In the long history of the Mughals, the dynasty that reigned supreme in the subcontinent since the later sixteenth century, there are none more discussed than Emperor Akbar. The Emperors ruled for three centuries, way into the 19th century as well (though their influence had petered out towards the end thanks to the coming of the British). However, the normal man would be hard-pressed to name but a handful of these Mughal emperors that reigned for so long. It was the peak of the Empire and it stretched from modern-day Afghanistan in the west to Bengal in the east. It went from the tallest mountains of Kashmir to the Deccan in the south.
Akbar, however, would undoubtedly be named among those that people associate with India and the Mughal Empire. This is magnified in the modern-day lands where once the Mughals ruled. Pakistan and India are long-standing rivals in the region but it seems that what both seem to agree upon, is that Emperor Akbar was a raving mad tyrant who was hell bent on abandoning his faith and his people.
This is surprising because it would make sense that a Muslim ruler thriving and ruling over a majority Hindu population would be reviled by the denizens of modern-day India, a Hindu majority state. What does not make much sense, however, is why Akbar found himself the target of state-backed vilification. And that too, years and years after he had died.
And this is not just a widespread belief but is actually taught to students on both sides of the border. The Pakistani school curriculum issued by the education ministry has books stating how horrible Akbar really was. The same can be said for the mainstream portrayal of the genial Emperor in India as well. Why is this the case? And what was Akbar really like?
“The Mohammedan conquest of India was probably the bloodiest story in History”-Will Durant.
Even renowned intellectual and neuroscientist, Sam Harris has much the same to say about the inherent bloodthirstiness of Muslim invaders.
Though it can be said that Akbar played a huge role in bringing most of the subcontinent under Mughal control and that too using the sword rather than sitting down with the locals for a cup of chai. But that is just how most empires expand and when it comes to the real world, religion had little or nothing to do with an Empire expanding its borders and acquiring new lands. All that aside, let us get into the things that make up the public perception of the emperor in modern times.
According to the modern Hindu state narrative, Akbar and the Mughals brought nothing but death and destruction to India. The preexisting Hindu states were violent, true, but they were of the same religion and most combats was governed by sanctions by the religious leaders. They stated that women would not be troubled and that children and cows would not be killed during or after the battle. This was turned on its head when first Babur encroached upon the Holy Lands but afterward when thirty years later, Akbar came onto the scene to completely destroy the will of the Hindu majority population.
Not only did they overstep the boundaries that had been set by the Shastras, but they went a step further and the desecration of Hindu temples and cultural sites was rampant. The Muslims did all they could to wipe out the region’s Vedic history and turn it into another Persia or Saudi Arabia for their own ends and means.
The crux of the hatred that Hindu Indians have (or to be more accurate, the Hindutva) towards Akbar can thus be categorized as being ethnic and religious in nature. Akbar and his ancestors were invaders that were bloodthirsty who were bent on destroying India’s Vedic past and Hinduism in general. It makes a lot of sense that they would hate someone who came from foreign lands with a foreign religion trying to control and change the indigenous Indians with power and fear.
More complex is explaining why the Pakistani state is trying (successfully) to smear Akbar’s name. He is portrayed as a hypocrite and hedonistic animal who started the decline of the chaste Mughal Empire. He started a new religion after abandoning his own (an unforgivable offence) and held back support from the Mullahs that were advocating mass conversions of the local populace. He even changed state policies that changed the empire from a Muslim one to one that was more secular in nature, something that even the Mullahs of today can not stand. Starting Din e Ilahi, dubbed as a hedonistic cult, was even worse than abandoning his own faith because he was promoting the practice of shirk (blasphemy) and allowing it to happen because he was the emperor. So even though he was a Mughal emperor, a Muslim emperor, that was of little consequence to the conservative Muslim outlook. Especially so, in the subcontinent and Pakistan.
Having gone through the reasons for there being so many stories abound that served to tarnish Akbar’s image on both sides of the subcontinental divide, what was Akbar really like?
Despite being a Muslim ruler, which is why the Indian Hindu hates him, Akbar was also a secular leader. And that is why the Pakistani Muslim hates him. And so it makes sense on both ends. He was a liberal progressive and that was as intolerable to the conservative Muslim Mullah as it is today.
In fact, Akbar lived very harmoniously with his populace and was much beloved. This was because he worked to actively make policies that would ensure a peaceful reign. After he conquered a land he would work to consolidate that land as well. For example, he banned the Jizya tax. A tax that needs to be paid by the nonmuslim people living under Muslim reign. He also loosened up religious restrictions on the Hindus while also promoting Hindus in the government. Hindus were appointed as Subahdars where there was no chance of that ever happening before.
This incensed the conservative Muslims of the time and their propaganda about Akbar live strong even to this day. Akbar’s rule, in fact, was the golden age of the Mughal Empire. He conquered lands and initiated trade agreements with the west as well, making the Mughal Empire the richest and harmonious it had ever been.
It is saddening to see that modern-day hate can bleed into the past and convolute our identities to this point even in the modern-day. One can hope that by looking at the past together, and without hatred, Pakistan and India can come to cooling of hostilities and learn to live in the kind of harmony that abounded in the Golden Days of the Mughal empire.
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