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16 AKBAK THE GKKA 1 Hindu pilgrims, on the ground that, however super- stitious the rites of pilgrimage might be, it was wrong to place any obstacle in the way of man's service to God. No more popular measures could have been en- acted. The jizya was an insult as well as a burden, and both taxes bore heavily on the poor and were bitterly AGRA OATE, FATHPfR - 8IKRI. resented. It was the reimposition of the tax on religion in the time of Aurangzib that, more than anything else, uprooted the wise system established by his ancestor. But while conciliating the Hindus by just and equal government, Akbar did not hesitate to interfere with some of their most cherished practices when they offended his sense of humanity. He forbade child- marriage, trial by ordeal, and animal sacrifice; he