Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mr. Machin, and I'll be your history teacher for today.

I'm really looking forward to starting our learning journey together, and my role will be to make sure that you can meet today's learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the Mughal Empire, where we've been asking ourselves, how important was violence to the Mughal conquest in India during the 16th and 17th Centuries? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain the importance of Akbar's religious policies and the ways in which he governed the Mughal Empire.

There are four keywords, which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are tolerance, abolished, chronicle, and revenue.

Tolerance involves allowing people to do or believe what they want, although your beliefs are different or you do not agree with them.

If something is abolished, it is officially ended.

A chronicle is a written record of things that happened in the past.

And revenue is the amount of money coming in, for example, into a government through tax or into a company.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and we'll begin by thinking about Akbar and religion.

Akbar the Great and the other Mughal emperors were Muslims. The majority of subjects living in the Mughal Empire were Hindus though.

The Mughal empire was diverse.

As well as its Hindu majority, it had significant Muslim and Sikh minorities living there.

At times, Emperor Akbar emphasised his Muslim identity.

When the Mughal Empire fought the Hindu Kingdom of Mewar in the late 1560s, Akbar declared the conflict, a jihad, a religious struggle.

Previous Mughal emperors had acted similarly.

When Babur fought Rana Sanga's Hindu Rajputs in 1527, he described his own forces as an army of Islam and himself as a holy warrior.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

I want you to write the missing words in the following sentences.

Both words relate to religion.

Our first sentence reads, in the late 1560s, the Mughal Empire fought the kingdom of Mewar, which was a blank state.

And our second sentence reads, during this war, emperor Akbar declared a blank against Mewar.

So what are our two missing words? Remember, they both relate to religion.

Pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said our two missing words were Hindu and jihad.

In the late 1560s, the Mughal Empire fought the kingdom of Mewar, which was a Hindu state.

During this war, Emperor Akbar declared a jihad against Mewar.

Historians have described Akbar's attitude towards religion for most of his reign as tolerant.

Religious tolerance can be seen in Akbar's approach to the jizya, rights, religious debate and promotion.

So we'll think about each of these areas and Akbar's religious policies in turn.

So we'll start by thinking about the jizya.

Like most of the Muslim-ruled states, the Mughal Empire had a special tax, which all non-Muslims had to pay.

This tax was called the jizya.

In 1564, Akbar abolished the jizya in the Mughal Empire, meaning that non-Muslims no longer had to pay this extra money.

So, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

Before Akbar abolished it, who had to pay the jizya? Was it everyone, Muslims or non-Muslims? Pause the video here and press play when you are ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done then to everybody who said the correct answer was C.

Before it was abolished non-Muslims had to pay the jizya.

So now we can think about Akbar's approach to rights.

Akbar introduced a policy known as sulh-i kull.

This translates as universal toleration or peace with all.

This policy gave all people in the Mughal Empire whether they were Muslim or non-Muslim, the same rights.

In other words, people were to be treated equally regardless of their religious beliefs.

So, how does the policy of sulh-i kull demonstrate religious tolerance? Is it because violence against non-Muslims became illegal for the first time in the Mughal Empire, because non-Muslims were granted equal rights to Muslims in the Mughal Empire, or because discrimination no longer prevented non-Muslims from living in the Mughal Empire? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

Sulh-i kull demonstrates religious tolerance because it meant that non-Muslims were granted equal rights to Muslims in the Mughal Empire.

So now we can shift our attention to Emperor Akbar's approach to religious debate.

Akbar established a House of Worship called the Ibadat Khana.

Akbar hosted religious debates at the Ibadat Khana between Muslims, Hindus, Christians, and other religious groups.

Akbar concluded from these religious debates that all religions were either equally true or equally false.

So, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads Akbar tolerated non-Muslim religions, but still believed Islam was the only true faith.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that from debates in the Ibadat Khana, Akbar concluded all religions must be equally true or equally false.

And the second says that from debates in the Ibadat Khana Akbar was convinced to convert, that means to change religion, from Islam to Hinduism.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct justification was A.

From debates in the Ibadat Khana, Akbar concluded all religions must be equally true or equally false.

He didn't believe that there was any single one of them, even Islam, which he continued to follow that had a truth greater than the others.

And so finally we can think about Akbar's approach to promotion.

Akbar promoted non-Muslims to leading positions in the Mughal Empire.

Man Singh, a portrait of whom can be seen on the screen was the Hindu king of Amber and was a general in Emperor Akbar's Mughal Army.

Singh was also a trusted advisor who was considered to be one of Akbar's Navaratnas, a word, which means that Singh was considered one of the nine jewels of the royal court, representing just how high his status was.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

What was the name of the Hindu general and advisor who was considered one of Akbar's Navaratnas? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was Man Singh.

Man Singh was the Hindu king of amber and he became a general in Akbar's Mughal army and an advisor to the emperor himself, becoming one of his Navaratnas, meaning he was considered one of the nine jewels at the royal Court.

So, we're now in a good position to put our knowledge about Akbar and religion into practise.

I want you to study the following statements.

