Restoration

While previous Muslim rulers, in particular the Mughal founder Babur, allowed freedom of worship for Hindus and other religious groups, Akbar engaged in a policy of actively encouraging members of the varying religious groups to enter his government. In one instance, he persuaded the Kacchwaha Rajput rulers of Amber (modern day Jaipur) into a matrimonial alliance: The King of Amber's daughter, Hira Kunwari, became Akbar's queen. She took the name Jodhabai, and was the mother of Prince Salim, who later became the Mughal emperor Jahangir. Further, while other Muslim rulers had married Hindu wives, he was the first one to allow to fully practise their religion, not just without hindrance but with everything they needed in that regard. During his reign more than in any other Mughal ruler's, Hindus were employed in the Civil Service. He also married a Christian woman from Goa, Maryam.

The other Rajput kingdoms also gave their daughters' hands to Akbar, until only two Rajput clans remained against him, the Sisodiyas of Mewar and Hadas (Chauhans) of Ranthambore. The Rajputs were a famed group of Hindu warriors, who, like the Afghans took opium prior to battle to ward off fear. Entering into an alliance with these groups helped to secure Akbar's control, as for the next 100 years Rajput soldiers served on behalf of the Mughal empire.

Finally Raja Man Singh of Amber went with Akbar to meet the Hada leader, Surjan Hada, to effect an alliance. Surjan grudgingly accepted an alliance on the condition that Akbar did not marry any of his daughters. Surjan later moved his residence to Banaras.

Akbar is recorded as saying "A monarch should be ever intent on conquest, lest his neighbours rise in arms against him", and he went on to expand the Mughal empire to include Malwa (1562), Gujarat (1572), Bengal (1574), Kabul (1581), Kashmir (1586), and Kandesh (1601), among others. Akbar installed a governor over each of the conquered provinces, under his authority.

Akbar did not want to have his court tied too closely to the city of Delhi. He ordered the court moved to Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra, but when this site proved untenable, he set up a roaming camp that let him keep a close eye on what was happening throughout the empire. He developed and encouraged commerce, in part by abolishing religious restrictions on the conduct of business between Muslims and Hindus.

Akbar's tax reforms were an especially noteworthy achievement, and formed the basis of the Mughal Empire's immense wealth in succeeding generations. His officials prepared a detailed and accurate cadaster (land register) noting each land parcel's soil quality, water access, etc., and then converted those characteristics to money, taking account of the different prevailing prices for various crops in each region of the Empire. This was a distinct improvement on earlier land tax systems, including the Egyptian and Roman ones, which had levied land taxes as an in-kind share of the harvest. By making land tax payments more accurately reflect the economic rent of the land in money rather than the actual harvest, Akbar's innovations had the effect of stimulating both investment in improvements and more productive use of the land. He also abolished the jizyah (a discriminatory tax on non-Muslims) and gave strict orders to prevent extortion by tax collectors. The salutary economic effect of these reforms was such that the revered Qing emperor Kang Xi adopted similar measures a century later in China, with similar success.