Jalal-ud-Din Mohammed Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal Emperors of India, founded in 1582, a new religion called Din-i-Ilahi (or Divine Religion). This religion tried to bring together the Hindus and Muslims by combining the good points of Hinduism and Islam. Akbar wanted Hindus and Muslims to worship God at the same shrine in a common ritual.
Din-i-Ilahi was essentially an ethical system, prohibiting such sins as lust, sensuality, slander and pride and laying emphasis on virtues of piety, prudence, abstinence and kindness. The soul was encouraged to purify itself, through yearning for God, celibacy was condoned and the slaughter of animals was forbidden. There were no sacred scriptures or a priestly hierarchy in this newly-founded religion.
But this religion did not attract many followers and practically died with Akbar.
Akbar (1542-1605) was the son of Humayun and the grandson of Babur. He was born on October 15, 1542 at Umarkot, Sind which is now in Pakistan. Akbar became the governor of Punjab at the age of 13, and succeeded his father, Humayun, to the Mughal throne in 1556. With able generalship, he overthrew his rivals and embarked upon a career of conquest, which by 1562 gave him domain over Punjab and Multan, the basin of the Ganges and Jamuna rivers, Gwalior to the south and Kabul in Afghanistan. Subsequently he crossed the Narmada River into the Deccan, and intended his dominion southward. By 1605 his empire contained 15 provinces or subahs and stretched from the Hindu Kush Mountains to the Godavari River and from Bengal to Gujarat.
In order to preserve the unity of his empire, Akbar maintained good relations with the non-Muslim population. He won the loyalty of the Hindus as well as other communities also. He reformed and strengthened his central administration, centralized his financial system and reorganized tax collection procedure. Akbar was loved by everyone.