Introduction

• The religious policy of the Mughal empire was overall tolerant.
• Babur and Humayun, though staunch Sunni Muslims, were personally tolerant.
• Akbar’s policy was motivated by a desire to achieve cultural unity in India.
• Akbar was liberal in his approach, abolishing pilgrim tax in 1563 and Jaziya in 1564.
• Akbar’s religious views underwent a process of evolution.
• Despite being brought up as an orthodox Sunni Muslim, he was influenced by the mysticism of Sunni doctrines.
• Akbar was greatly influenced by Faizi and Abul Fazal, both of whom were Sufis.
• Akbar invited learned professors of various religions to his Ibadat-Khanna (hall of worship) at Fatehpur Sikri.
• In 1575, Akbar gave impartial hearings to religious experts from Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Christian, and Zoroastrian backgrounds.

Social and religious consideration

• Akbar was both a mystic and a rationalist, profoundly religious and an earnest seeker of truth.
• He is said to have experienced religious ecstasy at the age of fifteen.
• Akbar delighted in listening to the philosophical discourses of Sufis and saints.
• He gradually turned away from Muslim orthodoxy, disillusioned by the bigotry of the Muslim ulema.
• Unlike orthodox Muslims, Akbar did not restrict himself to only accepting elements of other religions that did not conflict with Islam.
• Akbar believed every faith had some truth to offer, but all were false when they denied each other’s sincerity.
• He rejected the denial of religious freedom to non-Muslims as a disservice to God.
• Akbar favored complete tolerance of belief and rejected the idea of one scripture and one brotherhood as it led to religious strife.
• Akbar’s views were radically at odds with orthodox Muslim opinion.
• In line with his views, he abolished the enslavement of Hindu prisoners of war and the pilgrim and jaziya taxes, which Hindus had been paying for a long time.
• He allowed complete religious freedom to his Rajput spouses in the Mughal palace.
• These actions occurred in 1562-64, when Akbar was 20 or 22 years old.
• Akbar broke away from the orthodox tradition of intolerance towards Hindus.
• His measures were not politically motivated but stemmed from his religious temperament.
• By 1562, Akbar was free from the influence of regent Bairam Khan and the harem, and had not yet been introduced to Abul Fazl and Faizi.
• The decision to end the traditional policy of denying Hindus religious freedom was Akbar’s own, showcasing his catholicity and liberalism.