Akbar - A Multi-faceted Man, A Multi-talented Emperor - Updated 21 May - Page 11

Akbar's pride in India is tempered with a critical spirit. If India is to be identified by the currency of certain customs and beliefs, it is not necessary that these be accepted. Akbar thus adds a new component to the vision of India, that of reform. His prohibition of sati, and of pre-puberty marriages, his demand for equal inheritance for the daughter, his condemnation of slavery and slave trade, all suggest the rejection of some of the burdens of the past. From India seen as a cultural unity, and then as a cultural diversity undergoing synthesis, we have with Akbar the first vision of India undergoing moral or social improvement. It was linked to a bold rejection of traditionalism. He is reported as saying."

The pursuit of reason ('aql) and rejection of traditionalism (taqlid) are so brilliantly patent as to be above the need of argument. If traditionalism was proper, the prophets would merely have followed their own elders (and not come with new messages).

One could almost say that with Akbar we begin to have in a rudimentary form a pre-modern vision of modernization of India, a patriotism without revivalism. But for what, in greater detail and depth, India meant to Akbar and his circle we have to go to his principal spokesman, Abu'l Fazl.

Akbar adopted several measures which modified the character of the state. He made an extensive and effective use of suzerain-vassal polity by which a large number of non-Muslim chiefs became politically subordinate to him. He tried to induct the willing vassals into the mansabdari system as an important component of his general policy. He abolished the discriminatory jizya and the pilgrimage tax. He discouraged cow slaughter and forcible conversion from one faith to another. He extended state patronage to non-Muslim institutions and individuals. His concessions and measures for conciliation resulted in peace and security in his vast dominions.