Akbar, Emperor of India: A Picture of Life and Customs From the Sixteenth Century (Classic Reprint) - Tapa blanda

Excerpt from Akbar, Emperor of India: A Picture of Life and Customs From the Sixteenth Century

A closer observation, however, shows that the contrast is not quite so harsh between what according to our hypoth eses Akbar should have been as a result of the forces which build up man, and what he actually became. His predilec tion for' science and art Akbar had inherited from his grandfather Baber and his father Humayun. His youth, which was passed among dangers and privations, in flight and in prison, was certainly not without a beneficial in fluence upon Akbar's development into a man of unusual power and energy. And of significance for his spiritual development was the circumstance that after his accession to the throne his guardian put him in the charge of a most excellent tutor, the enlightened and liberal minded Persian Mir Abdullatif, who laid the foundation for Akbar's later religious and ethical views. Still, however high we may value the influence of this teacher, the main point lay in Akbar's own endowments, his susceptibility for such teach ing as never before had struck root with any Mohammedan prince. Akbar had not his equal in the history of Islam.

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Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Akbar, Emperor of India: A Picture of Life and Customs From the Sixteenth Century

When we wish to understand a personality we are in the habit of ascertaining the inherited characteristics, and investigating the influences exercised upon it by religion, family, environment, education, youthful impressions, ex perience, and so forth. Most men are easily comprehen sible as the products of these factors. The more inde pendent of all such influences, or the more in opposition to them, a personality develops, the more attractive and inter esting will it appear to us. At the first glance it looks as if the Emperor Akbar had developed his entire character from himself and by his own efforts in total independence of all influences which in other cases are thought to deter mine the character and nature of a man. A Mohammedan, a Mongol, a descendant of the monster Timur, the son of a weak incapable father, born in exile, called when but a lad to the government of a disintegrated and almost annihi lated realm in the India of the sixteenth century, - which means in an age of perfidy, treachery, avarice, and self seeking, - Akbar appears before us as a noble man, suscep tible to all grand and beautiful impressions, conscientious, unprejudiced, and energetic, who knew how to bring peace and order out of the confusion of the times, who through out his reign desired the furtherance of his subjects' and not of his own interest, who while increasing the privileges of the Mohammedans, not only also declared equality of rights for the Hindus but even actualized that equality, who in every conceivable way sought to conciliate his sub.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.