Elements that went into the making of Mughal ideal of kingship –

According to Abul Fazl, the court historian and poet under Akbar, there was an idea in which divine light from God was transmitted on the emperor, who was the source of all spiritual guidance. Under this ideology, kingship was presented as highest in the hierarchy of objects receiving light from God.

In the Mughal chronicles the empire is presented as a hub of many different ethnic and religious communities like Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians etc. The Emperor was the source of all peace and stability between different groups and stood above all of these different communities.

Sulh-i-kui was the idea of absolute peace where different religions and school of thought had freedom of expression as long as they didn’t fight among themselves or undermined the authority of emperor. This idea was implemented through various state policies.

Abul Fazl defined sovereignty and idea of Mughal kingship as a social contract under which the emperor has the responsibility to protect four essence of his subjects, life, property, honour and faith, and in return he should receive complete loyalty, obedience and share of resources.