THE
DIN-I-ILAHI OR
THE RELIGION OF AKBAR
BY
MAKHANLAL ROYCHOUDHURY,
M.A..B.L,
SASTRI PREMCHAND ROYCHAND SCHOLAR, MOUAT GOLD MEDALIST PROFESSOR, T. N. JUBILEE COLLEGE, BHAGALPUR
PUBLISHED BY THE
UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA 1941
PRINTED IN INDIA. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY BHUPENDRALAL BANERJEE AT THE
CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY PRESS, 48, HAZRA ROAD, BALLYGUNGE, CALCUTTA
C. U. Press-Reg. No. !280B~April, 1941-E.
DEDICATED
TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF
MY FATHER AND MOTHER
CONTENTS Pages
SYNOPSIS
...
...
FOREWORD
...
...
...
ix-xviii
xviii(a)-xviii(c)
PREFACE
...
...
...
xix-xxiv
INTRODUCTION
...
...
...
xxv-xliii
The Indian Background ... The Central Asian Back-
1-25
...
26-44
-The Pendulum Oscillates
45-69
CHAPTER CHAPTER
I
II
ground
CHAPTER CHAPTER IV III
...
...
The
Period of Quest (The
IbadatKhana)
Appendix A
16th
the
of
Appendix B. the Ibadat
V
Section
The 1
.
...
...
of
Khana Forces at
The
Work
Sunnis
The
at
...
116-120
...
121-213
the ...
121-127
Shias at the Court
Akbar
Section 3.
97-115
Three Paintings of
Court of Akbar Section 2.
70-96
(The
century
Mahzar)
CHAPTER
...
...
The Muslim Rulers
.
...
The Hindus
Court of Akbar
...
at
127-135
the ...
135-147
CONTENTS
vin
Pages
The
Section 4.
Zoroastrians at
Akbar
the Court of
The
Section 5. of
...
The
...
Sikhs
...
The Buddhists
7.
Court of Akbar
of
Akbar
...
...
Christians at
Court of Akbar
CHAPTER
VI
The
Period
tions (the Ains)
(Mulla point of
CHAPTER
VII
The
Promulgation VIII CHAPTER Movement
The
169-170
the ...
170-213
of Legisla...
...
Badauni Appendix. Muntakhabu-t T
165-169
Court
at the
...
The
Section 9.
162-165
at the
...
The Jews
Section 8.
157-162
the
at
Court of Akbar Section
147-157
Jains at the Court
Akbar
Section 6.
...
and
w
view
a
r
213-267
his i
k h
criticised)
Din-i-Ilahi ...
268-275
in ...
276-289
Din-i-Ilahi
in
...
...
290-309
...
...
310-320
INDEX OF PROPER NAMES
...
321-334
INDEX OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
...
335-337
BIBLIOGRAPHY
SYNOPSIS
CHAPTER THE
INDIAN
BACKGROUND
I
(Cultural Fusion)
Arabian Islam contrastIslam in the hands of the Turks Motive of Turki invaders Religion an incentive to spirit of conquest and Alleged intolerance in Islam
ed
murder
Ghazni,
Ghori,
II
tut mi sh,
Alauddin, Timur
Peculiarity of Indian conquest by Turks, never so thorough as in Persia Islam and Hinduism influence each other
Instances of
mutual actions and reactions
Process of
Ramanand, Kabir, Chaitanya. Nanak and others Advent of Sufi teachers Ma'inuddin Chishti, Bahlol, Shamsuddin Tabrezi, Nizamuddin Awlia, etc. Fusion through literature Anti-caste movements
fusion
Rise
of
Saints
:
:
Sufism,
its
Growth of movement
origin
sects
in
Sufi
Islam
practices
influence
Mehdi
16th century an age of enquiry
Renaissance Islam not excluded Mubarak,
Europe A world wave Sarhindi and others Soil prepared age, not an accident. in
Indian
Idea of Millennium
CHAPTER
Akbar product
of the
Pp. 1-25
II
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND
(Heredity)
Heredity of Akbar Chengiz on maternal side not without finer elements of nature, his views on religion
Mongol spirit of free thinking and eclecticism Kublei the Mongol race Khan, a great representative of Buddhist leanings Timur on paternal side, his history prejudiced and biased Timur the conqueror Timur the B1280B
X
SYNOPSIS
man Timur the
mystic
Central Asian
charac-
traits of his
Love for learning and the learned descendants, Shah Rukh, Ulag Beg, Abu Sayed
Saint worship
ter
Timur 's
Babar the romantic, his wine cups and poems, his religious professions Humayun the mystic, his religious apostasy and Shiaism Both father and son
Mirza, not barbarians
Timurid
unfettered by religious scruples
books and mystic regard
for the saints,
Akbar the best product
the family
houses of Central Asia
Birth
in a
love of
traits,
and
their
of the
tombs
in
two greatest
Hindu house
in Sind,
the land of Sufism spirit
Legacy of Timur, of birth place, of Eclecticism of Akbar not an accident.
of the age
Pp. 26-44
CHAPTER THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES The
troubles
His
parations
III
(Political
Akbar's early
of
impressionableness
life,
Background) a period of pre-
Bairam
and
petticoat
consequences Islamic
government Hindu alliance Hindu alliances nothing new
Hindu-Muslim
History
'Cultural
and
Khan
of both sides toned
and in
;
its
Indo-
rapprochement
political
social contact already
arid,
Maham Anaga
Shaikh Gudai (Shia Sadr), the Iron hand
on the
anvil
Rigidity
down
Akbar's heredity and Indian enAkbar's natural contemplativeness
vironments helpful Mystic elements of his nature
Sufi tendencies of the
age
Sunni state clergy Abdu-n Nabi, Abdulla Sultanpmi, the Mukhdunvul-
Saint Salim Chishti
the Sadr-us-Sudur
Mulk under
Their
influence
Akbar
an
orthodox
Sunni
guidance Political conquests Administrative Qazis found out and dismissed Land settle-
their
changes
ments
Branding regulations, dissatisfaction of Jagirdars Conquest of Guzrat Contact with the Portuguese
Shaikh Mubarak's address its
meaning
Suggestions at Mujtahidship,
Buckler's criticism of Infallibility Decree of
SYNOPSIS 1579
Bengal
Soleiman
conquest
Ulama and Friday Prayer Hall Mirza
The
uncle
His
Reception Hall connection with Faizi and
Khana built No Akbar 's profoundly
Ibadat
150
his
Kararani,
Invitation of his
Badakshan
Soleiman of
Abul Fazl
*1
mind
religious bent of
Quotations from Badauni.
Pp. 45-69
CHAPTER
IV
THE PERIOD OF QUEST (The
Ibadat Khana)
Khana not a new thing Its precedents the Ibadat Khana A summary of Description its debates Mohsin Fani's Dabistan-i-Mazahib Mulla behaviour undignified Akbar unnerved at the conduct of
The
Ibadat
of
the Mullas
Division of seats
Intolerance of the Mullas
Gradual weakening of confidence
A new
interpretations of Islam
The
in
contemporary Mulla
quest, a step forward
Khana opened to non-Muslims Akbar still a devout Musalman Instances of his religiosity Abul Ibadat
Fazl's
Todar
advent
Mai's revenue
settlements
Ains
Discontent political and economic vested interests Murder of a Mathura
(regulations), social, in
the circle of
Brahmin,
its
in
Bengal
significance
partly political
and
rebellion,
favour of Mirzas of
Kabul
Hindustan
pretensions
over
Decree more
political
against
The
its
causes
Persian interference
partly religious
Akbar
Persian
so-called Infallibility
than religious
Buckler's Lectures
Forces at work (Sunni, Shia, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh,
Jew and Christian) and Metamorphosis The Ibadat Khana closed. Pp. 70-96
Zoroastrian,
Appendix A Mahzar
examined
political events of Islam.
in
the light
of
contemporary Pp. 97-1 15
SYNOPSIS
Xii
Appendix B Three paintings
Mughal Court
of the
at
Akbar.
the time of
Pp. 116-20
CHAPTER V THE FORCES
AT
WORK
The Sunnis. 2. The Shias. 3. The Hindus. The Zoroastrians. 5, The Jains. 6. The Sikhs. The Buddhists. 8. The Jews. 9. The Christians.
I.
4. 7.
Section
The Sunnis
/.
Akbar a Sunni by their
Timur a Sunni by
birth
and
Babar
circumstances
of
Bairam Khan
creeds
Court of
at the
force
Humayun Abdu n Nabi
Sunnis
a Shia
by the
Sadr-us-Sudur and
Abdulla Sultanpuri the Mukdum-ulMulk Sunni influence on Akbar Sunni orthodoxy and Mehdi movement Akbar a party to religious persecutionEarly Sunni predominance in the Ibadat Khana Sunni leaders exposed Abdu-n Nabi's mismanagement in land distribution Abdulla Sultanpuri 's time-
serving propensities in giving religious decisions regarding
pilgrimage
and marriage in
appointments to non-Sunnis
Sunni attitude towards Hindu
the state
and
Opening
ultimately
to
participation in the Bengal rebellion
Akbar by the Sunnis, Section
General connections Shia
//.
The Shias of
Babar
state policy
at
Sunni
Misinterpretation of
Pp. 121-27
the Court of
Shia-Sunni
and
associations in Persia,
Khan's Shia
Khana
non-Muslims
their motives.
outline of
of the Ibadat
differences
Shia
Humayun Akbar 's
early
land of his exile
Bairam
Shaikh Gudai, the Shia Sadr-us-
SYNOPSIS Sudur
Bairam Khan's
Appointment
open
and
that of Shias from
The
power
Khana not
Ibadat
The marriage question and the advent into the Ibadat Khana The Gilani brothers, Hakim Humayun and Hakim Nuruddin, and
to the Shias
of the Shias
Abul Fath,
their influence
on Akbar
Muhammad
of Lahoie
Ulama no
Shia
fall
the Sunni Sadr
of
Xlll
quest
"
of
less
" light
"
Nurulla appointed the Shia Qazi Yazdi Shia-Sunni debates The
Formation of
Adoption of the Persian
Forty
Akbar
orthodox than the Sunni
elsewhere
in
the famous
festivals,
not out of
hatred of Islam but out of regard for the love of the ancient glory of mystic Persia. Pp. 127-35
Section
III.
The Hindus
at the Court oj
Akbar f
Hindu assistance invaluable in the early days of Akbar s Empire Akbar the first Chogtai Turk born in India Political wisdom in recognition of merit wherever found Hindu appointments in the army and revenue departments
Sher
Shah's
precedents
Religious
persecution
only confined to Believers, but Hindus outside
Khana in Hindu Saints:
servants invited into the Ibadat
Hindu books translated
Mirabai, Surdas, Purshuttom and Devi-
its
it
Hindu
thiid stage
Tulsidas,
Dadu,
Birbal's influence
Hindu wives, their position and status Hindu customs in the Muslim harem through Hindu wives Akbar 's gratitude towards Hindus His birth in a Hindu house His early political associates: Behari Mai, Bhagwan Das and Man Singh Akbar 's criticism of Hindu theory of Incarnation His reforms of social customs of Hindus His adoption of Sun worship
after marriage, their religion
Hindu
festivals
Hindu Learned men at the Court. Hindu Commanders at the Court.
List of the List
of
Eclectic spirit.
Pp. 135-47
SYNOPSIS
XIV
IV
Section
Akbar's 1
The Zoroastrians
.
first
at the
Court of
acquaintance with Zoroastnan priests in Rana Prof. Karkaria
Invitation of Dastur Mahayarji
573
doubts Mahayarji Rana's visit Karkaria 's objections untenable Azar Kaivan Kaikobad Zoroastrian fire*
'
and sacrifices Acceptworship Hindu wives' Horn ance of the Sun, Fire and Star festivals- Zoroastrian Solar Era
calendar
Was Akbar
a
Parsee
'
Zunnar
Zoroastrian
'
'
and
Qusek-'
creed?
by
Zoroastrian
influence greatest on him after Islam The Sun, Fire and Star relics of his Central Asian beliefs Recitation of
Sun
Idea of repetition
formulas and Hindu Yogis
Fire cult of Birbal
1
names
,000
of the
from Sufi
Acquaintance with Fire through Hindu wives Efficacy of rituals Acceptance of Yoga (repetition) due not to apostasy but
to eclecticism of the age.
Parsee
festivals
festivals
in the official Civil List
Hindu
or
Solar Era
more
scientific
Pp. 147-57
Section
Jain
as
Inclusion of Parsee
Quotations from the debates of the Ibadat
and faith Khana.
No
much
Akbar's attitude to Zoroastrian doctrines
than Lunar Era
V
The
.
trace of Jain
found
as
adopted
Persian element in court
Christian
by
Jains at the Court of
Sashana
of
on Akbar's
influence
early historians
Smith's
Benares
of
religious view*
references 1910 of
to the
Invitation
of
the
invitation in 1582 Acceptance Bhanuchandra Upadhyay and Vijaysen Suri Jain influence on Akbar Doctrine of non-killing and non-killing regulations Release of prisoners and caged birds Fishing at Dabul stopped Royal hunting prohibited Akbar read Surya Sahasranama with Bhanu-
Hiravijaya
Hiravijaya,
chandra after
Shiddhichandra
Akbar
's
death.
Jain influence continued even
Pp. 157-62
SYNOPSIS
The Sikhs
Section VI.
at the Court of
Sikhism only a local creed
Umar Das and Akbar Das
Amritsar
modem
or
Pool
Akbar
advent of Akbar
at the
Akbar granted lands of
to
Ram
Site
Immortality built
Guru Arjun
Amritsar
XV
of
Granth
Compilation of
Akbar 's tolerance helpful to Sikh growth Guru Arjun and Khasru's rebellion Mohsin Fani's testimony.
Sahib
Pp. 162-65
The Buddhists
Section VII.
Absence
of
direct
Court o
information
Elphinstone,
participation
at the
about
Von Noer and
Buddhist
Smith
silent
testimony one-sided Abul Fazl's passing reference Badauni's direct testimony Portraits in the Poona archives Father Heras identified
Dabistan
silent
Christian
the Buddhist Sramans in one portrait Akbar's non-killing policy partly due to Buddhist influence. Pp. 165-69
Section VIII.
The Jews
Jew-Shia-Sunni
No
Court of Akbar
at the
in the role of disputants in the Ibadat
Christian debates
honoured
The Jews
debates
Jew-Muslim
Points
of difference
Akbar's disbelief
JewJews not much
in the Miracles of
formative influence from Judaism.
The
Section IX.
Khana
debates
Moses
Pp. 169-70
Christians at the Court of
Akbar
1572
the Christians in acquaintance with Akbar's enquiry about their civilisation and reli-
gion
Ibadat
Akbar's
Invitation to
first
Khana
discussions
Goa Motive behind
amongst
Believers
the invitation
No
clue,
from native nor from
Portuguese historians Defects of the Muslim court chroniclers Defects of the
neither
Jesuit version
How
far they
may be accepted
Instances
SYNOPSIS
XVI
Blunders of historians who depended on Portuguese versions alone, e.g., Gustav von Buchwald and Dr. Smith Brief criticism of Smith's Portuguese
of their mistakes
motives to prove Akbar's apostasy Purpose of the invitation Smith's view, politics and diplomacy combined Maclagan's awful suggestions references
view,
Payne's
cause and political
No
invitation
Moreland's
religio-political
grasp of the events
Jain
of
Similarity
motive
political
and Jewish
intelligent
Akbar's religious urge the immediate advantages the remote effect of the behind the Zoroastrian,
then
invitations,
why impute
it
to the
Christian?
The First Mission bates
Its
(1579)
and Father Monserrate Points of dispute
The
able to Christian priests
mistook his liberalism
members Rudolf Aquaviva
Splendid reception at Sikri deAkbar's eclectic nature favour-
as
The priests
Bible translated
leaning towards Christianity
Mull as angry at Akbai's liberalism towards Christians Hence Mullas misinterpreted him The politico-religious rebellions
Measures adopted to prevent future Unauthorised Mosques, Maktabs and Qurans
destroyed
Akbar adopted
of
rebellion
Interference at
Goa
at
1580
the
of
war
Christian festivals, bells, etc.
Smith's one-sided reflections vations
in
clergymen
Discussion on Smith's obser-
Charge of duplicity against Akbar not
Akbar's magnanimity Break-up of the immediate cause Akbar defended Mullas
Immediate
embassy
Portuguese
politics
with the Imperial Governor in Guzrat
break-up
to Spain
and
averted to
alliance against Khalifa of
by Abul
Papacy
Rum
justified
First
in
Mission,
debates
Fazl
Possibility of
First
rom 583 1
to
1
Translation of
a triple
Mission dissolved
Rudolf murdered by mob Effect of the Misson. The Second Mission Lull in the Portuguese f
Proposed
activities
Leo Grimon a Greek Sub-Deacon Greek books Grimon charged with two
59
1
SYNOPSIS
XVll
His description of Akbar's apostasy due to Grimon's descriphis misreading of Akbar's regulations
letters to
Goa
tion put
fresh energies into the missionary
the
activities
Second Mission formed Leiton and Vega, their incapacity and impatience Sudden break-up of the Mission Causes of the break-up Fathers' worthlessness and Akbar's preoccupations Mission entirely fruitless. The Third Mission Dissatisfaction on both sides the sudden break-up of the Second Mission tion accepted in
1
Third
59-1
Mission
for
Third invita-
formed
Father
Xavier and Emmanuel Pinherio
Three periods: (1) Lahore no regular debates Description of Akbar's apostasy by Christian Priests and Muslim Mullas Fire at Lahore Priests attributed the fire to Akbar's apostasy and God's wrath Akbar's alleged unsympathetic behaviour towards priests explained by his grief at Murad's death and. war with Khandesh Siege of Anircjarh and treachery
period
(1
594-98),
of the Christians found out
by
Akbar's
Payne
Portuguese (2)
Tourist
period
to
captives
period
fl
598- 1601) not
Largest conversion
Khan
His discussions with
handing over
Embassy at at
(3)
Agra
court
General
Lahore
Quarrel
Xavier
Quliz transferred
Akbar
the
Goa
to
important
number Pinherio
refuted
suggestion
in
Xavier
(1601-05)
permission for with Viceroy Quliz
Smith's
generosity
at
Agra English and his opposition to the Portuguese Rivalry Death of Akbar Portuguese transfer their interest to Jahangir. Mildenhall
Pp. 170-213
CHAPTER
VI
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
'1
575-95)
Review of the age Regulations of Akbar between 575 and 1595 Classification of the regulations into groups, 1
economic and political Mistaken for and misinterpreted by the orthodox section from
social,
C
I280B
religion religious
SYNOPSIS
XVlll
Mulla point of view represented by Badauni Chronological summary of the Regulations Discussions on the regulations Islamic Canons of Test Akbar's Anti-
standpoint
Islamism criticised in the light of history and theology.
Pp.
21 3-67
Appendix Life of Mulla Abdul Qadir Badauni His view-point His angularities His judgment prejudiced and coloured His inconsistencies How far is his Muntakhabat reliable?
Pp. 268-75
CHAPTER THE Smith
PROMULGATED
tne
promulgation
criticised
of
of
Significance
and
DIN-I-ILAHI
VII
Principles
Bartoli,
Badauni
the Din-i-Ilahi
Mohsin Fani's Ten Commandments Practices mistaken by Badauni as Principles, hence misinterpretations " " Priests Initiation Symbol of brotherhood and chelas
The
"
Shast
cremation,
"
Prayer
Individual
practices
CHAPTER THE
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
Burial,
Pp. 276-89
shaving, etc. VIII
MOVEMENT
Measures adopted by Akbar for the propagation of No missionary, no propaganda, no priest " " The Forty Abdals (Chihil Tanan} Who accepted it?
the Din-i-Ilahi
Two
groups of disciples Names of the chief disciples Contribution of the Ibadat Khana to the Din i-Ilahi Abul
and Mubarak in the circle Islamic background Ten Commandments Parallel passages from the Quarn and Sufi Saints Motives behind new practices of Akbar How far was the Din-i-Ilahi a Sufi order? Was it Fazl, Faizi
of the
anti-Islamic?
mate
of
Akbar
Did Akbar cease
to
be a Muslim?
in the light of the Din-i-Ilahi,
Esti-
Pp. 290-309
FOREWORD 1
have great pleasure
the
of
Mughal
the
of
period
to students
commending
in
Indian
History,
Makhanlal Roy Choudhury's book on the Din-i-Ilahi or the religion of Akbar. While all the Prof.
biographies of
work which
contain
with in
dealt
subject
Akbar
this
brought
to
book,
deals elaborately
important theme.
this
the
some reference
Prof.
and
to the
there
yet
specifically
is
no
with
Roy Choudhury has Akbar 's religion a sources, and has also
discussion of
profound study of the original carried on research on his own account, with the result that his book is a masterly exposition of the
Akbar.
Din-i-Ilahi of
extensive scale, tive
but
also
and
is
planned on an not only sound and instruc-
highly
surveyed the historical
Akbar 's period,
The work
is
After
interesting.
and
cultural
background of
the author describes
various forces that were at
work
having
length the
at
at that
time.
He
then deals with the various religious communities, who, as important factors at the Court of Akbar, contributed their respective shares to the of
the
Din-i-Ilahi
the
Sunnis,
the
evolution
Shias,
the
Hindus, the Jains, the Sikhs, the Buddhists, the Parsis, the Jews and, last but not the least, the The author accurately summarises the Christians. results of the at the
impact of these various communities
Court of Akbar and the
resultant
trend
FOREWORD
xviii(fc)
thereof which ultimately culminated in
the estab-
lishment of the Din-i-Ilahi. as
Covering,
ground,
it is
the author
not possible that find
will
but one of the
book,
I
may
book
the
an
does,
the conclusions of
all
ready acceptance.
many
extensive
controversial
To
take
in the
points
refer to the author's conclusions about
the religion of
Akbar
himself.
It
is
well-known
Akbar 's period, and also his biographers, have come lo the conclusion that Akbar practically and some hold, even forOf these, mally and openly renounced Islam.
that various historians of
the late Mr. Vincent Smith,
Indian history, in his of
that
life
an eminent of
Akbar,
Akbar renounced
opinion author does not share that view.
He
is
writer of definitely
The
Islam. holds,
on the
having founded the Din-i-Ilahi, Akbar continued to be a Muslim to the last and he attributes, what he regards as a contrary, that
inspite of
his
;
wrong conclusion on
the
part
of
Vincent Smith,
having misread the original text on the But the author is, no doubt, aware that subject.
to
his
almost not at
all
all
contemporary writers hold that he was And it cannot be
a believer in Islam.
said that there are no reliable
from which we
may
justly
materials
come
and data
to that conclusion.
At the same time, students of Indian history Akbar 's period will be deeply interested in study of the facts brought together
support of the view
of
the
by the author in
propounded by him
that
FOREWORD Akbar remained a Muslim life.
It is
interesting
not
to the last chapter of his
my
duty to take sides in this highly controversy between the author and
But
several of his predecessors. this
I
have referred
one particular point, as showing
rials of
Indian history are
of re-interpretation,
has
xviii(c)
made
learned
and
a contribution
still
to
undergoing a process
towards
it.
and luminous, and should
Mughal period
in
the
His book attract
is
wide
study of the
of Indian history.
PATNA UNIVERSITY, PATNA. 1st July,
the mate-
what extent the author
attention in circles interested
The
how
to
} [
1941.
l
SACHCHIDANANDA SINHA, Vice-Chancellor,
Patna University.
PREFACE The
is
be
to
yet
written.
we
read the history of kings, queens, and sieges. To-day we read the history
Formerly battles,
of
India
of
history
men and
The
thoughts.
has changed
nay, longer a student is
it
of
perspective
history
No
has been revolutionised.
with the old review
satisfied
History is now a science of man the within, and the man in the world and outside.
of things.
man
Every age has a philosophy of interprets is
History
that
philosophy by the
the study
ed by examples
of
the
that
own and man life
he
lives.
philosophy interpret-
actions
of
the
individual
form the spokes in the wheel of event is isolated and no action is
unconsciously progress.
its
No
the trasformation of energy explains the evolution of the Universe of matter,
complete by
itself.
individual
the
If
thoughts
accelerate the progress of
The
present comes
and the is
future
is
and the
actions
out of the
embedded
reveal
Universe of
womb
and
mind.
of the past
in the present.
There
an unbroken continuity through the past, present
and
future.
onward flow of civilization, we sometimes come across waves and curves which often In
the
find explanation in the actions
But they must not be taken
of
the
individuals.
in isolation.
They
XX
PREFACE
generally form the parls
through if
of
vaster
current flowing
But they are nothing
channels.
different
not movements of the Universal current
flowing
When there is a sudden upthrough all ages. heaval in one country at a particular period of time., there
a
is
common history
age of
ment
I
Islam,
Sufi
forces
century
particulaily
16th
age
Renaissance in
revival
and Bhakti
of the
in
cult
in
the
of the
of
Indian
was an Mehdi moveChina, and of
Akbar. of
in
true
century
of
Europe,
IVIiug
country in the world
new
is
the
direction
every
the
of
mean,
in
16th
in
This
level.
upheaval
great
the
vibration
It
In the
India.
Christian era, every civilised
was
pulsating with a
orders of things were on
the
anvil,
new
life
;
vigorous
appealed -in England the Tudors, France the Bourbons, in Spain and Austria
dynasties in
the
Prussia
in
Hapsburgs,
the
Hohenzollems,
Turkey the Osmanlis, in Egypt the Mamluks, in Persia the Safavis, in Transoxiana the Saha-
in
banids, in China the Mings, in India the Timurids all in the same period. Greatness of the indivi-
dual k'ngs rather realised the
Henry VIII and Elizabeth in France, Fredrick
William
in Austria, Philip
in Spain,
Shah
Ismail
II
Sahabani Khan
perfect.
of
the
Age
England, Henry IV
in Prussia,
Sigismund Soleiman in Turkey,
and Shah Tahmasp in Transoxiana,
and Babar and Akbar
was
spirit
in
in India.
in
Persia,
Yung Lo
in
the
China
Indeed the unison
PREFACE
xxi
European writers on the Timurids in India tried to explain the life and actions of the great
Emperor Akbar
as
isolated study of
They made an
mere accidents.
Akbar without
reference
the
to
Central
Asian background, neglecting the unity
of
Islamic
the
of
range
their
conception of
They
movements of the period. The study was circumscribed by the history current in the
interpreted
mere
isolated
them
tried
to
enter
the
movement
and
cross currents.
the
perspective
interpretations
the
facts
accidental
of
9th century
the
into
Few
life
different
As
exclusive.
currents
their
was
of
that inspired
spirit
events
Their
.
Timurid India as
happenings.
Indian
was of
of
1
such
and their
Indian history were coloured by
They depended on the contemon Muslim India who were mere
their predilections.
porary writers
narrators of events. tics,
These writers were
ecclesias-
merchants, adventurers and travellers.
scope of their
writings
was determined by
nature of the professions to which
Even
stray
The
acquaintance with
the
they
belonged.
Muslim
chronicles
did not alter their angle of vision, because almost all
the
events history
Muslim
chroniclers
were mere writers
of
(waqia nawis), and their conception of may be gathered from the name they " "
gave
to
Thus
in
history
Tuoari^h
(date
records).
the light of stereotyped conception of with materials of doubtful value furnished history,
by
contemporary
European recorders of events
PREFACE
*xii
and with
chronicles maintained by
command,
logists at their
failed in
many
Muslim chrono-
the European
historians
cases to offer reliable interpretations
Indo-Muslim thoughts and events. Moreover most of the early English writers were obsessed of
with a feeling of superiority when they wrote the history of the conquered people of India specially of the
Muslims from
stan.
They
whom
laid stress
they conquered Hinduon Akbar as a conqueror,
an empire-builder and as an administrator. They showered encomiums on Akbar for his as
personal qualities,
for
his
Certainly
versatility.
Akbar deserves a good deal of what has been him as a builder of the Timurid empire in India and as a founder of some institutions
said of
which survive even to-day. side life
of
the
medal.
The
But that
explanation of
and contemporary events
they are treated in the breathed,
the
ideals
only one
is
spirit
Akbar 's
incomplete unless
is
he
the atmosphere
of
which he stood and the
for
cultural synthesis
which he and
his great
brought about.
The
seclusion
veil
of
associates that
had
concealed India from the gaze of the outside world
was no longer
there, she
was no longer dead
to
of forces that were working in the conmere narration of events of temporary world.
the play
A
the age of the
Emperor Akbar
is
not a satisfactory
approach to the history of that important epoch Without a study of the cultural of the Indians.
and
intellectual
activities
of the Ibadat
Khana
PREFACE the is
first
XXIU
parliament of the religions of the world
it
impossible to understand the forces and ideals for
which India had been working for centuries. Indian civilisation has a wonderful capacity of assimilating extraneous currents and
The
others.
Din-i-Ilahi of
demonstrated
how
Emperor Akbar
to
clearly
the Central Asian forces, winding
the Semitism of Arabia
course through
their
own
her
transmitting
and
Monism of
Iran, were ultimately Aryanised by the touch of Hindustan. The confiltering through the
the
tribution of
different cultures,
as
represented Hall of Worship, to the transformation
in that great
Islam was immense,
and
Indianisation of
the
process had already begun. Maintaining the the great savants of the age
though
basis of real Islam,
metamorphosed and
crystallised the spirit
of the
"
Din-i-Ilahi." age into a Sufi order, called the Indeed, without the study of the Din-i-Ilahi, the
the
history
of
In this
book
in India
the
India
have attempted
I
of
pretation
16th-century
the
movement
to
is
contribution
Akbar
of
this
an
of forces that
throughout this period and
which characterised
incomplete.
offer
to
the
inter-
worked
to
estimate
new
synthesis
very important epoch
of
Indian history.
Before
1
conclude,
I
must acknowledge
my thanks
Syamaprasad Mookerjee, M.A., B.L., D.Lin. Barrister-at-Law, M.L.A., Ex-Vice-Chancellor of to Dr.
the
Calcutta
received from
,
University, for
him, and to
the
encouragement I Dr. S. N. Sen, M,A. t
PREFACE
xxiv
P.R.S., Ph.D. (Cal.), B.Litt.
