The Great Akbar ( 1556-1605 )
Akbar as The Emperor of India
Bairam Khan was the guardian and regent of Akbar during 1556-60. The appointment of Sheikh Gadai, a Shia scholar of doubtful loyalty the crown as the Sadr us Sadar by Bairam Khan excited the sectarian rivalry of all the Sunni nobles. In 1560 Akbar decided to take over the reigns of government in his hands and sent one of his tutors, Mir Abdul Latif, to Agra with this order for Bairam Khan. Akbar offered Bairam Khan three alternatives regarding his future career i.e. the governorship of the districts of Kalpi and Chanderi, the post of confidential adviser to the crown at the royal court, or departure for Mecca. Bairam Khan decided to depart for Mecca . But he was put to death at Patna ( Gujarat ) on January 31, 1561 by a party of the ruffians led by an Afghan Youth, named Mubarak Khan whose father had been Killed by Bairam at the battle of Machhiwara in 1555. The fall of Bairam Khan brought into existence, what has been styled by V.A. Smith as the petticoat government of the worst kind. The prominent members of the harem party who constituted the so-called petticoat government were the Hamid Banu Begam, Maham Anga , Adham Khan , Shihabuddin Atka Khan , Mulla Pir Muhammad and Munim Khan. Within six month of Bairam Khan’s fall Akbar appointed in quick succession, as many as four persons to hold the exalted office of the prime minister. Shihabuddin Atka Khan, the governor of Delhi to be his first prime minister. After some time Maham Anga, Bahadur Khan and Munim Khan were also made prime ministers. Mullah Pir Muhammad was an old teacher of Akbar whose association with the Mughal royal house had been as old as that of Bairam Khan . He held an important office at the court with the title Nasir ul Mulk.
Policy Towards Rajput
The Rajput policy of Akbar was notable which was a turning point in the history of Mughals. Akbar married the Rajput princess who was the daughter of Raja Bharamal. Akbar gave complete religious freedom to his wives, he also gave an honoured place to their parents and relatives in the Mughal nobility. One after another, all Rajput states submitted to Akbar . Rajput's served the Mughals for nearly four generations. Raja Man Singh and Raja Bhagawan Das were given senior positions in the administration by Akbar. However, the Ranas of Mewar proved more ferocious and continued to defy the Mughal authority despite several defeats. Rana Pratap Singh fought with Mughal army led by Man Singh in the Battle of Haldighati ( 1576 ). But he was severely defeated by the Mughals. Thus, the Rajput policy effectively ended the centuries old animosity between the Mughals and Rajputs. Also, since the latter were assimilated in the administrative structure of the empire, it affected the public policies of Akbar and helped in the development of a composite culture. Akbar’s Rajputs policy was based on broad religious toleration. Akbar abolished the pilgrim tax later the jizya. The Rajput policy of Akbar proved beneficial to the Mughals as well as the Rajputs.
Religious Policy Of Akbar
Akbar was not an extreme or orthodox Muslim rather he was known for his tolerance towards all the religious.Various factors for his religious ideas were
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The
teaching of his tutor Abdul Latif,
·
His
early contact with the Sufi saints,
·
His
association with intellectual personalities like Shaikh Mubarak and his two
illustrious sons Abul Faizi and Abul Fazl,
·
His
marriage with Rajput women,
·
His
ambition to establish an empire in Hindustan
To send a message of unity and togetherness, Akbar forged many religious marriage alliances. The fact that Akbar married a Rajput Princess Jodha says a lot about his Kindness. Despite the fact that there was a lot of resistance, Akbar built a temple for Jodha in his palace. He held debates in Ibadat Khana to help people to gain a better understanding of religious . Initially , only Muslims scholars were permitted to attend, but later, scholars were permitted to attend, but later, scholars of all faiths were permitted to attend . Father Monserrat was also invited by Akbar. These debates convinced Akbar that all religions had the same basic teaching. Proclamation of Mazhar: He decleared himself the interpreter of Islam . To strengthen his idea of the oneness of all the religions, Akbar propounded the principle of Din-i-Elahi, through which he spread the theory of “ All Religions are same”. Sulh-i-Kul: He proclaimed that under his rule people of all faith should live peacefully. He banned Sati and allow widow remarriage.
