The real flowering of the Great Moghuls began with Akbar's accession to the throne in 1556. Akbar followed sound policies with the appointment of Hindu Rajput nobles to high positions at court and marriage alliances with Rajput princesses, and his personal curiosity, interest and involvement ensured the stability of the Moghul dynasty. Under Akbar the arts and culinary matters were both raised to a level of state concern.

Birthdays, festivals, naming ceremonies and other special occasions were celebrated with a display of abundant wealth. Akbar's wonderful palace at Fatehpur Sikri (built to honour a prediction, by Sufi mystic Salim Chisti, that a son would be born) was the scene of great jubilation on these occasions. To celebrate Akbar's birthday, the buildings were adorned with pavilions and awnings of translucent gold tissue-like fabric to shelter the golden throne with its inlay of rubies and emeralds. Persian and Indian court musicians played. A pair of golden scales glittered in the sunlight as nobles, chiefs, courtiers and attendants watched. The Emperor was to be weighed – but no ordinary weigh-in this, no simple test to gauge the results of gargantuan meals prepared by hundreds of palace cooks. This was a show of benevolence. The Emperor sat on one of the scales and the other was balanced with gold and silver, rubies, diamonds and pearls, with clothes heavily embroidered in gold and silver, rubies, diamonds and pearls, with clothes heavily embroidered in gold thread, and precious foodstuffs like almonds (also used as currency) – all later to be distributed for charity. Needless to say, the Emperor found much favour with his subjects.

The Moghul emperors accepted their vast wealth with a certain nonchalance. Ambassadors and foreign travellers to the courts of Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb have left their impressions of these displays of wealth and the extravagance of dress and jewels worn by those at court. Thomas Roe, England's first ambassador to India, spent long years at the court of Jahangir trying to establish an agreement for trade. He was getting ready to move camp and on one occasion watched as Jahngir was being robed by his attendants:

Then a nother came and buckled on his swoord and buckler, sett all over with great diamonds and rubyes, the belts of gould suteable. A nother hung his quiver with 30 arrowes and his bow in a case, the same that was presented by the Persian ambassador. On his head he wore a rich rurbant with a plume of herne tops, not many but long; on one syde hung a ruby unsett, as bigg as a walnutt; on the other syde a diamond as great; in the middle an emralld like a hart, much bigger. His shash was wreather about with a chayne of great pearle, rubyes, and diamonds drild. About his neck hee carried a chaine of most excellent pearle, three double (so great I never saw); at his elbowes, armletts sett wth diamonds; and on his wrists three rowes of several sorts. His hands bare, but almost on every finger a ring; his gloves, which were English, stuck under his girdle; his coate of cloth of gould without sleeves upon a fine semian as thin as lawne; on his feete a payre of embrodered buskings with pearle, the toes sharp and turning up.