What was Akbar’s Policy towards the Hindus?

Akbar must be given credit for initiating a new policy towards the Hindus’. It is true that there were certain factors which cold have influenced his views but the fact remains that Akbar had already embarked upon a policy of reconciliating the Hindus before he came in contact with those influences.

The remarkable fact about policy towards the Hindus was that he initiated the policy at a time when there was too much of intolerance all round. The Muslim tradition in India was one of persecuting the Hindus and this had happened for centuries.

As regards the factors that would have influenced Akbar in his policy towards the Hindus, his Hindu wives must have played an important part. These Hindu wives were allowed to worship openly in their palaces and consequently similar toleration could be shown to the Hindus all over the country.

Akbar himself listened to the teachings of the Hindu saints and philosophers. It is true that on previous occasions also Muslim rulers had married Hindu wives, but in those cases marriages had resulted in intolerance and fanaticism. However, in the case of Akbar, these marriages revolutionized the whole atmosphere.

Sheikh Mubarak, Abul Fazl and Faizi played an importance role in the life of Akbar. There were Sufis and they encouraged Akbar to follow a liberal policy in matters of religion.

Akbar possessed an unusual amount of imagination and initiative. He possessed an adventurous mind and was prepared to make experiments in every field. It was his inquisitive mind that was responsible for the religious discussions in the Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri.

As the discussions progressed, he was struck by the spirit of intolerance shown by the leaders of the various faiths. They, the Mullas, would call one another feel and heretic. Again, one pronounced a thing lawful, another would pronounce the very same thing unlawful.” It was this intolerance that was responsible for Akbar’s desire to find out the truth.

It is sometimes pointed out that Akbar followed a policy of reconciliation towards the Hindus on account of political reasons. Even if this fact is conceded, that does not take away from the greatness of Akbar. His great achievement was that he was able to liberate the Mughal state fim the domination of the Mullas. It can be substained by chapter and verse that Akbar’s pot.w towards the Hindus was intimately connected with his own religious views.

In 1564, Akbar abolished Jizya which was levied from the Hindus. This was hated by the Hindus because it was a symbol of their inferiority and involved a lot of humiliation. When Jizya was levied, the Muslims alone were the true citizens of the state, but after its abolition, both Hindus and Muslims became equal citizens of the state.

In 1563, Akbar abolished the pilgrimage tax. He was opposed to the policy of taxing people while they were performing their religious duties. All restrictions on the building of places of worship were removed. The result was that a large number of temples were built all over the country. Akbar set up a large number a Translation Department for translating the religious books of the Hindus into Persian.

Its object was to set up cultural contacts between the Hindus and the Muslims. The knowledge of Hinduism was expected to bring about a better understanding between the two religions. In 1603, a Firman was issued by which the Christians were allowed to make converts in India. Even before this, Akbar had stopped the practice of converting die prisoners of war to Islam. As early as 1562, Akbar had stopped the practice of converting the prisoners of war to Islam.

Up to the time of Akbar, the non-Muslims were excluded from all jobs of responsibility and prestige. The Muslims alone formed the governing classes and all high officials were drawn from the Muslim community. Akbar threw open doors of offices to Hindus and Muslims alike. Merit alone was made the test. Todar Mai was appointed Finance Minister and for some time he worked as Prime Minister also.

Bhagwan Das, Man Singh, Todar Mai and Rai Singh were appointed the Governors of various provinces. They were also put in charge of many military expeditions. The Ain-i-Akbari mentions 137 Mansabdars of 1,000 and above and out of them 14 were Hindus. A large number of Hindus were employed in the Mughal army. Out of the 12 provincial Diwans or Finance Ministers appointed in 1594-95, 8 were Hindus.

Formerly, cases among the Hindus were decided by the Muslims Qazis. Akbar appointed Brahman judges to decide the cases of the Hindus. A very large number of Hindus were employed in the Revenue Department of the Mughal Government.

Akbar showed great respect for Hindu sentiments. As the Hindus had great sanctity for cows, the use of beef was forbidden. However, it is wrong to say that the killers of cows were given capital punishment. In 1583, Akbar forbade the killing of animals on certain days. It is stated that in 1590-91, Akbar prohibited the eating of the flesh of oxen, buffaloes, goats or sheep, horses and camels.

In 1592, fishing was prohibited for some time. According to Badauni, Akbar avoided garlic, onion, beef, and association with people with beards. Akbar took part in the festivals of the Hindus. Some of those festivals were the Rakhi, Dipawali, and Shivaratri. Their object was merely to conciliate the Hindus without offending the Muslims.

Akbar discouraged child marriage and encouraged widow remarriage among the Hindus. He prohibited the custom of Sati or the burning of Hindu widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands. It is clear from above that Akbar deliberately followed a policy of conciliating the Hindus and thereby wining over their allegiance to his state. It is a matter of history that the reversal of this policy by Aurangzeb was one of the important causes of the downfall of the Mughal Empire.