How did the mughal empire handle its relations with its minority populations?
The situation, religiously, involving majorities and minorities was very interesting in the Mughal Empire. Although the Hindus held a vast numerical majority of the Muslims in this time period, the Muslims were the rulers so therefore putting the Hindus in a "minority position". The relations with the Hindus varied from each of the Mughal Emperors. Some rulers, like Akbar was very tolerant of the Muslims, Akbar even went as far as to abolish the tax system that taxed non-Muslims in the empire. Although some of the emperors were very tolerant of the Hindus, others, like Shah Jahan, were not. Shah Jahan, for example, was very intolerant of the Hindus; he destroyed Hindu temples, instituted Sharia Law (law based off the Koran), and brought back the taxes on non-Muslims. The treatment of minorities did not only pertain to Muslims, the ruler Jahangir, although decently tolerant towards Hindus, tortured and killed a Sikh ruler because Jahangir was fearful of the Sikh’s power and influence. Also important to note is that during the decline of the empire, the struggling between the Hindus and the Muslim rulers left enough unrest in the empire for the British to invade and conquer. The Mughal Empire's relations with minorities changed from emperor to emperor, but the powerful influence of the large Hindu minority group was never ignored.