They read, Akbar did not share the same religion as the majority of Indians who lived in his empire.

Akbar was always tolerant to non-Muslims in India.

Sulh-i kull declared that all people in the Mughal Empire had equal rights.

And despite Akbar's religious tolerance, only Muslims gain leading roles in the Mughal Empire.

And I want you to do two things with these statements.

Firstly, you should identify whether each statement is true or false.

You can do this with a tick and a cross.

Secondly, I want you to correct any false statements.

You should provide extra detail to support those corrections.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So firstly, I asked you to identify whether each of our statements was true or false.

Our first statement was true, whereas our second was false.

The third statement about sulh-i kull was also true and the fourth statement was false.

So, for the second part of task A, I asked you to correct any of the statements which were false and to provide extra detail to support those corrections.

Your answers may have included, Akbar was sometimes intolerant towards non-Muslims in India, for example, the emperor declared a jihad against the Hindu kingdom of Mewar when the Mughal Empire fought against it in the late 1560s.

And non-Muslims were able to gain leading roles in the Mughal Empire.

For example, Man Singh, a Hindu, became Mughal general and was also one of Akbar's most trusted advisors.

So really well done if you identified each of those statements as true or false correctly.

And if your corrections of our false statements look something similar to those models which we've just seen.

So now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson where we are gonna focus on tolerance and empire.

Akbar had a chronicle of his reign produced in the 1590s.

This chronicle is known as the Akbarnama.

The Akbarnama is a key source for historians studying Akbar's reign.

The Akbarnama also reflected on the emperor's religious policies.

A quote from the Akbarnama is shown on the screen.

It says, "In the past, to our shame, we forced many Hindus to become Muslims. Now it has become clear to me that in our troubled world, it cannot be wise to argue that only one faith is true." So, thinking about our quote from the Akbarnama, does it suggest that the Akbarnama supported Akbar's religious policies? And how can you tell? Think about specific things that are said in the quote.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort responding to that question.

So, thinking about our quote from the Akbarnama, there are two parts that really seem to stand out.

The first is where it talks about many Hindus being forced to be become Muslims. This tells us that previous Mughal policies had been intolerant.

But the quote goes on to say that it cannot be wise to argue that only one faith is true.

This seems to tell us that there may be truth in all faiths.

And if we think about all of this in combination, overall, our quote from the Akbar suggests that the Akbarnama supported Akbar's policies of religious tolerance as it suggested that religious intolerance was unwise.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of everything we've just heard.

Which statement is most accurate? The Akbarnama argued that Mughal rulers should force their populations to become Muslims. The Akbarnama argued that Mughal rulers should force their populations to become Hindus, or the Akbarnama argued that Mughal rulers should accept the different religions of their populations.

Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was C.

The Akbarnama argued that Mughal rulers should accept the different religions of their populations.

It went on to say that it would be unwise to suggest that there was only truth in one single religion.

Emperor Akbar was a Muslim.

The majority of subjects living in the Mughal Empire were Hindus.

Many other people living in the empire were Muslims, Sikhs, or belonged to faiths other than those.

So why did Akbar and the Akbarnama consider it unwise to show religious intolerance? Consider what problems could be created for the empire.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses to that question.

Okay, so I asked you why would Emperor Akbar have considered it unwise to show religious intolerance? And we need to remember that in the Mughal Empire, there was a risk that religious intolerance could lead to rebellion.

Mughal intolerance would hurt non-Muslims. But non-Muslims made up the majority of the population in the Mughal empire.

If treated poorly, non-Muslims might rebel against the Mughals.

And a religious rebellion would then be very widespread because most of the population was made up by non-Muslims, which would make it very difficult and costly for the Mughal emperors to put down.

All of this in combination would make a policy of religious intolerance risky and in Akbar's mind, unwise.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

Why was there a risk that religious intolerance could lead to serious rebellion in the Mughal Empire? Was it because most of the population was non-Muslim, because almost all of the richest people were non-Muslim, or because most of the Mughal army was non-Muslim? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was A, because the majority of the population of the Mughal Empire was non-Muslim, it meant that religious intolerance carried the risk of creating a serious rebellion, which would be very hard for the Mughal emperors to put down.

And let's try another question.

Which two of the following were likely to be a benefit of Akbar's religious tolerance? Was it that the Mughal Empire could recruit soldiers from a wider section of the Indian population, that Akbar's subjects had less reason to rebel against their ruler, or that Akbar's support from Muslims in the Mughal Empire would increase? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answers were A and B.

Religious tolerance was likely to help the Mughal Empire recruit more soldiers into their army.

For example, people who were of Hindu or Sikh faiths.

And it was also likely to give subjects of Emperor Akbar less reason to rebel against it.

However, religious intolerance was not necessarily likely to increase support from Muslims because they did not stand to benefit from that specific policy.

As Emperor Akbar by himself was a Muslim, religious intolerance would not have affected them.

So we're now in a good position to put our knowledge of tolerance and the Mughal Empire into practise.

We have three views given by Izzy, Alex, and Sofia.

Izzy says that Akbar's religious policies made Mughal rule in India more secure.

