Akbar's Intriguing departure from his predecessors

Last updated on: June 13, 2009 at 5:52 am by Desh Kapoor

Akbar's Intriguing departure from his predecessors 2009-06-13T05:52:50-05:00 Desh Kapoor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Today I downloaded a book from Project Gutenberg – a source of free books whose copyrights have expired. This book is titled “Akbar, Emperor of India” written by Richard von Garbe (Rector of the University of Tubingen) reprinted in April, 1909.[1]

The author talks of how Akbar was one of the finest ruler that India and indeed the world has known. Probably his greatest strength was in defying the odds of his upbringing and still becoming a gentle, wise, and caring person. He also set aside rules and laws that in Islam came directly from Mohammad – like Jizya (called Poll tax here in the book). His spiritual development was indeed remarkable given the raw material that he got. Remember, he was the successor of Timur and Babar – both barbarians (according to the book, Timur slaughtered 100,000 prisoners he captured on way to Delhi in ONE DAY!) – and son of Humayun – an opium drugged idiot who lived most of his life in exile.

It was the influence of Akbar’s tutor Mir Abdul Latif that really made him what he was. But interestingly there was another factor to Akbar’s personality that led him to break free of the Islamic rules that his predecessors had followed the world over through the history. Akbar was BOTH, Sunni and Shia! His father was Sunni, while his mother was Shia. And.. he was born at the home of a Hindu. He had suffered discrimination himself.[2]

In Persia he was persecuted because he was a Sunni, while in India he was mistrusted for being Shi’a. Throughout Akbar’s life one finds examples of his religious questing and tolerance.

The author pays glowing tribute to Akbar in how he developed his spiritual paradigm despite his background and the ecosystem he grew up in:

Still, however high we may value the influence of this teacher, the
main point lay in Akbar’s own endowments, his susceptibility for such
teaching as never before had struck root with any Mohammedan prince.
Akbar had not his equal in the history of Islam. “He is the only
prince grown up in the Mohammedan creed whose endeavor it was to
ennoble the limitation of this most separatistic of all religions into
a true religion of humanity.”

In this sense, it would seem that Akbar was the first and probably the only Mohammedan/Muslim ruler who was tolerant and indeed non-discriminating. The account below, though long, discusses that rather well.

Akbar and abolition of Jizya

Akbar also introduced a new uniform standard of coinage, but
stipulated that the older coins which were still current should be
accepted from peasants for their full face value. From all this the
Indian peasants could see that Emperor Akbar not only desired strict
justice to rule but also wished to further their interests, and the
peasants had always comprised the greatest part of the inhabitants,
(even according to the latest census in 1903, vol. I, p. 3, 50 to 84
percent of the inhabitants of India live by agriculture). But Akbar
succeeded best in winning the hearts of the native inhabitants by
lifting the hated poll tax which still existed side by side with all
other taxes.

The founder of Islam had given the philanthropical command to
exterminate from the face of the earth all followers of other faiths
who were not converted to Islam, but he had already convinced himself
that it was impossible to execute this law. And, indeed, if the
Mohammedans had followed out this precept, how would they have been
able to overthrow land upon land and finally even thickly populated
India where the so-called unbelievers comprised an overwhelming
majority? Therefore in place of complete extermination the more
practical arrangement of the poll tax was instituted, and this was to
be paid by all unbelievers in order to be a constant reminder to them
of the loss of their independence. This humiliating burden which was
still executed in the strictest, most inconsiderate manner, Akbar
removed in the year 1565 without regard to the very considerable loss
to the state’s treasury. Nine years later followed the removal of the
tax upon religious assemblies and pilgrimages, the execution of which
had likewise kept the Hindus in constant bitterness towards their
Mohammedan rulers.

Sometime previous to these reforms Akbar had abolished a custom so
disgusting that we can hardly comprehend that it ever could have
legally existed. At any rate it alone is sufficient to brand Islam and
its supreme contempt for followers of other faiths, with one of the
greatest stains in the history of humanity. When a tax-collector
gathered the taxes of the Hindus and the payment had been made, the
Hindu was required “without the slightest sign of fear of defilement”
to open his mouth in order that the tax collector might spit in it if
he wished to do so.[11] This was much more than a disgusting
humiliation. When the tax-collector availed himself of this privilege
the Hindu lost thereby his greatest possession, his caste, and was
shut out from any intercourse with his equals. Accordingly he was
compelled to pass his whole life trembling in terror before this
horrible evil which threatened him. That a man of Akbar’s nobility of
character should remove such an atrocious, yes devilish, decree seems
to us a matter of course; but for the Hindus it was an enormous
beneficence.

Reference Links:

1. Akbar, Emperor of India
2. The Path of the Masters

History

Previous Post

June 13, 2009

Profound thought and Vedic Science

Next Post

June 13, 2009 A Cabbage a day keeps Viagara away

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Aarti Achievement and Leadership AfPak Africa Annual and Year-end Asia Audio Australia Behavioural Sciences Bhagwad Gita Bhagwad Gita Blogging Blogs Business Business Intelligence Business Strategy Cannes Careers Chanakya China Conservation Corruption Creative Daily Links Desh Poems Development & Welfare Devotional Audio Devotional Songs Drama Earth Economics Education Entertainment Environment Europe Everyday Quotes Featured Articles Featured Songs Finance Flickr Pictures Food Geo-Political Global Warming Globalization Health & Medicine Hinduism Historic History Humour India Indian Culture Indian music Indian Weddings Israel Issues Legal Link Love Minorities Misc Motivation and Personal Development Movie Lists Movie Reviews Movies Mumbai terror attacks Natural Disasters Nature News Outsourcing Pakistan Parenting Personal Philosophy Poetry Politics Poverty Quotes Recipe Regular Blog Post Relationships Religion Religious/Spiritual Audio Sciences Showcase Slideshow South Asia Special Stories Spiritual Quotes Spirituality Sports Stories Strategy Technology Technology Terrorism Travel Uncategorized US Video Women Women_s Rights Worship Yoga

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 September 2014 August 2014 January 2014 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "Lord, increase our faith!"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

John Peter Paul The disciples