Akbar (1542-1605) © Anup Mukherjee

[A version of this essay was published in the Encyclopedia of Leadership (Sage, 2004)]

Akbar was the grandson of Babur who founded the Mughal rule in India. However, during the time of Humayun, the territory was lost to the Afghans under the Surs. After the interregnum of Afghan rule, it was recaptured in 1555. And it was left to Akbar to rebuild the empire from scratch. Akbar was only fourteen years old when his father Humayun died, and he was crowned on Feb 14, 1556. It was under Akbar, that the Mughals fought and won the second Battle of Painpat (November 5, 1556)

Akbar as a leader was unique to his time. His leadership skills were not limited to war, expansion and consolidation of Mughal Empire. But his most important contribution was the way that he moulded the Mughal Empire and created legitimacy for his rule that was not based on brute force, but on the consent of the governed.

To a large extent the Mughal rule was an extension of his personality. At personal level, he was tolerant to other religions. He married Hindu Rajput princesses, but did not force them to convert to Islam. They were free to practice religion of their choice. Akbar himself was interested to explore the essence of different religions, consequently he built an ibadat-khana to which he would invite spiritual leaders of different faith and question them and listen to their discussions. The most important aspect of his religious policy was that he abolished jizia, and also quashed many of the restrictive laws of religious worship on the non-Muslims that existed from earlier times. His spiritual curiosity later on translated into his founding a faith called din-i-ilahi (also called tahud-i-ilahi), Akbar being its spiritual preceptor. This in many ways was a distillation of teachings of different faiths and exhibited a tolerant attitude. It laid stress on individual purity and ethical behaviour. Akbar never forced anyone to become a member of his din, and according to the Ain-i-Akbari, there were only eighteen full time adherents and no more than a few thousand followers.

Akbar founded the imperial structures through his quality of being a good leader, soldier and a strategist. He conquered nearly the whole of Indian subcontinent except the southern areas. His empire stretched from the present Afghanistan to that of Bangladesh. The most significant aspect of his extension of Mughal rule was that in many of the areas where the Hindu Rajput rulers were ruling, he would not annex their kingdoms, but on their acceptance of Mughal suzerainty, he would let them be rulers of their areas as vassals of Mughals, and also recruit their princes to the Mansabdari ranks. This way he won a willing acceptance to his imperialism. And in many of the campaigns of the Mughals, it was these Rajput princes who were the commanders of the Mughal armies. The support of Rajputs was an equally important bulwark to the conservative Islamic sections in the Mughal court.

For administration, he founded the Mansabdari system of administration by which all the government officials were put under a hierarchy of military ranks. This systematised the government functions and bureaucratised the machinery. This functioned both for military and the civil spheres, going down from imperial level to the local levels. Now it was not rule by whims, but rule by procedures. Procedures were developed regarding recruitment, for communication, and for a system of checks and balance between the government functionaries. The officials were regularly transferred. The land revenue system was systematised and evaluated on a scientific statistical basis. An important aspect of his administration was that the charge was given to the able person irrespective of his religious affiliation. High ranks were accorded to the Hindu Rajputs in the Mansabdari hierarchy.

At the political level he provided both imperial and spiritual leadership to his people. He adopted many of the Hindu festivals and rituals like jharokha-darshan, tuladan, and also celebrated festivals like Nauroz etc. All these reflected his spirit of independence and tolerance. The most important aspect of his kingship was that unlike the trend among Muslim rulers in considering the Khalifa as the supreme leader, Akbar did not consider himself subordinate to anyone. Different regimes have usually upheld certain religions Byzantines- Christian Orthodox, Ottomans- Sunni, Safavids- Shia etc. Akbar liberated the Mughal regime from any such religious affiliation and placed his subjects on an equal footing. He created a state of sulh-i-kul ie. a state of peace and reconciliation among all. This was quite in contrast to the orthodox theologians, who would have wished to see the empire as a land of infidels. He himself was a despot and adopted the title of Padshah. In the Islamic kingship, till then the highest title adopted was zil-i-allah-fil-’arz (shadow of God on earth). Akbar went even further and adopted the title of farr-i-izdi (divine effulgence or light of God). Thus Akbar derived his power directly from the will of God, which was quite in keeping with the divine rule of kingship and was also an acceptable means of legitimacy.

Generally, in matters of religion, in a state where the Quranic laws took precedence, Akbar took the most innovative step of assuming to himself the powers of religious interpretation. By a mazhar (proclamation) Akbar was certified to be imam-adil (just ruler), and by being an imam adil, he was declared to be superior to that of the mujtahid (infallible authority). Consequently, it meant that the intellect of the monarch was the source of legislation and for interpreting any dispute as regards the Quranic law. He was thus the temporal as well as the spiritual leader of the regime and also most importantly, able to restrict the unwarranted influence of the orthodox ulemas.

A similar universality of outlook is visible in his patronage to painting, literature, and architecture. It is very interesting to note that areas like painting were totally devoid of religious symbolism. He would patronise artists without being concerned with their religious affiliations. It was in his time that the form of Indo-Islamic architecture became part of the landscape that was a synthesis of Islamic as well as Hindu traditions. We thus see, that Akbar left a deep impact not only on the Mughal Empire, but also on the furthering of a liberal Indian tradition that has led to continuity of the Indian civilization over centuries.

© Anup Mukherjee

Further Reading:

1. Vincent Smith, Akbar the Great Mogul 1542-1605

2. Percival Spear, The History of India, Vol. 2

3. R.P. Tripathi, Rise and Fall of Mughal Empire, (Allahabad)

4. SAA Rizvi, Wonder That Was India, Part 2

5. The History and Culture of Indian People Vol 7 Ed. R.C. Majumdar, (Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan)

6. Karkhanas under the Mughals, from Akbar to Aurangzeb: A study in economic development

7. Women in Mughal India, 1526-1748 A.D

8. Notable Mughal and Hindu Women in the 16th and 17th Centuries A.D. (Women in South Asia Series W 011)

9. Nur Jahan: Empress of Mughal India

10. History of Delhi Under the Later Mughals

11. India: A modern history, (University of Michigan history of the modern world)

India and the Mughal Dynasty

The Mughal Empire (The New Cambridge History of India)

Encyclopedia of Leadership

Related Article : Mughal Emprire

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