Akbar

Akbar, born Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar and also known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, reigning from 1556 to 1605. He succeeded his father Humayun under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains across the Indian subcontinent. Akbar established a centralised system of administration and pursued conciliation with conquered rulers through marriage and diplomacy. He won the support of his non-Muslim subjects by abolishing the sectarian tax and appointing them to high civil and military posts, and his courts at Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri became centres of the arts and learning where Timurid, Perso-Islamic and Indian culture merged into a distinct Mughal style. Disillusioned with orthodox Islam, he promulgated Din-i-Ilahi, a syncretic creed drawing on Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity.