Akbar's toleration edict; CCWV.LIFE

The Mughal emperor Akbar receives the Parsi priest Meherji Rana at court (from 1578) and, in the climate of his policy of universal peace, Parsi practice is honored at the imperial court; tradition holds that a sacred fire was kept burning there. The encounter secures Parsi standing in Mughal India.

Tagged: Parsi Zoroastrianism

The Event

Date: 1578 (exact)
Era: Parsi India; Standard periodization of Zoroastrian history
Location: Fatehpur Sikri; today India
Traditions: Zoroastrianism
Streams: Parsi
Key figures: Akbar, Meherji Rana

How the Tradition Tells It

The honors shown to Meherji Rana are recorded in Parsi tradition and Mughal court memory with different emphases; Akbar's policy embraced many faiths, and the fire at court is tradition's claim rather than a court record.

Primary Sources

The tradition's own record of the event.

Secondary Sources

Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge, 1979.
Choksy, Jamsheed K. Conflict and Cooperation: Zoroastrian Subalterns and Muslim Elites in Medieval Iranian Society. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.
Encyclopaedia Iranica, entries on the Avesta, the Sasanians, and the Parsi calendar disputes.
Hinnells, John R. The Zoroastrian Diaspora: Religion and Migration. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Rose, Jenny. Zoroastrianism: An Introduction. London: I.B. Tauris, 2011.

Provenance: HIST-1012; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-28.