[Footnote 26:  Loc. cit., 169.]

  [Footnote 27:  Noer, I, 432, 433.]

When Akbar’s recreation hours had come in the night the poets of his court brought their verses.  Translations of famous works in Sanskrit literature, of the New Testament and of other interesting books were read aloud, all of which captivated the vivacious mind of the Emperor from which nothing was farther removed than onesidedness and narrow-mindedness.  Akbar had also a discriminating appreciation for art and industries.  He himself designed the plans for some extremely beautiful candelabra, and the manufacture of tapestry reached such a state of perfection in India under his personal supervision that in those days fabrics were produced in the great imperial factories which in beauty and value excelled the famous rugs of Persia.  With still more important results Akbar influenced the realm of architecture in that he discovered how to combine two completely different styles.  For indeed, the union of Mohammedan and Indian motives in the buildings of Akbar (who here as in all other departments strove to perfect the complete elevation of national and religious details) to form an improved third style,[28] is entirely original.

  [Footnote 28:  A. Mueller, II, 386.]

Among other ways Akbar betrayed the scientific trend of his mind by sending out an expedition in search of the sources of the Ganges.[29] That a man of such a wonderful degree of versatility should have recognized the value of general education and have devoted himself to its improvement, we would simply take for granted.  Akbar caused schools to be erected throughout his whole kingdom for the children of Hindus and Mohammedans, whereas he himself did not know how to read or write.[30] This remarkable fact would seem incredible to us after considering all the above mentioned facts if it was not confirmed by the express testimony of his son, the Emperor Jehangir.  At any rate for an illiterate man Akbar certainly accomplished an astonishing amount.  The universal character of the endowments of this man could not have been increased by the learning of the schools.

  [Footnote 29:  J.T.  Wheeler, IV, I, 174]

  [Footnote 30:  J.T.  Wheeler, loc. cit., 141; Noer, I, 193; II, 324,
  326]

[Illustration:  AKBAR’S GRAVE.]

I have now come to the point which arouses most strongly the universal human interest in Akbar, namely, to his religious development and his relation to the religions, or better to religion.  But first I must protest against the position maintained by a competent scholar[31] that Akbar himself was just as indifferent to religious matters as was the house of Timur as a whole.  Against this view we have the testimony of the conscientiousness with which he daily performed his morning and evening devotions, the value which he placed upon fasting and prayer as a means of self-discipline, and the regularity with