Akbar The Great Essay example -- Religious History

Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar was born on October 14, 1542 in Sindh. In 1540, his father Humayun was forced into exile by Afghan leader Sher Shah and Akbar had to spend his childhood in Afghanistan with his uncle. His childhood was spent in fighting and running instead of learning how to read and write, though he was very interested in art, architecture, music and literature. His father, Humayun, died when Akbar was very young and Akbar was crowned a Mughal emperor around the age of thirteen or fourteen. He was a Mughal emperor from 1556 to 1605. Under his rule the Mughal’s had most of the Indian subcontinent under their power. Akbar did not consolidate his power until he successfully won two battles, one which was with the descendants of Sher Shah Suri and the other one was with the Hindu King Hemu of Panipat. Before he consolidated his power Akbar was assisted and advised by Bahram Khan in running the affairs of the country. Bahram Khan was soon removed and Akbar freed himself from external influences and ruled supreme. In order to preserve unity of the Mughal Empire, he had adopted many programs that won the hearts and loyalty of the Muslims and non-Muslim people of his realm. Along with his numerous military conquests, he had introduced a sequence of reforms to help consolidate his power. One of the great known reforms of Akbar was his religious tolerance aimed at Hindu-Muslim unification through the introduction of a new religion known as Din-i-Ilahi. His tolerance is said to be influenced by a great Sufi leaders and his surrounding of people with liberal views, which this paper is going to explore how Akbar’s religious tolerant policies were a direct result of his influence by Sufism and the concept of Solh-... .... http://www.biography.com/people/akbar-the-great-9178163 Pritchett, Frances . "Religion at Akbar's Court ." Columbia University in the City of New York. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2012. . Garbe, Richard Von. Akbar, emperor of india. S.l.: General Books, 2010. Print. "Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar." Scribd. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2012. . "Din-i Ilahi". Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 04 May. 2012 . Ghodratollahi, Eshan . "Akbar, The Doctrine of Shol-i-Khol and Hindu-Muslim Relations." Journal of Religious Thought: A Quarterly of Shiraz University 21 (2007): n. pag. Archive of SID. Web. 2 May 2012.