he rule was
inculcated upon all that in the eye of the law religious differences
were to be disregarded, and that men, whether Sunnis, or Shiahs,
Muhammadans or Hindus, were to be treated alike: in a word, that the
religious element was not to enter into the question before the judge
or magistrate.

From this time forth the two brothers, Faizi and Abulfazl, were the
chief confidants of the Emperor in his schemes for the regeneration
and consolidation of the empire. He caused them both to enter the
military service, as the service which best secured their {160}
position at court. They generally accompanied him in his various
expeditions, and whilst they suggested reforms in the land and
revenue systems, they were at hand always to give advice and support
to the views of the sovereign.

Meanwhile Akbar was preparing, in accordance with the genius of the
age, and with the sentiments of the people over whom he ruled, to
draw up and promulgate a religious code such as, he thought, would
commend itself to the bulk of his people. The chief feature of this
code, which he called Din-i-Ilahi, or 'the Divine faith,' consisted
in the acknowledgment of one God, and of Akbar as his Khalifah, or
vicegerent on earth. The Islamite prayers were abolished as being too
narrow and wanting in comprehension, and in their place were
substituted prayers of a more general character, based on those of
the Parsis, whilst the ceremonial was borrowed from the Hindus. The
new era or date, which was introduced in all the government records,
and also in the feasts observed by the Emperor, was exclusively
Parsi. These observances excited little open opposition from the
Muhammadans, but the bigoted and hot-headed amongst them did not the
less feel hatred towards the man whom they considered the principal
adviser of the sovereign. They displayed great jealousy, moreover,
regarding the admission of Hindu princes and nobles to high commands
in the army and influential places at court. It was little to them
that these men, men like {161} Bhagwan Das, Man Singh, Todar Mall,
Birbal, were men of exceptional ability. They were Hindus, and, on
that account and on that alone, the Muhammadan historians could not
bring themselves to mention their names without sneering at their
religion, and at the fate reserved for them in another world.

The inquiring nature of the mind of Akbar was displayed by the desire
he expressed to learn something tangible regarding the