Akbar and the Mughal Empire

Akbar inherited a shaky Mughal throne at thirteen and turned it into one of the richest empires on Earth, ruling a mostly Hindu population as a Muslim emperor. Rather than rule by force alone, he abolished the tax on non-Muslims, married a Hindu princess, promoted Hindus to high office, and hosted debates among Muslim, Hindu, Jain, Jesuit, and Zoroastrian scholars in his own hall. Like Cyrus two thousand years before, he found that tolerance was not only just but the cheapest way to hold a diverse empire together.