New
Imperial Records,
Keeper of the help he gave
(Oxon.),
Delhi, for
me. Prof. N. C. Banerjee, M. A., Ph.D., of Calcutta obliged
University,
some
me by
ungrudingly suggesting
interesting interpretations of old facts.
Priyaranjan Sen,
Prof.
M.A., P.R.S., Kavyatirtha, has
me
under a deep debt of gratitude by going through the MSS. Dr. R. P. Tripathi, M.A., D.Sc. (Lond.) of Allahabad was kind enough to discuss my placed
and suggest new lights. My thanks are offered to them. Maulana M. E. Zakaria,
interpretations
formerly also
editor of
deserves
my
Mornin Gazette of Cawnpore,
gratefulness for
interpreting the
abstractions of Islam from the orthodox
theological
standpoint.
must thank Mr. D. B. Gangulee, Superintendent, Calcutta University Press, and his Finally,
staff
and
help which
I
especially Mr. J. I
received from
Roy them
for the valuable in
the course of
the printing of the book.
BHAGALPUR,
)
M. The 7th March, 1941.
)
L. R.-C.
INTRODUCTION absence of any original work on the
In the
19ih century
DlN-I-lLAHI, writers of the
the religion of Akbar according
Western
the period.
East tended to bring
writers of the History
to
accepted
Western
be
of
be a feather political
West
a state
tion with religion," "statecraft affair,"
in
the
life
One and
an Eastern Sovereign was supposed to Western in the cap of his greatness. "
principles like
"
line
political principles
ideals of government.
point of similarity with the
manners
of the
everything Eastern into
with Western notions.
were
interpreted
to theories current in
has no connec-
a purely secular
is
the conception of a nation presupposes
religious unity,"
ards of thought
and so
among
forth,
had become stand-
historians.
They
too readily
concluded influences and borrowings from the West In the absence of in all such cases of similarity.
any
treatise
on Akbar's
play to their fancies. the outcome
"to be
religion, historians
gave
Some found Akbar's of a political
full
religion
necessity,
the
need of a universal religion in which Hindoos and Muslims could join." According to them Akbar, like Elizabeth of England and Henry IV of " was actuated by the motive of a comproFrance, " mise." few asserted that Akbar became the
A
supreme head of the Church because he wanted D 1280B
to
INTRODUCTION
xxvi the
keep
Akbar from
judged
"
that
an
ordinances
viewing his said
at
warring factions
entirely
as
Others
peace." secular
point,
They
very personal.
Akbar had a fondness
flattery, a
for
weakness for adoration." One suggested that Akbar " founded a new religion in order that he might pose himself as
God."
1
God
or at least the vicegerent of
Another remarked,
God on
Remarks
Earth."
Akbar allowed
because he liked
stration before himself
as
"
made and swallowed by truths of history. They are
to
pro-
be treated
these have been
like
unsuspecting readers as
generally astounding and to also and remember, being clad in easy pleasing Few people take pains to familiar Western words.
enter into the sources of these remarks
have opportunity
of
seeing
and fewer still through by
things
examining the originals in a true
spirit
Even Dr. Smith,
Akbar
the author
of
"
of inquiry.
the Great
Mogul," did not hesitate to say, "The whole scheme was the outcome of a ridiculous vanity, a monstrous growth of unrestrained
The new
faith
ambition, his
was but a testimony
pompous
Pope and Prophet love of
power
desire
to
the
and
start
a
.
.
Emperor,
...
induced Akbar
authority of the Prophet
.
to his grasping
be
rolled into one.
that
autocracy.
It
to
new
was
the
deny the
religion."
Ain No. 77 Abul Fazl promised to write on Akbar as "a Spiritual Guide separately In
1
This
is
due
to a
misreading
a sarcasm quoted by Badauni.
of
Mul la
Sheri's verse,
which
was
xxvn
INTRODUCTION the
to
him
permit
The "
sudden
but
people," to
his
fulfil
subject has been
treated
a Mulla.
of
by Badauni
Akbar purely from "
The
not
intentions.
pious
He
Muntakhabu-t Twarikh."
regulations of
murder did in
his
has discussed the the point of view
Dabistan-i-Mazahib,'' a work
about 60 years after Akbar 's death, has discussed the principles of the religious views of written
Emperor. Modern European writers have mostly based their conclusions on the testimonies of
the
a hostile association in the court of the
the are
basis
of
India.
Badauni 's credentials
?
Abdul Qadir Badauni with
Abu
1
serving
and
entered the
court
along
1572 and was put into
Fazl in
with Abul Fazl. ' '
Emperor and
Badauni specially is and what Dr. Smith's conclusions,
of the Jesuits then in
Badauni lamented that the * '
' '
flattering
office
"
time-
Abul Fazl gradually
rose
higher and higher in the court while "his own star" remained in a "static position." 2 Indeed
was
it
really
tormenting for Badauni to see his
colleague and class-mate go so high
remained
an
2
See
seems
to
J.R.A.S.,
3
1869,
have been no
he himself
courtier
ordinary
Wednesday piayers,"
of
3
more than once
Blochmann's
less time-serving.
made Zaminbos
up while he " and leader
on
article
for his
Badauni.
Though he
Badauni
criticised
Sijdah,
(Sijdah) three limes.
Abul Fazl and Badauni read together under Shaikh Mubarak. Both Badauni grew jealous of Abul
were good students and were well-read. Fazl's rise,
and
his personal
grudge and jealousy were vented
discussions round the religious views of Akbar,
Abul Fazl and
in
Faizi.
his
INTRODUCTION
xxvin incapacity
out
of
and
and
only to be reinstated on the recom-
office,
mendations
of
Faizi.
grateful that
Badauni was so charitable
he never used a word *
of his benefactor, Faizi
!
the death-bed scene of Faizi,
him when he was on
barked
like a
his
composed a famous poet ' '
A
on
monogram
Then he
death
the
Faizi
gasp;
was swollen of
the
:
an abomin-
in
()
yet another
"
last
dog has gone from the world
able state/'
And
his
his face, his face
dog lips had become black. ..." *'n
favour
in
Badauni thus describes " The Emperor went
to visit
and
he was driven
for overstaying leave
the
Faizi
:
inauspicious,
the
enemy
of
the Prophet,
Went
bearing on
He was
him
the brand of curses,
a miserable and hellish dog, and hence
The words
*
what
dog-worshipper had died
give the date of his birth.*'
Hatred that
he could
poems taste is
Badauni
of
was so
not even condescend
of Faizi.
Badauni remarks,
to
"
violent
praise
His
7
the
(Faizi 's)
lewd, raving in boastful verses and infidel
*
Badauni, Muntakhbu-t TwarikH,
5
Ibid, p. 420.
7
1004 A.H.
1003
Faizi
for
'
A.H. (one year
short).
II,
Lowe,
p. 420.
INTRODUCTION scribblings.
He was
truth, of the
knowledge
made
xxix
devoid of love of
entirely
God."
of
the Poet-Laureaute by the
But Faizi was
Emperor and had
composed about 20,000 couplets. His command over rhetoric, we know, has not yet been surpassed, is a class by himself. Still, in " He Badauni his hatred for Faizi, says, (Faizi) wrote poetry for a period of 40 years, but it was all
and, as a poet, Faizi
imperfect.
He
could set up the skeleton of verses
well but the bones had no
was
salt of his poetry
them
that
not
is
entirely
"
Badauni does not find
marrow
even one couplet amongst
much
as
them, and the without savour." in
without
fire
as
his
withered genius, and they are despised and rejected to such an extent that no one, even in lewdness, studies his verse as they
do those of the other base
poets."
Badauni could not difference of opinion.
"
tolerate
He
even the
seldom alludes
slightest to Birbal
dog." Muhammad of Basakwan, a learned man of Timur's time, is called " " because he had written hyprocrite and filthy " " of the science Titul expressed and implied as other than a
hellish
* '
language." Badauni deplores his to translate the
of translation
own
Ramayana
he had
fate
because he had
into Persian, for in course
to write the
names
Gods like Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. At Lahore a Shia was killed by "
the
former
had spoken
of
Hindu
a Sunni,
for
disrespectfully of
the
xxx first
INTRODUCTION four Khalifas."
Baclauni
had no words
of pity
"
murdered man, who,
has the he wrote, " face like that of a pig," but the Sunni murderer was a hero." When his own son died, he attri-
for the
buted
the untimely death to his not
Quran
at his birth.
So
far as religion
was concerned, Badauni was
essentially the type of a
hate a non-believer
he had
but
who would
sight of one faith
reading the
Sunni
who
who
does not only
cannot even stand the
not believe in things which
In his blind fanaticism he ceased
in.
be a historian while he dealt with the religious views of Akbar. He distorted and suppressed facts to
own
to suit his
conclusions.
tions of the regulations of
them
of
example
in toto :
prohibited
along
with the
Ain,
0/z.,
For
his purpose.
Akbar dogs and
killing of cows,
killing of camels, horses,
the
of the
quoted only porAkbar, because quotations
would defeat
other domestic animals.
apart
He
But Badauni quoted only that regarding the killing
cows, and so proved Akbar to be anti-Islam " 8 From* because cow is sacred to the Hindus. of
such a
man
like
Badauni can
we
expect
that
Akbar 's deviations from religious orthodoxy would find no favour," and "we have to discount his stories concerning the same as being certainly exagEven Khafi Khan is of opinion that gerated." 8
Similar references will be quoted
(regulations} of Akbar. *
when we
discuss
the
"
Aint
See post, pp. 226-68.
Pringle Kennedy, History of the Mongols, Vol.
I,
pp. 285-86.
"
INTRODUCTION
xxxi
Badauni ought not to have said and written of Akbar as he had done. 30 Akbar was a king who
would not only reign but would also
rule.
He
would, unlike others before him, not willingly be a tool in the hands of a Mulla theocracy. In course of his administration
had
the Qazis
interfered too
He
much
Mullas and
with
affairs of
and pernicious
corrupt motives
with
state, often
he found that the
turned
many Qazis out of bribery many were deprived of " n Some Qazis were angry Aymas."
results.
for
offices
;
their
their
that
Brahmins had been engaged in deciding disputes in which Hindus were concerned as accused or in which both the parties were Hindus also because highest court of appeal was no longer the ;
the
.
Sadr-us-Sadur
or
Emperor himsef
Makhdum-ul-Mulk
but
the
.
who came
Akbar were mostly Jesuit priests. They were by no means historians, and the despatches, reports and letters Christians
which they sent eastern central
events are
W 11
Lowe,
at
Seir-al
For p.
as
I,
critically
of
to
before they car history.
Their
p. 196.
endowments, see Badauni, of>. ci'r., Vol. II, Some Qazis were exchanged for horses at Qandahar
religious
207.
reli-
contemporary be found in them but they
materials
Mutakharin, Vol.
or at the
Goa, were mostly
References
certainly to
accepted
after the
station
be judged very
are to
be
home
to their masters at
nature.
in
gious
to the court of
Bengal rebellion
for political reasons,
INTRODUCTION
xxxii
despatches mostly dealt with religious matters and v/ere often coloured by their own religious prediso
lections,
rooted
deep
in
the Christians
of
Their perspective was never historical they wrote whatever came in their way, without taking caie to verify them. the
16th
century.
When Vasco
da
Gama
landed at Calicut, he
thought he saw Christian churches there
heard Christian
known
bells,
in-
;
them he
recognised Christian shepherds
and noticed a Nayar who wore
as Kafir,
show that he belonged to Christianity 12 Vasco da Gama's statement was accepted as true for 200 years. Then it was found out that
top-knot to
the
!
Churches
domes
Hindu
the
of
to
appeared
referred
be
like
to,
were
nothing
but
temples of Siva, which the churches of the
Portuguese; the bells referred
to
were those rung
by Hindus at the time of their evening prayers and the priests mentioned were none other than the ;
Brahmin
priests of the
Temple.
times the standard of accuracy of travellers or missionaries in the early
who
Such the
visited
days of Christian advent
!
some-
is
Portuguese the
country
Dr.
Smith
has often emphasised the versions of the Western writers without caring to judge them in the light of unbiassed criticism. Take, for example, the story of the fall of Asirgarh.
Asirgarh 12
fell,
according to Abul Fazl, owing to
Payne, Scenes and Characteis from Indian History, pp.
90-92.
xiii
INTRODUCTION
away 25,000 men from ** " devices of Akbar; " "Relacam of Guerreiro, whose
the pestilence which carried
and owing
the fort
to the
but according to account was the source for
Du
Jarric, the fort fell
account of the treachery of the Emperor. Dr. Smith, the account of Father
to
ing
on
AccordXavier
is
"
and deserving of acceptance as being the most authentic history of the events which led to the capitulation of Asirgarh." " Smith's Akbar the Great Mogul,' p. 276.) The learned historian denounced the Indian versions as deliberate forgeries and systematic true
literally
1
of
distortions
The account
facts.
Father does not exist in the original. of*
Du
Smith
based on Relacam
is
Jarric
for-word
what
translation of
claims
account to a
he
that
critical
is
the Jesuit
of
The
subjected
word-
a
is
given in
version
Relacam.
Du
Jarric's
examination and states
that
Du
Jarric had summarised the letters of Xavier. " " Dr. Smith says that the of Du Jarric Histoire
a
contains also
no
detailed
asserts
that
account of
the
Guerreiro in his Relacam
and confirms
He
siege.
gives
Du
Jarric's statement that the capitulation was obtained by treachery. But as a matter of fact, Guerreiro gives a detailed account
details
of the
siege
and not
Du
Jarric
whose account
ie
' '
a word-for-word translation of that given in Relacam." It is strange that Dr. Smith makes
rather
and gives quotations from Relacam, actual volume where the account pf the
references to
Part
1 ,
the
E-I280B
INTRODUCTION siege occurs;
but he has not compared
version with Guerreiro's
Possibly Dr. Smith
Du
Jarric's
and found out the
truth,.
was very imperfectly acquainted
with these two works.
Portuguese were often wrongly informed or even hoaxed, and we are compelled to share his views in the light of facts.
What were siege of
the
says that
Payne
Smith's conclusions about
Dr.
He
AsirgarhP
was present
at
says that
But our
cannot be untrue.
Father Xayier
siege and hence
the
the
reading
his version
of
the
facts
proves that Father Xavier was not present at the Had Father Xavier been really siege of Asirgarh.
would surely have mentioned the great famine which had caused so much havoc Amongst the defenders of the fort which we get
present there, he
from
contemporary authors, namely, Faizi Sarhindi, Abul Fazl and the author of Zafar-ul-Walih all
(Arabic history of Gujrat). the murder of Muqarib siege, as given
by the
We
know
Faizi
Sarhindi and
it
Again, the account of
Khan by Akbar
during the
Jesuit, is against all evidence.
for certain,
from
evidences of
direct
of Zafar-ul-Walih, that the death
Muqarib was a case
But Xavier says that Muqarib was killed by Akbar. Further, the very name of Bahadur Khan, the king of Khandesh, against whom the war was going on, has been of
wrongly put by the difficult
to
becomes writer was present
of suicide.
Jesuit Father.
believe
that
at the siege.
It,
the
therefore,
Portuguese
.
XX*V
INTRODUCTION
Smith
Dr.
rejects the account of
and
entirely baseless
ground
Akbar
in
We are sorry
say that Dr. Smith
to
Abul
through
carefully
nama.
deliberate falsification,
as
on the
he has not mentioned the treachery of 18 connection with the fall of Asirgarh.
that
tions
Abul Fazl
Volume
In
the
Fazl's version in Akbar-
Akbarnama
III,
and
deceptions
by Akbar
has not gone
definitely
simulations
men-
practised
to procure the capitulation of the fort
;
Abul Fazl to hide it? We would say with Rev. Payne that "Dr. Smith's references are equally misleading and inaccurate u and his investigation is of a perfunctory nature." so where
the attempt of
is
Regarding the honesty of Abul Fazl's account let us quote the remark of Price in his Preface to " lc Price observes, His (Abul Elliot's Volume VI. Fazl's)
veneration
almost
to
for
adoration.
blemishes, his faults rather than
of
Blochmann
says,
are
Emperor amounted
the
from
Apart those
the flatterer,
of
and
occasional
the rhetorician his
ought to be judged by an oriental standard, not by a contrast with the choicest of European memoirs."
"
Abul Fazl has
style
far too often
been
accused by European writers of flattery, and even of wilful concealment of facts damaging to the reputation of his master.
Smith, op. 14
U
Payne, Elliot
cit.,
A
study of the Akbar-
p. 284.
Intro., op. eft., p.
xxxv.
and Dowton, Vol. VI, pp.
7-8,
INTRODUCTION
xvi
nama
show
will
unfounded/'
the
that
is
charge
absolutely
(J.R.A.S., 1869, article on Badauni
by Blochnann.) Dr. Smith has taken the Jesuit accounts regarding Akbar's religion as gospel truth, because
Badauni 's versions tally with But
we must
theirs
on many
points.
were actuated by similar motives, and often Badauni and the Mulla party say that both
the
supplied information for Jesuit
priests
came
converting the
"Mogors
India with the
"Mogors,"
similar attempts
the
to
The
Jesuit writers.
10
motive of
and there have been
by Christian priests for converting Central Asia." At first, when
of
Akbar's
invitation reached the Jesuits, they thought
that the
Emperor's motives were
was only
17
political
;
and so
a good deal of hesitancy that the highest Jesuit priest decided to send a Mission.
it
after
To start with, they were all praise The encomiums used by the members Mission are often so
the
Fathers
began about the Emperor, and eagerly swallowed
was M 17
all
they
certainly a revolution
Pringle Kennedy, op.
De
suspicion
cir.,
in
collect
their
mind
the Fathers as hostages. ailed the Jesuits even
to
information
credulity
they
heard about him.
It
from the point of view of
VoL'.I,
Chap,
Sousa, Oriente Conquistado, Vol. in the
seem
On reaching
eulogists. to
Akbar.
of the first
flattering that they
have been written by hired
Agra
for
I.
II,
p.
150.
There was a
Governor of Goa that Akbar might keep Moreland is of opinion that Akbar would have
of the
if all
political
motive* we*e absent.
INTRODUCTION
.
and the orthodox party
the Mullas
that
xxxvii
Akbar,
a iMuslim Emperor, should go beyond the usual Sunni interpretations and consult non-Mulsims for his
Hence,
'knowledge.'
facture
and
they began '
sorts
circulate all
of
manu-
to
news and views
'
Emperor. The Fathers simply despatched those calumnious bits of information to As the their headquarters in India and Europe. the
regarding
Emperor began to enquire more and more about Truth, and as they found their chances of converting
Emperor growing remote every day, they also began to grow cold. Again, when they found the Emperor giving them audience and permitting them to make conversions and build churches, they grew
the
elated
;
stories
once followed despatches narrating all the of the Emperor's apostasy with all the
at
prospects of conversion. all
the
mosques
at
The
Fathers
wrote that
Lahore had been ordered
to
be demolished and that the study of the Quran had been suspended in the Empire. Du Jarric " Akbar promised to become a avows that Christian even at the cost of his kingdom in case the
him the Trinity and The Portuguese and the Jesuits are
Fathers would explain incarnation."
18
often so inconsistent
11
amongst themselves
Similar passages occur in almost
" ays,
became
Du
to
Akbar would have become he would have Akbar actually
Christian
" Jarric says,
courtiers
and kept only one,"
all
Jesuit
that
narratives.
if
we
Maclagan if he
Christian but for his wives, for
to forsake his
distributed
all
wives
all
hi* wives
except one."
amongst
hit
nxvui
INTRODUCTION
compare them Akbar 's death),
had
first-hand
Even
regarding the story of
(specially
becomes palpable that the Fathers 10 knowledge in very few things. it
ordinary state regulations of
the
Akbar
and interpreted by the Badauni was Mullas with distrust and suspicion. very angry with Akbar because he had opened " " for "nonand Yogipura Dharampura been condemned
have
' '
'
'
Social
believers."
and
political regulations
have
been interpreted and interdicted from a religious point of view. A charge against Akbar is that he stopped pilgrimage to Mecca. But we know it definitely, from the testimony of the third Mission, that, even in the last years of his life, he sent
members
his family to
of
Mecca on pilgrimage.
During the period of the so-called transition (1 572-82) he had given every intending pilgrim a sum of Rs.
A
600 as passage money.
known
regular
as the Haji Department,
department,
had been
started
and was placed under an officer, Mir-i-Haj. This department had one hundred ships (Jahaz-i-llahi) There are evidences that reserved for the pilgrims. send clothes and presents to Mecca as a part of religious duty, and that he was contemplating the foundation of a pilgrim house at Mecca.
Akbar used
to
During the discussions of the Ibadat Khana, 1*
French
Christian
traveller
be permitted solution of
all his
tlie
that
wa
"
Akbar promised to become a he would become a Christian, should he
Laval says,
and gave hopes
it
wives, as his religion
question, he died"
allowed, and pending the
INTRODUCTION
xxxix,
found that the Mir-i-Haj and Sadr, who were the guardians of the Pilgrim Fund, had embezzled 20 money. Mirza Azam Khan, a staunch Musalman,
Mecca with a great disgust for the Mecca for their corrupt practices. Condithe Holy Land were in no sense better
returned from Sharif s of tions
in
than those in India. to
journey
Owing
to
Portuguese piracy,
Mecca by sea was no longer
safe.
Tickets issued by Christian shipowners bore the picture of Mary on their back. The orthodox could
not condescend to accept a ticket with a picture, for
it
would
be
countenancing
The
idolatry.
was controlled by the Qazibillis by (Shias of Persia) and the life of a Sunni was never, safe in the land of the Shias. Akbar for some time discouraged pilgrimage to Mecca from land
route
Even a staunch Musalman like Sekandar Lodi had stopped Haj for women and regulated pilgrimage. 21 Akbar made regulations for the pilgrims and not against
the point of view of state policy.
the institution of pilgrimage. *
There were some other regulations to which exception may be taken from a religious point of
The customary words
view.
"
Rahim"
Bhmillah-ir-Rahman-ir
into
A llah-o-A kbar.
the
new words were
* '
'<>
*
Bad.,
Lowe, Vol. H,
Taiikhi Dawdi, E.
'
'
p. 412;
&
at the top of
a
book
were changed
The Mullas suggested a
sly substitution of
Bloehmann,
A in, p. 32*.
D. f Vol. IV. pp. 445-46.
that
the
INTRODUCTION
xl
name
personal
of
Akbar
rebuked Abul Fazl dicted
him
for
this
an apostate.
as
beginning his famous book
" customary
God. 22 Badauni innovation and inter-
for that of
23
' *
Bismillah, etc."
Bismillah,
"Bismillah, etc."
etc.,"
an imitation
is
' *
Zoroastrian
Persian
the
of
phrase
Banam-i~
>24
(In the
Bakshainda-i-Bafyhshaishgar-i-Meherban.'
name
God
of
the
Faizi
Naldaman with the It was no innovation
"
This epithet
find ' '
begin books without
in Islam to
we
But
and the
charitable
has not been everywhere in use. an Arabic Grammar by Ibn-i-Hajib,
merciful.)
"
It
contain the customary words in praise of
Ka/uih," does not
God.
In
Sharah-i-Jami and Tahrir-i-Sambat, commentaries on that book, absence of the customary words in praise
God have
of
been
has
Hajib books
which
instead of
"
begin not
with
numerals
the
Alhamdu-lillah
Even some orthodox the
write
sentence but simply put the 786, on
name
their
Musalman but
quite
a good
had,
on account of
Ibft-i-
There are many " "
supported.
Bismilla, etc."
do
Muslims
been discussed and
long of
customary
God, through Akbar was
books.
the sad fact
is
he
that
his state regulations, displeased
the orthodox theocracy.
The
1
6th century was a century of upheavals
civilised country escaped the 11
" 14
Badauni, op.
cit.,
Lowe, Vol.
II,
wave
:
no
of Renaissance,
pp, 212, 267.
Ibid., p. 210.
Jamshedji Lumji Api, Jartash-nama, Preface.
INTRODUCTION
and and
were working from
forces
at different angles.
The
xli
different directions life
and actions
of
Akbar cannot be explained by themselves without their context. The forces that had been working in him, were not Indian only. The psychology of Akbar was a complex phenomenon unlike, Asok he was an emperor first and a priest next. In the first chapter, we have described the setting of the Indian stage on which Akbar appeared. The time was propitious, and the ground had been prepared by the Hindu Saints and Muslim Sufis. A spirit of eclecticism and fusion was on the anvil. Forces were at work which would have moulded Akbar even without many of the the life of ;
polititical events.
In the second chapter, the hereditary
Chengiz and Timur and of Inspite of all
depicted. the age,
Akbar
the Central
their families)
the
could not be
liberal
(of
have been
tendencies of
absolutely
Asian influences.
traits
Many
free
from
of the social
Akbar can be explained by a reference to the manners and customs of his ancestors. The third chapter shows that Akbar was by
regulations of
by heredity a lover of knowledge, by experiences of early life impressionable and by court influences a Sunni. Here we notice the birth a mystic,
extremely devout bent of Akbar 's temperament. The foundation of the Ibadat Khana was a testimony to it
his reverence
was not F
and
faith in
God and
Islam and
the fruit of his scepticism and apostasy.
1280B
INTRODUCTION
xlii
The
fourth
deals with
chapter
Akbar was amazed
Ibadat Khana.
in the
the discussions
The
variety of interpretations of the Texts.
Khana, which,
start
other sections of
was disgusted by the Qazi
the
pilgrim tions
of
hall
to
ultimately, also to
Khana became a real On the other hand, Akbar
discovery of the
dishonesty
the distribution
in
department
lands, of the Sadr
ments, and
a
Ibadat
parliament of religions.
of
and,
Islam,
The
non-Muslims.
was
with,
Ibadat
Sunnis, was thrown open
the
for
worship
to
the
at
in the grant of
religious
of
endow-
of the Mir-i-Haj in the administration of
grants.
Akbar had
for reasons of state,
to issue
many
regula-
which the Mullas
inter-
preted from the religious point of view. In
Appendix
A
to this chapter
and Teharan, leading the acceptance of Mahzar, have been examined.
forces, especially of to
the extra- Indian
In
Appendix B
have also been
to
their
The
Akbar and
three
They illustrate the of some courtiers
chapter finds that
the
ever-expanding
Akbar could no longer be
satisfied
the Mulla interpretations of the laws of
Ibadat also
Khana was thrown open Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs,
Jew and
paintings
environments.
fifth
soul of
this chapter,
examined.
religious practices of
and
Bagdad
by
The
non-Muslims
Jains, Zoroastrians,
Here we have estimated the the different forces at work and their
Christians.
influences of
to
God.
INTRODUCTION
xliii
respective contributions to the psychological changes in
Akbar. In
the
sixth
Ains
the
chapter,
classified
summary
of
have been given, though, life of a Musalman follows no
regulations
strictly speaking, the
such
a
classification
:
to the orthodox
there
and nothing purely
purely religious
is
nothing
We
secular.
have discussed the different backgrounds of these regulations
it
;
has been shown that Akbar
was not by some of
ever did anything which
Quran
or the
Hadis
or
hardly allowed by the i
his predecessors.
an Appendix to this chapter the life of Badauni and his Mulla standpoint have been elaboIn
rately discussed, with a
and angularity In
of the
view
to depicting
the spirit
contemporary theocratic
mind.
the seventh chapter the Din-i-Uahi has been
discussed.
The
principles
The
have been given.
from the Persian
texts
ceremonies, initiations and
symbols connected with the religion have
been
described. In
the
last
the
chapter
has been described.
We
Din-i~Hahi in practice
have stated the reasons
and sundry and the non-missionary character of the religion. Akbar did not want that this Sufi cult should be accepted for its
non-acceptance by
all
by each and every one. Incidentally we have tried to show that Akbar never renounced Islam and that he was a Mussalman all through his life. An estimate of
Akbar
has been given.
in
relation
to
the
Din-i-Ilahi
CHAPTER THE
BACKGROUND
INDIAN
are not
instances
Certainly
Muslim monarchs have been
name
of religion in spite of
his
Commandments
land
believers
of
(Darul
the
"
to change beings, only into that of infidels the
the
"
to
credited with having
6,000,000 human
killed
when
wanting
guilty of crimes in the
Timur has been
contrary.
I
Harb
the victory at Ajmer, he
Darul Islam).
into
After
was greeted with a
turret
welcome built of 70,000 heads of the slaughtered and they were not unbelievers. One hundred thousand men were butchered at Sirusthi (Srabasof
and all would kill thi)
celebrate
victims
in the at
his
name
of Islam.
meals
2
the
:
would be the music
of
the
Hindu
dying
shrieks
of
Hindus
He
pilgrims
in
to
the
Sekan-
to his dinner.
15,000
prove his love for Islam.
ing
Sultan Bayezid
two Christians every day
least
dar Lodi slaughtered to
1
one day
stopped the bath-
in
the
Jamuna
at
Allahabad and forbade the barbers from shaving heads of pilgrims." Hundreds of similar instances 1
In regard to these facts,
fanaticism,
added
to the
list
we
are
indebted to Historians who, out of
of crimes of their heroes.
In their eyes, the
number of victims, attributed to the religious zeal made them greater still in the eyes of the Muslim world.
larger
of their heroes,
2
Lane-Poole (Turkey. Story of Nations series\ pp. 46-73.
3
Titus, Indian Islam, pp. 11-12,
THE DIN-MLAHI
2
could be
and
given to prove the
spirit of intolerance,
the believers.
bigotry, in
In
passages in the
("And
Quran
/
AxA/A^^A
4
find
them"),
"
which has been construed as
/
L^^ ^j&jXjJ|j
j**j-*jU-SLS
them wherever you
kill
there are
fact
A/A/.jAx
giving permission
to kill."
commands supposed
In spite of these
to justify
which were given purely
the slaughter of infidels
from secular points of view, we find revelations in the Quran which breathe an atmosphere of tolera-
and
tion to the non-believers
"
them. tians, as
He
an inclinable
against those
"
come
between both
mildest
the
in
who have
to
any but God." nor a Christian
a just
one
this
of Islam have opined that, in this verse, the to kill.*
worshipped not a Jew
neither
unto
resigned
4 Chap. II, Verse 191. There has been much comment on
pionoun
manner,"
determination
Ibrahim was
but
not
received the Scriptures,
to
parties, that they all
"
"
exhorted his followers
but
dispute,
and ushered
compromise with
to entertain friendship for the
He
true believers." to
of a
professed his good- will to the Chris-
The
verse.
