Page 50 - SST Class 07
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and    gave   them    seats  of   honour    in  his
                                           ,
            administration. Raja Man Singh Raja Todar Mal  etc.
            were   Rajputs   who    got  high   posts   in  his
            administration. Not only this, he       established
            marriage relations with the Rajputs. He himself
            married Jodhabai  , the daughter of the ruler of
            Amber. But he never shied away from undertaking
            military campaigns against those rulers        who
            refused to accept his authority. He fought with
            Rana Pratap  in 1576.
            Akbar   conducted    military  campaigns    against                   Ibadatkhana at Fatehpur Sikri
            Gujarat, Bengal, Kashmir, Sindh, Odisha, Central         respect. So, he decided to found a new path called
            India and Kandahar (Afghanistan)      and annexed        Din-i-Ilahi  or the Faith of One God. He wanted to
            them to his empire. In the Deccan, he conquered          show himself to be the religious guide of the
            Khandesh, Berar and Ahmednagar. At the same              people. Akbar propagated universal peace through
            time, he maintained friendly relations with the          this faith. It was similar to Ashoka’s policy of
            rulers in Central Asia, Persia and with many Rajput      Dhamma  . He never forced anybody to join this
            rulers, such as Bikaner.                                 faith. Raja Birbal joined this faith, but Raja Man
                                                                     Singh openly disapproved of it. Din-i-Ilahi was
            Religion :  Akbar was a wise ruler. He had a liberal     more of a code of conduct than a faith.
            outlook. He knew that the majority of his subjects
            were Hindus, so he had to adopt a policy of              Din-i-Ilahi did not have a large following even
            tolerance and peaceful coexistence. So, he treated       during Akbar’s time, and it faded out after his
            the people of all religions on an equal footing and      death.
            dealt with them on merit. He was of the view that
            religion is a private matter of an individual. He               Just Think!
            gave them freedom to worship as they liked.

            In order to manifest his secular outlook, Akbar          What do you learn from Akbar’s religious belief?
            abolished the pilgrim tax and jaziya which were          Art and Architecture :   Akbar patronised art and
            imposed on the Hindus. He abolished the practice         painting. He established karkhanas where artists
            of converting the prisoners of war to Islam forcibly.    and painters from India and abroad worked in
            He participated in the Hindu festivals and allowed       cooperation, thus givings form to a new type of
            them to be celebrated in his palace. He allowed his      fusion. Miniature paintings too flourished as new
            Hindu queens complete religious freedom. He got          books were written during Akbar’s reign. The chief
            the Hindu sacred texts translated into Persian so        subjects of paintings were scenery from royal
            that the ideas were communicated between                 courts, battles and wildlife.
            communities. He never interfered with the building
            of temples and even gave grants to them.                 Akbar built his capital town at Fatehpur Sikri near
                                                                     Agra.  It  has   many    fine  buildings   of  red
            Akbar’s secular outlook made him take interest in        sandstone—Buland      Darwaza,    Panch     Mahal,
            different religions. He got the Ibadatkhana    (the      Jodhabai’s Palace, Diwan-i-khas etc. He got
            hall of worship) built at Fatehpur Sikri. In the         buildings constructed at other places also, such as
            beginning he invited only the Muslim scholars, but       Humayun’s Tomb at Delhi, Red Fort at Agra, a fort
            later he started to invite the scholars of different     at Allahabad etc. The chief features of his
            religions to tell about their religions and discuss      architecture were the fusion of Persian and Indian
            with the members of other religions.                     styles. The buildings were built on a raised
            After learning the basic principles of all religions,    platform surrounded by gardens. This fusion also
            he came to the conclusion that all religions possess     influenced the construction of some temples, such
            the similar principles of peace, love and mutual         as the Govind Dev Temple at Vrindavan.
                     Contemporary Social Science-7
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