially the use of firearms encouraged by Akbar.

Akbar was a follower of Salim Chishti, a holy man who lived in the region of Sikri near Agra. Believing the area to be a lucky one for himself, he had a mosque constructed there for the use of the priest. Subsequently, he celebrated the victories over Chittor and Ranthambore by laying the foundation of a new walled capital, 23 miles (37 km) west of Agra in 1569, which was named Fatehpur (town of victory) after the conquest of Gujarat in 1573 and subsequently came to be known as Fatehpur Sikri in order to distinguish it from other similarly named towns.Palaces for each of Akbars senior queens, a huge artificial lake, and sumptuous water filled courtyards were built there. However, the city was soon abandoned and the capital was moved to Lahore in 1585. The reason may have been that the water supply in Fatehpur Sikri was insufficient or of poor quality. Or, as some historians believe, Akbar had to attend to the northwest areas of his empire and therefore moved his capital northwest. Other sources indicate Akbar simply lost interest in the city or realised it was not militarily defensible. In 1599, Akbar shifted his capital back to Agra from where he reigned until his death.

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.Akbars choices, decisions, decrees, discussions and regulations on religious matters even caused some of his brilliant courtiers like Qutb ud din Khan Koka and Shahbaz Khan Kamboh to criticize the emperor in the court.

Akbars effort to evolve a meeting point among the representatives of various religions was not very successful, as each of them attempted to assert the superiority of their respective religions by denouncing other religions. Meanwhile, the debates at the Ibadat Khana grew more acrimonious and, contrary to their purpose of leading to a better understanding among religions, instead led to greater bitterness among them, resulting to the discontinuance of the debates by Akbar in 1582.However, his interaction with various religious theologians had convinced him that despite their differences, all religions had several good practices, which he sought to combine into a new religious movement known as Din i Ilahi. However, some modern scholars claim that Akbar did not initiate a new religion and did not use the word Din i Ilahi.According to the contemporary events in the Mughal court Akbar was indeed angered by the acts of embezzlement of wealth by many high level Muslim clerics.

It is widely known that unlike his processors and successors, Akbar was tolerant towards all religions. It is less known that in 1563, Akbar was the king who repealed the law to collect tax from Hindu pilgrims if they visited their holy places. He had a liberal attitude towards all religions. This liberal attitude also helped him a lot in the expansion of his territory. Later, he went on lay the foundation of a new religion Din e Illahi. Although Din e Illahi was not a religion in the true sense of the term since it didnt have any holy book or formal base. He founded this religion to create a unified social order which could transcend the difference based on religion. Din e Illahi was based on the basic principles of the major religions such a Hinduism, Islam and Parsi faith. Though his religion failed and hence, had to be abolished soon. If Akbar could have succeeded in propagating his religion, he could have created a unified social order which could endure differences based on religion.

After Akbar had established the Mughal Empire in the northern India, he commenced the expansion of his territorial boundary to the southern part of India. As a result, such was the might of his empire that it stretched from Sindh in the western part of India to Bengal in the eastern part of India and from present day Afghanistan to the Godavari basin in south. His tolerant and liberal attitude towards other faiths also helped him a great deal in the expansion of his territory.

Akbar, apart from being an able administrator and founder of a religion, was also fond of great architectural structures. During his reign, he built many great architectural masterpieces and this also became a legacy for the Mughal rulers. It is evident from the fact that his successors Jahangir and Shah Jahan went on to build many architectural masterpieces. On his watch, Akbar made many historical monuments like Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Buland Darwaza, and Lahore Palace etc.

Akbar was a great patron of art and culture. Hence, his court was home to many extraordinary talents from the field of arts and culture. Among his trustable, he had a special category of men called as the Navratanas or the nine gems. Each of these nine gems was genius in his own right. The most notable among them was Birbal, whose is well known for his wit. Another was Tansen, who was a singer. It is said that he could bring the clouds to rain with his songs. Abul Fazl was the chief advisor to Akbar. He also went on to write Akbars biography which is titled Ain i Akbari. Raja Todar Mal was another trustable of Akbar who used to be the finance minister of Akbar. Raja Man Singh served as the General in Akbars court and he used to assist Akbar in administration of the kingdom.

Having spent most of his childhood in exile and also being dyslexic, Akbar could read and write but he had a flair for learning and art. He always used to remain in the company of intellectuals and religious leaders. It was because of this only that his court was graced by the presence of the most extraordinary talented individuals of all the times. To keep himself ahead of times, he continuously involved himself in the process of knowledge acquisition through whatever means.

To accomplish his expansionist ideas, Akbar didnt only have a liberal attitude that could win the heart of people but he also had all the attributes of a warrior. In the second battle of Panipat, Hemu suffered a huge defeat at the hands of Akbar. He was also victorious in the Battle of Talikota fought in 1576. Akbar also defeated Rana Pratap of Chittod in a battle. Since his childhood, Akbar grew to be fearless.