God
adverse
Quran has given
critics
'
permission
But this v'erse must he read along with the previous one. The " " has its noun in the verse preceding, which has them
to" war with
the believers
permitted ^believers).
V.
190.
Southern*'
Muslims.
Thus
who were
fighting with the believers.
not a general
in
Verse
command.
toleration, for the
Quran
does not like those
191, the
Even "
says,
who exceed
those
refers to
who fight with you*' who fight with the
those
the killing of those
Quran permitted It is
an occasional commandment,
in this permission,
Do
we
read a note of
not exceed the limits
the limits."
Verse
190,
;
surely Allah
Chap.
II.
THE INDIAN BACKGROUND (Muslim)
He
gives
"
"
excellence
;
it
whom He
unto
the
further permitted
"
in the
is
3
hand
God
of
;
Muhammad
pleases."
professors of every
religion
which He prohibits all rights The document enunciated after the disputes."
certain
battle of Badr,
about
which was meant
the Christians
for
and Jews, is a wonderful testimony to the spirit with which the Prophet was animated Lastly the " If the Lord had pleased, verily all Prophet says, .
who
are
on the
would have believed
earth,
general, wilt thou therefore, forcibly
be true believers mission of
?
compel men
can believe but by the perDavid Shea and Antony Troyer ' '
are constrained to admit that although
by
these principles,
still
to profess
early
them
history of
in
the
stances of tolerance of
might be proud.
followers
conduct a strong denial
their
the
Quran was a sanction to ed
to
No soul
God."
too often gave
in
all
them
existence of
those
who were
words and actions/'
Muslim
Khalifas,
which any nation
Omar
ordered
we
to
in the
disposIn
the
find in-
or religion of
payment
damages done to the people of the country through which he passed during his Omar was so tolerant that Syrian expedition. compensation
for
he was willing to say his prayers in a Christian Church at Jerusalem. When Muhammad bin
Qasim
sent
information of
his exploits
to
his
Khalifa that he had demolished temples, converted
Hindus
to
Islam
and successfully "
against them, the Khalifa
waged war
reprimanded him,
for
it
THE DIN-MLAHI
4
was against sanction and usage of the Holy Law and ordered Qasim to compensate the damages 5 The conduct of the Muslims in done by him."
when
they dominated the Christians, is in contrast with the conduct of the Christians after
Spain
their victory in the East.
If
that spirit
translated into action, the history of
were always Islam would
have been written otherwise.
When Arabia,
it
Islam
came
beyond the
stepped
into contact with
men
limits
of
of different
life, and the influence of this foreign If contact silently worked themselves into Islam. Arabia had conquered Persia physically, the victim
outlooks on
conquered the victor
came
intellectually.
into contact with the
tribes of Central
amazed by
Asia,
Islam
Turki converts were
the
the idea of the
When
Turks and other nomad of
unity
Islamic principle of universal
God and
brotherhood.
the
They
were lured by
a prospect of a heaven in Islam,
glorious with all
its
mundane
joys.
This could be
secured by a war which would either make him a Shahid (a martyr to the cause of religion) or a Gazi (a killer of enemy), and heaven was both for a Shahid and a people,
Gazi.
For
these blood-thirsty
Islam offered two worlds
world and peace in the next.
power
in
this
Consequently, in Islam underwent
hands, the true precepts of distortion, as was the case with Christianity in the
their
5
Elphinstone, pp. 302-03.
THL INDIAN BACKGROUND hands
The own
the
of
5
barbarian
conquerors of Europe. Turki converts changed Islam to suit their
A careful
own way.
instincts in their
study
Turks and Afghans, who first invaded, conquered and ruled over Hindusthan, would of the early
prove the truth of our statement. Often these but invaders had personal motives of conquest ;
when
they found that a religious incentive would
give a fresh urge, they took advantage of
declared Jehad
war
name
in the
it
and
of religion.
Thus, the historian Utbi says of Mahmud of '* demolished Gazni that he (Mahmud of Gazni) idol temples and established Islam in them. He G
captured
the
cities, killed
troying the idolatrous
He
then
polluted wretches, des-
and
home
returned
Muslims.'*
gratifying
"
and
promulgated
accounts of the victories obtained for Islam
vowed
that every year
war against Hind." conquest
is
in sad
and
he would undertake a holy This spirit of Muhammadan
contrast
with that of the
first
Muslim administration of Sind under the orders 7 .the Khalifa. Hasan Nizami says of Muhammad
of
of
"
he (Ghor) purged by his sword, the land of the Hind from the filth of infidelity and vice, and
Ghor, freed
the whole of that country
from the thorn of
God-plurality and the impurity of idol-worship, and
by
6 7
his
royal vigour
Tilus, p.
and
his intrepidity left not
II.
Tajul-Ma'athir, Elliot
and Dowson, Vol.
II,
p. 217.
one
THE D1N-MLAHI
6
Iltutmish built the crest of the
temple standing."
mosque Arhai-din-ka-Jhopra out of the ruins of the temples of Hindus and Jains. The inscription on the temple
is
a very interesting study regarding
the motives of Iltutmish.
8
Alauddin, in spite of his
anti-Mulla perorations, would not hesitate to troy temples,
mosques
and he erected
in their place.
much
9
pulpits
The
des-
and arches
peculiar
of
mentality
Shah Tughluq, the praised flower of the Turko- Afghan period, was the type of attitude of the best O f the early Muslim conquerors. When Timur-Lang had come to India, the religious Muslim invaders had been objective of the condensed and formulated a specimen of this we read in the speeches of Timur on the eve of of the
Firoz
;
his Indian expedition,
Hindustan
of
is
"
My
object in the
lead an
to
expedition
the infidels that, according to the law
of
invasion against
Muham-
mad, we may convert to the true faith the people of that country, and purify the land itself from filth of and that we may overinfidelity and polytheism throw their temples and idols and become Gazis ;
10 and Mujahids before God." Is he not that Timur who led
all his
expeditions
against the believers except in Georgia and partly India ? Is he not that Timur who put 2,000 Shaikhs
Islam one
of
8
to
build
Horovitz, Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica, p. 30.
Amir Khusrau, 10
upon the other
E.
&
Malfuzat-i-Timuri, E.
D., Vol.
&
Ill,
D., Vol.
pp. 89 and 543. Ill,
p. 397.
a living
THE
human sand
INDIAN
BACKGROUND
them alive with lime and he not that Timur who destroyed the
wall, plastered
?
Is
accredited leader of Islam,
and himself took the the
name
we mean
the
Khalifa,
of Khalifat-ul-lillah ?
In
of religion, they excited their soldiers
and
themselves.
title
lands of
the
In
the
non-Muslims,
Afghans, Pathans and Mughal invaders
Turks, carried
7
the
Muhammad
message of death in the name of and Islam, and left no stone unturned
to convert the
land
of non-believers
into
land
a
of believers.
But in spite of
Hindus
the
headway
all
to Islam, Islam could not
The Hindus
India.
in
to
possible attempts
convert
make much
with
their
age-
and deep-rooted religious convictions would not easily change their faith. The old n Brahmin (Zunnar-Dar) at the time of Firoz Shah culture
long
Tughluq and Bhudan at the time of Sekandar Lodi would willingly and gladly offer their lives rather than
society
avoid
changed
their ancient
two
religion
;
at
places the lees of
their religion to avoid
persecution
take place.
the
their
change
;
Jezia
or
but mass conversions could not
The Hindu masses remained loyal The fundamental outlooks faith.
faiths
between.
of the
two "
to
of
are so different that volunlaiy con-
versions of the upper class Hindus were few far
to
and
Still, in course of time, the followers
faiths,
by
long
Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi,
E &
association
with
D., Vol. HI. p. 365.
each
THE
8
DIN-I-ILAHI
by a community of
other,
interests in daily
life,
problems in politics, unother. Even the consciously approached each most orthodox converts would not and could not
by a community of
the
up
give
been
rooted
manners and customs which had
them
into
The
centuries.
for
by Turko-Afghans was 12 in Persia by Arabs. was thorough The Turks, Afghans and Pathans, who attempted the earliest conversion in India, were satisfied with
Muslim
conquest in India
never
the
as
lip-service
Kalema and
change
Muhammadan
the
name
Thus one
and scarcely general. a
of
as
reading in
conversions were
Indian
the
Further
converts
the
of
the
it
of
China.
piecemeal
became
brother
while the rest of the family con-
same village a$d manners and cus-
tinued to be Hindus living in the locality
toms
;
one had
to
of the other.
borrow the
At
all
stages of social psycho-
logy, local instinct always plays
an important
where the
In the
Punjab specially, Turks was most prominent, the
activity tribal
part.
of
and
the local
bond has been always stronger than the religious 73 So an approach to fusion was more possible in the Punjab on the common ground of bond.
customs rather than on the ground of religious
if India had been conquered by the by the Turks, Afghans and Pathans, the preaching of Islam would have been different and with different results. 13 See transactions of the Third International Congress for the
12
Arnold
Arabs instead
is
of opinion that
of
History of Religions, Vol.
I,
p. 314.
9
THE INDIAN BACKGROUND
The mass
community. in
many
Magti, and Lachi. offerings to
The
Mirasis of Amritsar
Durga Bhawani.
is
frontier
Muhammadans pay The Avars U.
Bhats of
their bodies
Musalman "
the
P.
use
respect to the
W.
N.
of
The Maimans
priests.
Sitala,
as
give
goddess
Even
worshipped by Pindi Musalmans.
of pox,
of pox.
godlings such
local
worship
places,
Punjab Muslims
the
of
goddess
Punjab and the
Bramhins as their family of Kutch ascetics besmear
with ashes like Hindu Brahmins. " ** Suttars
the
of
Punjab
"
The
carry
a
and keep singing. The Sadique Nihang (in Jhang district, the Punjab) Muslim Faqirs " n In U. P. Chunikeep going a fire called dhuni."
danda
(staff)
hars worship
ceremony
* '
Kalka Mai
'
in imitation of the
'
and observe the Sradh
Hindus.
Lakshmi Devi
worshipped by the Turknowasof Eastern Bengal. Songs of Lakshmi are still sung by Muslim Faqirs in Western Bengal villages. According to some,
is
the Mushkil-asan cult of Bengal
is
a
relic of the fire-
" The " Dude-Kulas
worship of the Hindus.
of
Madras worship tools in the Dashera holidays as do the Hindus in the Biswa Karma Festival. The *
'
sect (founded in the 5th century) Sada-Sohag wear women's dress like the devotees of Bechna 15 Devi near Ahmadabad. 1
14
Kak,
Punjab Customary Laws
;
Islam in Kashmere, by Ramcharan
in the Journal of Indian History, 1928. J5
"
Madhya Juge
21.
2-1280B
Bharater Sadhana
" (Bengali),
by K.
M
Sen,
THE DIN-MLAHI
10
Panch Pir and Pir Badr are still worshipped by the boatmen of Hindu and Musalman sects in Bengal Satya Narayan Pir is a combination of Hindu god Narayan and Muslim Satya Pir. The Baul cult is an extreme form of Hindu-Muslim ;
The
sublimation.
Holi, Dewali, Dashera, Basanta-
Panchami and Baisakhi festivals are attended both by Hindus and Musalmans together. Same is the case with the
Muhurrum.
Kashmir, the Muslims
In
still
worship the tutelary godlings of
join
Hindu
marriage
as
themselves
tions
to Islam, are reluctant to
Musalmans. "
greetings
Their "
Ram, Ram
They use
and
;
in
practise
The
circumcision
Muhammadanism by
Hindu
mosques
and bury their dead. were converted to
who
Islam Shah Pirana in the
employ Brahmin
with their
are
their saluta-
they mostly worship in
Matia Kunbis,
century,
describe
names
temples, though, at times, they frequent
and
villages,
and employ Brahmins at their ceremonies. The Malkana Rajputs, festivals
though converts
Hindu.
their
priests
Muhammadan
and refuse
brethren.
to
1
5th eat
The Rasul
Shahis of the Punjab drink wine and claim to con" trol
superhuman deeds by means
of
"Tantia
an
"Yoga." In
the
process
of
this
fusion,
and
the
effortless
Hindu and Muhammadan, had done much more than the
attempts
of
the
saints
faqirs,
thousand and one swords of the Islamic conquerors. For, the appeal was to a subtler and softer side
THE INDIAN BACKGROUND of
man, where
the ordinary calculations of loss
gain could not weigh much.
became a
pulpits)
11
The Dargha (Muslim both Hindus and Mus-
resort of
When Mukhdum
lims (1072 A.D.).
and
Sayid Ali
Hadjwari) found his resort at Lahore and laid down his mortal remains there, his grave imme-
(al
1<J
became a place of pilgrimage for both Hindus and Muhammadans^ Even to-day, the
diately
a haunt for the
Hindu
Chishti-cult brought
by the
Bhathi Darwaza of Lahore
Muslim
saints.
17
illustrious saint
landmark
The
is
Mainuddin Chishti to India, is a of Indo-Muslim religious
in the history
He
Hindu pilgrimage of Pushkar at Ajmer. His name and reputation spread far and wide and his lustre fell upon India like the rays of the sun and he is called " thoughts.
chose
a place
the
Aftab-i-mulk-i-Hind,
near the
sun of
the
land
of
The Hindus were so much influenced by the Chishti-cult that we find round about Ajmer a sect called the Husaini Brahmins, who combine the Muslim religion with Hindu manners
Hindusthan."
and
customs
and
They claim to be Brahmins and declare the Atharva Veda to be their sacred book but at the same time they observe the fast of
16
Ramjan
For a
ul-Akhiar, by 37
as
rituals.
much
as they observe Sivaratri.
of the Muslim Saints and Suns Abdul Haqq (1572 A. D.).
list
Ganj Bakhsh's contribution
to
this
in
fusion
India, see
in
the
18
Akhbar-
Punjab
is
interesting 18
Shiva
"*
A
very sacred fast of the Hindus
in
honour of
their
god
THE
12
They beg alms the Prophet cision;
"
" 19
Tilak
like
Hindu
head.
in the
name
of
Hasan, grandson of practise circumthey bury the dead males wear Muslim dress and use
;
their
DIN-I-ILAH1
;
on
their forehead, but the females dress
ladies
They
and use vermilion on
"Mian Thakur."
style themselves as
Just opposite to this,
we
find
their fore-
Karim Shah becoming
a disciple of a Vaishnava saint and repeating Hindu
"Om.
'
20
TheKakas of Gujrat have been so much Hinduised that Hindu names and follow
their
they
all
allegorical
Alwal composed a praise of Siva.
Muhambeautiful
on the Padmavat " and paramatma." " and sang the Mahabharat
called
lyric
between
relation
retain
still
(1540 A.D.) composed a very " "
Jaisi
century)
Hindu customs Malik
their preceptors are faqirs.
though
mad
(15th
21
" " atma "
Mirza Hasan
AH
produced hymns
honour of the goddess Kali Kulliyat-i-nazir is a The treatise on the greatness of "Sri Krishna."
in
;
Batyana sect made a considerable
approach to Hindu Yoga and Tantra; they began to write books " " "
ShatDeha-Tatwa," on "Yoga/' Asan," 22 still these books are In the Punjab, Chakra."
found
19
in
of the old families.
many
23
Sacred marks of sandal or vermilion, a custom of orthodox
Hindus. 20
The symbol
21
History of Bengali Language, p. 793;
Poetry, by Dinesh
M
of the highest Trinity of
Chandra Sen, "
22
K
23
Ibid., pp. 21-25.
Sen,
Hinduism.
Hindu Gods
p. 25.
Madhya Juge
Bharater Sadhana."
in
Muslim
THE
The
BACKGROUND
INDIAN
great Chaitanya of
allowed
(1484 A.D.^
Bengal
Muhammadans
and
Hindus
both
become
13
to
Yavan Haridas was one
his disciples.
of
most important disciples. Rup and Sanatan, two of his important disciples, were so very tolerant to Muslim converts to Vaisnavism that the orthodox
his
Vaisnavas and Hindus refused to have any intercourse with them.
Ramanand, the great weaver, Kabir, as his caste
against caste
and put
and
social
Muhammadan He protested of God above
saint, ranks a
first
disciple.
faith in love
To him, "
rituals of religion.
there
is
He, question of caste and rank before God. devotes himself to God, is God." Kabir the personification of the process of
He
fusion in mediaeval India.
dox Hindu
"Upabash" and
(beads)
"
Tilak
'
" (marks).
1
was
Hindu-Muslim '
Tirtha
"Vrata"
(fast),
who
attacked the ortho-
' '
institutions like
no
(pilgrimage)
(rites),
"Mala"
2*
Kabir 's great friend was saint Taqi of the SahrHis daughter Kamal was married to wardi sect.
a Brahmin.
When
he was charged with apostacy Sekandar Lodi, he defended himself by
before
saying that his definite aim was to unite Hindus
and Musalmans.
His
followers,
Kabirpanthis,
remember
God
manner
Hindu Yogis. Even women were become his disciples and Gangabai was
"
their
breath,
in
the
of the
allowed to 74
along with
Hindi-ke Musalman Kabi,"
was a disciple of Kabir.
p.
35.
Some
say that
Kamal
THE DIN-MLAHI
14
The
one of them.
and Nam-
great saints Ravidas
deb were contemporaries of Kabir and were much *' influenced by him. Ravidas was a Chamar," a cobbler, and his disciple was the Queen Jahli of
Mewar. Kabir was followed by Nanak; the former, on
his
death-bed,
would his
die
have remarked that he
said to
is
peace because
in
Nanak
place.
raised
against idolatory, caste-system
Tell
me where
same God
did you get two Gods
called differently
is
;
Allah or
Nanak would his
voice
of
take
protest
and communalism. 26
who
has led you astray ?
Ram, Karim
The
or FCeshav, Hari
or Hazrat.
The same God Every one
lives
is called Mahadev, Muhammad, Brahma or Adam*. on the same earth, one is called Hindu, and the other
Turk.
The
first
reads the Vedas,
Pundit, the other
They earth.
style
is
called
the second the Quran, one
called
themselves separately though they are pots of the same
Kabir says, both are mistaken
Macauliffe
is
Maulana.
" :
He who
Of
;
none has got
worshippeth stones,
Ram
(God).
visiteth places
pilgrimage, dwelleth in forests,
And
icnounceth the world, wandereth and wandereth,
How can
his filthy
mind become pure?**
THE INDIAN BACKGROUND His
teachings
were so
Musalman
death, his
liberal
disciples
15
that,
claimed
his
after
his
dead
Nanak's Japajis were more inHinduism than by the Dohas of Kabir. His Musalman disciples assert that he was initiated
body
for
burial.
fluenced by
by a Sufi saint, Say id Hasan. He In Bagdad, even visited Mecca on a pilgrimage. his teachings have been embodied in Arabic and " " there stood for a long time Nanak's Dargah into mysticism
in that Islamic centre.
Dadu
2f>
makes a definite attempt to combine the Hindus and Musalmans. Like he denounced Kabir, pilgrimage, idolaconsciously 1575 A.D.)
(
and outward symbols. Amongst his most important disciples were Sheikh Baharji, Bakarji and Rajjabji. try
Even in
the far
a
new
distant cult
land
called
appeared founded by Shankardeo.
"
of
Assam,
there
"
Mahapurushia
was more liberal than Vaisnavaism. Himself he was a Kayastha. He counted amongst his disciples a large number of " " Musalmans. To him Temples were fraud and " " Prasad Their Gurus are not hypocrisy. It
Brahmins.
Sanatan Goswami, a Hindu saint from Gaur, founded a new order called the Darweshia. The
Darweshia
26 *
is
cult
is
like that
of
the Vaisnavas
and
K. M. Sen says that Dadu was a Muslim and his original name '
Dayood
which means
'
devoted/
THE
16
DIN-I-ILAHI
They wear beads
Bauls.
and put on the dress
called
"
Tasbih-mala
"
Muslim faqirs called Their songs contain the names of Allah, Muhammad and of various saints. Khoda, " " The sect show an extreme form of Saini fusion of Hindu and Muslim faiths. They drink intoxicating liquors and wear beads round the neck, bangles on the wrist and observe the fast of Ekadasi, etc., but like Musalmans they eat beef. of
'Alkalla.'
Khakshafa," of beads is called " Their secret Mantra is Pir
Sulimani beads.' '
sat hai
(the
Guru
the following verse
L
a
o^u-
^
-
**
the
They bring their beads, called from Mecca and the chain is
truth).
They
utter every
day
:
^J
The main feature of these Hindu teachers was new outlook on religious quest. They sacri-
ficed
the
forms and
the bedrock of the of Harsha.
rituals
Hindu
which had formed since the
society
In almost all of them,
we
time
find a direct
and eloquent protest against the ritualistic cult The of Hinduism and a faith in the Almighty. metaphysical aspect of the Hindus was combined with ethical aspect of the Semitics. of their
dogmas and the
stress
on
The
rigidity
their rituals
were
THE INDIAN BACKGROUND
much toned down by the who came almost in a this period is full
The Hindu
of
onrush of these teachers,
The
host.
Hindu
literature of
and thoughts.
ideas
who appeared
poets
17
in
this
period
no less were Muslim writers saturated with Hindu thoughts. The Muslims even addressed themselves in Indian Amir Khusrau not only followed the languages. Indian style but he combined it with Sanskrit and adopted the style of the Muslims
Hindi
;
:
fS 'l
-'^
r
-$
?)) ^i*
"|o-"t
Amir Khusrau he was sneered
at
was so liberal that orthodox Muslims as a
(13th century)
by the
worshipper of idols.
He
replied to his critics M^
3--I288B
-uLc
:
THE
18
D1N-I-1LAHI *T
" I
am
begotten of
have sacred threads
I
is
love,
all
ajj4* j-LL
need no Islam,
I
my
through
veins, there
no need of any other threads. People say Khusrau worships the
course
am
I
doing
this
and
1
idols
:
of
stand not in need of
the peoples of the world/'
poems of Kamal (1565 A.D.), we find Hindu Prophets and Gods taking a definite
In the
the
place
:
1TO
*ft
3RW
Ram's name has
fulfilled
Lakshman's name has shown
By Krishna's name, name,
1
the advent
A.D.J
themes of the
The Hindu eternal
crossed the sea
I
my
all
me my ;
desires;
destination. in
Vishnu's,
find the peace of heart."
With (1518
tJTf Wit,
of
Hindu Muslim
Malik
allegory writers
Muhammad entered of
Hindu
into
of
the
poetry.
idea of transmigration of soul,
synthesis
Jaisi
and
Atma and Paramatma, found
expression in the
famous
the Padmavat.
Here, under the allegory of the
allegorical treatises called
THE INDIAN BACKGROUND struggle between Alauddin is
19
and the Rana
of Chitor,
from the Hindu standpoint soul between the forces of
excellently depicted
the
struggle
good and
a
in
His other Hindi works are no " Akharabat is still regarded as
evil.
"
less
important.
a standard work of Hindi literature. Rajjabji (1538-98) saint
He
Dadu and was
sang
By
was a
great
disciple
a follower of the
Rama
the cult.
:
number of Muslims had cult of Rama.
his time, quite a
definitely taken to the
Abdur Rahim Khan Khanan, son Khan,
of
of
Bairam
one of the best cultural products of the " " read like the outHindi Dohas
is
His
age.
pourings of a great Vaishnava saint
"
Oh
:
you converted your mind into a beautiful Chakor, which day and night looks at the
!
Rahim,
if
moon."
TW it *f WIT* ^t ^Tq-
I
II
" of
Oh
life,
!
Rahim,
there
is
Ramachandra."
if
you desire
to
cross
no other way but the
this
sea
shelter of
THE
20
DIN-I-ILAHI
Rahim's love poems are specimens of a wonderful combination of Sanskrit and Hindi :
^
|5ITt
II
35TT
Kanu played on dense grove, night,
I
deserted cupid, son, sleep
and ran away
;
has come upon
Rahim was is
responsible
*'
poems
for
husband
what a calamity
and he
the
translation
of
some
Let us quote from one of dedication
Ratnakar
Oh
my
a good scholar in Sanskrit
Padma (Goddess thee,
and
Oh God of Love, my head again/'
logical treatises.
Sanskrit
midst of a
dead of a moonlit autumn
the
at
the
his flute in
is
his
:
your home; your
of Fortune)
astroof
.
spouse
[What shall
I
is
give to
Hence accept this my already taken by Radha."
lord of the world?
heart, as your heart
is
The eclectic tendency of these Hindu teachers and Muslim litterateurs was very favourable for
THE INDIAN BACKGROUND Muslim
the reception of the
been making slow but the
heart
steady
Hinduism
of
Sufi
since
21
who had
saints
towards
progress their
advent
first
inSind(812 A.D.).
The in India
origin, is
growth and development of Sufism
The
really a very interesting study.
Indian
atmosphere, charged with its assimilative cosmic ideal and its Vedantic outlook, was very congenial to
and
the growth of the Sufi ideas, Islam, with
its
rigidity, clear
absence of metaphysics,
commands and emphatic
"
an
attitude of
mind and
its
taboos
Sufism
favourable to the birth of Sufism. all
same time
at the
is
stern
was after
God and
heart toward
problems of life which is as different from strictly orthodox Islam as Quakers are from Catholics." In course of time Sufis, by interpreting
Quran and some
the
God
replied to
by terrible admit meta-
persecution as the orthodox refused to
physics into their citadel of Ethics. to conjecture
if it
It
what would have been
is
the
difficult
trend
of
a religion almost bankrupt in Metaphysics
would not have come
in touch with
physics in Persia or Greek in
of
of
But these abstractions were
Islam
verses
Mercy and Wrath, into idea under the title of Love and Truth.
sonalised Allah, the
an abstract
some
sayings of the Prophet, deper-
Yunan.
through
The Aryan
contact
with
intellectual
Aryan metaabstractions
idea of receiving instructions
a
soul
already illumined,
permeated with Semitic Islam or, in other words, the doctrine of Pir-Murid (Master and Disciple),
THE
22
permanently stuck Hafiz went so far as
wine
into the
if
DIN-I-ILAHI into
root
its
"
to
say,
Islam in Persia.
Drown your
pulpit
your Pir says so, for your guide
knows the way and
its
destination."
27
The
Sufis
believe that the
soul
may
marvellous powers of the illumined be brought to the use and advantage of the
When
Muslims appeared in India through the north-western gates from Persia, they found that the Indian mind was already in consodisciple.
the
nance with Aryan thoughts akin
and
that a process of fusion
to those in
Persia
had already begun.
In
Muslim Saints Chishti, Bahlol, Latiff, and Shah Baz were making steady progress. In the
Sind,
Northern India Kabir, Nanak, Raidas and Chaitanya
had already softened the rigidity of Hinduism and the Muslim Saints and Sufis found ready response amongst the people of India. No less were the Muslims influenced by the Hindu Saints. In course century, the Sufis adopted the
of a
' '
' '
of
Guru-Shishya
their 27
(Master and
doctrine
Disciple) with
all
technique of worship. Dara Shukoli
Indian synonyms for Sufi terms.
synonyms
:
Sufi
Hindu
English ...
Hal
..
TanasukK
.
Nafs
.
Meditation
...
Ecstasy
.
Transmigration Contiol of nerves
...
... '
4
Shariat, Tariqat, Ma'rfat, Haqiqat
Hindu
refer* to similar.
-
Zik^
of
Hindu
life
-
Annamay Kosh.
Hiianmay Kosli Like a Hindu the sun, plunging
burning
Punarjanma Pranayam
Nyas
are equivalent
to
four stages
Pranamay Kosh, Jnanamay Kosh,
YOJJI, a Sufi practise*
in water,
Dhyan Samadhi
penance of body by standing
in fire.
in
THE INDIAN BACKGROUND
By
23
the 16th century, Sufi teachers divided them-
selves into various orders according to their individual
experiences
religious
in India there
;
the
age was very favourable
to the
the Sufi tendencies and orders in
were as many
The
as seventy- two sects (Bahatar Ferqa).
spirit of
of
development
Islam
It
.
was a
amongst many Muslims that, after ,000 years of Muhammad's advent, would appear Al-Mehdi who " would set disorders at right. By the time Akbar was in India, the cycle of ,000 years had just been
belief
1
5
'
1
completed
;
volumes of
had been written
literature
in all parts of Islam regarding the
Abdul Qadir Badauni
Mehdi.
khabut-Twarikh, that tific
appearance of Al-
says, in his
"questions
Munta-
of Sufism, scien-
discussions, enquiries into philosophy
and law
were the order of the day." Many conflicting doctrines and interpretations were introduced and controversy
was
among
the
religionists
and commentators and uncharit-
characterised by bitterest feelings
able effusions.
In
claimant arose
who
and
outside
professed
India
themselves
many as
a
the
promised Messiah to name a few only in India Mir Sayid Muhammad of Jaunpur, Ruknuddin * of Delhi, Sayid Ahmad of Guzrat, Shaikh Ali ;
of Byana.
a
terrible
The
forces of this
Mehdi movement gave
shake to the orthodox Sunni interpretations
and prepared the way for new doctrines The movement was in another way germinate. of Islam
consonance with the
spirit of the time in India.
old stereotyped interpretations
would not
fit
to
in
The
in with
THE
24 the expanding
land of India
DlN-l-ILAHI
empire of Islam in the non-Muslim liberal interpretations
were the needs of the moment
;
and adaptations
without the
spirit of
would be far too strong for Muslim any empire-builder in Hindusthan. This move of Islam on a new quest was not an isolated movement nor a sporadic growth. Just both then, a wave was passing all over the world in the East and in the West. It is the nature of the world-thought movements that civilisations of a more or less similar stratum are effected consciously a Mehdist the orthodox
common
In Europe,
or unconsciously
by
the
sphere was pulsating with a
intellectual
wave
The
of scholasticism
leading to the
Renaissance.
whys and wherefores of everythe famous system of Inductivism in
the field of logic
and enquiry
truth led to the rebirth of
whole
civilised
world was
the quest of the old
;
old learning.
the in
an
The
intellectual travail.
and the Indian mind were also the same thought-currents. The rise
Islamic world
recipients of
of
new
search for the
thing led to
The
currents.
