The period of Akbar " s rule (1556-1605) has been regarded as one of the most significant and incomparable periods in Indian history in particular regarding with Hindu Muslim interaction. Indeed, Akbar " s success stemmed from his religious policy that based on Sulh-i Kul (universal peace and harmony) between all his subjects regardless with their social, ethical or religious identities. His religious policy was not a sudden event, rather emerged from in the course of time depending on different internal and external factors. The final stage of Akbar " s religious policy, the Din-i Ilahi (Religion of God), was a syncretic religious movement propounded by him in 1582 A.D., was one of the most substantial dimensions of mutual interaction and relationship between Hinduism and Islam. The primary aim of this paper, therefore, is to examine the factors influencing Akbar " s religious policy and to analyze critically Akbar " s Din-i Ilahi by dealing with its basic features and virtues which more or less shaped his attitudes towards other religious and social groups.
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Akbar has been seen as one of the greatest rulers of the Mughal dynasty in India. He came to the throne in 1556 upon the death of his father Humayun. The time at which he ascended the throne was a particularly unstable period, when the still developing Mughal state was confronting a great deal of problems – both political and religious. The challenges came not only from the ruling groups but also from indigenous forces in Hindustan. Akbar has been credited with the establishment of the institutional basis of the state and the crystallization of its ideological and political stance. Before we analyse the challenges faced by Akbar, it is helpful to look at the primary contemporary sources and how they influence our perception of Akbar. Abul Fazl's Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari are the two primary accounts giving what can essentially be seen as the official position on various affairs. Abul Fazl was in favour of Akbar's ideology and being the court chronicler has presented him in a very positive light. As a corrective to Fazl's almost eulogical work is Abdul Qadir Badauni's Muntakhab-ut-tawarikh. Badauni was also at Akbar's court, but he was a man of orthodox beliefs, who did not endorse Akbar's liberal ideology and is hence overly critical of his policies. There are however many things mentioned in his account like the Mahzarnama, which are not present in Badauni, thereby giving us a complete picture of Akbar. Another source is Nizamuddin Ahmad's Tabaqat-i-akbari. We also have the accounts of the Jesuit missionaries at Akbar's court. Their accounts however are restricted due to their lack of local knowledge. Also, they held a grudge against Akbar who never promoted Christianity the way they would have expected him to. Hence, they too look upon his policies with a prejudiced eye. We need to study these sources in conjunction in order to arrive at a more or less accurate picture of the time. When Akbar ascended the throne at Kalanaur on 14 February, 1556, he had only a tenuous hold on the Punjab and the Delhi-Agra area. What can be called Mughal political patterns and institutions developed during the first half of Akbar's reign. Babur had brought the Timurid dynasty to India but could not develop distinctively Mughal institutions, practices, and political and cultural styles. Akbar's reign saw the development of a new set of administrative institutions, a new conception of kingship and the constitution of government, a new military system, and new norms of political behaviour. Douglas Streusand believes that evolution of Mughal institutions under Akbar are characterized by the element of compromise. The regime survived because it satisfied both the ruler and the members of the political elite. It represented a compromise between the ideals represented in the rituals and texts which propounded the constitution and economic and military realities, and also between the desires and expectations of the ruler and the nobility. Akbar created the Mughal Empire from two sets of components, what he found in Hindustan and what his father had brought with him from Central Asia. He synthesized these two legacies to produce a distinctly Mughal
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