upon the loyalty of the native population. As early as 1562 Bhagvan's father, Raja Bihari Mai, the lord of Amber and ancestor of the present maharajas of Jaipur, had come to pay his homage to the new sovereign. "He was received with great honour and consideration, and his daughter, an honourable lady, was accepted by his Majesty, and took her place among the ladies of the court." Akbar had already married his cousins Rukayya and Salima, but this union with a Rajput princess marked a new policy. Her father was decorated with the highest rank of the official aristocracy, as a mansabdar, or general of five thousand horse, and the bride, freely exercising the rites of her own faith and performing the usual Hindu sacrifices, encouraged her husband's tendency towards religious toleration. Later on he took other women, Hindu, Persian, Moghul, and even an Armenian, until his harem formed a parliament of religions, though no rumour of their probable debates ever reached the outside world. Abu-l-Fazl says there were more than five thousand inmates of the harem, in various capacities, and sagely remarks that "the large number of women – a vexatious question even for great statesmen – furnished his Majesty with an opportunity to display his wisdom."
An almost immediate result of this alliance with the Rajput princess was the abolition in 1562 of the jizya, or poll-tax, which Mohammedan conquerors levied upon unbelievers in accordance with the law of Islam. His next act was to discontinue the tax upon
