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But Babur ruled for just four years (1526-30) before he died. The empire he left his son Humayun was fragmented, hostile to Mughal rule, and plagued with open rebellion from all quarters. Indeed, Humayun lost control of the Mughal Empire for fifteen years, during which time Afghan rulers occupied the throne (and established a surprisingly efficient tax collection network). Eventually, after years of exile in Persia, Humayun reconquered the empire in 1555. Just seven months later, however, the unfortunate Humayun, rushing to prayer, tripped over his robe and fell down several flights of stairs to his death.20

It was only under Humayun's son Akbar, and his next several successors, that the Mughal dynasty consolidated its power to become one of the greatest empires of the time. Not coincidentally, Akbar and the other kings of the Mughal golden age were among the most religiously and ethnically tolerant rulers in the history of the pre-modern world. Indeed, without this turn to tolerance, it is highly unlikely that the Mughal Empire could have lasted as long as it did, or reached its dazzling heights of cultural grandeur. Conversely, the period of Mughal decline is associated with some of the most brutal episodes of ethnic and religious persecution in India's history.

As a boy-emperor, Akbar was guided first by an ambitious guardian and then by a clique led by his foster mother, Maham Anga. As Akbar grew older, he increasingly chafed at attempts to curb his authority. In 1560, at the age of seventeen, he forced his guardian to resign and supposedly sent him on a pilgrimage to Mecca (the guardian was murdered en route). When Maham Anga's son killed one of Akbar's ministers, Akbar ordered his foster brother thrown repeatedly from the roof of the palace into the courtyard until he died. Before he was thirty, Akbar had clearly established his strength at the court.

But establishing his authority over the empire was a far more difficult feat. To prevent his kingdom from splintering, Akbar had to hold in check a formidable array of rivals. These included the recently deposed Afghans, Persian and central Asian noblemen, the Hindu Rajputs and Marathas, and the Muslim princes of Lodi.

Akbar's solution was one part shrewd diplomacy, one part multicultural copulation. Like Alexander the Great—but on a much greater scale because of the size of his harem—Akbar married into the families of his rivals. Perhaps his greatest success in this vein was his marriage to the eldest daughter of the Raja of Amber, one of the fiercely independent Hindu Rajput kings. The practice of a Hindu princess marrying a Muslim sultan was an uncommon but not unknown practice on the subcontinent. Akbar, however, went further. He allowed Princess Jodhabai to remain a Hindu and to worship at a Hindu shrine within his palace; occasionally Akbar himself participated in the rituals. This unusual tolerance encouraged other Rajput chiefs to negotiate entry into the imperial elite by offering their daughters as marriage partners for the emperor. By the time of Akbar's death he had more than three hundred wives, including Rajputs, Afghans, princesses from south Indian kingdoms, Turks, Persians and even two Christian women of Portuguese descent.

Marriage created alliances with the wives’ male relatives, who could be called upon for support and assistance. Through such alliances, Akbar won the loyalty of thousands of Rajput warriors while preventing the rise of a Rajput insurrection. The Rajputs benefited as well. They became imperial generals and administrators; many grew influential enough to control their own fiefdoms. A few Rajput rulers resisted the Mughals—and paid a terrible price. The great Rajput fortresses of Chittor and Ranthambore crumbled before Mughal armies, often led by fellow Rajputs.

Akbar's patronage extended to men of all faiths. Though illiterate himself, he (like his distant relation Khubilai Khan) strove to fill his court with men of arts