The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c16.199

v4.c16.199

His life's record is smirched with more than one dark blot, his "earth-hunger" was insatiable, and he sometimes displayed duplicity and, despite his tenderness for animal life, cruelty; but we must beware of judging him by moral standards. Conquest was regarded as the principal pursuit of an oriental ruler, and, as Akbar said, "a monarch should be ever intent on conquest, otherwise his neighbours rise in arms against him". He grossly deceived Yūsuf of Kashmīr, Bahādur Fārūqī and others, but in duplicity and mendacity he was far surpassed by Elizabeth of England.