Legacy

Akbars legacy of religious toleration, firm but fair central control and liberal tax policies that gave commoners a chance to prosper established a precedent in India that can be traced forward in the thinking of later figures such as Mohandas Gandhi. His love of art led to the fusion of Indian and Central Asian Persian styles that came to symbolize the height of Mughal achievement, in forms as varied as miniature painting and grandiose architecture. This lovely fusion would reach its absolute apex under Akbars grandson, Shah Jahan, who designed and had built the world famous Taj Mahal.Perhaps most of all, Akbar the Great showed the rulers of all nations everywhere that tolerance is not weakness, and open mindedness is not the same thing as indecisiveness. As a result, he is honored more than four centuries after his death as one of the greatest rulers in human history.