In the evenings, when all the lamps and the candles were lit, the whole court ‘had to rise up respectfully’. This Badauni attributed to an equally nefarious influence—Akbar’s Rajput wives. ‘From early youth, in compliment to his wives, the daughters of the Rajahs of Hind,’ noted Badauni, ‘he had within the female apartments continued to offer the hom, which is a ceremony derived from sun-worship.’ Now, continued Badauni, Akbar went one step further and prostrated himself in public before the fire as well as the sun. Akbar also began appearing in the diwan-e-aam with a tilak on the forehead and
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