Alex says that Akbar's religious policies made no difference to Mughal rule.

And Sofia says that Akbar's religious policies, made Mughal rule in India less secure.

So whose view on Akbar's religious policies do you agree with most? I want you to write one paragraph to explain your answer.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So we had three views and I asked you who did you agree with the most? Your answer may have included, I agree with Izzy's view about the impact of Akbar's religious policies the most.

Akbar showed tolerance to non-Muslims in the Mughal Empire during his reign, such as when he abolished a jizya or promoted figures like Man Singh, who was a Hindu, to become leading advisors.

This helped make Mughal rule more secure in India, which was mainly populated by non-Muslims because it removed a possible reason for anger at the Mughals and earned Akbar more widespread support across the country.

So really well done if your own answer looks something like that model, which we've just seen.

And now we're ready to think about the third and final part of our lesson for today.

Where we're gonna focus on taxation and the Mughal Empire.

Aside from his religious policies, Akbar also worked hard to make sure that he governed in a way that would keep his empire stable and help it to grow.

Akbar's taxation policies helped to serve both of these aims of stability and expansion.

In 1580 Emperor Akbar introduced a new tax system called the dahsala.

And we'll think about this in a little bit more depth.

Because of its vast size, it was costly to run the Mughal Empire.

And importantly, its leaders could reliably secure the funds needed for themselves and to meet costs such as those of the army.

However, when Akbar became emperor, the taxation system in place in the Mughal Empire was chaotic and meant that his government did not receive all the money which it was supposed to.

In 1580, emperor Akbar introduced a new tax system called the dahsala.

Under this system, the land in the Mughal Empire was measured and categorised according to how valuable it was.

Based on this, the government estimated the value of crops which could be grown in each area over a year, and told farmers to pay one-third of this value as a tax.

Farmers had the choice to pay their tax either in cash or as a share at the crops they grew each year.

The dahsala was much more efficient and reliable than previous tax systems. So the Mughal government's revenue increased.

In turn, this provided greater funds which Akbar could spend on his military conquest to expand its empire.

As well as helping Akbar's government, the dahsala was designed to try and help ordinary people living in the Mughal Empire.

In years when there was a bad harvest, tax collectors could exempt, that means leave out, badly affected farmers from paying tax.

Furthermore, under the dahsala system, the government also made it easier for farmers to obtain loans which they might need for work to improve their lands.

These loans could be paid back in manageable, yearly instalments alongside normal tax collections.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

I want you to write the missing word for the following sentence.

The blank was a new taxation system introduced in the Mughal Empire in 1580.

So what's the missing word? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the missing word was dahsala.

The dahsala was a new taxation system introduced in Mughal Empire in 1580.

And let's try another question.

What was the tax rate set under the dahsala? Was it one-third, one-half or three-quarters? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was A.

Under the dahsala, the tax rate was set at one-third.

This meant that the government could gain a lot of revenue from its population, but wasn't taking too much of what they produced.

And let's try one more question.

This time we have a statement which says, the dahsala was only focused on increasing government tax revenues.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that, that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the dahsala allowed for more support for ordinary farmers needing loans or facing hardship.

And the second says that dahsala reduced taxes to help ordinary people, which then reduced government revenue.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct justification was A, the dahsala allowed for more support for ordinary farmers needing loans or facing hardship.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge into practise.

I want you to explain two ways in which Emperor Akbar's taxation policies help to support Mughal rule in India.

You may consider the impact of his policies on tax revenue and on ordinary people.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort and hard work on that task.

So I asked you to explain two ways in which Emperor Akbar's taxation policies helped to support Mughal rule in India.

Your answer may have included, one way in which Emperor Akbar's taxation policies helped to support Mughal rule in India was by increasing tax revenue.

The dahsala, which was introduced in 1580, provided more reliable and greater income for the Mughals than previous tax systems. This meant that Emperor Akbar had more money, which he could use to fund things like the Army helping to secure and spread Mughal rule further across India.

So well done if one of your paragraphs looks something similar to that model there.

Your answer may also have included, one way in which Emperor Akbar's taxation policies helped to support Mughal rule in India was by offering help to ordinary people.

For example, under the dahsala system, if farmers suffered from poor harvest, tax collectors would not ask them to pay tax that year.

The government also made more loans available to help farmers.

This help meant that ordinary people were likely to be more favourable towards the government and remain loyal to the Mughals.

So again, really well done if one of your paragraphs looks something similar to that model there.

And that means we've now reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about governance and religious policy under Akbar.

We've seen that Emperor Akbar was a Muslim ruler, but tolerated non-Muslims in his empire.

For example, he abolished the jizya tax.

Akbar believed that religious intolerance was unwise and would make it harder to govern his empire.

A new system taxation was introduced during Akbar's reign to improve government revenue.

The dahsala tax system was designed to help ordinary people as well as the Mughals, for example, it made it easier for farmers to obtain loans.

So really well done for all of your hard work throughout today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through our resources, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we think further about the Mughal Empire and continue to ask ourselves, how important was violence to the Mughal conquest in India during the 16th and 17th centuries? (no audio).