January 27, 2006	Friday	Zilhaj 26, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 26: Historians and academicians at a seminar on Thursday declared Mughal emperor Akbar as a “genius but a controversial monarch” and said that during his tenure, the Mughal Empire promoted interfaith harmony and religious tolerance and eliminated differences between the ruling Muslims and the common Hindus.

The seminar on “The enlightened monarch-Akbar and his times” was organized by the Department of General History, University of Karachi at its auditorium and was addressed by KU pro-vice-chancellor Dr Akhlaq Ahmed, Prof Emeritus Dr Riazul Islam, Dr Mubarak Ali, Secretary Historical Society of Pakistan Ansar Zahid Khan, Prof Nargis Rasheed, Prof Sajid Hussain Khaskheli, M.S Fazil and Director Khana-i-Farhang Iran Karachi Mehdi Tawasali.

Dr Akhlaq Ahmed said that Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar was an extraordinary person and an intelligent ruler who believed in tolerance and promoted harmony between Hindu and Islamic civilizations.

He said that Akbar gave representation to people of various segments of society in his government and created a sense of participation among the people in the affairs of government.

According to him, Akbar without any prejudice and discrimination promoted and patronized art, literature and worked for interfaith harmony and tolerance.

Prof Emeritus Dr Riazul Islam said that Akbar had an extraordinary vision, political skills and knowledge of art and literature.

Dr Mubarak Ali said that it was an old tradition to analyze characters of ancient personalities in the light of present circumstances to learn from their experiences but added that only those personalities which played an effective role in the transformation of societies were remembered forever.

He said that Akbar was a controversial person owing to his conflicting views as he altered the basic structure of the Mughal Empire and took steps, which caused irreparable loss to the then traditions and values.

Dr Mubarak Ali said that when Akbar married to a Rajput Hindu princess Jodha Bai, he was a religious youth but he did no compel her to convert to Islam and later in 1562, he exempted Hindu pilgrims from the payment of a tax.

Akbar’s reforms including abolition of an Islam tax imposed on non-Muslims created a sense of protection and participation among Hindus in the affairs of the government and these steps assured them that they were equal to Muslims in their country, he added.

However, his religious beliefs made him a controversial person in the days to come as he promoted interfaith dialogue and tried to create a unique religion by mixing beliefs of various faiths and religions, Dr Mubarak added.—PPI