Akbar: Conquests and Religious Policy
NCERT Class 7 - Our Pasts II • NCERT Class 12 - Themes in Indian History Part II, Chapter 9
Akbar: Conquests and Religious Policy
Akbar ruled from 1556 to 1605 and turned a military conquest into a stable Indian empire. His method was inclusion - Rajput alliances, the removal of discriminatory taxes, and a state policy of sulh-i-kul, universal peace.
Rise and conquests
- He came to the throne at thirteen. The Second Battle of Panipat, 1556, against Hemu, secured Delhi for the Mughals.
- Bairam Khan was regent until 1560; the years 1560-1564 saw court influence by the harem group, often called the petticoat government, until Akbar took full control.
- Conquests included Malwa, Gondwana where Rani Durgavati resisted, Chittor in 1568, Ranthambore, Gujarat in 1572, Bengal, Kabul, Kashmir, Sindh, Kandahar and part of the Deccan.
- He built the Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri to mark the Gujarat victory.
- The Battle of Haldighati, 1576, was fought against Maharana Pratap of Mewar, with the Mughal force led by Raja Man Singh. Pratap survived and continued resistance.
Rajput policy
- Akbar used matrimonial alliances with Rajput houses, beginning with Amber.
- Rajput chiefs were given high mansabs, provincial governorships and independent command - Man Singh, Bhagwant Das and Todar Mal are the examples.
- They kept their ancestral lands as watan jagirs, so alliance did not mean dispossession.
- Mewar under Maharana Pratap was the major exception, refusing a matrimonial link.
Religious policy step by step
| Year | Measure |
|---|---|
| 1562 | End of the practice of enslaving prisoners of war |
| 1563 | Pilgrim tax abolished |
| 1564 | Jizya abolished |
| 1575 | Ibadat Khana built at Fatehpur Sikri for religious debate |
| 1579 | Mahzar, giving the emperor authority to decide among conflicting rulings |
| 1582 | Din-i-Ilahi, also called Tauhid-i-Ilahi, proclaimed |
- The Ibadat Khana first heard Muslim theologians, then was opened to Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians, Jesuits and others.
- Sulh-i-kul, absolute peace between faiths, became the guiding principle of the state and was carried further by Dara Shukoh in the next century.
- Din-i-Ilahi was not a mass religion. It had a very small number of followers, and Birbal is the only well known Hindu among them.
- Akbar was illiterate but had books read aloud to him and maintained a large library and translation department, which rendered the Mahabharata as Razmnama into Persian.
The nine jewels
- Abul Fazl - author of the Akbarnama and its third volume, the Ain-i-Akbari.
- Faizi - poet, brother of Abul Fazl; Tansen - musician; Birbal - courtier and wit.
- Todar Mal - revenue minister; Man Singh - general; Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan - poet and commander.
- The historian Badauni wrote a critical account, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, which balances Abul Fazl's praise.
Exam me kaise aata hai
Factual questions ask the year jizya was abolished, what the Ibadat Khana was, and who wrote the Ain-i-Akbari. Match-the-following links year with measure, or courtier with role. Statement-based questions test whether Din-i-Ilahi was a new religion with mass following - it was not.
UPSC / State PSC ke liye
Read Akbar's policy as political integration, not personal tolerance alone - a small foreign ruling group needed Indian allies with land, troops and legitimacy. Note also the historiographical point: Abul Fazl is an official panegyrist and Badauni a hostile critic, so both must be used together.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ Akbar abolished jizya in 1579 | ✓ Jizya was abolished in 1564; 1579 is the year of the Mahzar
✗ Akbar defeated Maharana Pratap and annexed Mewar | ✓ Pratap survived Haldighati and continued resistance
✗ The Ain-i-Akbari was written by Badauni | ✓ It was written by Abul Fazl; Badauni wrote the Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh
Ek nazar me
- Akbar ruled 1556-1605; Second Battle of Panipat in 1556 against Hemu.
- Bairam Khan was regent till 1560; Gujarat won in 1572, marked by the Buland Darwaza.
- Haldighati 1576 against Maharana Pratap, Mughal army led by Man Singh.
- Pilgrim tax abolished 1563, jizya 1564, Ibadat Khana 1575, Mahzar 1579, Din-i-Ilahi 1582.
- Sulh-i-kul was the guiding principle; Din-i-Ilahi had very few followers.
- Nine jewels include Abul Fazl, Todar Mal, Tansen, Birbal and Man Singh.