In this article, we explore the longue durée philosophical background of Mughal Emperor Akbar’ssun worship. Although Akbar’s sun project may have been triggered by contemporary Hindu andZoroastrian... Show moreIn this article, we explore the longue durée philosophical background of Mughal Emperor Akbar’ssun worship. Although Akbar’s sun project may have been triggered by contemporary Hindu andZoroastrian ideas and practices, we argue that Akbar’s Neoplatonic advisers reframed it as a universalcosmotheistic tradition that, at the start of the new millennium, served as the perfect all-inclusiveimperial ideology of Akbar’s new world order. The astonishing parallels with the much earlierNeoplatonic sun cult of Roman Emperor Julian demonstrate that, although having characteristic ofits own, Akbar’s sun project was not that unique and should be seen as a fascinating late example ofa so-far completely forgotten ancient Neoplatonic legacy of seeing the philosopher king, via the Sun,via illumination, connected to the One. Show less