TOLERANT PIONJÄR OCH FRÄMLINGSFIENTLIG MÖRDARE? en komparativ studie om Akbar och Aurangzebs behandling av hinduer

Sammanfattning

The way in which the Mughal rulers Akbar and Aurangzeb are commonly represented perpetuates a misleading and occasionally dangerous depiction. Akbar is described as a liberal and tolerant leader, whose only goal was to bring eternal peace to Hindus and Muslims. Aurangzeb on the other hand is characterized as a dogmatic and fiercly conservative Muslim whose main objective was the subjugation and harassment of the Hindu population. While these views are, to some extent, grounded in fact they are also exaggerated caricatures, used by colonial Englishmen and contemporary Hindu nationalists to create a rift between Muslims and Hindus. In this paper I therefore investigate the treatment of Hindus by both Akbar and Aurangzeb in their correct historical contexts. To do this I employ the theoretical framework of worldviews, in order to uncover the ideational components that enabled the leaders' religious policies. Furthermore I utilize the method of most similar system design as a means to compare the Mughal rulers and identify the most decisive component in why they differed in the treatment of Hindus. The results show that the factor most influencing the treatment of Hindus is the ideational trends preceding and succeeding Akbar.