Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-07-06
THE GREAT MOGULS.
THE PROGRESS WHICH INDIA MADE
UNDER THEIR RULE.

UNDER THEM hDLE.
The Monuments OF Akbar the Great, Who
Welded the Earring Communities Into =
Mighty Empire. and Who Was One of
the wisest and Best Men of HIS Time
When we visit Agra and Delhi, we
como in contact with the empire of the
great moguls, the very name of which
strikes upon tho mind with picturesque
effect For many centuries after tho Ar
yam invasion Of India the country had
developed under their rule. They had
established the caste system, appropri-
ating to themselves the three highest
grades-those of priests, warriors and
husbandmen - and assigning to the
fourth, the lowest, the non-Aryan abo-
rhymes of the soil. The highest caste,
the Brahmans-had developed n great
religion and created n literature which
in these days commands the admiration
of scholars. Buddhism arose, attained
great power, but was driven out of In
dia after flourishing 10 centuries-from
600 b. G. to 900 A ID. The country was
divided into many kingdoms which con-
tended with each other with varying
fortunes. And ingenious people in n fer
tile land created great wealth, which
was too often taken away from the pro-
ducers by oppressive rulers. India offer
ed great temptations to the conqucror.
Alexander the Great penetrated to the
Indus and left colonies which survived
for some time, but left no traces but the
science of astronomy, their coins and
the subtle influences of their art, still
observed in the remains of the Punjab.
The Mohammedan incursions began
early in the eighth century and con-
tinued for 700 years. Several Moham-
medan kingdoms were established of
longer or shorter endurance. Tho dy-
nasty of the slave kings was founded in
1906 by Kutab-ud-din, who began life
as Turk slave, and the Kutub- Minar,
one of the loftiest and most beautiful
towers in the world, commentaries his
name in Delhi. Timour (TamerlaneI the
Tartar, came in 1898, but the traces he
left were plundered temples and desc
late cities Many other waves of con-
quest followed through the Afghan
passes from the teeming hives of Tar
tary. 1t was n man of the house of I'll
| mOuT-baD1r, SlAlh uC-
scent from Timour-who founded the
Mogul dynasty. He found India divided
| between the local Mohammedan kings,
his conquering predecessors, and Hin
doc princes. His conquest was easy, but
it was his grandson, Akbar the Great,
who welded the jarring communities
into n mighty empire. Akbar was one
of the ablest and wiscst men of his age.
He reigned from 1856 to 1905, so that
he was n contempory of Queen Eliza
beth of England. Akbar was 4 man OF
liberal views and n statesman of vhC
highest type. He was n great paciticator
and organizer. Babar had favored the
Mohammedans, but Akbar brought the
Hindoos also into public employment
and established the foundations of his
empire on equal justice to all races and
creeds. His own religious views wcrC
liberal, and he delighted to bring to
gethcr the representatives of different
religions and discuss with them tn,
tencts of their faith. One of his wivC:
was n Hindoo; another is said to hav,
been Christian. Finding that no Crcct
was exclusively true. hc finally cstab
lishcd n new state religion which h'
called 1.-THE Divine Faith. based upon
reason and comprising the best prac
tees of all known forms of belief. HI
worshiped the sun as the best represent
| ative men see of the divine soul tina
animates the universe, while he Wa
himself worshipcd by the ignorant n.ul
titude, though it is doubtful how far II,
encouraged this popular alteration of hi
person.
He did much to correct tho practice
of the Hindoos- He forbade trial by or
deal, animal sacrifices and child mar
riages, one of the evils of the prcscn
time in India He lcgalizcd the rcmar
rage of Hindoo widows, and although
unable to abolish widow burning ON tn
husbands funeral pyre he took steps t.
insure that tho act, if committed, shout,
be voluntary. He abolished the hate,
tax on non-Mussulmans and had tn
Hindoo sacred books translated into Per
sian He who reads the life of Akbar to
day finds that he was one of the mos
enlightened monarchs of his agc-on
of those great men fit to command AM
to found an empire. And IL was Akba
who really established the empire u
the great moguls, whose magnificcnc
we still trace in the unrivalcd architcc
tural monuments of Agra and Delhi
Akbar built the great fort ut Agra ant
the marvellous buildings ut Fatchpur
Sikri, his favorte residence. The othe
world famous constructions were by hi
SUCCESSORS. His line continued with vi
rying fortune, but falling into decay il
the last hundred years until his seven
teenth successor was banishcd to Ran
COON in 1857 for completely in the sepo
mutiny and died in 1869. Cor. Bostol
Herald.
Pats Mishap.