Ramanand, Ravidas, Kabir, Chaitanya, Dadu,
Mirabai and others on the one hand, and of Saber,
Abu Ali
Kalandar, Nizamuddin Awlia, Bahlol and
others on the other,
were
in
part
due
to the time
Neo-Sufism and scholastic theology and repudiation of the orthodox interpretations of the Hadis force.
and the Quran are but the different features of the same movement or their reactions. In India, the " scholastics and spiritualists were all putting the
THE INDIAN BACKGROUND world
to flames.
was not
He
"
The mind
of
young Abul Fazl
satisfied with the learning he had
intended to
quest of goods
move "
for
to
25
in India.
Laban, Tibet, Bagdad "in
his
ever -expanding
intellect.
Badauni compares him to "a man who, having a light in his hand and not knowing what to do, came out into the street in the day-time." Indeed the " the their of made a scholastics, by intellect, light
day of a night and a night of a day." Akbar appearing in that age in the midst of the scholastic environments during the process of cultural fusion, was but the natural product of the spirit of the time
and not a mere accident.
4
U8UJ5
CHAPTER
II
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND The
Akbar marks
birth of
the process
of
of
unification
houses of Central
consummation
the
the two greatest
in
those of Chengiz
Asia,
Khan
Akbar combined in him all and Timur-Lang. that was best in the two of the greatest men Asia
Central
of
in
middle ages.
the
known
Chengiz
as the scourge
Khan, apparently of God and man, was not altogether devoid of finer elements in his nature. Without entering a justification or vindication of Chengiz Khan,
into it
in history
may
be stated that, in religion, he gives the
the popular
conception
In religious belief,
the
of
great
lie
conqueror.
Chengiz was a Shaman.
"
3
"
"
to
He "
*' is possibly a loose form of Buddhist Shramana Shaman which means a monk, though Encyclopedia of Religions, Vol. XI, p 441, " " Shaman is derived from native Tungus name for priest suggests that
1
man much from the
or medicine so
Though
between the two its
special feature
originally Buddhist,
Shamans have deviated
one hardly finds any similarity " Idols are worshipped in this form of religion but
religion of
is
Buddha,
the influence
that
of the
Shamans
astrology to have communication with
power
lies
in
the fact that
unseen world as
to those
(Kennedy, Vol
I,
the will of
God
incantation or
;
demons and
They
familiars.
practise
Their main
they pretend to have information from the " are about to cause misfortune in the future
who The Shaman
p. 14.).
foietells the future
when he awakens (from
herbs),
These
(or priests).
persons differ not very greatly from African rain-doctors.
he remembers
Rythmic songs, prayers and adorations Kaiwamic.
his trance
nothing of are used
and declares
under the
spell of
what has passed.
by the Shamans
in the
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND believed in
God
but not in dogma, respected
was
and
religions
27
often
at all
present
all
religious
ceremonies of his subjects, for, from the state point found it useful that the people under his authority should give evidence of their faith in of view, he
God." 2
After the
men
brought some learned
them
He
of
conquest
to his court,
information on the doctrine
for
did not find
inferior to
it
any other
knew, hut denounced pilgrimage useless, saying that the whole world
God and
of
3
where. says,
the
modern
he
Mecca
as
house
the
is
the
Mughals,
discipline,
virtues that
ideal of a state,
were taught
court/'
his
at
practised
religion
to
in his history of
tolerance,
"Justice,
Islam.
of
him from every-
prayers reach
that
Howorth,
make up and
Chengiz and asked
Iran,
1
In
with
keeping
his contemporary usages, Chengiz was absolutely careless of human lives "he had a general belief that all religions had more or less truth and more ;
or less
born
is
untruth in them."
immortal.
It
5
"The
goes
body
that
is
hence without home
"h or resting place.
This
of
spirit
in the family of the
are
not
fettered
is
free-thinking
Mughals by
any
a
of Central Asia, belief,
2
Felix Vayle, Islamic Culture, Hyderabad, Vol.
3
Ibid, p. 18
4
Howorth
gives a fine description of the
Kennedy, History
6
Howorth, Vol.
I,
of the
p
104
Mughals, Vol.
I,
trait
" they
restrictions
I,
1927,
Mughals
home. 5
common
p. 13.
p
of
17
in their original
THE
28
dogmas."
An
7
DIN-I-ILAH1
pervaded the whole
eclectic spirit
"
took
They family of Chengiz. the Nestorian Christian (of form), Buddhist services."
Mangu Khan's
8
part equally in
Muhammadan and
Howorth describes a scene of " in which Christian services "
court
On one feast day, Mangu were performed." Khan's chief wife and her children entered the kissed
Nestorian Chapel,
the
and then gave her
saints,
Mangu also was down on the gilt
right
fashions
the
according to
present and
the
with
enough
their eyes,
still
lands,
mand." instinct
Nestorians.
spouse sat
said to have killed
is
at 10
Bagdad, protected They were liberal
A in
merce.-
they carried the message of death
Though
naries.
his
the
be kissed
employ Christian generals and
to
and destruction "
those
men
Ali at Kerbela.
of
the
to
of
throne before the altar."
hundred thousand
tomb
hand
hand
of
Even Hulaku Khan, who eight
right
wha
in
:ever direction they turned
they carried to and
brought from knowledge they could com-
the
all
of
spirit
*'
them.
people," says H.
G
inquiry
was
a
native
Though not an originative Wells, "yet as transmitters
knowledge and method their influence upon enormous." 11 Kublei world's history has been
of
7
Howorth, Vol.
*
Kennedy, Vol.
9
Howorth, Vol
10
Kennedy, Vol.
I,
I,
I,
I,
p. 202.
p. 27 p. 190
p
30.
Outlines of the History of the description of the
Mongol
culture.
World by H. G. Wells,
gives a fine
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND Khan, grandson in
of
Chengiz,
the Pope,
to
269, a mission with evident intentions of finding
1
some common mode
He
kingdom.
and
learning to
sent
29
Western
action with the
men was
Here
understanding.
fulfil their
converting the great
to their faith for
Mughals had been attempts previously made. failed to utilise
then at
two
the
which
But when
of knowledge, they
papacy was
for
opportunity,
worst and struggling for existence.
its
friars
attempts
some men
for
sent
were unequal
made by
proved abortive.
to the
Inspired
task.
The The
and Catholics
Nestorians
the
an
ambition of
opportunity for the Popes to
Kublei asked
of
should be sent to his court
ability
an
establish
of
asked that one hundred
by the great Chinese
sage, Chu-Tsi, Kublei
a Chinese name, for
He
gave
Khan, the Mongol, accepted he was an Emperor of China.
wonderful
a
"He
tone
the
to
Shamanic
religion and respect began culture of the conquered and did not believe in He was the cultural superiority of the victors.
cult.
kind to the learned,
gave them
and
the
to
shelter,
tradition.
He
with the interest of
and poets, and
to the artists
of
their
religion
identified
himself
irrespective
completely his
subjects.
Kublei to revive Chinese
The
agriculture,
efforts
his
of
great
laws he struggle against famine, his financial ordered the printing of bank-notes and his works of
charity
The
deserve
Chinese
admiration
historians
of all generations.
recognise
that
this
THE DIN-MLAHI
30
descendant of the
" greatest ruler. If
swordsman was
greatest
their
JL>
Kublei was great as a ruler of Chinese
soil,
he
was greater still as a ruler of Chinese soul. To decide what was the best among the religions of the people,
men
he called a council of the wise
Thus came
the
Muslim
of all belief s.
divines, Buddhist
1;5
Shamans, and we
Christian theologians to the Imperial Court
a very fascinating
possess
record of their discus-
sions in the writings of Rubrukis, Saint Louis,
of
of
King
France.
the 11
Gospels were asked to be translated. the great
Lama, was
at his court
ambassador
The
Christian
Mati-Dhwaja,
and was afterwards
honoured with the seat of the Tibetan Dalai Lama.
A
great
lj from Tibet Lama, named Shakya Pandit
(probably of Indian origin), went over to his court, and is said to have delivered three lectures on
Buddhism
he ultimately convinced Kublei of the
;
of
greatness
Buddha and was The the (or preceptor). Phagspa is credited with having invented a new the teachings
accepted as '
'
Phagspa
of
'
'
alphabet for the use of Kublei 's empire, combining 12
Relix Vayle, Islamic Culture, Vol.
I,
p. [9.
China, Kublei had a precedent in Tai-Sing who called a similar council to decide the merits of Neostiian Christianity, Islam, 13
In
Buddhism and Laotzeism.
Beginning from Asok,
we
" find,
Religious
conferences follow one upon the other at the court of the Asiatic rulers in
means of reconciling the different doctrines.'* Felix Vayle. Guillamme Baucher, a Persian, and Eaquette de-Melz, a French
search of a 14
lady, are also 15
mentioned
Sanskrit
*'
Acharya, meaning
in this
Shiksh," "
connection
Chinese
preceptor."
Po-se-pa,
Bhaspa and Phagspa;
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND the
trians.
10
the
of
script
This
of
background are mainly beliefs
of
Asia.
responsible for the changes
embraced Islam
stan, they
Muslim by
profession, they
traces
.
religious
tribes in different parts
China
in
adopted South Russia and Western Turki-
in
;
tendency to
a steady
of
Mughal Mughals
The
Buddhism
earlier
the
in
a
enquiry,
and absence
free-thinking
of
Mongols and Zoroas-
Chinese,
spirit
31
of
Ukraine reverted
;
in
Kipchak, though most of their
retain
still
Shamanism.
The Mughals
to
forming the tribes in Russia
of
Christianity,
nomad half-civilised The pliability of the Mughals to some extent continued even when they reached Cossacks
and Poland
two
hundred years of their stay in Islamic environments. If they had not embraced
India
after
Islam
before
came
they
well have accepted the its
merits
to
they might as
India,
religion of
India
with
all
and demerits.
The same
characterises
spirit
Akbar.
The
the
paternal
Turks who accepted made it a condition precedent that, even Islam, when Muslims, they would not part with wine and would not kill cows By no means was their pro-*
line
of
early
] '
\
fession
of
Islam orthodox.\
Timur-Lang was so
wonderful a personality that a thousand and one fascinating
grew around him
fables
For a discussion on of
Phagspa 17
in
Asia'Major
-
this
srript, see
Kennedy, Vol
Sachau's Introduction to Alberuni.
I,
and he
is
the aiticle on the alphabet
p
34.
THE
32
most diverse
in
depicted
DIN-1-ILAHI
according to the He is claimed as
lights
temperament of the authors. an orthodox Sunni, and no credit
him
Schismatic of
be a Gazi
to
he
;
is
hated
in
He
cursed
God and men.
And
too.
pagan
;
is
there
is
a
less
Shia
some
;
shun him as a
others
Europe as a scourge
more
by others as a or
less
truth
in
every one of the epithets applied to him. His conquest extended from the Mediterranean to the
Ganges and from Pekin
to
Moscow.
His
been written by the vanquished, and venom, which the vanquished
history has
certainly the spirit of
bore against 1R
the
The
writings.
victor,
their
Musalmans, whom he Bagdad and Allepo,
Sunni in
destroyed
practically
has entered into
never accepted him as an orthodox Musalman and he was looked down upon by the Khalifas and
Ulama
He
as a pagan.
Even
ence for Mecca. Khelafat,
monarch
after
refused
Say ids of
did not feel
Islam.
in
the
to
much
rever-
conquest of the
regard
him
as
In his communications,
a
he
never styled himself a monarch of Islam, which isr orthodox Muhamthe custom with invariably
He styled himself, "I, Timur, a servant God/' He never changed his hereditary name
madans. of
" *8 Harold Lamb, Tamerlane the Earth Shaker,*' a well-known work on Timur. Zafarnama, written by Sarafuddin Ali, under the patro-
nage of the Timurids, i-Timur by
Ahmad
bin
is full
of
flattery.
Abbas Shah
is full
Ajaib-ul-Moqdur fi Akhbarof venom, and i* not trust-
worthy. 79
Harold
Lamb
has thrown interesting sidelights on Timur 's religion.
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND *'
Amir Taimur Gurgan." 20
destroy the Khalifa
name. title
He
He
never scrupled to
and had the Khutba read
did not
even hesitate
of Khalifat -ul-lillah to
Christians
assume the pose as the greatest com-
not his
an
The
tenable.
profession
of
as his
envoys
He gladly to
different
The
Mustahat-i-Sultanat,
which
circumstances
the Sunni
creed,
Fariduddin Bey, in
political.
superiority
claim of his panegyrists orthodox Sunni Musalman is
courts.
contemporary that he was
in his
to
mander of the faithful, vindicating the of Timurid arms to those of Abbassids. employed
33
J1
were purely
famous work,
his
the
states
drew
occasion of
his
Yusuf of Khaput, the wrath of from Timur, sought shelter at the flying court of Bayezid of Turkey. To Timur's demand for surrender Bayezid gave an evasive reply by declaration of the Sunni creed.
introducing
irrelevant
reflections
on
his faith
and
This step drew from Timur a great profession of Sunni orthodoxy against the faith
orthodoxy.
of
The
Bayezid.
famous
battle of
of Bayezid.
orthodoxy
in
Angora
in
1
Then followed the vindication of his Rum, when the Ottoman Turks had
acknowledge
to
ended in the 402 and in the death
altercation
his
supremacy and accord
Amir wears a commander's crest which Gurgan means a son-in-law and it icfers family. 20
is
to
hereditary in his
to his ancestor
Nuyun
Karachar's marriage with a daughter of the family of Changiz Khan.
See Abul Fazl, Vol. Ill, p. 204. 21 Published from Constantinople, 1274 A.M.
5-1280B
THE
34
him the
title
Timur t he
till
The
of Khalifat-ul-lillah.
continued in
Khalifat-ul-lillah
of
DIN-I-ILAHI
the end
Sepoy Mutiny.
Musalman
of
their
the
house of
in
1857 after
dynasty
22
no Musalman
or
pretension
believer or non-
him, every one, who dared challenge The his supremacy, was to be put to the sword. believer
to
speeches which Timur delivered on the eve of his expeditions were always more political than reli2<J
gious.
The
peculiarity
is
that all his
wars were
fought against the Islamic countries except against
Georgia and India (where the reigning monarch was a
Muhammadan
Hindu).
though the population was mostly
Professions
of
suited
orthodoxy
those
conquerors best, for religious susceptibility is easily touched and, when inflamed, it works wonders.
To
seems strange that he believed himself to be an agent of God on earth and that it was the us,
it
God on him
commission of
To oppose him was He would God.
to
to
conquer the world.
24
go against the command of
not
believe
a
like
Shia that
the Khelafat belonged to the family of the Prophet 22
Parliamentary speeches in the House of
Commons on
the Sepoy
Mutiny, referred to in the Leicester University Lecture, 1924 (Islamic Section/. 23
24
'
Institutes of
Timur
A similar belief
is
'
gives a clue to his mind.
ascribed to the Mughals in general that
God
created two worlds
and kept heaven
to his son, Chengiz.
The great conqueror of Thebes believed that he The great Corsican thought himself to be guided
was the son
of Zeus.
by the unseen hand uige.
of Destiny.
for
himself and
Kaiser Wilhelm
felt
gave
this earth
a similar Divine
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND nor would he associate, like a Sunni, the with the
of
suzerainty
Ka'ba.
irony of circumstances for the in the least hesitate to build
of
believers
as the
in
champion
conversion
his delight, success
Turki
land of
to
instinct,
with
did not
25
heads
to
attempt
pose at the
To
non-believers.
ambition was his guiding
Timur,
who
be an
turrets of
Allepo and Damascus the
of
man
and
Khelafat
would
It
twenty
of true Faith
35
was
his joy.
its
insatiable
star,
blood was
Timur's intrepid thirst
for blood,
could only be appeased with blood.
But Timur the man is drowned in the midst of Timur the conqueror. Below the blood of the Turk and Mughal that ran in his veins, flowed a current of the mystic in him.
human
Behind the
turrets of
70,000
behind the graves of 4,000 human beings buried in Armenia, behind the wall of 2,000 Shaikhs of Seistan, Timur the man is lost skulls,
"
sight of.
His anecdotes have been calumniated
by vituperation of the chroniclers of Persia and 20 They Byzantium whom he had defeated/' " was as prone as any failed to see that Timur medieval catholic, wherever he found a shrine, to pray
at
it,
asking
who might be
from the dead
protection
buried there.
21
They
saint
failed
to
decipher in the midst of the ashes of destruction that Timur's order was to save colleges and hospitals. 25
E. G. Browne, Literary History of Persia, p. 160.
26
Felix Vayle, Islamic Culture, Vol.
27
Kennedy, Vol.
I,
p. 76.
I,
1927.
THE
36
DIN-l-ILAHl
Every evening after the turmoils of the war were over, he called the group of the pious and the learned men and had discussions with them, which 28 The bloody Timur spent most he prized much." " talk with green-tuibanned holy men of his hours in who had visited the Shrines of Islam and gained 29 Bin Arab Shah says that he sanctity thereby." used to have books read to him every evening.
Timur
us
tells
which
kingdom
his
in
10
Institutes
reduced,
I
back
gave
I
"Every
;
the
government of that kingdom to the prince thereof, and I bound him in chains of kindness and generosity
drew them
I
;
and sub-
into obedience
overcome by their own I devices, and appoint over them a vigorous, This version sagacious and upright governor/'
The
mission.
the
to
;
I
the
spirit
of
Timur.
To
the
he was a veritable instrument of destruc-
refractory, tion
in with
fits
exactly
refractory
submissive he was
all
bountiful.
he planted himself outside the city, raised a white flag as a sign of peace inviting submission if submission was not tendered,
Before
a
conquest,
;
a red flag
was
nobles;
yet
flag
if
would
hoisted, intimating
submission was not tendered, black
fly
as a signal for the burial of the city
and on the Dark Horses enemy's 28
For a
city
detailed
Institutes of
would gallop
to
;
the
with unvarying consequences. description,
Davy's edition. 29 Harold Lamb, Tameilane, 30
the death of the
Timur, Vol.
see
Institutes
p. 21.
II,
(Davy's Trans.).
of
Timur, Vol.
II,
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND
One can midst of
the
wonder how
only
his universal
this
pillage,
destruction, could care to take with
even
in his
To him,
campaigns. the Shaikhs were as
In war, the place of
the soldiers.
conqueror, in
plunder
him
much
37
the learned,
a necessity as
the learned
assigned at the farthest and safest corners tainly not a happy compliment to them.
regard
known.
versally
and Ulama was
the Shaikhs
for
so famous in
In
the
of
Timur
the Terrible
was cer-
His
too uni-
destruction of Bagdad,
history, so notorious for
he spared the learned.
and
This
its
peculiar personality
and Timur the
indeed an interesting study.
cruelties,
A
Mystic
is
mystic regard for
Darweshes and Saints and an admiration
for the
learned went hand in hand with the cold-blooded
human
disregard of
in
but to repair the ravages committed
Sir
Malcolm,
by
his father."
of
life.
Shah Rukh (1304-47) was interesting, though " another way. He desired not to extend," says " This prince also encouraged
and
science n
splendid."
Timur was
learning
"In
and
his
court
men was
empire founded by the efforts of Mirza Shah
brief, the
refined
by
Rukh, who during a long period busied himself in repairing the devastation wrought by his predean extraordinary fact that the son of one so hard-hearted should be so kindly, amiable,
cessor
It is
&
Malcolm,
"
History of Persia," Vol.
I.
p. 487.
38
THE
DIN-I-ILAH1
gracious and friendly to learning,
and courtesy
to
showing favour specially to scholars and
all,
1
men
Abdul Qadir of Muraghah the musician, Queyamuddin the architect and engineer, Maulana Khalid the painter, adorned his court. T2 "
of parts.'
On Friday and Monday evenings," "
Bashi,
he used heart
Quran by
scripture in his
to
assemble those
and caused them
Muazzam who knew the
says
to recite the entire
presence."
son of Shah
By-sundar,
Rukh, was a
great
Poets, artists, scholars and patron of learning. painters found a lord bountiful in him. They
came from
Pars, Azar-baijan
Iraq,
and from
all
parts of Asia.
another
son of Shah
Rukh, built at famous observatory and compiled
Ulagh,
Samarkand his the famous astronomical
known
tables
as Zich-i-
Ulagh Beg. "
The Timurids were no
Dr. F. R. Martin,
show men,
that
they
83
"
indeed
barbarians,"
were highly
civilised
real scholars, loving art for
alone without ostentation. their
battles,
libraries,
they
and writing
composed
the
and refined
sake of
In the intervals
enjoyed poetry,
thinking
many
of
says
goes to
everything
art
between of
their
them having
poetry that far excels that of their poets."
By-sundar was the founder of the most elegant 32
"
" Turkey, 33
The
miniature painting
and
painters of
by F. R. Martin.
Turkhi, Trans, by Farughi, p. 266-67.
Persia,
India
and
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND
book production in Persia, well deserved be remembered as one of the greatest bibliophiles
style to
39
of
of the world.
Abu
"
Mirza
Sayid
sought
from Darwesh and ascetic."
Omar
Shaikh, father
of
"had
Babar,
and could
liking for the poets
"enlightenment
n4
recite
a great
poetry.
He
poetical temperament but was not solicitous of writing verses, spent most of his time in reading
had a
books,
was
and
historical
poetical.
The
him and he was an excelHe had a great respect for
often recited before iV>
lent
companion." Darweshes and Saints and often would
feet for
sit
at
their
wisdom.
His
son, Babar,
romantic
combined of
Shahnama
is
personalities in
him
indeed one of the most of
mediaeval Asia.
He
two great houses Timur-Lanr. Left to the unkind tribesmen, he had to
the blood of
Chengiz Khan and
tender mercies of his
r'
of
defend his patrimony
at
Fargana against enemies which included, amongst others, his own uncle. T he Sunni Khalifa claimed his allegiance as he was a Musalman.'
7
The Shia King
34
Atml
35
Ibtd., pp. 218-19.
36
Babat's
FazI, Vol.
fall er,
Ill,
p.
Cmar
of Persia
demand-
216
Shaikh, mairied the
sister of
Muhan mad
Khan, a regular descendant of Chogtai Khan, the head of Choglai tranch of Timurid house. For the genealogy of Muslim Kings, Lane-Poole ia excellent. 37
Islam.
For Khelafat pretensions on Muslims, see Hughes, Diction- ry of
THE DIN-MLAHI
40
ed his obedience as the lord of the land under his Tossing like a wave in the midst of the stormy sea, he dashed six times against the
suzerainty.
shores of his patrimony at Fargana and
swept out of it. It really of an ordinary man how, situdes
and turmoils
of his
an equanimity of
was six times
passes the imagination in the midst of the vicislife,
he could maintain
spirit, sufficient
couplets or for reciting them.
In
for
composing
him the
intrepid
element of
Mongol was softened by the mystic a Turk; he was as much an orthodox
Musalman
as
spirit
a
of
an apostate.
Though punctual
observance of
his prayers, strict in
formalities
at
of
family customs, religion without magic and divination had but little influence over him. Babar had, in his religious beliefs,
many
elements to which an
orthodox Musalman would seriously
object.
The
drew from Timur necessity political his profession of orthodox Sunnism (in answer to was equally responsible for Bayezid's reproach), which
3
making Babar profess Shia doctrine of Shah Ismail. As a mark of his respect to his orthodox Shia 9 suzerain, Babar had to accept Shia-i-Taj,'' though was the term applied to indicate their friend '
relation.
10
'
He
struck coins bearing the
immediately on his arrival in India. coins bearing the
names
of the
38
See Buckler's lecture
39
Shi a-i-Taj
40
Buckle's lecture on Mahzar of 1579.
first
Shia texts
Babar struck four
Khalifas
in the Leicester University, 1924.
customary cap worn by a Shia.
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND and the Khutba was read
his
in
41
name.
The
general character of the religious convictions of the
Timurid family
One
Great Moghuls." ' *
character
so
that
is
bound up
in his
by Pringle
excellently depicted ' '
famous work
in his
Kennedy
is
The
History of the of the Mughal great factor
he was not in his native steppes as
religion
other
races... The
of Central Asia, though he had his omens and dreams, his witches and witchcrafts, lived on the whole free from much religious restraints. Nor
native
has his Islamism
but only very
him
caused
He had
bound.
accepted the
partially
the
system which accompanied retained
as
its
basis
Babar
steppes."
much more
and
it,
much Humayun
and
life has law of the
his
were
never
than in their camps and
N
Babar hardly
followed
system which
social
be
of the social
happier in their palaces the forests. 4
to
Muhammadan creed, Muhammadan social
is
the
Sunni
orthodox
a part of the Islamic creed
;
he enjoyed the prerogative of social freedom. He enjoyed wine cups as much as any other of 42 his family an enjoyment strictly prohibited. Submission
to Shia creed
was enforced by
political
necessity while in Persia, and renouncement of the
same and 41
striking of the coins bearing the
Kennedy, Vol.
I.
names
of
pp. 12-29.
Sultan All Mirza, one of his ancestors, drank for 20 to 30 days continuously. Blochmann, p. 58. Timur'a wife drank wine openly a 42
;
Christia
i
ambassador (Sanjak) was present
Institute.
6
1280B
in
such a party.
Davy's
THE
42 the
four
first
DIN-I-ILAHJ
were due
Khalifas,
Religion seems
motive."
same
the
to
have had anything
to
upon him save indeed as the will of God and belief
but a powerful influence
regards submission to
in the efficacy of prayer.
Humayun
and
better
Though he was
his father, Babar.
under the influence of a i-
was no
in point of religion
no worse than
he accepted the Shia-
saint,
Taj, and wore the Khelat (robe of honour) offered
by the Shia King to
make
of
He went
Persia.
a pilgrimage to the tomb
of a
so far as
Shia saint
Ardbil in north-western Persia near the Caspian His change of the title of Sultanate of Sea.
at
Hindusthan
'*
to
father
fumed himself with tombs and
were
fall
from the steps of
all
with
present
his
Humayun Love
opium.
the learned
him.
in
wine, of
If
men, and
the characteristics of his
saints
line
in
smoke
the
of books, association
of a
Persian influenced"
to
had stetped himself
visits to
smacks
Masnad-i-imarat,"
complete surrender
his
His death from a
library
at
Delhi
is
an
eloquent testimony to his love of study. In short, a spirit of cultural eclecticism, almost unfettered by the limitations of Islam,
had accepted great
it
houses
1
though they 50 years before, existed in the two
of
Central
Asia
from
which
Chogtai family of India traced their descent. 43
Humayun
also venerated
'
been discussed by Dr. Tripathi Administration," p.
1
!6.
'
L ight in
his
the
They
and his alleged apostacy has "
Some Aspects
of
Muslim
THE CENTRAL ASIAN BACKGROUND continued
their
old
social
Shamanic customs, literary
men, with
cruel
their
their
for
drinking
of
bouts and
horse
were
tails
of
and with
human
was
into
put
necessary,
love of
literature
and disregard Chengiz Khan
propensities
The Torah quoted, and when The kettledrum and lives.
with
system,
love
their
43
still
still
practice.
the signs
of the dignity of a Chogtai. In the 14th and 15th centuries, so far as India was concerned a tendency towards a fusion and rapprochement between Hindu and Muslim cultures, ,
was already then in
The
in evidence.
teachers were
the field, the
of
possession
Sufi
Hindu
saints
had prepared the soil, and seeds of eclecticism, partly conscious and partly unconscious, had been sown. great
the
The time was
man and jarring
ripe
a great ruler
elements
for
who would
appeared in 1542 in the desert of that cradle of Sufis last
advent of a co-ordinate
The Amarkot in
two.
the
of
the
wherefrom had sprung
priest
Sind,
for the
400 years myriads of saints. He was born of who had behind her a great legacy of the
a mother
culture of Transoxiana.
Raja
who,
out
of
!t
in the
pity,
house of a Hindu
had given
shelter
to
was no mere accident but a phenomenon, associated with a love for the Hindus which the great Emperor manifested.
Humayun.
44
It
Hamida Banu helormed
Transoxiana.
to
a very old and cultured family of
CHAPTER
III
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES After
many
a
trial
and a change, Humayun
recovered the throne of Delhi in the
Shah
555, at Sarhind,
Out
legacy of Timur-Lang.
of the
1
of Persia, the father
and son breathed
But the span was short
freely.
Akbar had time
of the clutches
before young
;
to the
new
at the early
age
accommodate himself
to
environments, he was called upon, of fourteen, to perform the
huge
task of governing
India, as yet a land of uncertainty for the family of
Timur, with enemies open and he might have to share the
secret. fate
Any moment
of
his
grand-
father in India. But Fargana and fortitude and with assistance through courage of the iron hand of Bairam Khan, he surmounted father
or of his
at
troubles
the
the
3
Panipat in 1556. But even after Panipat, the throne had so many thorns by
body
its
at
side that
to stay there
battle of
it
was impossible
without
being
for
pricked.
any-
The
Government was not at all Kashmir was independent. The
position of the Delhi
encouraging. Rajput Chiefs 1
The
first
refusal to strike
dead."
of
Central
India
were not only
glimpse of the greatness of Akbar was shown in his Hemu 4< How can 1 strike a man who is as good as :
Lane-Poole, Mediaeval India, p. 241.
The argument of Smith that Akbar killed Hemu, is not convincing. Smith's Akbar, the Great Mogul, p. 39; Tarikh-i-Afghana, E & D., Vol. V, p. 48.
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES
45
independent, they were waiting for an opportunity to strike at the
by a
being ruled
Bahmani and heed
Guzrat and Malwa were
Empire.
Muhammadan
the Vijayanagar
dynasty.
Kingdoms paid
The little
Government. In the east, the Kararani and Lohani Afghans controlled Bengal, Behar and Orissa, owing but a nominal allegiance to the Delhi authority. The Shah of Persia still looked upon Akbar and Bairam as his deputies and claimed suzerainty. A firman of condolence to the Delhi
contained direct references to these
Imperial
pre-
were watching the course and events at the centre from where the of development All
tensions.
