Political History of Akbar (1556-1605) : Medieval Indian History

Akbar ruled India from 1556 to 1605 AD. He was the son of Humayun, who ruled over India for 26 years.

In large the Mughals surely came to annex India under Babur, but they were unlike other cruel rulers who plundered India. The Mughals in fact helped India to flourish under their kingship.

He succeeded the throne after his father Humayun’s death. But his position was dangerous because Delhi was seized by the Afghans.

Their commander-in-Chief, Hemu, was in charge of it. In the second Battle of Panipat in 1556, Hemu was almost on the point of victory. But an arrow pierced his eye and he became unconscious.

His army fled and the fortune favoured Akbar. The Mughal victory was decisive. During the first five years of Akbar’s reign, Bairam Khan acted as his regent. He consolidated the Mughal empire.

After five years he was removed by Akbar due to court intrigues and sent to Mecca. But on his way Bairam was killed by an Afghan.

He conquered northern India from Agra to Gujarat and then from Agra to Bengal. He strengthened the northwest frontier. Later, he went to the Deccan

Relations with Rajputs of Akbar

The relation of Akbar with the Rajputs have to be seen against the wider background of Mughal policy towards the powerful rajas and zamindars of the country.

He married the Rajput princess, the daughter of Raja Bharamal. It was a turning point in the history of Mughals. Rajputs served the Mughals for four generations.

Raja Bhagawan Das and Raja Man Singh were given senior positions in the administration by Akbar.

In the Battle of Haldighati, Rana Pratap Singh was severely defeated by the Mughal army led by Man Singh in 1576. He abolished the pilgrim tax and later the jiziya.

When Akbar assumed throne he made deliberate attempt to win Rajputs to his side and enlisted their support in expansion and consolidation of Mughal rule in India.

He met with tremendous success in his endeavor. It also brought decline in the number and magnitude of revolts of Rajputs.

Akbar could con­centrate more on his administrative and other reforms. Thus Akbar’s regime marks the beginning of friendly relations of Mughals and Rajputs.

The relationship of religious conflict between ruling elites was replaced by that of cooperation and friendliness.

The ruler of Amber, Raja Bharmal was the first one to establish friendly relation with Akbar in 1562. The younger daughter of Bharmal, Harkha Bai, was married to Akbar.

Akbar gave complete religious free­dom to his Hindu wives and gave an honored place to their parents and relations in the nobility.

Bharmal was made a high grandee. His son, Bhagwan Das, rose to rank of 5000 and his grandson, Man Singh to rank of 7000. Akbar emphasized his special relation­ship with the Kachhawaha ruler in other ways as well.

Religious Policy of Akbar

In the initial years Akbar was also inclined towards the sect of Mahadawis. The followers of this sect believed that the advent of a Mahdi or a messiah was forecasted and did not agree with the fact that the Prophet Mohammad was the last prophet.

In Akbar’s early years, this easily identifiable class was not well inclined to Mughal rule and could be easily be accused of disloyalty as well as of unorthodoxy.

The Orthodoxy saw them as heretics, but the Mughal state did not persecute them for a very long time. Thus, Akbar’s religious policies were implemented in the background of such religious challenges posed to him, of which the most crucial one was the changes in the relationship and the constant struggle between the Crown and the ulama.

The teachings of his tutor Abdul Latif, his marriage with Rajput women, his association with intellectual giants like Shaikh Mubarak and his two illustrious sons — Abul Faizi and Abul Fazl — and his ambition to establish an empire in Hindustan

Abolished the pilgrim tax an in 1562, he abolished jiziya. He allowed his Hindu wives to worship their own gods.

In 1575, he ordered for the construction of Ibadat Khana (House of worship) at his new capital Fatepur Sikri. Akbar invited learned scholars from all religions like Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism.

He disliked the interference of the Muslim Ulemas in political matters. In 1579, he issued the “Infallibility Decree” by which he asserted his religious powers

In 1582, he promulgated a new religion called Din Ilahi or Divine Faith. It believes in one God. It contained good points of all religions. Its basis was rational. It upholds no dogma. It was aimed at bridging the gulf that separated different religions.

However, his new faith proved to be a failure. It fizzled out after his death. Even during his life time, it had only fifteen followers including Birbal. Akbar did not compel anyone to his new faith. Land Revenue Administration

Akbar made some experiments in the land revenue administration with the help of Raja Todar Mal. The land revenue system of Akbar was called Zabti or Bandobast system

It was known as Dahsala System which was completed in 1580. By this system, Todar Mal introduced a uniform system of land measurement.

The revenue was fixed on the average yield of land assessed on the basis of past ten years. The land was also divided into four categories — Polaj (cultivated every year), Parauti (once in two years), Chachar (once in three or four years) and Banjar (once in five or more years). Payment of revenue was made generally in cash.

Mansabdari System introduced by Akbar

The Mansabdari system was the administrative system introduced by Akbar in Mughal Empire during 1571. The word ‘Mansab’ is of Arabic origin meaning rank or position.

Hence, Mansabdari was a system of ranking the government officials and determined their civil & military duties, along with their renumerations.

The lowest rank was 10 and the highest was 5000 for the nobles. Princes of royal blood received even higher ranks.

The ranks were divided into two — zat and sawar. Zat means personal and it fixed the personal status of a person.

Sawar rank indicated the number of cavalrymen of a person who was required to maintain. Every sawar had to maintain at least two horses. The mansab rank was not hereditary. All appointments and promotions as well as dismissals were directly made by the emperor.

Broadly, there were three main classification of Mansabdars:

• All officer’s below the rank of the mansab of 500 were called mansabdars,
• The officers with the mansab from 500 to 2500 were called Amirs
• The officers than ranked over 2500 were called Amir-I-azam.