Use the passage below to answer all parts of the question that follows. No ruler took more liberties with his religion than Akbar, the greatest of the Mughals, the Muslim dynasty that
dominated India between the early 16th and 18th centuries. Like Ashoka and Gandhi, Akbar constructed a religious
ideology that served to hold together a diffuse polity as it fed his own soul.
It began with pragmatic policies of tolerance. Akbar had inherited the throne, at the age of 13, in 1556. In 1579 he
abolished the jiziya, a tax imposed on all but the poorest non-Muslims. This was the most notable in a series of
measures to recruit the Hindu majority and others to the cause of unifying and expanding his empire. He could be
ruthless: his troops massacred 20,000-25,000 non-combatants after a four-month siege of Chitor, a nearly impregnable
Hindu fortress in Rajasthan. But he preferred incentives to coercion. He defeated the war-like Rajputs, but gave them
rank and married their princesses, who were permitted to conduct Hindu rites in the harem. The Mughal-Rajput alliance
was a bulwark of his empire.
"Multicultural Akbar," The Economist, 1999
a) Explain ONE specific political development that resulted from the conditions created by the religious policies
described in the passage.
b) Explain ONE specific change to Muslim-Hindu relations that resulted from the conditions created by the religious
policies described in the passage.
c) Explain ONE specific consequence of the policies described in the passage on religious minorities.

a) Akbar abolishing the jizya allowed for people of other religions to have more freedom including Hindus. Akbar wanted Hindus to join his cause so he could expand his empire so he removed the heavy tax.

b) Akbar was able to defeat the Rajputs and welcomed them into their ranks without the heavy taxes and allowed them to perform rites. He gave them true religious freedom without a tax.

c) 20,000-25,000 people were killed in Akbar's siege of the Hindu fortress and his army was ruthless. With the alliance Akbar's empire became even stronger.

i got a 95

Explanation:

A) One specific political development that resulted from the conditions created by the religious policies described in the passage is how Akbar's elimination of the jizya ultimately strengthened the empire. Akbar allowed a series of measures, one of which included abolishing the jizya, to recruit the Hindu majority as well as others with the goal of unifying and expanding the empire. He gave the Rajputs ranks and married their princesses, allowing them to conduct Hindu rites. This alliance strengthened the empire greatly by allowing two major religious groups to live in harmony.

B) One specific change to Muslim-Hindu relations that resulted from the conditions created by the religious policies described in the passage was the tolerance of Hinduism in the empire. While he defeated the Rajputs and was perfectly able to use his troops to slaughter all of them, he instead gave them mercy and rank in the empire. This agreement to ally with the Rajputs helped the empire strengthen itself and allow both Muslims and Hindus to feel included and united under one kingdom.

C) One specific consequence of the policies described in the passage on religious minorities would be the oppressive jizya, which was a tax brought upon non-Muslims. The tax exempted from those who were not able to pay, such as the poor, elderly, women, children, the handicapped, the ill, the insane, monks, hermits, slaves, and foreigners who were only residing temporarily in Muslim lands, meaning that only sane, adult, male citizens paid the tax. The tax created inequality for specifically the poor non-Muslims, separating Muslims and non-Muslims as well as the rich from the poor.