Sulh-i-kul

Also called: Peace with all · Topic: The Mughal Empire: Babur to Aurangzeb · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"

Meaning

Sulh-i-kul ("peace with all") was Akbar's policy of tolerating all faiths. He used it as a way to rule a large empire where people followed many religions. Under this policy, Akbar abolished the jizya (a tax that non-Muslims had to pay), gave high posts to Hindu officials, made Rajput chiefs partners in his rule, and invited scholars of different religions to debate.

It matters because it was more than a personal belief. It was the "glue for a mixed empire". It helped a small ruling group hold together a vast land where most people were not Muslim. UPSC often asks about it, usually alongside Aurangzeb's reimposition of the jizya.

Explanation

Background: from the sword to strategy

• Akbar became emperor at 13 in 1556, after his father Humayun died in an accident. He ruled until 1605, about 50 years.
• NCERT calls his reign "a blend of brutality and tolerance, shaped by ambition and strategy."
• The early years were years of conquest.
• Akbar first followed an old family saying: "A monarch should be ever intent on conquest, otherwise his enemies rise in arms against him."
• He invaded Chittorgarh in 1567. The fort fell in February 1568, after a siege of more than five months [2][3].
• About 30,000 civilians were killed. The surviving women and children were made slaves.

• His victory letter used the language of holy war and boasted of destroying temples "all over Hindustan".

• Force alone soon became too costly.

• As the empire grew, constant war cost too much money and too many lives.
• Akbar changed his method, but not his ambition. He kept the sword and added politics beside it.

Main features of sulh-i-kul

• Abolition of the jizya. Non-Muslims no longer had to pay a tax because of their religion.
• Hindu officials in high positions. Holding office depended on loyalty and ability, not on religion.
• Rajput and regional leaders welcomed at court as nobles and army commanders.
• Marriage alliances with Rajput royal families.
• Interfaith dialogues. Akbar invited scholars of different religions to debate before him.
• Akbar's change of heart. Abul Fazl recorded Akbar's own words:

  "Formerly I persecuted men into conformity with my faith and deemed it Islam. As I grew in knowledge, I was overwhelmed with shame… What constancy is to be expected from proselytes on compulsion?"

• In simple words: faith forced on a person is not real faith, so forcing it is useless.

How it worked: the deal with the Rajputs

• A Rajput chief could keep his ancestral land. In return, he had to [2]:
• accept Akbar as emperor
• pay tribute (a regular payment to the emperor)
• send troops when asked

• make a marriage alliance

• Fear and reward worked together.

• The fall of Chitor showed what refusing Akbar would cost.
• Because of that shock, other Rajput rajas accepted Akbar as emperor in 1570 and made marriage alliances with him [2].
• Mewar never submitted. This led to Maharana Pratap's long resistance [2].

How it changed over time and what it achieved

• Phase 1 – conquest: Chittorgarh (1567–68) and Gujarat (1573).
• Phase 2 – the middle reign: a fairly peaceful period. This is when the policies of conciliation (winning people over instead of fighting them) took root.
• Phase 3 – the last 15 years (c. 1590–1605): new campaigns in Kashmir, Sindh, the Deccan and Afghanistan.
• Result: possible rebels became partners with a stake in Mughal rule. But Akbar never gave up expansion. Sulh-i-kul worked alongside conquest. It did not replace it.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: the reign of Akbar (1556–1605), Mughal dynasty. The policy grew mainly in the middle part of the reign, after the conquest phase.
• Places:
• Chittorgarh (Mewar, Rajasthan): the brutal conquest that came before the policy [2]. Today it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Hill Forts of Rajasthan" (2013) [4][5].

• Fatehpur Sikri: Akbar's court from 1572 to 1585 [6][7]. It shows tolerance in stone. In one planned city it brings together a Jami Masjid, the tomb of the Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti and an imperial palace [6].

• Key people: Akbar; Abul Fazl (his court historian and biographer); Rajput rajas; Sheikh Salim Chishti.

• How we know:
• Abul Fazl's writings record Akbar's confession of shame. But Abul Fazl was a court insider paid to praise the emperor, so his account shows how Akbar wanted to be seen.
• Akbar's victory letter after Chitor is evidence from the other side of the reign. It speaks of holy war and destroying temples.
• NCERT Class 8, Ch 2 presents the reign as a blend of brutality and tolerance.

Don't confuse with

• Din-i-Ilahi: sulh-i-kul was a state policy of tolerance that applied to all subjects. Din-i-Ilahi was a small circle of personal disciples around Akbar. It was not a religion forced on the empire.
• Aurangzeb's religious policy: Akbar abolished the jizya, and Aurangzeb brought it back. This is the standard contrast question.
• Ashoka's dhamma: both preached respect for all faiths. But dhamma was Ashoka's moral code after the Kalinga war (Mauryan period). Sulh-i-kul was a Mughal policy for running the state, tied to jizya, office-holding and Rajput alliances.
• Akbar's early policy: the same ruler who later abolished the jizya wrote the Chitor victory letter boasting of temple destruction. Do not treat Akbar as tolerant from the very start of his reign.

Prelims Hooks

• Sulh-i-kul = "peace with all". It is linked to Akbar, not Babur, Jahangir or Aurangzeb.
• Jizya (a tax on non-Muslims) was abolished by Akbar under this policy.
• Abul Fazl was Akbar's court historian and biographer. He recorded Akbar's "change of heart" about forced conversion.
• Correct order: fall of Chittorgarh (1568) → Rajput rajas accept Akbar (1570) → court at Fatehpur Sikri (1572–1585) [2][6].
• Trap: Mewar did NOT submit to Akbar, even after Chitor fell [2].
• Akbar's reign was 1556–1605. In his last 15 years he fought campaigns in Kashmir, Sindh, the Deccan and Afghanistan, so tolerance did not mean the end of conquest.

Mains Points

• Sulh-i-kul was statecraft as much as belief.
• A small Turco-Mongol elite could not rule a vast land, where most people were not Muslim, by force alone.
• Abolishing the jizya, appointing Hindu officials and holding interfaith debates turned possible rebels into partners in Mughal rule.

• Compare this with Aurangzeb's reimposition of the jizya to show both continuity and change in Mughal religious policy.

• Conquest and conciliation were one strategy, not two.

• Chittorgarh (1568) showed what refusal cost. The alliances and court posts that followed showed what submission paid.
• Rajput rajas submitted in 1570 largely because Chitor had fallen [2].

• Mewar's refusal shows that the settlement was a negotiated bargain, not a total conquest [2].

• Evidence and its limits.

• Akbar's confession survives only through Abul Fazl, a court writer paid to praise him.
• A balanced answer reads court chronicles alongside harder evidence, such as the Chitor victory letter and the temple destruction it boasts of.
• Akbar's tolerance was real in its effects, but it was also a carefully built royal image.

Related concepts

• Akbar
• Mahzar
• Abul Fazl
• Akbarnama

Read more

• Akbar: conquest to conciliation (1556–1605)