Although, this tradition of muslim rulers marrying the daughters of Hindu chiefs had been in existence for some time, this marriage was the first of its kind as it had not been forced upon the Rajputs but had been willingly proposed by Raja Bharmal. Moreover, Akbar allowed his Rajput wives to continue with their religious beliefs and practices even within the Royal palace. .
However, the most important measure adopted by Akbar during this period was the abolishment of the Jizyah or poll tax amidst strong resentment from his muslim dignitaries. According to Aziz Ahmad, Akbar's abolition of jizya was in conformity with his general policy of liberalism and of legal equality of all citizens. I.A. Khan sees it in the context of the political challenges and rebellions faced by Akbar from the side of his Turani nobility. Thus Akbar had to search for new support groups and he turned to Rajputs as possible allies. Jaziya, a tax on non-Muslims, was thus abolished, to win them over. Abu'l Fazl had asserted that the removal of the Jizyah was Akbar's way of repaying the Hindus for the loyalty that they had shown him during the early years of his reign. .
Despite his liberal policy towards the Rajputs, none except the Kachchwahas of Amber joined the Mughal court. There were instances of Akbar going back on his tolerant and liberal attitude towards the Hindus. One such instance was the Chittor campaign that was undertaken in 1567. Following this, Satish Chandra writes that Akbar, exasperated by the resistances, ordered a general massacre in the course of which about 30, 000 people were killed. In a fathnama issued after the victory, the battle was seen as the subjugation of infidels and presented as a ˜jihad' and all those who died in the battle as ˜ghazi'. At the same time, in 1569, a farman was issued to Qazi Abdul Samad, the Muhtasib of Bilgram, to prevent idol-worship by Hindus in the region.
