Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/343

ZOEOASTKIANS AT AKBAK'S COUftT 289 adopted the same practice in imitation of him and on that day presented pearls and precious stones suitable to their respective wealth and station. It also became the current custom to wear on the wrist the rdkM, an amulet formed of twisted linen rags. In defiance and contempt of the true faith, he treated as manifest and decisive every pre- cept which was enjoined by the doctors of other religions. The teachings of Islam, on the con- trary, were esteemed follies, in- novations, and inventions of indigent beggars, rebels, and highway robbers; and those who professed that religion were set down as contemptible idiots. These sentiments had long been growing up in his Majesty's mind, and gradually ripened into a firm conviction of their truth. In this same year, a declara- tion was issued over the signa- tures and seals of Makhdum-al- Mulk, Shaikh Abd-an-Nabi, the chief judge, Jalal-ad- din Multani, the chief justice, Sadr-i Jahan, the chief expounder of the law, Shaikh Mubarak, the most learned man of the age, and Ghazi Khan Badakhshi, who had no rival in the science of metaphysics. The object of THE EMPEROR AKBAR.