Emperor's ejection was considered only a question of days and months. But Bairam, a friend
boy of
Humayun the
as
in the stretch
in his extremity, fully justified himself
of
guardian
end possibly out
his his
friend's
Tartar
spirit
the throne of India.
for
son, 2
though
made him But Akbar
with an acumen and judgment hardly to be expected in a boy of his age, he managed the ugly situation with astute skill.
was not unequal
to the task
Maham Anaga, who had the
in
harem
infamous son
for
the
;
organised the conspiracy fall of Bairam, put her
Adam Khan
at the forefront, herself
pulling the wires of intrigue from behind the veil. Bairam 's absence raised cupidity in the breasts 2
is of opinion that Bairam was honourable enough net the throne of Hindustan, He lays the whole blame at the
Smith
to contest
door of
Maham
Anaga.
THE DIN-MLAHI
46
of the refractory Chiefs
and Jagirdars and even
Akbar could not make
generals and kinsmen.
whom
to believe
and
was indeed a hard
task
out
of
whom
not
believe.
to
for anybody with the and grandfather having been turned out of their respective patrimonies in Samarkand and Hindustan, with no Bairam to lead the armies to victory, and Akbar as yet within his teens. Akbar had a trying time indeed one defeat would It
tradition of his father
;
immediately be revolts in
matic
occasion
the
Hindustan
all parts of
move might
Turki followers
;
cost
him
simultaneous
for ;
one undiplo-
the loyalty of his
one step to the
left
own
might bring
him face to face with currents that would sweep him away nobody knew where. He became convinced that the Afghans could hardly reconcile themselves
to
subordination
Emperor who belonged
whom
the
to
youthful
to a different race
they had no link of tradition.
and with
The Turko-
who had
followed his grandfather, were hardly willing to follow the lead of
Mongol the
free-lancers,
puny
kingling.
There was
of forming a solid block of the
the
infidels.
The
first
wave
little
possibility
Musalmans of
the
against
invaders'
had ebbed away by this time. They were as much disunited as the Hindus had been religious zeal
appearance in India. Fortunately for him, there was as little chance of his enemies making a common cause against him during the days of their
first
:
each wanted to be great and independent.
The
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES force of disunion
47
was working everywhere.
Thus
number of his adversaries made the task of overcoming them one by one easy for Akbar. He thought of playing against the jealous Musalmans with the help of the valiant and much wronged the very
Hindus.
Babar's instruction to
Humayun on
eve of his Indian expedition were in his
mind
very
fresh
3 :
"O, my Son, People It,
still
the
therefore,
of diverse religion inhabit India
behoves you that
..
....
You
should not allow religious prejudice to influence your mind, and administer impartial justice, having regard to the religious susceptibilities and religious customs of all sections of the people.
You should
in particular refrain
from the slaughter of
You
cows
should never destroy places of worships of any
community
The propagation
of
Islam will be better carried on
with the faith of love and
obligation than
with
the sword of supression."
There was before him a
leaf out of the political
philosophy of his great predecessor, Sher Shah. Sher Shah's government had acknowledged the desirability of giving
an orientation
to the objective
Muslim rule in India. That great Indo-Afghan was the consummated link of history between the untrimmed Turko- Afghans and the civilised Turko-
of
Mughals of India. He was the embodiment and an expression of the assimilative forces that had 3
State Library
MSS-
of Bhopal.
THE DIN-MLAHI
48
been progressively Indianising the Muslim newcomers. In him had blossomed forth all that for long
was
best
He had of
among
the pre-Akbar
enunciated and
practised a for
philosophy
political
recommended them
Musalmans
them
new
in
of India.
principle
India,
which
go beyond the orthodox interpretations of the Shariat and to accommodate themselves with the unbelievers in the government of The fact of India which was mostly infidel. importance about not that there
to
was a
inns
;
was
The
essentially
Hindustani/'
ness of the
ocean of
the
soil,
its
it
is
spirit
of
spirit
he
started
the
Musal-
that
his
his
Hindu
administration
and not unavowedly Indian or The fundamental assimilativewhich had received
thought and in
the
into the vast
discipline
streams of foreign invaders like the
Huns, the Sakas
administration either
being of
the
chief of
it
of
in
is
that the
Hindus and
instead
Muslim.
or '*
that
is
nor
the
for
mans was Indian it is
nor ;
Jagirdar
Hindu element
large
ranks of his soldiery, them was a Hindu separate
son of Sasaram
this
ancient
successive
Kushans,
past,
'the
was long
upon the crusaders of the Crescent by and governmental pressure. India arms force of Sher made the achieved what Persia had not-
operating
Musalmans ing
it
Indians.
for the
Sher took a long time mak-
most part
in that subtle unconscious
way which history has repeatedly shown characteristically India's
own.
to
be
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES
By
time of Akbar, long contact with the
the
made
Musalmans and heart for proselypolitical and economic
unbending Hindus had give up much of their tisation. Community
was
interests
The
gradually
and the
iconoclasts.
beyond of
had
had
Turkish invasions
disturbed
so
India, to
increasingly
the Hindus.
of
between the
seriously
in
soldiers
Sultans
services
inevitable
its
of faith
the great central Asian
of
India
the
asserting
differences
supply
Indian the
of
establishment
dynasty the
zeal
over
superiority idolaters
49
that
the
requisition
Constant Mongolo-
hegemony and Toghluq periods had
during the Slave
during the Khilji and the made for a wholesome union of political
interests
Hindus and the Musalmans against Hindus and Muhammadans had fought
between
the
Timur. shoulder
to
shoulder
defence
the
for
The Chogtai
Sultanate.
invasion
driven Muslims into the arms of the Hindus. necessity
of
jhe history
;
the
a
the
of
indeed
had
The
hour agreed with the process of
rapprochement
was
inevitable
in
consequence. Thus we see, in the Deccan, when a conspiracy was set on foot in the Bahmani King-
dom against Mahmud Gawan the
Hindus joined hands
with
being a foreigner, the Muslims to
element.
The
political disturb-
fight the foreign
for
ances following the Chogtai invasion and the conse-
quent
Hindus
rise
into
7-1280B
of
petty
chieftainships,
prominence.
brought the
That the Hindus did
THE
50 not
make
Empire the
that
DIN-I-ILAHI
serious
any
attempt to found a Hindu
exp]ained by the
is
amongst
fact,
others,
Hindus did not look upon themselves as
a separate political entity and were willing to make common cause with the Muhammadan brethren.
The the
idea
dream
he came
common Hindu-Muslim
a
of
Sher
of
Shah
the throne
to
;
of
but
rule
was
unfortunately
Hindustan in
the
evening of his life, and lived to rule only for five Adil Shah, though devoted more to the years.
Hindu music than to the affairs of state, had good sense of handing over the charge of his government to the care of an able Hindu, Hemchandra by name. Indeed, in the defence of the
culture of
Sur dynasty, the services of this Hindu a Muslim ruler were invaluable.
general of
By the time Akbar came to the throne of Delhi, the Hindu element in the Muslim administration had become a permanent factor. In social life, many of the beliefs of the citadel
some
Hindus had invaded the Muslim
of those being
teachings of the
Muslim
divination, magic, so
were believed
in
directly against the
religion.
much
by them.
Hindu
astrology
,,
decried by the Prophet,
"
The
miracles of the
Yogis were related by the orthodox writers with as perfect a coviction as could have been given to those
Quran witchcraft was universally believed omens and dreams were paid the greatest attention Even Humayun had fashipned his audience to."
in the
;
t
4
Elphinstone, p. 476, 9th edition.
;
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES hall according to the
Hindu manner 5
:
51
it
had seven
named according to the seven stars. He used those rooms according to the influence of the stars. The visitors were allowed to use those
rooms
rooms
to
according
their life.
the influence of the stars
Culturally, socially
and
on
politically there/
was going on a process of fusion. To Akbar, an enemy, be he a Hindu or a^ Muslim, was an enemy of the state and he dealt with him as such. A defeated foe, be he a Hindu or a Muslim an enemy who had submit-
The engaged his greatest consideration. was in a land laudable where Bal ban's practice
ted
punishment of Tughral Beg of Bengal, where Alauddin's philosophy of exterminating the whole family for the fault of one rebel, were the
minds
men.
of
The
gift of
still
fresh in
a Khelat or a
throne instead of death to a vanquished antagonist might well have amazed the Turko- Afghans. The
magnanimity of this young Emperor sprang more from his nature than from his policy. Before he .was twenty, he abolished the Jezia and the pilgrim tax.
The punishment
of
Adam Khan
after his
misbehaviour with the family of Baz Bahadur of
Malwa and 5
the execution of Pir
Muhammad
left
(b)
" Mughal Rajbansha. p. 106 " for poets, travellers, ambassadors; moon-chamber the " for religious law-givers and administhe "mars-chamber
(c)
the
Rampran Gupta,
"
:
"
(a)
trators
6
a
"
;
"
mercury-chamber
Elphinstone, p. 372.
for warriors
and
soldiers, etc.
1
THE DIN-MLAHI
52
very deep impression on the vanquished that justice .could
be expected even against the most powerful
noble of the court.
ism became the
and
in
of
of
consorts
his
liberalism
Hindu house,
a
in
Hindu
7
in the
Humayun finer
on
in
sweetness
the
Wan
Sal
left
8
his
the beautiful
when she accepted
an
He became
mind.
of
harem, the faithful services
as her brother,
his
His
religion.
Hindu generals abroad, and
episode of the Rani of
sion
and paternal-
This liberalism
spirit of the age}
expression
birth
Liberality, justice
expanded the mind of the Emperor future became congenial to the growth
in politics
which
)
indelible impres-
convinced that the
elements of humanity might be found even
amongst the non-believers. The early life of Akbar
in
that
beautiful land
had expanded his mind her glorious monarchs, and the constant changes of her The Shia political history had filled his mind. of culture,
Persia,
;
tendencies of the land of Persia silently penetrated into him. His early Shia teachers had brought his
mind
to the better side of the Persian culture
by
their teachings in the
The
influence of
in Sulh-i-kul 7
10
poems of the Persian mystics. Shah Abdul Latif and his lesson
were never
For the wives of
Akbar,
Gupta's Mughal Rajbansha, 8 Sind and its Sufis, by 9
Can we not
trace a
names Hasan and Husain 10
Sulh-i-kul
see
lost
upon him.
Najatur Rashid
They
and Rampran
p. 178 J.
P. Guiraj, p. 41. little
Shia influence in giving his sons the
the heroes of the Shias?
means peace with
all.
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES had broadened
his
traces of Persian
mind
53
a sufficient extent and
to
on Akbar's
influences
later life
were amply manifest.
Along with liberal
Shia
his
liberal
political instinct
tendencies, the peculiar
traits
and
of saint
worship and tomb pilgrimage, which characterise the Timurids and Mongols of Central Asia, 11 find their expression in Akbar.
On
the eve
of the battle of
he promised a pilgrimage to the tomb of Ma'in-ud-din Chishti of Ajmer, should he be
Chittor, saint
12
vouchsafed victory. After the victory of Chittor, he actually walked a distance of 220 miles to fulfil
vow and to show his gratefulness to benign God and Saint. The mystic in Akbar would often his
compel him chant
"
for
"
the
to seek loneliness
where he would
whole night
praises of
"
contemplative
;
peror sitting on a
Fazl
tells
us that,
the
God," By nature, Akbar was " in Badauni, we read of the Emstone lost in meditation." Abul " once in 1557, Akbar felt con-
Ya Hu," " Ya Hadi."
1
"
'
strained by the presence of a short-sighted
he rode
began chafe, assumed the posture to
of
man and
off
and, dismounting, communing with God."
This was while Akbar was only 14 years old. In 1561 when he was aged about 20 only, he said, ,
from the lack of 11
12
to
Vide ante, Ch. II, pp. 36-37. Babar, on the eve of his battle with
for
the last
Rana Sang, asked his vow with their hands on the Quran. Sufi mode of remembrance (Zikr). See ante, Chap. I, p.
make 13
spiritual provisions
soldiers
a
Badauni, Lowe, Vol.
II.
pp. 202-04.
22,
and
54
THE
my
journey,
"
soul
DIN-I-ILAHI
was seized with exceeding
J1
This event occurred long before he came in contact with the Sufi brothers. In his
sorrow.
his ever-expanding soul was ever crying an expansion and enlargement. Akbar was 22 years of age when his twin sons, Hasan and Husain, died. He was anxious to
element, for
have a son and paid
visits to
Ajmer and elsewhere,
the shrines of saints
purpose. Salim Chishti, a saint at Fatehpur, blessed him and promised him one, and soon after his Hindu conat
sort Jodhabai,
Akbar
for the
daughter of Behari Mai, conceived.
sent the imperial consort to the
Khanqah
15
of
Salim Chishti and placed her in the care of the saint
where a male child was safely delivered. The child was named Salim after the name of the saint through whose grace the child was supposed to have seen the
light.
Soon
after,
another son was
house of saint Danyal and the child was named Danyal after him. born
at
the
Akbar came to Sikri and stayed with Salim Chishti in his humble hamlet. He was so In
1
571
,
profoundly influenced by saint Salim that he resolved to turn the humble hamlet into a celestial
Soon the place was examined immediately. by Akbar himself and the foundation was laid of a city as beautiful as dream and as Fatehpur city
' '
woeful as
its
14
Quoted
15
KVinnnaVi
remains."
a
1572, he went out
Review, 1927 by Menon. mnnatf^rv where a Sufi resides.
in Islamic is
In
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES
55
conquest of Guzrat, and while at Cambay, received the Portuguese merchants who came the
for
to
their respects to
pay
with
tance
the
him. This personal acquain-
Portuguese Christians produced
immense consequences
in future.
But inspite of his nature, inspite of inspire
Asian
his early
liberal
the
of
comprehensiveness of his poliand inspite of the broad central
attitude
tical
wonderful mystic Shia influences,
innately
of
traits
his family,
outgrow the circle
Akbar could Sunni
of his orthodox
hovered round the royal court. knows no state clergy formally, of the limits
hardly Islam
Though still
that
sect
the powers
monarch having been confined within the 10 of the Shariat, he had to depend on the
Ulama
11
the
for
administration
of
the
state.
These men had made almost a monopoly of some of the very big 18
Sadr,
lJ
Qazi,
positions
Mir-adl
20
of the
and Mufti,
of the very nature of their work,
from the learned
class,
state, 21
had
and learning
confined to Sunni theology.
such as the
who, by to
virtue
be recruited
was Bairam Khan, who was in
India
himself a Shia, had, during his regency, appointed
16 17
means Islamic Sacred Law. Ulama means learned men. Shariat
Sadr means the head of the
18
like the 19
20 21
archbishop
in
religion
in
the court,
Anglicanism
Qazi means judge. Mir adl is a subordinate member of the Judiciary. Mufti means a thiological expert who explains Law.
something
THE DIN-MLAH1
56
a Shia, Shaikh Gudai,
with Bairam Khan. of
22
2:{
go along
After a short term of office
Muhammad
Khawja
but he had to
Qilha, Akbar Nabi.
appointed a
new Sadr named Abdu-n In
and devotedness, Akbar the decisions and interpretations of
usual
his
believed in
the Sunni Sadr,
faith
Abdu-n Nabi.
His reverence
for
was unbounded, specially as Abdu-n Nabi had come from the family of the great lawgiver the Sadr
Abu
of Islam,
Hanifa,
who was
universally
res-
pected as the greatest of
Muslim lawgivers. During
the reign of Akbar, the
Sadr ranked as the fourth
2I
officer
of the empire.
"
He was
the highest law
tor
and had the powers which the administraand was in charge of general has amongst us
all
lands devoted to
officer
;
ecclesiastical
and benevolent
purposes and possessed an unlimited power of conferring such lands independently of the King.
He was The
22
the highest
also
exercise the
powers
prestige of
The
of
law
the
officer
and might 25
highest
Inquisitor."
Abdu-n Nabi was much
greater
Shia influence of Shaikh Gudai during the early years of
Akbar's reign
is
an interesting
study and
may be
profitably read in
Badauni.
K
Sadrs at the time of Akbar la) Sheikh Gudai 968 AH, (b) Khawja Md.Qilah 971 A.M., (c) Shaikh Abdu-n Nabi 986 AH., (d) Sultan Khawja 993 A.H., \e) Amir Fatehulla Shhaji 997 A.H (/) Sadr the Abdul with coincides name whose title, (g) Baqir, only Jehan mentioned by Abul Fazl but with no other details. :
,
24
The
25
Blochmann,
four officers are Vakil, Vizir, Bakshi p. 270
and Sadr.
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES
57
than that of the other Sadrs of the Delhi Sultanate.
He had
been
Mecca several times and
to
the Hadis there.
was
Islam
His knowledge of the folklore of
He came
great.
and
bribery
learnt
corruption of
to the
the
office, after
religious
the
grants
Aymas ") had been discovered, "to set things right." Gradually, Abdu-n Nabi acquired such absolute powers that he conferred on the deserving people a whole world of subsistence allowances,
("
much so that if the bounty of all former kings of Hind were thrown into one scale and
lands, pensions, so
the
of
liberality
this
would preponderate." ed the
age into the other, yet % And Akbar never
this
grudg-
gifts of this Sadr.
Akbar 's
belief in
him and reverence
for
him on
grounds of religion gradually put the Sadr above From the point of view of Islam, nothing is
law.
purely religious and
nothing
is
purely secular, and
hardly any difference between religion and This explains the absence of any partipolitics.
there
is
on
cular treatise
political
philosophy, and the con-
duct of the Prophet and revelations embodied in the
Quran
are guides for Islamic
Being the
rally.
Sadr practically side of
Islam.
guardian controlled
The
of
monarchs gene-
the the
reverence of
Shariat,
the
religio-political
Akbar
for
the
Sadr was so great that he would bring him his 27 shoes and place them before his feet. *6 27
Badauni, Lowe, Vol. H, p. 70. Badauni, Lowe, Vol. HI, p. 127, 8
1280B
THE DIN-MLAHI
58
Under the
influence
Abdu-n Nabi, Akbar
of
grew to be a very violent and orthodox Sunni. He even grew intolerant, giving orders for the mur" " der of the unbelievers and the term believer was applied to those Muslims only who would follow the
At
Abdu-n Nabi and his party. Mubarak of Nagor, 28 a free and theologian, who was much influenced
interpretations of that time, Shaikh
thinker
by the idea of the Millennium, excited the jealousy of the Sadr by his learning and prestige. The Sadr Abdu-n Nabi and Mukhdum-ul Mulk Abdulla Sultanpuri
represented
to
Akbar
that
"
Shaikh
Mubarak belonged to the class of innovators and was not only himself damned but led others to damnation." At that time, it was customary to get hold of and kill such as tried to introduce innovations
in
religious
Mir Habsi and others.
matters 20
;
witness the case of
"Having
obtained a sort
remove him," they sent police In bring him before the Emperor."
of permission to officers
"
to
their
wrath, they polluted Mubarak's prayer room; down his house and burnt it not satisfied with this, they furrowed the plot of his they pulled
;
homestead land and sowed seeds so that even the last remnant of the house was effaced. Saint Salim Chishti,
when approached by Mubarak
for shelter,
found the Mulla party too strong and advised him to flee to Guzrat. Akbar, the faithful, would Father of Faizi and Abul Fazl.
W
Badauni, Lowe, Vol.
II,
p. 198.
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES not oppose such ruthless punishment of less.
of
Faith,
course,
the
faith-
in
Islam
Sunni Sadr and the Sunni
as interpreted by the
Mufti.
faith
signified
59
devotion and
In pursuance of this extreme
he ordered many men, who held the Shia and Badauni tells us that doctrine, to be killed faith,
;
"
Mukhdum-ul Mulk Maulana owing Abdulla Sultanpuri, many heretics and schismatics went up to the place prepared for them.'* In 570, Mir Hakim Moqim of Isphahan and others were to exertions of
1
killed for being Shias.
not brook anything
30
Maulana Abdulla could
non-Sunni.
not spare even inanimate books.
an occasion when
his friends
His tyranny did Badauni 3i narrates congratulated
him
narrow escape from death because he had expressed an opinion in favour of a book Rawatu-i-
on
his
Akab, which was looked down upon by MukhdumAbdulla was interdicted as a bigoted ul Mulk. Sunni even by an orthodox Mulla
During
some
this period, in
like
Badauni.
instances, religious
Akbar even in weighed with political matters. On one occasion, his faith in and reverence for the Prophet and his family grew so
considerations
great that he did
Mashad Zaman,
who
30 31 32
Akbar,
had
Ibid., p.
kill
killed.
32
Muhammad
rebelled
Mirak was
for
Zaman was
not
The
a
Mirak of
along with Say id; but
faithful
Khan Khan
now used
to
128.
Badauni, original, p. 70.
According p. 80.
to
Smith the
revolt of
Khan Zaman was
in 1667,
THE DIN-MLAHI
60
Ajmer every year the new capihumble hamlet of Salim tal grew round the Akbar Chishti swept the dust of the mosque of tomb
the
visit
at
;
;
Salim.
By
88
this time,
Akbar had
successfully
the insubordinate Afghans, unruly Turki
and
rebellious
humbled, some had been transformed of
was
success
followers
The Hindus had been
Mirzas.
others matrimonially
checked
Every year, news from all s ;side
trapped. in
pouring
the country was relieved
the
of
into friends,
from
uncertainty
which she had been suffering since 1526. Now journeys were safe, and commerce was established. Hindustan became a safe home
tolerance of
for
many who
Ottoman empire, the inthe Persian monarchs or the insecurity
found the sternness
of the
of the trans-Hindukush provinces too hot for
The orthodox
them.
in Akbar a was being run on purely Sunni lines by Abdu-n Nabi and Abdulla No doubt the country was conquered Sultanpuri. by the sword of Akbar and kept by his diplomacy, sects
of
found
Islam
great patron as the government
still
the Mullas carried
interpretation
of
the
on the government by
devout
Muslim, Akbar
Mullas
their
Power
specially, religion
is
their
and would not grudge the
age-long privileges,
a jealous master,
is
As
laws.
it
a sincere
in
tolerates
the
state.
no
rival;
power concentrated on the sanction of a dangerous thing, it is more often 33
Darbar-i-Akbar, p. 36.
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES abused
than
The
not.
61
Mullas often stepped authority and did things
beyond the limits of their which were highly offensive from the
/
state point of
view.
Along with the expansion of Akbar was making a settlement 31
the
of
lands.
he made enquiries
In connection with this work, into the Sayurgal lands.
dominions
his
He
found that
all
the
Sadrs had been guilty of bribery and corruption. It has already been observed that Shaikh Abdu-n
Nabi was put
' '
in charge of this important office
The
set things right."
to
firman granting land was
and the firman-holder took as much land as he could and kept it as long often ambiguously .worded
was able to open his Qazis and provincial Sadrs.
as he
quiries versal.
Akbar found He,
private
purse to the
After repeated en-
that the malpractices
took
therefore,
away
were uni-
the lands from
Afghans and Choudhuris, transformed them lands and placed the rest at the hands of the Sadr for enquiry and disposal. Every one who held more than 500 Bighas, was asked to prove his title, in default of which he was to lose the lands; " the excess of all a general order was issued that lands above one hundred bighas should be reduced
the
into
Crown
to two-fifth of
to
it
;
three-fifths of
domain lands." 34
Sayurghal
tenance. Jagir, for
is
Commonly, it is
In
no time
a Turki word it is
known
it
;
as
it
should be annexed this
was
refers to land
granted for main-
Madad-i-ma'ash.
not in lieu of service, as Jagir
is.
to embroil
It
differs
from
THE
62
Akbar
a serious rebellion
in
Choudhuris
war born
DIN-I-ILAHI
now combined
35
the
;
disgruntled
with the Mullas
to
;
a
was added a war born of
of politics
religion.
As he ments
of
proceeded with the business of
settle-
the
Akbar
newly acquired
grant-holders,
and
after
matter, he dismissed of
territories,
the Qazis used to take bribes from
discovered that
Badauni that
it
examining
many
was out
of
the
whole
The charge Qazis. hatred against the
Mullas that Akbar dismissed them, is not borne out by facts the step was taken from a purely ;
financial ftinction
As he made no
view.
of
point of
dis-
religious beliefs in the recruitment of
public officials generally,
he made no difference
punishment, if they were found guilty. If Qazis were found guilty, he would not spare
in the /the
'them.
Now Akbar not
let off
before
For
Aymas
the
Sadr
ordered that the Qazis should unless the firmans were placed for
inspection
this reason, a large
to the court their
from
all
number
Sadr.
recommendations
official or
verification.
Aymadars came
parts of Hindustan, to
firmans before the
produce
and
of
of
from
the court,
If
one
place
could
any important he was saved
; grandee without sufficient backing had to bribe Abdu-r Rasul, the personal assistant of the Sadr.
but
men
There are instances 36
that
even the Mehtars (sweep-
Blochmann,
p. 269.
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES ers),
Syces (grooms) had
Faraschis (steward) and
their shares
of the bribe.
expectations, or
if
63
the bribe
If
fell
below
were no recommendations,
there
one had no chance of having one's "Ay mas" confirmed. But no one dared complain against the
Sadr,
for
known.
versally
Akbar 's "
in
faith
The
him
was
uni-
insolence of the Sadr went
so far that, even in the state
before the
hall, just
36
he purposely spilt water on the grandees standing near him, only to display the wide and un37 Even Badauni, controlled powers he possessed."
*Oju,'
a staunch supporter
was forbidden by
Amboa or
of
Mullas,
his friend
from entering
into
tells
us that he
Mir Sayid Muhammad service under the Sadrs
from accepting any Madad-i-ma'ash.
silently
acting
made
up
a reference to his
to the advice of
Badauni
sufferings for
Mir Adil Amboa.
not
38
After the conquest of the four great fortresses of
tion
Ranthambar and Kalanjar, an invitafrom Itmad Khan reached Akbar for putting an
end
to the prevailing
Mirth, Chittor,
anarchy
in
Guzrat.
Over and
above the consideration of the great wealth of Guzrat, and of her commerce, what attracted Akbar was its
was there that the ships Mecca and Medina anchored.
geographical situation. 89
for pilgrimage
to
It
36
Ablution before prayer.
37
Ain-i-Akbari, Blochmann, p. 269.
38
Badauni, Lowe,
that the Sadrs 39
Jahaj-i-Ilahi
fifty only.
Vol.
Ill,
were tyrannical 100
ships.
p.
121.
Mir Sayid
Muhammad
said
egotists.
Sher Shah's
pilgrim
ships
numbered
THE DIN-MLAHI
64
During his Guzrat expedition, Akbar made acquaintance with Portuguese Christians which was afterwards to develop into something very obnoxious to the
Mullas.
Das and
In
his
adopted son,
much
themselves so of a banner
war the Hindu Raja Bhagwan
this
Man
that the
Singh, distinguished
unprecedented honour
and kettledrums was
the
for
time
first
Bhagwan Das indeed an honour which was never conferred on any but a royal Chogtai conferred on
family and not even on the most honourable families of the Muslim grandees. By of
Timur's
now, Surat was conquered by Todar Mai. third of June,
1
573, the
By
Emperor returned
the
to Fateh-
of
Ajmer. pur by way Smith has made a very significant suggestion that
many
notable persons
came
to offer felicitations
Akbar on his success in Guzrat and one of them was Shaikh Mubarak, who made a significant speech to
expressing the hope that the Emperor might become spiritual as well as a temporal leader of the people; :he
suggestion pleased
and acted on
it
Akbar who bore
six years later
(1579).
it
in his
mind
The
entiire
Smith
regarding Akbar 's religious on the assumption that from the very beginning Akbar had a mind to combine the roles of the Caesar and the Pope into one and that the of
theory
views
rests
'
'
speech of the the idea
into
this hint
at
much persecuted Mubarak only put a definite form. In pursuance of
spiritual
Mubarak worked up
dignity,
Akbar along with
silently for six years (1573-79)
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES with led
that
makes so much
"
This ultimately
in view.
what has been
of
Decree
Infallibility
ended
end
definite
the issue
to
(Mahzar) of
65
1
the
579, which Smith
and which, according
of
"
called
to
"
him,
40
But complete renunciation of Islam." " Decree was dictated by Infallibility reasons more than anything else. Religion
in a
in reality the political
"
had indeed very little to do with its origination. Akbar never had any intention of giving up
his
a prophet. Mubarak's religion posing speech was only in the usual language of Persian or of
as
"
**
came only Mubarak," says Smith, M1 to offer felicitations to Akbar on his Guzrat But Hosain Azad says that Mubarak conquest. came 'for some other purpose/ 12 Akbar was back to the capital, and amongst others Mubarak went to offer greetings to him, for hyperbole.
'
by that time, through the intervention of Mirza Aziz Koka, they had been reconciled. In the mean time, Faizi also had won a place in Akbar 's court by his literary attainments.
ed
to court in
572.
I
Abul Fazl had been introducAkbar was a lover of merit, mark the literary attainments
and he did not
fail to
of the family.
Even supposing
by Mubarak
were not a part
that the of
addresses given by welcome-bidders, 40
Smith
is
very definite
been misread by him. 41
Smith. Akbar, p. 9
1280B
E. 76.
that
The
conclusions are otherwise. I.
the if
words used customary
we
take the
Akbar renounced Islam. But our from which Smith quoted has
text
Association Journal, 1915.
Darbar-i-Akbar, p. 76.
THE
66
DIN-I-ILAHI
whole address of Mubarak, we may
interpret
it
other-
"
"
The word used is (^V*). Mujtahid the that mean spiritual headship or was it Jam'at before him being ignorant of the Sacred Law, Akbar was asked to give his decision ? This speech wise.
Does
that
had absolutely no connection whatsoever with
"Mahzar "
"
"
Mahzar
of
Smith's translation of the " 48 is wrong. Infallibility Decree
1579.
as the
was
Buckler
the
"
right
Buckler's conclusion
while is
was
Smith "
that the
Mahzar
wrong was a ;
"
document.
political
After the conquest of Guzrat, during the years 1
573-74, the system of administration was definitely
shaped. included
A
very important
the
branding
of
soldiers
part
of
horses/
this
system
4
under
Amirs
registers
of
Jagirdars,
and conversion of confiscated lands
Crown
royal
lands.
of
opening
and into
45
About this time, Suleiman Kararani of Bengal died and was succeeded by his imperious son, Daud 43
See Buckler's Leceister University Lecture,
pronouncement, opinion, declaration
;
1924
Mahzar means
secondarily, petition.