Land Revenue Administration:
Dahsala System
Akbar did some experiments in the land revenue system and Raja Todar Mal assisted Akbar in these experiments. The land revenues system of Akbar was called Zaboor Bandobast. Dahsala system was completed in 1580. Under this system, a uniform system of land measurement was introduced by Todar Mal. Akbar changed the land measuring unit and introduced Gaz-i-ilahi. The revenue, under this system, was fixed on the average yield of land assessed based on the past ten years. The payment of revenue was made generally in cash. The land was also divided into three categories: good, bad and middling. It was further divided into four categories mentioned below.
Mansabdari System
Mansabdari system which was introduced by Akbar become the main feature of his administration. The term mansab means positions, rank or status, but in this context it indicated the rank of mansabdar who held the mansab – in the official hierarchy. Under the mansabdari system, a rank was assigned to every officer. The highest rank was 5000 for the nobles and the lowest rank was 10. Mansabdars were paid in cash or sometimes in the form of assignments of jagir. Mansabdars were entitled to collect the land revenues and all other taxes through an authority appointed by the emperor. The ranks of mansabdars were divided into two – zat and sawar. Zat which fixed the personal status of a person while sawar rank indicated the number of cavalrymen required to be maintained by the mansabdar. At least two horses had to be maintained by every sawar. The mansab rank was not hereditary which means mansab ranks could not be transferred to the relatives of mansab. All appointments, promotions and dismissals were directly made by the emperor.
Imperial Expansion
In his imperial expansion, Akbar chose Malwa, a state of strategic and economic importance commanding the route through the Vindhyan Range to the plateau region of the Deccan and containing rich agricultural land; it fell to him in 1561 Then he targeted the Rajputana region and all rajput rulers except Mewar accepted Akbar’s sovereignty. In 1573 Akbar annexed Gujarat, an area with many parts that dominated India’s trade with many ports that dominated India’s trade with western Asia, and then turned east towards Bengal. Towards the end of his rule, Akbar embarked on a fresh round of conquests. The Kashmir region was subjugated in 1586, Sindh in 1591, and Kandahar (Afghanistan) in 1595. By 1601 Khandesh, Berar, and part of Ahmadnagar had been added to Akbar’s empire.
Art and Culture
Besides being a valiant ruler, Akbar was also a great patron of art and culture. He was blessed with the company of poets and singers and various types of artistic people. His palaces and forts in and around Delhi were great masterpieces with unmatched workmanship. Few amongst those are Buland darwaza, Jodha Bai’s palace, Allahabad Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, and Agra Fort. He also showed a great affection for poetry and music, his durbar was a unique amalgamation of great artists, scholars, singers, and poets etc. His “Nine Jewels or Naurattans” who excelled in the fields of art and knowledge, they were as following—
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Birbal
(Mahesh Das) the court Jester.
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Miyan
Tansen (Ramtanu Panday) the court singer.
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Abul Fazl
(The chronologist) who wrote Ain I Akbari.
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Faizi
(The court Poet)
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Maharaja
Man Singh (Army Consultant)
·
Fakir
Aziao Din (Sufi Singer)
·
Mulla
Do-Piyaza (depicted as Birbal’s Muslim counterpart)
·
Todar
Mal (Finance Consultant)
· Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Kkhana (Writer of Hindi Couplets).
Literary Works During Akbar's Region
Akbar started a department for translation of works: Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Atharva-Veda, the Bhagavad Gita and the Panchatantra were translated from Sanskrit to the Persian language. Ramayana and Singhasan Batisi were translated by Mulla Abdul Qadir Badayuni into Persian. Panchatantra was translated in Persian by Faizi. Rajataringini was translated by Ibrahim Sirhindi Abul Fazl wrote the Ain-i-Akbari and Akbar Nama. Hence, the Akbar period was popularly known as ‘the renaissance of Persian literature’.
