Hindu historians have gone out of their way to discover that Mughal rulers, except Aurangzeb tried to be considerate and liberal towards their Hindu subjects. They knew that they were ruling a majority population who belonged to a different faith.
The Religious Policy of the Mughal Emperors by Sri Ram Sharma, Director , Institute of Public Administration, Punjab, has done a scholarly study on this aspect.
He has extensively quoted from British and Indian historians to establish that they followed a surprisingly liberal policy. Allowed them to follow their rituals at home and festivals in public as well. Of course, Akbar, was the sole exception to have married and given a special status to his Hindu wife Jodha Bai. Mughal-E-Azam by K.Asif also depicts the secular and tolerant side of Akbar.
Historians are divided about the role of and attitude of Aurangzeb who imprisoned his father and predecssor Shahjahan but killed his sufi brother Dara Shikph and his son who was aspiring to be his successor in his life time.
Aurangzeb lived and ruled by his faith. He was a strict follower of Islam and carried out mass conversion, especially in Kashmir. But h the other rulers according to this book allowed all kinds of conversion even from Islam to Hindusim and to and fro Christianity and other faiths.
The book traces the period of Delhi Sultanate to Aurangzeb and compares their attitude towards Hindus. He found Jahangir a little casual, Shahjahan fluctuating, Babar and Humayun learners to evolve their policy but Akbar, the most liberal and considerate.
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