H Branding of horses is very interesting. Lands were granted to Jagirdars and Amirs for keeping regular horses and soldiers in different parts of the empire.
produced,
and low
when
Instead of keeping soldiers and horses,
requ'ied,
class street
men
as royal soldiers.
regular registers of soldiers,
were introduced. forehead.
they often untrained and stray horses as loyal horses In order to stop this fraud,
with their fathers' names and addresses,
Horses were branded with the royal mark on
the
This caused a good deal of discontent amongst those whose
fraud was thus stopped. Ain-i-Akbari, Blochmann, p. 269.
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES
Khan
Daud
Kararani.
at
once renounced the nomi-
nal allegiance to the Imperial royal
67
Court and assumed
had the Khutba read in his name, and seized the Imperial outpost at Zamani
dignity,
issued coins
Akbar personally proceeded to
in the Gazipur district .
meet the enemy. The story of his conquest of Guzrat was repeated. Along with the expansion of Akbar 's dominions in the east
his vision also
expanded.
heard that Suleiman Kararani used to
sisting
remain in
to
offer prayers
company with some 50 persons conof the renowned Shaikhs and Ulama, and used
every night in
1
their
company
till
commentaries and
their
to
the morning, listening
;
and
'
he had
that
thing and never broke In his natural spirit of tried to imitate
And
prayers.
After
exhortations.
morning prayers, he would occupy himself business and the affairs of the army and of jects
He
in
state
his sub-
his appointed time for every-
through
this
good rule/
4G
unbounded devotion, Akbar
Suleiman in his way of offering " the cell of Shaikh he ordered that
Abdulla Nyazi Sarhindi be repaired, and (he) built a spacious hall on all four sides of it." He also finished the construction of Anuptalao. ihe hall the Ibadat
46
Badauni, Vol.
47
The
writer
There are that
it is
48
so
many
to
to have local knowledge of the facts. and gossips current regarding Anuptalao which of them represents the real truth.
Fatehpur
stories
nof possible to
tell
Khana Worship Hall, vide Badauni, Vol. II, p. 204; not Khana (Hall of Desire), as some suggested sarcastically, nor lyadat
Ibadat
Iradat
Khana
He named
48
p. 203.
II,
went
Khana.
47
(Hall of Sickness
and Sympathy).
THE
68
D1N-I-ILAHI
Akbar learnt that his cousin Mirza Suleiman of Badakhshan was arriving in India. He was a great Sufi and was supposed to Just at that time
have reached the stage of Sahib-i-Hal (J^ v-^l/). It was in this hall of worship that he arranged for the reception of his distinguished cousin.
he used
to the
On Friday,
new Chapel and hold meetings
go Khana. It was a custom in mosques to have a Jam'at on Fridays when, after the prayer had to
in the Ibadat
been said, the learned Shaikhs would discuss and give instruction in the words of God and in Tradition.
That the motive behind the construction of the Ibadat Khana was purely religious, is proved by the fact that it was open to followers of Islam only,
them admission was restricted to Say ids, Ulama and Amirs in the
and amongst the
Shaikhs,
The example
Suleiman Kararani, the reception of Mirza Suleiman of Badakhshan, beginning.
the reverence
and gratitude
victories, the idea of
Niyazi
Sarhindi
of
for
Him
turning the
who had
that gave
Khanqah
him
of
the
*
joined the
circle
of
Mahadeva,' were the forces behind the construction The general notion of unsusof the Ibadat Khana. pecting readers is that he built a hall for discussion,
and
that
it
was
in this hall that the
two
manufactured the famous Din-i-Ilahi.
mind
Akbar
Sufi brothers
The
condi-
period of his " For many life is excellently painted by Badauni. " the Emperor years previously," says Badauni, gained in succession remarkable and decisive tion of the
of
in
this
69
THE PENDULUM OSCILLATES
The Empire grew
victories.
in extent
day by day
;
no opponent was His majesty had the world (kingdom). come into nearer contact with ascetics and
everything turned out well and '
'
in
left
leisure to
and he passed much of his time in discussing the word of God and the word of the Prophet. Questions of Sufism and scientific [the
Mu'in
late]
discussions,
Philosophy and His majesty of the day. the
into
enquiries
Law, were the order spent whole nights in praising God
;
he continually
occupied himself in pronouncing Ya Huwa and Ya Hadi 49 in which he was well versed. His
was
heart
of
full
reverence
True Giver, from a past successes, he
feeling
would
for
of
Him Who
is
the
thankfulness for his
sit
many
a morning
and meditation on a large flat building which lay near the palace in a lonely spot, with his head bent on the chest, In gathering the bliss of the early hours of dawn."
alone in
prayer
stone of an old
it is true that when he built the Ibadat Khana, he was a deeply devout man but ultimately strayed away from the Path and may we ask the reason
short,
;
why 49
?
'
Ya Hu and Ya Hadi '
'
Vide ante, Chapter
I,
*
are the usual forms of Zikr of a Sufi,
pp. 21-23; Badauni, Vol.
II,
p. 203.
CHAPTER
IV
THE PERIOD OF QUEST The
Khana was a ]
Ibadat
building raised on an
abandoned and dilapidated cell of Sheikh Abdulla Nyazi of Sarhind. He had been formerly a disciple he
of Islam Chishti but ultimately
deva.'
A
2
local
numerous gossips remains of the
the circle of
the
site of
building '
natural in the midst of
city of
'
dreams
Maha-
Fatehpur Sikri
at
investigation
has failed to discover the
back from
fell
*
Islam and became attached to
and
the woeful
have served
to hide
and deeper folds. From references collected from Faizi, Abul Fazl,
the real truth in deeper the stray
Abdul Qadir and 1
The
others,
it
be confidently
may
Khana :--
historical precedents of the Ibadat
(a^
Indian religious councils of Asok, Kanishka and Harsha.
(b)
Chinese council of Tai-sing (7th c -ntury
respective merits of Nestorian
Christianity,
A.D
Islam,
weighed the Buddhism and )
Laotzeism. (c)
Kubbi Khan's
(13th century
already referred to (Chapter (d)
II,
A.D.
i
famous council of
Pekin,,
pp. 30-31).
Sikandar Lodi's council
(Tarikh-i-Daudi,
445;
p.
E.
&
D.,
Vol. IV). (c)
Sulairnan Kararani's council of 150 (Bad.,
There
is
II,
always an idea of Jam 'at (assembly)
Friday prayer.
Debates similar
to those
also held in the time of Jehangir; the
p. 203)
in
Islam after
held in the Ibadat
Royal Library of Paris contains the
amongst the documents presented by Cornel Memoires de literature academic royal des inscriptions et Belles
proceedings of these debates Gentil
every
Khana were
Letters, Vol.
Bad..
XLIX, II,
1808, p. 716,
p. 204.
No. 89 and p. 71
1,
No,
18.
The Plan
of the Ibadat
Khana 1575
A. D.
N
FwJ
W
Abul Fazal
8 [To face
f,
70.
THE PERIOD OF QUEST asserted that the
Khana was a
at least
500 men.
It
sufficiently
which could
rectangular in shape,
large building,
accommodate
Ibadat
71
had plenty
of
rooms and balconies. There were halls on all sides and the rooms were separated from one another by means of screens, tapestry and railings. Possibly its situation was near the Royal Palace, if not
the
inside
garden.
palace
The
the Anuptalao, that mysterious pond,
situation of
which even
now exists inside the
palace of Sikri and the frequent Ibadat Khana along with it, point
mention of the
to the fact that the Ibadat far
from
The
it.
Khana was
structed with the help of references
khabut Tawarikh.
situated
not
idea of the building can be recon3
Munta-
in the
was an octagonal platform on which the Emperor had his seat. The four ministers Abdur Rahim, Birbal, Faizi and Abul Fazl each had his station in a differ4
ent corner.
be open
In the centre of the Hall
Every Thursday night, the Hall would the Jam'at (assembly) that attended the
to
royal prayer.
Extra meetings were held on special
A
was called to offer Maulana Zia Ulla. 5 During this period, Akbar stood head and shoulders deep
occasions.
special meeting
a reception to
3
Consult J.R.A.S.,
1917,
for position.
A
few more minor
details regarding the Ibadat
been published by Father Heras Vol. VI, 1924, p. *
by Smith. The assignment of came after the quarrel of the Mullas
article
places to different classes of people
in
the Journal of
5.
Muslims reckon
their
days according to Lunar calculation.
Friday begins after sunset on Christian Thursday. 5
Bad.,
II,
Khana have
Indian History,
p. 204.
So
THE
72 in religion, so
says
DIN-I-ILAHI
He was
fi
Badauni.
passing
through a period of extreme religious susceptibility. Since the birth of Salim. the Khanqah of Salim
At
Chishi had become his favourite haunt.
differ-
hours of the day, he used to spend his time in deep meditation in a small hut close to his place
ent
and count beads in
manner
the
in
he
ordinary conversation,
God,
on
Law
on
Piety,
of a Sufi.
used
and
to
on
Even talk on
Etiquette.
Every night he used to converse with the Ulama and Shaikhs on those topics. For some months the
"
Akbar," says Badauni, observed silence having stopped all egress and ingress in the face of mankind that he might of
year
1575-76,
the
retirement 7
practise in
his
own
of
the
Ibadat
of
a
After
garden."
monastic the
solitude
construction
Khana he became absorbed
attempt to find a
way
to
in the
God.
Every Thursday night, the Ibadat Khana was decorated with flowers and vases, sweet scents were 6
Badauni,
II,
pp.
203*04.
There are
gious discussions outside the Hall
Samshodhak Mandal, Poona, has
also instances of these reli-
of Worship.
The
got three paintings
religious discussions with the doctors of different faiths
are claimed
Marathas
Bharat ItihasL illustrating
the
These pictures
be genuine and were taken from Agra by the to Rev. Heras has published a fine though slightly inaccurate
account about the personnel of the doctor-? of faiths present, in the Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1928. The place of discussion in one of these pictures was a beautiful ridge on the hillock of Fatehpur Sikri
a lovely spot overlooking the vast blue
expanse, quite in keeping with the ever-expanding mind of convener. See post, Appendix B to Chapter IV. 7
Badauni.
II,
p. 203.
the great
THE PERIOD OF QUEST
Money was
strewn and incense burnt. learned and to
to the
a library inside after
the deserving.
Hall and
the
73
is
it
distributed
There was
known
that
conquest of Guzrat, the library of Itimad kept in the Ibadat Khana.
the
Khan had been
8
Nizamuddin and Badauni tell us that Shaikhs, Ulama, pious men and a few of Akbar's companions were the only people who were allowed to attend the Ibadat Khana discussions. These were on " all kinds of instructive and useful topics. Assemblies went on well for a time but soon a quarrel arose about the seats and order of precedence."' The quarrel for precedence became so vehement that "the Emperor was obliged to assign seats in the Ibadat 1
Khana himself." Amirs should the west, the
sit
'*
His Majesty ordered that the on the east side, the Say ids on
Ulama on
the south
and the Shaikhs
on the north." This did not put a stop to the quarrels which sometimes ended very disreputably.
on one occasion, owing to the behaviour of the Ulama, such a horrid noise and confusion had arisen that His Majesty got angry Badauni
relates
that
"
and directed Badauni,
in
future to report
any Ulama who talked nonsense and could not behave
themselves properly so that the Emperor might
make
them
Badauni whispered 8
Badauni,
of the Ibadat 9
Bad.,
II,
the
leave
p. 204;
to
p. 205.
10-1280B
Immediately
Asaf Khan who was
sitting
Darbar-i-Akbar, p 81, gives a fine description
Khana; Akbarnama,
II,
hall/
III,
p. 159; E.
&
D., Vol.
V,
p. 309.
THE DIN-MLAHI
74
"
his side,
by
If
out his
carried
I
most of
order, 10
the
Ulama would have
the
Akbar wanted to have a good commentary on Quran and an order was given accordingly.
A great
to leave the
11
quarrel arose over
Maulana would claim
Hall."
Each
interpretations. for
authenticity
his
Dalil
which others would not accept there hundreds of such Dalils with all their
(references)
were
;
differences
meaning
in
and
The
authenticity.
acceptance or rejection of an authority standing
on
was more
tradition
the scope
Naturally,
and
beliefs
or less a question
of
disbeliefs,
differences,
of
belief.
resting
on
The
was very wide. mind gets is a training
training which an Islamic
commands. Therefore the Mullas were dogmatic and intolerant of other men's Moreover the Mullas of the court would opinions. not generally accept any versions and interpretations in
imperative
but their own, for fear of losing their prestige; they
would discuss not
in the spirit of a search after truth
but in quest of victory. So, more of ten than not the U 11
Badauni,
When
written
II,
down on
collection
p. 205.
the revelations were leaves, leather
many
specially
;
made
to
and 'stone.
of the reciters
were
the Prophet,
they were
Hence was the
difficulty of
killed at the battle of Badr.
language in which dots play a very prominent part. So any change or displacement of a dot, made consciously or unconThis acsciously, makes a world of difference in the interpretations.
Arabic
is
a
difficult
counted for the existence of
some
of the
of various
Quran
in
its
present form were distributed in public.
Amin by Abdulla Minhas Nadvi.pp.
17-18.
and consequently By the time of Osman, copies
interpretations
at the outset.
textual difference
;
Muslim Thought and
its
Pyam-i-
Source by S.
M.
THE PERIOD OF QUEST discussions were characterised
by
75
bitterness
on
all
The Maulanas went so far as to use their hands when tongue and logic failed to decide the The guardians of the Faith, Mukhdum-ulissue. Mulk Maulana Abdulla Sultanpuri and Sadr-usSudur Abdu-n Nabi, were the leaders in such sides.
And they assumed, by virtue of their almost an air of infallibility which was
discussions. position,
What Akbar could least many. conceit, and, most of tolerate, was pride and all, pride of learning. Against the usual and Sadr and Mukhdum, of the assertions dogmatic to
disgusting
Akbar used
to
set
up learned
Abul Fazl, Mubarak, had made
their pride.'
of
brother of Faizi
presenting Ayat-ul-Kursi,
his
a
way
'
to
break
and son
into the court
by on the commentary
He was
12
Quran. of
scholars
the Mullas
chosen to refute the arguments Haji Ibrahim and Badauni also
;
have been mentioned against the Mullas
on
in
the role
of
disputants
certain occasions.
In course of the debates, personal
feeling often
one day Khan Jalan told the assembly 13 that Abdulla Sultanpuri had given a Fatwah
ran high
against
;
pilgrimage and would not himself go to
Mecca on
A
charge brought against the Maulana was that he used to avoid the his
w father
"
flimsy
grounds.
payment of the legal alms (Zakat) due upon Towards the end of each year he wealth. Badauni suggests that Ayat-ul-Kursi was written by Abul Fazl's
Mubarak. Badauni,
Bad., II,
II.
p. 206.
p. 201.
THE
76
used
make
to
but before
over
DIN-I-ILAHI his
all
the year
had run
to his wife
property out,
he would take
it
14
back again. The Mukhdujn-ul-Mulk had been found
"
able. ible
His
assail-
villainy, sordid disposition,
contempt" Badauni puts it, were found After the disgrace of Abdulla Sultanpuri, as
conduct,"
out."
Abdu-n Nabi became unrivalled. Akbar's reverence for the Sadr was almost a proverb.
the position
He
of
used to go
to the Sadr's
his school to
in order to
listen
on Tradition and stood barefooted
to his lectures
before him.
house
Even Prince Salim was made to attend learn Forty Ahadis. He was already " " and
Aymas
in charge of the distribution of the
religious grants.
the Bengal war was over. In went on pilgrimage to Ajmer he reached there on the anniversary of the Saint.
By
that
time,
1576-77, Akbar
;
Akbar performed recited
the
meditation.
Verses, offered
He
paid
caravan that was to
them with
usual
his
articles
issued a general
the
start for
and
prayers
and
entire
expenses
that
every
visit,
sat
in
of the
and supplied
the Haj
the journey.
for
order
circuit
Further he
pilgrim
would
A
new get his expenses from the state-treasury. department, called the Haj department, was opened " Alms are due on every surplus stock or store which a Sunni of the the end at year, provided that the surplus has been in pospossesses 14
session
for
a whole year
part of the year
If
the wife, therefore, had the surplus for a
and the husband afterwards took
the paying of alms."
Blochmann,
p. 173, note.
it
back,
he escaped
THE PERIOD OF QUEST the year 983
in
A.H. (1576-77 A.D.),
over which
superintendent called
Mir Haji.
he appointed a
To
this
77
he appointed one Khawja of Ajmer Six lacs of rupees in cash and kind,
post,
"
family.
and numerous presents 15 He Mecca and Medina."
twelve hundred dresses
were distributed even offered
men
of
at
dresses
jewelled
nobe-1
the
for
Mecca, and gave orders
for the building
a Khanqah for the use of the pilgrims from Hindustan. His state duties would not permit him of
Mecca though he had a mind to do so. 16 He followed the caravan bound for Mecca and
to
visit
clothed piece
with
himself
worn and
half
I
am
He had
a
t
It
hundred
Badauni,
For a king, the pilgrimage
is
significant
Mecca.
him
entrust
this
no
that
task
p. 271.
III,
is
the
Vide Agra Gazetteer by
incumbent
not
in
Nevill, p. 147.
^
J&j
faraz.
Akbar would no
the end
till
'
went on
India ever
duties of
state
not
these pilgrimages to Ajmer,
one of his sons
to
Jahaj-i-Ilahi
Then he gave
ships.
Muslim Sultan
When make
to
18
Akbarnama,
p. 246;
pilgrimage to
is
prepared called
16
II,
:
I
15
longer permit to
is
fleet
consisting of one
17
am present, no God but God/
present,
There
half
without
turbanned,
piece
shoes/' reciting the verses of Quran 1
*'
the dress of a Haji
of
"
he used his
life."
(Haj by a substitute)
allowed by the Hadis.
W
The
Lowe makes
usual cry
of the
go to Mecca for fear does not bear out this suggestion.
Akbar
U
pilgrim
is
..
to
Sher Shah's
fleet
-xJ
^AJJI.
Possibly
when he says that people did not the original Persian of losing him
a mistake in his notes
consisted of 50 ships.
;
like
text
THE DIN-MLAHI
78 a
general order that anybody might go on pilgrim-
age and that the Government would bear his exThis system continued for six years and penses.
was stopped only when Akbar found that the money taken from the treasury, on the pretext of the Hajis' expenditure, had been utilised by the Mir-i-Haj (the
of
Superintendent
his
for
Pilgrims)
own
purposes. this
During the
of
Empire had been remodelled.
was
of lands, the duty of
After the
the corruptions of Qazis in the settle-
of
discovery
ment band
the administrative system
period,
called
officers
in our last chapter
how,
transferred
Karoris.
to
We
a
new
have seen
in course of the distribution
Abdu-n Nabi, had lost balance of mind and temper and muddled whole affair. The discovery of the villainy the Chief Qazi and the mismanagement of
of lands, the Sadr-us-Sudur, his
the of
"
" Sayurghal
lands by the Chief (Sadr) of the state,
Abdu-n Nabi,
did
on the
theocratic
could
not
a great deal to bring discredit
side of their
outgrow
the
state.
influence
Still
and
Akbar issued
terms of the Jezia on nonorders Musalmans as the period of temporary remission to
settle
the
had already expired. in
1565,
19
temporarily
had been stopped ten years, and was now
Jezia for
sought to be revived.
During W Bad.,
Badauni, II,
p. 284.
this period, II,
p.
284.
a discussion on the question
Final abolition
of Jezia
was
in 1579-80.
THE PERIOD OF QUEST of marriage in Islam cropped
and
up
;
its
79 nature, extent
formed quite a volume
validity
in Islamic
Akbar was personally interested in the matter, so it received more than the usual attention As a strict Muslim, Akbar in the Ibadat Khana. could not legitimately have more than four wives but actually his harem contained a large number of literature.
ladies
from
side.
According
all
gave a Fatwah
from out-
parts of India as well as
Imam
to
that
Malik, the Chief Mulla
by Mu'tah
(not by Niqah)aman of wives he pleased; when number might marry any the point was thrashed out to a nicety, the position of the Chief Mulla was found to be untenable and he withdrew his previous sanction by camou-
"
This annoyed His Majesty very much," The discussion gradually so remarks Badauni.
flage.
took a serious turn sions
and
;
was proved
it
pleasing
by the Mukhdum were not of law but from motives of
the Master.
Qazi Vakub was
As
a result of the dicussion
suspended
Arab Maliki was appointed it
is
appointment
was a
deci-
formerly given
from thstandpoint
was,
that
and in
worth mention, the in
great loser
his
Qazi Husain This place.
first
the Qazi department.
by
this affair
Jalauddin of Multan, then
at
(1576-77)
direct
Shia
Mukhdum ;
Maulana
Agra, was appointed
Fatehpur Sikri and Yakub was sent to Gaur 20 Badauni suggests that as a mere district Qazi. at
Badauni gives a good description of these discussions Munta-khabut Tawarikh, Vol. II, pp. 21 1-15. 20
in
his
THE DIN-MLAHI
80 from
forward the road to opposition and
this
difference in opinion lay till
and remained so
open,
Akbar was appointed Mujtahid by the
upset
Sunni
thing decreed by one the
refutation
observance of
and by the the very same
lawyers
;
by another, and and strong emphatic that the amounts almost to non-belief and
is it
Empire."
of Traditions
diversity
the
decrees of
of the
Akbar was profoundly
During these discussions,
refuted
is
so
consequently to eternal damnation, for Islam knows
no
alternative
he wanted
between
and
belief
know what the
to
He
to say in the matter.
Ibadat
and other
So,
had
held informal discussions
with doctors of other sects and the
non-belief.
other sects of Islam
ultimately
he
laid
Khana open to the Shias, Mehdists The protagonists of the different
sects*
schools in
Islam
to
began of
tear
traditions
each other with
and
their
fine-spun lore
The
Shias were no less orthodox in their opinion
than the Sunnis.
of
painful to
vile
with which
ous epithets
names
The
the
reproaches and obnoxithe Shias uttered the
heroes of the Sunnis
a believer
of
decisions.
the
Sunni
were sect.
really
The
Sunnis again answered the charges of the Shias in 21 terms which were no less strong and disreputable.
Everybody
had
claimed the same
21
his
authority
and every body
authority for himself.
i
Naturally,!
Dabistan gives a full description of the SHia-Sunni disputes that
took place in the
controversy
may be
Ibadat Khana. referred to.
The Tabarra and Modhe-Sahaba
THE PERIOD OF QUEST therefore,
the
different
81
on which the
traditions
Ulama based
their conclusions, were first to be and then authenticated before they could verified, be cited. It was then that the comparative merits of the authors of the traditions were to be judged and could be finally accepted. Thus in finding out the truth, many unpleasant and undignified things were told, to the disgust and annoyance of this or that party. Even the Sahabis and the
companions of
lives
and
the Prophet, their actions, the very
of
were
prophets
Mohsin Fani
criticism.
that were discussed in
were
22
gives a
to
discussion
list
of subjects
the
Ibadat
Khana.
They
the
camel
straying
out.
:
Tradition
1 .
2
subjected
of
Ascent upon the caravan of the Quraish
.
beginning of the HJjra wives.
25
bands.
Separation of
4.
26
era.
7.
22
Dabistan, Vol.
23
Ibid., Vol.
Ibid
,
I,
Vol.
II,
8.
Footnote
1.
p. 100. Footnote 2
25
Ibid.,
Vol.
Ill,
p.
26
Ibid..
Vol
III,
p. 59, Footnote
27
Ibid.. Vol.
Ill,
p. 99.
Ibid.,
Vol.
I,
pp. 99-100, Footnote
29
Ibid
.
Vol.
I,
p. 51,
Ibid.,
Vol.
Ill,
*o
11-1280B
79.
Footnote
I.
I.
2.
pp/59-60, Footnote 2
from
giving
first
p. 99.
p. 100,
I,
the
in
the
Demanding nine
3.
women
The companions
5.
The appointment of The affair of Fadk. 29
6.
L>4
23
up
their hus-
the body.
three Khalifas.
War
of Siffin.
80
27
28
THE DIN-MLAHI
82
Now
mind
the ever-expanding
no longer
satisfied
within
the
limits
the sleeping doubts
scholars raised
wherefore of
in
everything
Representative of the veil of belief that
Akbar was
of
only
a
scholasticism, the
In that age of
sectarian creed.
Akbar was
of
the
why and
the minds
of
that
The
age of Renaissance.
had so long enveloped the mind
now
asunder by the lovers of the Faith themselves and the sun of of
intellect
began
ruthlessly
to radiate his
torn
luminous horizon.
And
Khana was no longer confined within the The Ibadat Khana which began as Islam
the Ibadat
order of
.
a Sunni assembly and, which after the discussion of the marriage questions, became a pan-Muslim assembly,
now
opened
passed on to the third stage,
to the
Hindus,
when
it
was
Sikhs, Jains, Zoroastrians,
Buddhists, Jews and Christians.
31
In
pur, for about four years, remained, for
fact,
Fateh-
all practical
purposes, the seat of the first great parliament of n2 In this, Akbar only imitatreligions of the world.
ed what was done by his great ancestor, Qubli Khan, in China ten three hundred and years before.
33
The
difference
was only
in degree but not
in kind.
At about
this time, in 1576-77,
a very import-
ant event occurred outside India which siderable importance to the 31
A
description of their debates
is
given in Mohsin Fani.
Felix Vayle/Jslamic Culture, 1930
33
See ante, Chap..
pp. 29-30,
of con-
triangular relations
31
II,
was
of
THE PERIOD OF QUEST the
Muslim
three
East
the
of
Empires
83 the
Timurid Empire of Hindustan, the Shia Empire of Iran and the Khelafat of Rum. The great Shah Tahmasp of Persia was murdered in 576 1
and Akbar began
The irksome
to breathe freely.
pretensions of the Shia supremacy over Babar and
Humayun were
unknown
not
to
Akbar.
Even
during the time of Akbar, the pretensions continued in
some form
The Shahs
or other.
never at ease at the
of
Persia were
growth of so important an
empire on the border, specially when the ancestors of the builder of that empire had been their vassals.
But Shah Tahmasp knew that Akbar
J
s
than that of position was much more secure his grandfather at Samarkand or of his father
Kabul, Qandahar or Hindustan. Both sides waited for an opportunity, and it came to Akbar
in
with the murder of the Shah.
But the position was
from the diplomatic point of view; even if Akbar were to declare himself outside the Shia fold, critical
he would automatically Khalifa of 1
Rum,
for
it
5th-century Europe
fall
was
into the grasp of the
just as
when
all
it
had been in the
Christian
monarchs
were automatically under the religious suzerainty of the Pope, all followers of Islam (except the Shias
who
think
that
part
of the
world are under the Khalifa.
the
Khelafat
is
vacant) in any
Already
in 1557, Sultan Suleiman had correspondence with Akbar by which he attempted to establish relations with the Ottoman court through the Turkish admi-
THE
84 Ali
Sidi
ral
would
Katibi.
DIN-I-ILAHI
84
Akbar
before
Therefore,
the final step of absolving himself Shia from the allegiance, he wanted to fortify his position aginst the Khelafat pretensions ; otherwise
take
might be for him merely a change from the Shia to the Sunni fold, a change not altogether for the better. So, in June, 1579, he had the Khutba read it
own name
was done by his great ancestors, Timur, Mirza Ulag Beg and Babar by which they put themselves beyond the Sunni Khelafat
in his
He
pretensions.
Zaman
as
and
adopted the
of
title
Khalifa-uz-
and
Amir-ul-Muminin
his
styled
Dar-ul-Khelafat (abode of the Khalifa)^ " His coins bore the inscription the great Sultan, as
capital
the
Within three months
Khalifa/'
exalted
the
Khutba was
recited in his
had the Ulama
the
of
name, he
of
pretensions course,
of the
Shias,
this
Ulama, but he did
to lessening the opposition,
Indian
him
outside
Shia suzerainty of Persia.
Akbar could have done
authority
view
the
indirectly
state to authorise
take the final step of declaring himself
as
just
the
if
it
after
to
the
Of
without the only with a
any, from the
Tudors
took
the
English Parliament, not because they were weak, nor because they feared the Parliament, but because Parliamentary sanction would help of the
fortify
who
their
owed
Akbar 's
court '"
position
even against
religious
was
allegiance
at that
Arnold,
Tnc
time
full
the Catholics to
the
of
Shias
Caliphate, pp. 113-14.
Pope.
who
THE PERIOD OF QUEST
owed
primary
to
allegiance
the court,
who
Shah Ulama
the Shia
Therefore, the sanction of
Persia.
85
the
were both Shias and Sunnisat
of
of
that
time, minimised the chances of internal opposition. The document by which Akbar gained that diplo-
matic victory was
known
as
the
Mahzar, which
"
Smith erroneously translates as the Infallibility in the Decree." But, judged light of other authentic facts, the
Mahzar was much more
than not and should be treated as such.
When Akbar was making
political
85
plans to set at naught
and the Shia was being challenged,
the pretensions of the Sunni Khalifa his authority in India
Shah,
very slyly and effectively though, by the Sadrus About the year 1577-78, .Sudur, Abdu-n Nabi. the Qazi
of
Mathura
3G
complained Sadr that a wealthy Brahmin had carried
the
to
Abdur Rahman
which the Qazi had collected for and built a temple, and that when the
off the materials
a
Mas
j
id
Qazi attempted
to prevent
him, the Brahmin used
insulting language about the Prophet. The Brahmin was asked by the Sadr to come and answer the
The matter was reported Fazl and Birbal to bring Abul to Akbar who the Brahmin and on enquiry it was found that the Brahmin had actually used insulting language about charges but he did not. sent
Now, how should he be punished ? 1924, p. 591-608. See post Appendix A to this Chapter.
the Prophet. 35
J.R.A.S.,
36
Badauni,
ill,
p. 128.
We
have overlooked such an incident
Was
it
done
deliberately
?
do not understand how Smith could in the
development of Akbar 's views.
86
THE DIN-HLAHI
Some were
he should be
of opinion that
and
fined
be paraded through the streets on the back of 87 ass. The Sadr wanted that he should be
an
condemned take
place
to death.
without
Whereas no execution could the
sanction
direct
of
the
Emperor, the Sadr sought the required sanction of Akbar. But the ladies of the harem stood on
They wanted the Brahmin to be saved; the sanction of the Emperor was not forthcoming. The Sadr now thought that his position would be the way.
much compromised
if
the
Brahmin
could
not
be
executed and possibly taking the matter as a personal question involving his prestige, he ordered
man
immediate execution of the Brahmin and the
was executed. execution, the
Apart
work
from the
of the Sadr
legality
of
the
was highly against
the law of the state, as no execution could take place
without the sanction of the Emperor, and a great principle whether the Sadr
and
his
command was above
Had he been Alauddin
or
involved
it
was above the law
that of the
Henry
VIII,
Emperor. he would
have given immediate orders for the execution of the But Akbar was a different man altogether Sadr. and, instead, he held conversation with Abdul Qadir
and
other theologians, to
know what
the law
was
the disbelief in Prophets and have submitted to the rule unbelievers and who non-Muslims Saints by no ground for any breach of agreement between of Islam, gives 37
the
Actually, according to Hanafi law,
Zimmis and
their
obligation
the to
Muslims and
in
safeguard infidel
no
way
subjects.
Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, note on Zimmis.
absolves
Muslims from
Badauni,
III,
p.
129;
THE PERIOD OF QUEST 88
on the
Even
point.
Tradition and
87
the highest knowledge of the
Law which Abdul
Qadir and others
brought to bear on the defence of the execution, could not justify the action of the Sadr in this case.
This incident resulted in gradual loss of the position of Abdu-n Nabi whose prestige had already
been waning owing to marriage and owing
his decisions
in
Badauni informs
and no longer " would and Mukhdum-ul-Mulk
this is the
Abdu-n
on the Mu'tah
mismanagement
Ay mas.
the distribution of the
us that
his
to
Nabi
cause of his
fall
occupy seats and nobody would salute them." To summarise what has been said in course of the
development of
events
the its
Khana and
Karoris,
and driving out
the positions,
crown
Tahmasp and consequent and
the
Arabic
of
the Qazis
branding regulation,
lands into
Jagir
the religious discussions,
the administrative system with
of
organisation
decree
the religio-
Emperor, the central were the building of
during this period
Ibadat
the
the
of
position
political
facts relating to
of
pretensions
lands,
from
conversion
of
death of Shah
recitation of the
Khutba
1579 repudiating the Persoon the Timurid House of
was
Akbar
had He had to encounter opposition from expected. whose interests had been touched all parties by his regulations. The Qazis were angry that Hindustan.
But
38
all
Bad.,
Ill,
not
pp. 129-30.
as
THE
Ob
DIN-I-ILAHI
the
their privileges in
been taken out of
distribution
their
of
had
lands
hands, and that they had
been supplanted by the newly appointed Karoris, monopoly of their judicial authority was broken
the
down by as
a
their
the
royal
reservation
principal source
the
prerogative,
sentence
the death
of
of
had been checked and they from the lands which they had been
income, bribery,
were ejected
occupying so
long
was too much
for
without any authority.
This
Those Qazis who had offices, and those who had
them.
been turned out of
their
been transferred
distant provinces,
began to eke out their living by starting Mosques and Maktabs. Every masjid had a maktab attached to it and the
Imam
of
to
mosque, whatever might be the was a teacher by virtue of These teachers began to spread all
the
extent of his learning, his position.
sorts of untruths
and
half-truths
teachings and began to present
an apostate. After the in
course of their
(assembly), excited
in course of
Akbar
their
in the role of
Jumma prayers, the Moulvis,
instructions
and
incited
to
their
Jam'
the ignorant
at
and
inflammable mass against Akbar, quoting from unauthorised versions of the Quran or intereasily
preting the texts in their '
own way.
'
The Sulh-iAkbar was presented
Kul (peace with all) policy of by the orthodox party as a surrender of Islam to the unbelievers and an attack upon Muslim religion. 30 39
Smith, Akbar, p.
85.
THE PERIOD OF QUEST
89
and unsuspecting mass really believed that Akbar had become an unbeliever and many a gossip found their way before the public about the faith and belief of Akbar. In 987 A.H. (1579-80 A.D.) Mulla Muhammad Yazid Qazi of Jaunpur, who was a bitter Shia and who In that age of belief, the ignorant
was
intelligent
Persian
of
implications
understand
to
enough
the
the anti-
Mahzar, issued a
40 Fatwah sanctioning Jehad against the monarch " who has encroached upon the grants of lands Further the strict belonging to us and to God ' '
.
enforcement of the branding regulations, opening
up
of
the
register
the boundaries areas of the
of rolls
41
and the
fixing
up
of
by cutting down the unauthorised and the principle of con-
landholders
version of Jagir lands into Khalsa lands had touched a very influential class of vested interests. They
now off
focussed provinces
all
their attention to distant
Bengal and Behar
and
The place Imperial eye. 42 geographically favourable as a plague spot vigilance
of
far-
away from the
the
down
was and
the regulations of
Shah Mansur
own
allowance of eastern soldiers by
*
initiative the
Jehad
a religious war
;
cutting
the root of the
word
(j^-a.)
at his
means
'
to
way of God', i.e., for establishment of faith. The word has undergone many changes in meaning in different ages.
strive in the
"
See ante, Chapter III, pp. 60-6 1. Bengal Afghans had never accepted the conquest of Panipat or Sarhind as the last word in their history of India, and they nevei hesitated to avail themselves of an opportunity of rising against the *3
Timurids whenever any occurred.
12-1280B
THE DIN-MLAHI
90
43
Bengal and 20%' in Behar, by demanding of the general the refund cut, had made the
50%
in
soldiers
mutinous.
was
of Jaunpur
Fatwah pour
oil
of the
The Fatwah
of
Qazi
further strengthened
Yazid
by another
Qazi of Bengal which served only
We
on troubled waters.
to
find the disgrun-
Maulanas, the ignorant masses led by them, the refractory Jagirdars, the mutinous soldiers, all joined tled
and preparations began for the declaraSmith suggests that the tion of an open rebellion. revolt was primarily a religious revolt but his view It was primarily is not tenable in the light of facts. political and Mullas gave sanction to a war which together
would have come even
the religious sanction were not behind it, just as was the case on the eve of the French Revolution, when the unwilling
and
sanction, through the
received
Etat
Tiers
hesitating
if
Lower Clergy,
now began
party
Akbar's half-brother Mirza their ruler
and
started to
Masum Khan
Kabuli,
upon
war
XVI. to look
upon
Muhammad Hakim
conspire against Jagirdar
communication with Mirzfc
Divine
to join the
against the Divine Kingship of Louis
The Orthodox
the
of Patna,
as
Akbar*
was
in
Muhammad Hakim and
were always looked Bengal and Behar, for climate and distance, like the Andamans them considered The death. Mughals as spots of
of to-day.
No
soldier
would work
there without extra pay or allowance.
to Bengal and 50% promise an increase of 100% in salary Daud Khan. In to asked against fight to Behar soldiers when they were See Gaur. at died Blochmann, officers 14 than L less high thii war. no
Akbar had
to
p. 118, footnote.
THE PERIOD OF QUEST planned a
joint
attack from
The
simultaneously.
91
and the west
the east
much
were
conspirators
encouraged to find Shah Mansur, the Imperial Finance Minister, joining the conspiracy. The
Shah Mirza
of Persia, inspite of his troubles, sent forces to
Muhammad Hakim,
the Decree
of
for the
implication of
1579 were not unknown
Moreover the Shah was
aware of the
him.
to
fact that
am-
been sent to Akbar 's court
bassadors had
already
by the Khalifa
and he was
afraid of
an intervention
from the van and rear by the Khalifa and Akbar.
As
Buckler
the arrival
suggests,
embassies during
this
unconnected with the
period
political
So the Shah was anxious and he promised help
to
all
Mirza
not
Uzbeg possibly
events of the period.
that
must be embararssed from
was
the
of
the Indian directions
44
46
Sultan possible
Muhammad Hakim
in his Indian venture.
Afghan Chiefs declared a rebellion. Masum Khan Kabuli was the ringHe was joined by Masum Khan Far anleader. khudi, Mirza Ma'in-ul-Mulk, Nyabat Khan, Arab Bahadur, Wazir Jamil, Baba Khan Kakshaal and Masum Khan Kabuli defeated Muzaffar others. Khan at Tanda. Akbar sent Todar Mai to reBy January, 1580,
cover
Bengal,
&
who
44
E.
45
J.R.A.S., 1924, p. 603.
D., Vol.
the
cleverly
V, Tabqat,
p. 407.
occupied
the
very
THE DIN-MLAHI
92
Teliagarhi Pass
strategic
46
known
the gate of
as
Bengal and checked the rebels from advancing further to combine with the armies of the other Mirza Aziz Koka was appointed goverBengal and Shahbaz Khan was called
leaders.
nor
of
back from Rajputana. The gravity of the situaation may be measured from the fact that, inspite of the
supreme efforts of the best generals of the time, it took Akbar four years to pacify Bengal. Farrankhudi even had followers in Oudh where
they
made
an attempt, though short-lived, In
rebellion.
the officers
Bengal rebellion of Mirza Hakim under
the Punjab.
47
Within one month
Mirza Hakim himself advanced rebellion
now
a
while the
1580,
was in progress, Nuruddin raided
at
in
took a serious turn.
person and the
Akbar thought
move up personally to the north in The conspirator, Shah Mansur, February, 1581.
it
to
necessary
was
found out
Akbar,
the
serious turn
and
Punjab
owing
of the Mirza,
executed.
Fortunately for could not assume a
rebellion
to the imbecility
who
and incapacity
loved the intoxication of wine
and women more than
that of
war and the throne.
46 The pass lies between the Sahibganj (E. I. Ry.) hills and the It is strategically very Ganges with an area of six miles important the natural barrier of the river Ganges and the mountains would be enough obstacle to any that would attempt to cross over. Buchanan's ;
account of
Magazine Tili
Teliagarhi
was published by Beveridge 1894,
(Calcutta), January,
caste,
Bhagalpur
having his seat District
But this
Smith, Akbar, p.
119.
at is
p. 21.
Dharran
in
not correct.
It
in
the National
says that the Raja
was of
Faizullaganj thana in the
Akbarnama,
III,
p. 151.
THE PERIOD OF QUEST
93
Mirza Hakim was practically defeated by himself and Akbar, after pacifying Kabul, restored the
kingdom
8
through his sister/ should the rebels be punished? In his
to his half-brother
But how
unlike Balban and Ala-
inimitable way, of course
uddin who punished a whole family for the fault 49 of one, to make an example. Akbar sent for
Mulla Qazi of Jaunpur and his accomplice, the Qazi of Bengal and they were thrown into the river.
to * '
50
Many
different places in
where they
colts." file
who
and Maulanas were sent India and many to Qandahar
other Shias
were
for
exchanged
horses
and
But Akbar did not punish the rank and joined the rebellion, for he knew that the
mass, narrow and bigoted in their outlook as they had been, were mere dupes of those still more
narrow and more bigoted Mullas. So with a view 51 and to reforming and remodelling the Mullas to
bringing
the 48
root, This
is
about
silent
and steady
he introduced the following an instance of Akbar *s astute
not only defeated an
enemy but turned
that
49
Lane-Poole, Medieval India, pp. 86,
50
Badauni, and following
punishment of the Qazis. tations as a
reforms at
move
They
political
enemy
acumen.
107.
interpret this
Church
He had
into a friend.
him Smith, have made
against the very
measures
of
capital of
the
punishment and the deporIslam.
But did they not
from the point of statecraft ? Knowing, as Akbar did, their deserve attitude towards him, it would have been a criminal folly on the part of it
Akbar
if
the
refractory
and uncompromising Mullas were
left in their
positions. 51
Similar attempts were
he too was often heretic
and
made by
Khalifa Mansur in Bagdad and
in
days and interdicted as an
misrepresented
apostate.
his
94
THE DIN-MLAHI the
in
administration of the
Hindustan
to
every place according to the
be started in any and
sweet will of a Mulla.
Madrasas could not be established
(b)
and every
in
:
Mosques were not
(a)
Muslim Church
at
any
place.
A
Maulana, not duly qualified, would not be allowed to serve as an Imam nor would an un(c)
qualified
Mulla be permitted
to teach
Maktabs
in
and Mosques. (
Exclusive devotion to theology and Arabic
d)
language was discouraged and subjects like Astro-
nomy,
Physics, Arithmetic, Poetry,
and History
(Chronology) were introduced in the curricula. The post of the Sadr-us-Sudur was abolish(e)
ed altogether in November, 1581, for the power of the Sadr was immeasurably great and unrestricted
and almost parallel to that of the Emperor as it was based on religious sanction. So he substituted the Imperial
Punjab,
Sadr (2)
by
six
Malwa and
Delhi,
Kalpi and Kalanjar, river, (5)
52
sect of
really
time
Shaikhs
angle
near
the
Sarju
faced
called
with
There
themselves
'
dis-
Badauni has discussed these measures from
altogether as measures against Islam.
the Bengal rebellion.
Empire by Ibn Hasan,
Agra,
as Ilahi rebellion.
who
measures against rebellion. after
Hajipur
(3)
52
known
Smith, Akbar, p. 207.
different
Guzrat,
(6) Bengal. time Akbar was
this
another rebellion
a
(4)
Behar, and
At about was a
Provincial Sadrs in (l)the
p. 269.
But they were
They were all introduced The Central Structure
at the
of
same
Mughal
THE PERIOD OF QUEST '
ciples
but were generally
known
95 as the Ilahis.
*
They used to utter all sorts of lies and nonsense.' Akbar had many of them captured and asked " " whether they repented of their vanities them
;
they replied, "Repentance
They were and
were
more
;
our maid-servant."
is
sent to Bakkar (Sind)
and
to
Qandahar,
given to merchants in exchange for Turkish colts. But this did not destroy the rebellion and they continued to trouble for some years
we
find
tingents against
Akbar sending very them even in the year
Akbar came back 581
1
,
to the capital
strong con1
585.
53
on December
1
,
and again resumed the debates of the Ibadat So long he had searched for the light but
Khana.
had only found it through the eyes of others. He " now started an assembly called the Forty," " whose principle was to decide by reason." The r>1
creeds that were
now
represented in
the Hall
of
Discussion were
(1)
Sunni.
(2)
Shia.
'
5S
Vol 5*
(3)
Hindu.
(4)
Zoroastrian.
(5)
Jain.
(6)
Sikh.
.
I,
Badauni,
II,
p. 308.
Chapter HI. Bad.,
II,
p. 218.
For details of their doctrines, see Dabistan,
THE DIN-MLAHI
96 (7)
Buddhist.
(8)
Jew.
(9)
Christian.
we
shall
discuss the
com-
parative influences of the different
forces that
were
In our next chapter
working in the Ibadat Khana leading morphosis of 1582.
to the
meta-
APPENDIX Muslim Rulers
of
A
Hindustan, Iran and
in the Sixteenth
Rum
Century
"Mahzar" "
Whereas Hindustan is now become the centre and peace, and the land of justice and beneficence, a large number of people, especially learned men and lawyers, have immigrated and chosen this country for their home. Now we, the of security
principal
Ulama who
are well-versed in the several
departments of the law and in the principles of jurisprudence, and well acquainted with the edicts 13-1280B
THE DIN-MLAHI
98 which
rest
known
for
on reason and testimony, but are also piety and honest intentions, have duly
considered the deep meaning,
first,
of the verse of
'
Obey God, and obey the Prophet, and who have authority among you/ and second-
Quran, those
'
ly of the is
dearest to
;
God on
the day
of
man who
judgment
the
;
against Thee,'
and
thirdly, of several other proofs
based on reasoning or testimony and agreed that the rank of SuItan-i-Adil
we
;
is
is
whosoever obeys the Amir, obeys and whosoever rebels against him, rebels
Imam-i-Adil
Thee
Surely the
genuine Tradition,
higher in the
of Islam,
Amir
(just ruler)
rank of a Mujtahid (authority on F\nther
points of law).
have*
of the
we
declare that the
shadow
Faithful,
of
king
God
world, Abul-Fath Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar Padshah Gazi (whose kingdom God perpetuate) is a most just, a most wise, and a most in the
God-fearing king. Should, therefore, in future a religious question come up, regarding which the opinions of the
Mujtahids
are
at variance,
and
His Majesty in his penetrating understanding an'd clear wisdom be inclined to adopt, for the benefit
and as a political expedient, any of the conflicting opinions which exist on that point,
of the nation,
and
issue a decree to
that
agree that such a decree
effect,
shall
we do
hereby be binding on us
and on the whole nation.
" Further,
think
fit
we
to issue a
declare that, should His Majesty
new
order,
we and
the nation
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MUSLIM RULERS
99
shall likewise be bound by it, provided always tha such order be not only in accordance with some
verses of the Quran, but also of real benefit to
nation
;
and
the
any opposition on the an order passed by involve damnation in the world
further
that
part of his subjects to
such
His Majesty shall to come, and loss of property and religious
privi-
leges in this.
"
This document has been written with honest
God, and
the
propaga-
signed by us,
the
principal
intentions, for the glory of tion of Islam,
and
is
Ulama and
lawyers, in the month of Rajab of the nine hundred and eighty-seven (987 A. H.)." year In
discussing
Akbar's
Smith began Before he care-
religion,
with some pre-conceived notions. fully
surveyed
all
he had formed
the materials
own
his
in
opinions
going through the work developed ingeniously and
connected
spun
his
them
command, and while
his
a
into
facts very
logically
treatise to force the readers into his
conclusions.
The summum
of his findings
is
own that
from the very beginning Akbar had an intention make him Pope as well as King and he only to *
'
waited for a favourable turn of events which he never failed to screw to his definitely shaped ideas.
Smith
tells
Akbar had
his readers
that
in
the services of Shaikh
this
transaction
Mubarak,
father
The persecution, to and Abul Fazl. which Shaikh Mubarak was a victim from the of
Faizi
theocratic side of the
state, is
well
known
to
all
THE
100
DIN-I-ILAHI
Smith brought in Mubarak to support Akbar in his scheme for the eradication of the Mulla influence over the state and of readers of Badauni.
placing himself at
the
head of the Church and
Though each had his different angle of vision Akbar political and Mubarak personal the result was the same namely, the destruction of the Mulla party. So Smith makes Mubarak his after successful Guzrat come to Agra expedition and make a speech expressing the hope the State.
'
Emperor might become the spiritual as well as the temporal head of his people.' " The suggestion pleased Akbar who bore it in 2 mind and acted on it six years later in 1579." the
that
3
Thus
Smith very
slyly
congratulations of 1
Indeed
579.
Mubarak
man
;
1
with
the
speech
of
Mahzar
of
document was written by time he was the most learned
at this
of the court of
interpreted
572-73
the
the
devolved upon him. as
connects
Akbar, so the task naturally
The
by Smith,
text
of
"
the document,
solemnly recognised
Akbar as being superior, in his capacity of Imami-Adil, to any other interpreter of Muslim law/' and practically invested him with the attribute of Here Smith was encouraged to find infallibility. support in Badauni. But the view taken by Smith the light
of
facts
1
For
2
Smith, Akbar, p.
erroneous in
during the momentous
details consult Durbar-i- Akbar. 1
is
16.
period
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MUSLIM RULERS of
six
The
1573-79.
years
101
interpretations
as
advanced by the Badauni group of historians do not
Akbar 's
in with other events of
fit
We
this period.
have narrated
gious and devout period
when we
nature of
*
shoes of the Maulana,
during reli-
Akbar during
this
the lace
the
of
of the
sweeping the dust '
and ungrudgingly it if was an Did not Akbar place at the religious endowments
Salim Chishti
of
Khanqah
a
the
him untying
find
life
in detail
carrying out the orders of the Sadr as
do
act of merit to that time the
and
'
so.
whole of '
in the
Aymas
in the year
1575-76,
hands
of
after
the
the
Sadr
so-called
Even
?
hint
Mubarak, did he not make provision for the grims to the holy land of Mecca from the for
treasury
(1575-80)
and the
during
practice
Ibadat
all
Khana
of
years
Did he not
?
and
sundry
pil-
state
continue
so-called
the
Schism
at the outset confine
to the Shaikhs,
of
the
Ulama and Sayids
Did he not undertake only ? and strenuous long journey to the
the Sunni creed
of
himself very shrines
of
saints
of
Ajmer
Even
in
the
year
1
580 ?
578, the year before during the year the Mahzar, he chanted the Sufi formula of Ya 1
'
hu,
Ya the
of
Hadi.' Decree,
4
Even during
the
famous year
did he not send Rs. 50,000 to the
Mecca ? Did he not propose to build a Rest House for the Indian pilgrims at Mecca Sharifs of
3
See antes Chap.
'
Badauni, Vol.
II.
Ill,
pp. 120-21.
p. 203.
THE
102
DIN-I-ILAHI
during that momentous period ? And such a devout man, in course of a fine morning on the third day of the month of September in 578, manufactured the famous Decree which placed him 1
above the Ulama or the Shaikhs or even above the " the Quran, and which pronouncedly extended autocracy of Akbar from the temporal to the spiritual side
and made him the Pope as well as
the King,"
rendering
all
opposition impossible! But no event in the relation between Akbar and the
the Islamic faith during
period
is sufficient
to
The explain the issue of the Mahzar of 1579. the of Badauni light interpretation of the Decree in is
apparently logical in the light of the
subsequent
must be remembered that Badauni events. wrote his Muntakhabut Tawarikh long after the When a Din-i-Ilahi was shaped and promulgated. difficult him not for man finds an effect, it is very But
it
to connect the events with a
cause.
So, Badauni,
finding the promulgation of the Din-i-llahi, sought a background and found it easily in the declaration
of
Badauni
the
Mahzar
which
lost sight of the real issue
We
preceded
may admit
Mullas could
not
that
or
others
involved in the document. the
biased
and
bigoted
did
not
like
rather
understand the intricacies of the of the Islamic world, but
how
political
all
lose
sight of the clear political aspect
materials of history at his ?
to
situation
could Smith,
had
the
But.
it.
and following him Smith and
who
command, Possibly,
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MUSLIM RULERS as
we have already
103
suggested, he refused to
open
his eyes to the political side of the question, for that his pre-conceived conclusions.
would defeat
Peculiarly enough, the historians of the
monarchs
the Indian
Empire have interpreted
Muslim in
Indian events and currents only. monarchs had trans- Indian relations,
the light of the
That these
was
by the Muslim
lost sight of
fault is not
exclusively
theirs
;
The
historians.
in the
absence of
and news agencies, it was really have information from far-off countries.
royal archives difficult to
Thus
Indian Muslim relations with the Perso-
the
Arabic Muslim Empires have not been properly discussed in the Indian histories written by contem-
porary Muslims.
5
Had Smith been
so inclined, he
could easily have explained the Declaration of
by reference
Empire
As
a
relations
There
relations with the Shia
with the Khalifa.
is
all
the
The
of
Rum.
Khalifa of Islam,
always claimed religious followers
a fine scope of writing a History
Muslim standpoint explaining the current trans-Indian Muslim forces. ^
579
Muslim sovereign, Akbar had automatic
"obedience from 5
Timurid
and the Sunni Khelafat
Law demands,
the
as
to the
of Persia
1
of
of the
of
Faith.
Hindustan from the
Indian History through
For the Khelafat pretensions over the Indian Muslims, see Hughes, As far back as 121 A. D., Sultan Iltutmish even
Dictionary of Islam
1
sought recognition from the Khalifa and the half-Muslim Turk became " " the Shamsuddin^-after his recognition by the light of the religion Khalifa.
These Khelafat pretensions continued even
Sepoy Mutiny
The
British
in
the proceedings of the
trial
at the time of the
of the king of Delhi.
Government, during the early days of the Great War of
1914,
THE
104
Hence the
DIN-I-ILAHI
dignity of the Khalifa
many
supplied
war amongst the followers of the faith as was the case with the Pope in Christian Europe before 1648. These pretensions supplied one of the main causes for the war between Timur and the Khelafat, ending in the famous battle of 1402 and the transference of the Islamic capital causes for
fruitful
(Dar-ul Khelafat) to tion
of the
Samarkand and
of
title
in the
Khalifat-ul-lillah
assumpby Timur.
These pretensions continued in the family of Timur from 1402 to 1856. 7 To make this claim of Timur to the Khelafat more effective, possibly Abul Fazl has purposely drawn the genealogy of Timur from Adam and the epithet of Khalifa has been associat-
ed with
all
the ancestors of Akbar.
After suggest-
ing the natural claim of the Timurid family to the Khelafat, Abul Fazl has drawn a parallel between the horoscopes
8
of
auspicious birth of
Timur and Akbar so that the both of them equally fitted them
hold the dignity of Khailfa by heavenly ordination. Even an orthodox Mulla like Badauni used to
the
word Khalifa when he mentioned the name of Abul Fazl almost always associated the
Akbar. grew
afraid
with
the
Crown. integrity
lest
Indian
the Khelafat pretensions might
Muslims and
Hence was of
the
the
Iltutmish,
of
Egypt and
Muhammad Tughluq and
Syria,
Firoz
too
much
to
the
British
See Parliamentary Proceedings of the
See Ain-i-Akbari,
I,
Nuruddin Omar of
Tughluq
of Hindu-
some Khalifa or other. trial
1856-57. 8
weigh
loyalty
declaration of Lloyd-George regarding the Sultan Mahmud of Gazni, Yusuf bin
stan received investiture from 7
their
Khelafat
Tashfin of Spain, Saladin
Yaman,
shake
pp. 25, 42-43, 80, 128.
of the
king of Delhi.
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MUSLIM RULERS title
of
Khalifa-uz-Zaman
the claim and to
make
to give
doubly
it
more
effective,
105 to
stress
because
assumption of the dignity of the Khelafat was a great achievement which accounts for the prestige this
of
Timur and
Ulama
of
of his house. But neither the orthodox
Bagdad and
Persia, nor the
Khalifas and
Shahs, ever accepted these Khelafat pretensions of
Timurid supremacy over Mecca and Bait-ulMoqaddas and treat this period as one of Schism in
the
the Khelafat.
In our opinion, the vindication of the
claim of Akbar to this proud position, once held by his great ancestor, supplied one of the foremost considerations for the of
promulgation of the Mahzar
1579.
Geographically speaking, the Persian Muslim Empire had very intimate connections with the
Timurid kingdoms Hindustan.
We
in
Samarkand,
know
the
at
Kabul and
circumstances
9
in
that
struggle between Sultan Bayezid of Turkey and Timur, ending in the great battle of Angora in 1402. After the death of Timur, his immediate descendants were too weak to vindicate
led
to
the
their superiority to the
of
Bagdad.
When
Persians or to the
Khalifas
the Timurids were off the field,
the struggle continued between the Shia kingdom Shah of Persia and the Sunni kingdom of Arabia. Ismail, the great ruler of Persia (1502-24), restored
the former
splendour and glory of the ancient
9 E. G. Brown, History of the Persian Literature under Tartar Dominion, pp. 196, 204. Beveridge contends that Timur was a Shia (J.A.S.B., N.S., XVII, 1921, pp. 201-04); but he is wrong.
14-1280B
THE
106
DIN-I-ILAHI
kingdom and became a rival to Sultan Salim the Grim (1512-20). Ismail forced many of his vassals to accept the Shia faith, which under him became But those that did not,
the national faith of Persia.
kingship of Shah Ismail and looked upon the Khalifa of Rum as their
remained
bitterly hostile to the
real ruler, just as
the
upon Mary Queen their Sovereign.
Catholics of England looked
of Scots
To
and not Elizabeth as
get back
his ancestral
king-
dom
at Samarkand, Babar in 1510 and 1512 accepted the Shia suzerainty of Shah Ismail and agreed to wear the Shia-i-Taj, and to strike coins bearing
Babar thus became avowedly a vassal 10 of Shah Ismail, both spiritually and temporally.
Shia
texts.
However, Salim the Grim, as a part
of his anti-
Persian policy, massacred a large number of Shias, fought the battle of Chaldrain, defeated Shah Ismail
and ultimately transferred the Khelafat to the house of Osman by defeating the last of the 11 Thereafter Salim Abbasids in Egypt in 1517. issued a proclamation of hegemony over all Sunni believers
all
Shah Ismail enough 1526,
to
over the world. at
After the
Chaldrain, Babar
chalk out his
Babar began
to
own strike
texts of the first four Khalifas
felt
line
defeat of
himself strong of
coins
action.
In
bearing the
(Khulafa-e-Rashedun),
and had the Khutba read in his name. The 12 removal of Shia texts from the coins proved his 1
" "
Tarikhi Rashidi, pp. 262-66; Memoirs of Babar, pp. 105-09.
Hammer-Purgstall, IV, pp. 174, 178, 190-91. C. J. Brown, Coins of India, PL X, No. 1,
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MUSLIM RULERS
107
independence of the Shia Shah of Persia and the reading of the Khutba pointed to the fact that he
was beyond
When
wheels of fortune turned against that unlucky descendant of Timur, he
Shah Tahmasp, and
to accept the Shia-i-Taj of
undergo the formalities of the Shia tically
Rum. 13
of the Khalifa of
hegemony
the
Humayun, had
the
Humayun
Prac-
court.
willingly or unwillingly, to
had,
become a vassal of the Shia sovereign of Persia and accepted a commission to lead an expedition to recover the lost provinces of Qandahar and Delhi under
the
command
of
royal prince aged only six years.
here that
the
duty entrusted to
Murad, a Persian It must be noted Humayun was to
Qandahar and Delhi was not an independent duty, it was only under a Persian prince. However feeble might have been the voice of the commander of six years,
reconquer the lost provinces of but
;
it
acceptance of command under a child of six years proved the subordinate position of Humayun. this
When Humayun to explain his
failed
conduct
would be required
to
in
just
his
as
do before
he had
attempt,
an ordinary
officer
master.
After
his
the conquest of Qandahar, Bairam Khan, as Shah Tahmasp 's direct vassal, was given the principality
Qandahar, which was held by him on the same terms M as Humayun held Kabul and Delhi of
.
13
Badauni,
Religion of 14
p. 221.
I,
p. 336;
Memoirs
of Babar,
II,
p.
190; S. K.
Banerji,
Humayun.
Ain-i-Akbari,
I,
pp. 241, 309; Tabqat-i Akbari (E.
&
D.,
Vol Vl,
THE
108
DIN-I-ILAH1
Thus
the relation
sixth
Timurids and the This
rather feudal.
fifth
and
monarchs
was
between the
de-jare
Persian
by the
further corroborated
is
continuance of the Persian orders and decorations
and by the Imarat
association of
the
throne
of
with
the
of Masnad-i-
title
Delhi
during
this
Persia
did
period.
When Humayun
died, the
Shah
of
not commit himself to any definite line of action, for
he knew that so long as Bairam Khan, Shia
ful
was
vassal,
minor Akbar, the or
Persian
s
read in the appointment of
and
Shaikh Gudai, scholar,
Abul
Emperor.
Latif,
in
light
and Bairam was trend
the
as
of
selection of a Persian
the tutor
intelligent
of
speaking,
placing
events.
could be
policy
a Shia Sadr-us-Sudur,
the
in
Diplomatically
Shah was
faith-
was more
Persia
of
interest
Bairam
less safe.
his
there as the guardian of the
his
trust
the
young
the
Persian
in
Bairam,
enough to understand Bairam 's future was
When
he counted on the help of Persia and would probably have proceeded to Persia where
in
danger,
the
help of the
15
Shah was a
certainty,
could not be only for his murder
in
but that
Guzrat.
The
between the ward and the guardian was probably anticipated by Shah Tahmasp and this
struggle
explains the belatedness of the
15
of
This prospect of Persian assistance
vents of
1
580
Persian monarch.
when
letter
is
the rebellion of Mirza
See Smith, Akbar,
p. 119.
of condolence
conoborated
in
the light
Hakim was backed by
the
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MUSLIM RULERS
1
09 lfi
Akbar on the occasion of Humayun's death. When Shah Tahmasp found that the accession was an accomplished fact, he wanted to make the least use of it, by waiting and watching the trend to
But the misfortunes of
of events.
finished the cycle of the
as
for a
time and,
Akbar 's stars rose higher and The Shah was always uneasy at the rise
days passed,
higher. of
Timurids
Humayun had
the
Timurids
in
and would not
India
utilise the Mirzas of the border
of
inspiration in 1573.
Persia
and so we
fail to
find the
behind the Guzrat rebellion
Naturally the master
like to see his vassal in
of Persia
did not
Hindustan grow stronger
than himself. Fortunately for Akbar, by the eighties of the 16th century the Muslim Empires of the Sunni Khalifa
and the Shia Shah fell into disorder.
Salim the Grim
in 1574 and was succeeded by Murad III Shah Tahmasp also died two years later in 576 and there began a period of anarchy and civil war
died
;
1
lasting
for
a
of
period
1
1
years
with
all
their
concomitant intrigues and plots so common in Persian courts. Murad sent an expedition to Persia
through Georgia, which on its way stirred up the Sunni vassals of the Shia Sultan of Persia. Even
16
Tabqat, E.
of
&
D., Vol. V, 276.
The
letter of
condolence came six
Humayun's death the long delay in sending this letter condolence to Akbar may also be explained by the policy of wait
years after
:
and watch adopted by the Persian monarchs towards the Hindustan.
affairs
of
1
THE D1N-MLAHI
10
" 17 Akbar was invited to assist in restoring order." Akbar was very well acquainted with the deplorable state of the Khelafat's internal affairs.
Inspite
outward glamour of the Khelafat, the Grand Vizir Sokoli was murdered in 578 and the Khela18 fat forces were defeated in Europe and Georgia.
of the
1
Akbar heard these news possibly from Haji Abdulla and Sultan Khawaja who arrived in Hindustan from Europe at that time. He also received embassies from Nizam Husain of Badakhshan
and from Abdulla Khan Uzbeg of Transoxiana and these embassies were not possibly unconnected with the
affairs of Persia.
19
So far as Persia was concerned, the condition was no better. The great Shah Tahmasp was murdered
576 and a
civil war continued, and more than a decade to get to a settled position. The constant rivalry of the Sunni Khalifa and the intrepid raid of the border Uzbegs had placed the Persian Empire in an ugly position. it
took
in
1
Persia
The two monarchs, Ismail Khodawanda (1574-87), were
and
II
Muhammad
weak to retain the proud position of the Safavi dynasty. The weakness of the Safavi Empire in Persia was just in proportion
to
India.
17
Ain.,
The Ill, p.
the
the
of
strength
too
Chogtai Empire in
Here was the opportunity fact of the Khalifa's
31
1
;
Tabqat, E.
&
invitation
D
18
Hays, Modern Europe, Vol.
l
Badauni, Vol.
II,
p. 278.
,
to
Akbar
Vol. V, p. 407.
I,
p. 259,
Akbar;
for
is
mentioned
if
in
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MUSLIM RULERS lie
would not
1
1
1
avail himself of the opportunity
now, would never come again, for a powerful monarch like Shah Abbas (1587-1629) would make his best
it
to
prevent
intrusion into his supremacy,
possibly
with success.
Conversant with the
the trans- Indian
affairs of
Muslim Empires, Akbar marked out his time for movement. Accordingly, he intended to devise some means of freeing himself from the politicoreligious pretensions of Iran and religious hegeof
mony that
if
control
Rum.
But the
difficulty lay in
he would claim himself of
the
Shia
Sultan
of
the
fact
be beyond the Persia, he would to
under the religious supremacy automatically of the Sunni Khalifa who was the accredited fall
commander of the Faithful (Amir-ul-Muminin). Akbar proceeded very cautiously he began by ;
having recourse to
a very simple and long-trodden
path of repudiation of the religious hegemony of the Khalifa by having the Khutba read in his own name
had been done by his great ancestors, Timur, Mirza Ulagh Beg i-Gurgan and Babar. Akbar had been taken to task by the Ulama for this recital and Badauni tried to make a caricature of the as
Khutba
recital
with his usual to halt in the
by Akbar,
venom
the chronicler,
made
against all innovations,
midst of the
posed by Shaikh
whom
recital of the verse
Faizi, suggesting very
that the failure to finish the verse
heresy or his apostacy.
com-
cunningly
was due
to
his
However, we have it from
1
THE DIN-MLAH1
12
the
versions
Khutba, and
of
Abul Fazl
great ancestors,
The
he finished the
Khutba was what had been done by his
historically speaking, this
only a repetition of
and Badauni even admitted
was much
there
that
effect of
of
the
politics
recital
behind
had
that
the recital.
indirectly
20
affected
the religio-political
Rum
supremacy of the Khalifa of and the Shah of Iran. 21 But he knew that the
Sunni party might be offended at this assumption, so he tried to lessen the opposition by assuming the
offensive
less
Khalifa-uz-Zaman
of
title
done by Elizabeth when she changed to Henry VIII 's title of the head of the church But the recital of the the governor of the church/ as
was
'
'
*
Khutba, along with the assumption of the title of Khalifa-uz-Zaman, remained a sufficient challenge *
'
Khelafat pretensions of
to the
Rum.
difficulty of the repudiation of the
Thus, the
Shia hegemony,
which meant automatic reversion of the Timurid Empire of Hindustan into the Sunni Khelafat of
Rum, was title
and
religious
solved by the assumption of the Khelafat
recital of the
Khutba.
Now
that the purely
pretensions of the Khelafat were guarded
Akbar began to attack the politico-religious claim of the Shia Shah of Persia in his peculiar way. At that time Akbar 's court could boast of against,
20
Badauni,
21
Humayun was made
Tahmasp
as a
II,
p. 276.
mark
to recite the
Khutba
in
of acceptance of the Shia creed.
the
name
of
Shah
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MUSLIM RULERS 1 50 poets and Persian element
at least
171
The
in
1
3
from Persia.
generals the
1
administration
was
22
Instead of an open declaration unusually strong. against the Persian pretensions, Akbar himself had recourse to the Mahzar forwarded to him by the theocratic side of the state
and indeed
it
was
devis-
"
to fix the position of Akbar Muslim world by eliminating him from the The Persia." religious and political control of introduction of the Mahzar would always remain a brilliant testimony to the great political wisdom of the monarch. The Mahzar was addressed to him
ed, as Buckler says,
in the
who
did not
Akbar was
careful
by the Mullas, guardians of the like the
Persia, but
Shias of
Faith,
enough to see that the susceptibilities of the Shias and the Persians at his court were not wounded. It
was couched in phraseology was
Persian language, the also Persian apparently it conbeautiful
;
an orthodox Shia
tained no single clause which
The Mahzar began by
might not accept. the
Emperor Akbar
or Lord- just, a
title
giving
the dignity of the Imam-i-Adil
which no one, be he a Shia
a Sunni, could object to.
or
Even Badauni, Abdu-n
Nabi and Abdulla Sultanpuri signed it. " One Hadis enjoins, Surely the man dearest
God on
the day of judgment whosoever obeys the Amir, to
22
Badauni,
II,
p. 327,
"
is
the Imam-i-Adil
obeys
;
Thee and
His 'Majesty once ordered that the Sunnis
should stand separately from Shias, when the Hindustanis, without excepThe list tion, went to the Sunni side and the Persians to the Shia side." of Shias at Akbar's court given
15-12808
by Blochmann
is
moie
or less exhaustive.
THE DIN-MLAHI
114
whosoever rebels against him, rebels against Thee." Next, the Ulama agreed that "the rank of Sultani-Adil
is
higher in the eyes of
God
Thus
slyly
of Mujtahid.
Adil
of
above
"
Hindustan, the
Mujtahid
were aware of the differences
very that
fact
regarding
religious questions.
is,
of
Akbar, was placed
'
may be some the
that
the
of
interpretations
They wanted
and as a
nation
The Ulama
there
sions of the Imam-i~Adil should be of the
Imam-i-
the
Persia.
that
the
than the rank
deci-
'
for the benefit '
binding on the whole nation.'
and
expedient
political
Thus
the
opposition on the authority of the decisions of the Shia Mujtahids, which were based on religious pretensions, could
of the
words
be *
easily shattered.
Mark
here the use '
and
for the benefit of the nation *
'
as
'
a political expedient.' The word nation (public) was a new introduction in political terminology, for the
Muslim
had never
rulers in India,
previous to Akbar,
thought of their rule
in
Hindustan
whole except SherShah. Further, the decision might have been due to the
in terms of the people as a
which, of course, pointed to the necessity of doing away with the so-called political pretensions of the Shia rulers of Persia. political necessity
So
was concerned, there was no Akbar. He was bound to limit
far as religion
freedom given
to
himself to any one of the conflicting opinions of the
Mujtahids in case of variance amongst them *
could not give any injunction
beyond
;
he
what has
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MUSLIM RULERS
1
1
5 '
'
been given already.' The question of infallibility did not come from Mahzar either directly or by
No
implication.
scope was given to Akbar for the
superiority of his intellect to that of
Smith would have us believe.
Akbar by making in
it
as
Rather the Decree
1579 circumscribed even the
of
Imam,
the
new
orders
distinct that the orders
of
must be
Now accordance with the verses of the Quran. is the validity of Badauni's suggestion that
where '
the road of deciding
any
question
religious
was
open' ? As we have pointed out already, Badauni's Muntakhabut Tawarikh, written long after the
Mahzar
had been
promulgated and the innova-
introduced by Akbar, has been slyly connected with the event of 579 for which there tions
1
is
no
justification.
Therefore,
it
may
be
safely
said
that
the
1579 was a political document, both and by implication, and that it had no apparently connection with the Din-i-Ilahi, they being two
Mahzar
of
different things altogether.
the aii3
Mughal in
his
And by
pride in Timur's
Sunni
Mahzar
orthodoxy
triumph over Bayezid Yaldirin, was
vindicated by the descendants of 23
this
Akbar/
Dr. R. P. Tripathi's criticism of Prof. Buckler
is
23
not conclusive.
Vide Some Aspects of Muslim Administration, pp. 156-58. Shah Jahan was given similar powers too. Vide A. H Lahori, Padshanama, p. 7.
I
B
APPENDIX
Three Paintings of the Ibadat Khana
The Itihash
paintings were published
Sanshodhak Mandal
amongst the booties
of the
of
Bharat
the
in
Poona.
They were
Maratha hordes from
Agra and have been found The in the archives of the Peshwas at Poona. originals are extremely realistic and very faithful the
Mughal Court of
look like real photograph of
They
in portraiture.
the personages
whom
do the
they represent as
Mughal period generally. The touch, lines and scenery breathe an atmo-
paintings of the colour,
sphere of
the pictures.
life into
They
portray
fluenced so
much
of
Akbar's
regarding which there gossips after
famous debates
the
have
life
and
that
in-
politics,
and
gathered
so
many
and myths. The pictures are all dated 1578 A.D. in which the Ibadat Khana
assumed its cosmopolitan form. So far as the place of discussion was concerned, the first two paintings represent the same scenery a hill in the background from the top of which a waterfall descended into the midst of the debates and the
from the something these
fall
members took
and there
like
debates,
are the
worship. as
their
away
paraphernalia
of
venue
of
The
suggested
seats
by
exact
Father Heras,
1
.
Akbar engaged
in a religious discussion
Reprinted from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Bombay Branch, 1928.]
THREE PAINTINGS OF THE IBADAT KHANA
was an old garden near
rather
of
Tower
of Deer.
place
foot
Nothing
the
of
where
hill
Minar
of the
an
7
and
or
the
waterfall
waterfall might have been
1
rem-
the
exist
Hiran
famous
once
The
now.
the
to
nants
the
at
1
exists
artificial
one, constructed to cool the atmosphere and water In the third picture, there the plants and trees.
was neither the was a thatched been
built for
of a
cool
hill
nor the waterfall.
Instead there
cottage which might have probably a Hindu Yogi. There in the absence
the
spring
seekers
truth
after
sought
from the scorching rays of the sun inside The cottage was surrounded by trees the cottage.
shelter
to the
left
overlaid with the whole
The lawn
and behind. beautiful
nature in the
cast of
tive of a serene
plants
front
in
and creepers picture
was and
indica-
is
atmosphere that characterises those
taking part in the debates.
two pictures took the same place, they were not the same. one was at day time and the other at
Though at
place
The
first
the debates in the
In Picture
pight.
ai^ seated on
on a
the
Emperor and the Prince No. 2, they are
of
and
Abul
Fazl.
ence between in
the
Salim
There
is
are
a
possibly
marked
crammed and
in
Faizi differ-
supplicating
below
which the disputants atmosphere in which the
the free
in the
The two bearded gentlemen
Akbar and
front
and
,
the ground, in Picture
fashion.
manner
1
Akbar and Salim have beards
dais.
Hindu
No.
first
appeared
Sufi brothers
1
1
THE
8
An
themselves.
expressed
be read
may
sincerity
DIN-I-ILAHI
extreme
of
and expres-
the eyes
in
sense
of Akbar. Amongst the disputants sitting on the ground, some were Muhammadans and some were Hindus but they cannot be identified
sions
An
exactly.
man
old
with white
flowing beards
and a young Brahmin with beard shaved and hair tied in the Southern Indian fashion are
In this picture,
prominent.
that
partisans
extreme
rather
eight disput-
Muhammadans.
ants no less than five are
shows
the
of
Muhammadans were
the
still
This
principal
Akbar 's search after God. In the right, there is a Hindu who cannot be in
identified.
In Picture
Salim are
No.
2, those in front of
with long uncombed hair Sannyasi.
certainly
The one a Hindu
very likely
a Parsee
different
quite
The
other
is
Akbar and
persons. is
His long flowing white gown, his round cap (Pagdi), his long white beard are characteristic of a Mobed. His aquiline nose also denotes a Dastur.
He
Parsee origin.
has
round ear-rings
long
is very likely Dastur Mahyarji Rana ^fio reached Akbar 's court in 1582. Akbar was at that
This
Zoroastrians
time under the influence of the I
large extent.
he
portrait also suggests
Zoroastrian influence.
with bread, lights.
fruits
Two
of
There
and other
are
traces
several
eatables
to
a of
dishes
and
four
the lights on the Imperial dais are
covered with a wirebell or cover.
The
other
pair
2.
Akbar
in a religious
worship
Reprinted from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,
Bombay Branch,
1928.]
THREE PAINTINGS OF THE IBADAT KHANA
119
manufacture resembling crude lanterns generally used on ceremonial occasions amongst the Hindus; the way in which the lights are is
a
of
peculiar
bespeaks the Zoroastrian influence. The lighted lamps remind us of one of the Happy Sayings of the Emperor, "To light a candle is to com-
placed,
memorate the rising of the Sun. To whomsoever the Sun sets, what other remedy has he but this P" Other
in
personages
One thing is Muhammadan amongst
identified.
extreme
with
one seem
a bowl
the right,
in
the
to
the
is
to
no the
with ear-rings and cap
The
last
one
perhaps a recluse.
To
extreme one
and so are the two next
is
On
fourteen.
be Rajputs.
front
there
peculiar, that
from the one
left,
to the last
cannot be
the picture
is
possibly
The
him.
a
Chief
fourth one,
clean shaven, with a huge turban on his head
and
having an intelligent look, is a Hindu Raja. Just below him is also a Rajput. The last one in
wrapped all over the body and he has the look of a great has folded hands Hindu Yogi, and his bowl testifies to his renunthe picture
is
;
cie\it>n of
of the
the world.
Muhammadans No.
Picture three. is
It is
absent.
whom centre
is
is
the least.
the
most beautiful
of
the
very striking that the Emperor himself There are seven persons debating, of
three are is
3
In this picture, the influence
Muhammadans
an Amir, and on
Muhammadan
gentlemen,
his
who
;
the one in
the
two sides are two
look
like scholars
120
and
D1N-MLAHI
';HE
white robes
their
them a
give
Sufi colour.
who
be two brothers from Gilan
They may
on the 20th year of the reign of Akbar Abul Path and Hakim Humam, both
Hakim in
high
The left hand man Hindu and his looks are ex-
court at that time.
position at at
arrived
the bottom
a
is
He has a cap on his head ceedingly intelligent. and a pyjama on. Just next is a Hindu Raja with his Rajput head dress and a royal robe.
On
the other side the bottom
a European
as his
the nose are
is
complexion,
The
and beard show.
man
beyond doubt of hair
training
profile of his forehead
peculiarly
He
Roman.
is
and
very likely
Aquaviva. He holds a fruit, possibly floor. The taken from the assortment on the Rudolf
and the
devout expression of his eyes are characteristic of the man as has been
serenity of his face
represented in the contemporary accounts. Next to him is another man who is in a
robe which
Smith
is
is
characteristic
of opinion that there was
Badauni says
court of Akbar.
of
the
dressed
Buddhist.
no Buddhist in his
at the
Mutakhabut
Samans along with the BrahiUi'.is were responsible for an immense change in Akbar' s Tawarikh
that the
outlook.
The Buddhist
Khana
will
be discussed
face
'
in
the next
in
cut of
and the nose reveal a Mongolian
type
the forces at work.'
in this participant in the debates. 1
chapter
The
connection with the
participation in the Ibadat
]
For details of these pictures, see the Bombay British Royal Asiatic
Society Journal, Vol. VIII. 1928.
3.
A religious
discourse with Rudolf
Reprinted from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,
Aquaviva
Bombay
Branch, 1928.]
CHAPTER V THE FORCES AT WORK The Sunnis
Section I
By
birth,
at the
Court of AT^bar
Akbar was a Sunni.
The Chogtai
Turks had accepted Islam and that automatically The quarrel put them into the Sunni fold. between Timur and Byezid regarding the surrender 1
Kharput was the occasion for the 2 Indeed, this profession of Sunnism by Timur. profession of Sunnism against the religion of Byezid of
Yusuf
of
was by no means actuated by any sense of religious belief. But what was a diplomatic move with Timur became a religious association with his successors. When Babar was placed between the Sunni supremacy of the Khalifa of Rum and the Shia domination of the Shah of Persia, he was forced to accept the latter, but this profession was by no means a matter of faith. As soon as Babar found turned o^nprtunity, he away from Shiaism. Humayun continued his father's faith, and at the time Akbar was born, Humayun was by faith and ritual
a Sunni.
But
Humayun
Taj from Shah 1
2
also
Ismail
;
had it
to
accept the Shia-i-
was purely a
Titus, Indian Islam, on Khilafat pretensions.
J.R.A.S., 1924, p. 574. 16
I280B
call
of
THE DIN-MLAHI
122
His family remained strongly attached to the Sunni creed. This anti-Shia feeling in the
necessity,
f
'
harem was the
sudden
a certain
to fall
of
extent
Bairam.
responsible for After the fall of
n
Bairam, Sunnism was again revived. The Sadrs-ussudur that were appointed were all Sunnis. 4 The
law
was followed
that
according to the
Sunni
Abdu-n
Nabi
sudur
in the state
doctors
and
was
interpreted
like the
Sadr-us-
Mukhdum-ul- Mulk
Abdulla Sultanpuri. Both were staunch Sunnis and were highly learned in Islamic law and traditions.
Abdu-n Nabi was
the son of Shaikh
Abdul Quddos of Kango. He had journeyed to Mecca several times. His influence on Akbar was so great that the entire endowments and pensions were
charge and he distributed
left in his
only to the
Sunnis with a
Akbar did not
lavish hand, to
Akbar
object.
which
the
offered
Ramjan (Fast), Zakat
them usual
and unbounded Ajmer. Akbar, pilgrimage ^devotion to Abdu-n Nabi, used to bring and unlace the shoes and took lessons from him in Abdulla Sultanpuri of the Quran and Hadis.
Namaj
(prayer),
(Charity),
in his
to
r>
of
the tribe
received from *
Mulk,
Ansur was a
Humayun
most respected
in charge of the 3
India,
the
great
title
Mukhdum-uland was state, *
of the
*
For a
Badauni, HI, p. 127.
list
of the
state.
Smith, p. 43; Cambridge History of
II.
5
He
of
judicial departrpent
J.R.A.S., 1924, pp. 600-01;
scholar.
of Sadrs, see Blochmann, p. 272.
THE FORCES AT WORK
"
Badauni says, owing to heretics and schismatics went
his
123
many
exertions
to the place
prepared
them." JLjnder the influence of the Sunni Sadr and Sunni Qazi the whole theocratic side of the state ran on purely Sunni basis. tor
when
This was the time there were
Mehdi, postors
The
.
claimants
and
many
whom as
claimants
their
and
invaders
the
grew
all
actual
and
imaginary,
Akbar,
persecutions.
Akbar during
this
well illustrated in of Faizi
in
bitter
and
faith
proportion
To
defend
interpretations
of their faith, the
citadel sorts
of
innovations,
religiously
guarded
in his usual impressionable-
ness and faith, became a silent or these
of
destroyers
Mehdists made. traditions
century-old
or
the dignity of the
to
Sunnis looked upon as imSunnis looked upon these Mehdi
which they took as the Sunni Ulama opposed against them.
and outside India
the
their persecution
to the progress
in
The period
Akbar 's
active
party
to
mentality of his life has been
peculiar of
refusal
to see
who had been branded an
the* eve of his Chitor expedition,
the face
apostate on
though Akbar was
extremely delighted to hear of his literary merits. The story of the persecution of the famous
Shaikh Mubarak and his sons are well known in 7
history.
Badauni himself admitted that once he escaped 6
See Darmesteter, for particulais of the Mehdi movement.
1
Blochmann,
p. 190.
THE DIN-MLAHI
124
death simply because
ul-Mulk
When
in
his
he
the
be interesting
know
the
fall of
Sunnis. the
Mukhdum-
an
of
Khana was
reserved only for to
from
differed
appreciation
Ibadat
the
'
author.'
started,
Indeed,
reasons
it
8
was
would
it
that led
to
these two pillars of the state.
We have already narrated in our previous chapters how the Sadr Abdu-n Nabi and Mukhdum-ul-Mulk Abdulla Sultanpuri, in course of their discussions, behaved in a most undignified manner and Akbar
had
to caution
conduct.
9 I
character, in
them with a view
The
discovery
of
to
mending
their
Sadr's
real
the
an unguarded moment of
their quarrel,
The caused a good deal of annoyance to Akbar Mullas had necessitated pride of the Sunni jj
Akbar 's bringing in scholars like Ibrahim Sarhindi and Abul Fazal andBadauni to 'break their pride.' 10 The questions of marriage and pilgrimage proved were given by the Sunni Ulama not from the religious point but from motives of self-inter11 est. By the murder of the Mathura Brahmin the
that decisions
Sadr had transgressed a very important royal prerogative. The revenue arrangements and survey of
-
lands had proved that the Qazis were guilty of taking bribes at the sacrifice of the governmental interests.
The
redistribution
of
the Sayurghal
Bad. HI, pp. 114.16. 9
W 11
11
Bad.
II,
p. 205.
J.R.A.S., 1862- Biochmann's article on Badauni.
Bad.
III.
p. 128.
Blochmann, Ain.
19,
pp. 268-70.
lands
12
had
THE FORCES AT WORK
125
exposed the worst side of the character of Abdu-n Nabi.
After the
discussion
of the marriage ques-
was decided according to the advice of tion, Badauni that decisions on marriage could be given it
13 Some any of the Four Laws. Sunni Qazis were transferred from one place to Badauni says, another. from this time the seed of discontent was sown.' "The difference
to
according
'
amongst Ulama of whom one would pronounce a thing as unlawful and another by some process of argument would pronounce the very same thing lawful, became to His Majesty another cause of unbelief/'
14
the
ted that
.Badauni had more than once admit-
Mullas had fallen
proud dignity which they held conduct.
nefarious
staunch Sunni and
away
previously, by their
Mirza Aziz Koka,
who had
from the
refused
who was to
a
appear
Akbar 'with his face shaved,' went to Mecca, only to come back disgusted with the Shaikhs and Ulama for their irreligious conduct* The Mullas were very much upset when Akbar allowed the the Ibadat Khana and their Shias to attend anger was kindled all the more when he threw the gate of Ibadat Khana open to non-Muslims. before
They could not reconcile themselves to the idea of Akbar 's discussing the question of faith and religion with the Kaffirs. They felt themselves humiliated and injured. Further the distribution of lands and 13
"
Bad. Bad.
II,
pp. 212-13.
Ill,
p. 131, footnote*.
THE DIN-MLAHI
126
revenue by a Hindu Wazir, Todar Mai, was too much for them. 15 So^out of disgust and from a of
spirit
vengeance and
self-interest,
joined the rebellion in BengaJ. of the Bengal rebellion in
it,
attempts
Ulama
After the discovery
and the Mulla
were made
the
participation
to eradicate the causes
rebellions, and naturally the measures adopted turned primarily against the Sunni Mullas who had figured prominently in that conspiracy.
of
future
Akbar
found
a dignitary
like
the
existence
of
so
powerful
that of the Imperial Sadr,
having
whole of the empire, too dangerous so he abolished the post of the Sadr and divided the Empire into six provincial Sadrs. 1G religious control over the ;
Abdu-n Nabi was sent to Mecca with Rs. 70,000 on his return, when asked to submit an account, which he could not or did not, he was put into A few days after, he was found strangled prison. 17 a mob. by These were the Sunni Ulama who were so much against Akbar. The whole of our third and fourth chapters had been devoted to show the
;
Emperor and his gradual Of course, turning away from the Sunni Ulama. the Sunni Ulama would not have been so much religious side of that great
against Akbar, but for the fact that their personal interests !5
had been
affected,
especially
by the
Bad., Chapter, IV.
Smith, Akbar, p. 358.
For Sadrs, see Central Structure of the
Mughal Empire by Ibn Husan, pp.
W Blochmann,
p. 273.
265-66.
THE FORCES AT WORK transference of the sentence of
127
death to the
Em-
by cutting down their religious endowments and by the dismissal of many Qazis. So far as Badauni was concerned, we shall try to
peror,
discuss in a subsequent chapter of our treatise that
the fountain of his
venom
Akbar
against
sense of wrong that his merits had
lay in his
not been
suffi-
ciently recognised, while his college fellows like Faizi and Fazl had risen so high. Similarly, per-
sonal motives levelled
explain
Akbar by
against
would be found
much
of
the
vituperations
the Sunni
in the despatches of
Mullas, as
the Christian
Akbar was driven away from the Sunni fold, it was not Akbar s fault but that of the Akbar began his Ibadat Khana with high Sunnis. hopes and the beginning offered great promise.
Fathers.
But
If
misreading of the liberal tendencies of the great Central Asian, their stubborn opposition their
to the eclectic
in
Akbar,
tendencies of the age
and
their
innate Sufi tendencies
of
inevitable consequences
Section II
manifested of
the
Akbar 's mind came
into
misinterpretations
destroy that great
operation to
as
hope, with
all
its
.
The Shias
at the
Court of Al^bar
The two
main groups into which Islam is 1 Without divided, are the Sunnis and the Shias. 1
Shias are the followers of Ali, the husband of Fatima, daughter
of the Prophet.
According
to the Shias, Ali
was the
legitimate Khalifa
THE
128
entering into the
the Shia
DIN-I-ILAHI
differences
theological
and Sunni creeds, we would only
our reader that the difference
The
difference
there
is
radical
accepted the
really very acute.
change in the conception of
The
fundamentals of Islam.
the
never
Shias
three Khalifas (Khulufa-e-Rashe-
first
din), neither the
Ommiyads, nor
the Abbasids, nor
the Osmanalis though they controlled the K'aba
The
Mecca.
tell
would never be bridged over unless
some
is
between
Khalifa, holding the holy
Islam, was the accredited leader The Shia Sultans of Persia never
and
places
of
Sunni Islam.
of
willingly
submit-
ted to religious sovereignty of the Khalifa.
In fact,
geography and tradition separated the Arabs from the Persians so widely that only culture,
race,
a
bond
religion, without
of
was not enough
to
any
weld them
common
head,
one nation.
into
Temporary union there had perforce been between Arabia and Persia but that was the unity of the Mongols and the Chinese. Safavi
dynasty,
occupied
the
when a
throne
but he was superseded by
Abu
During the reign of
succession of strong rulers
of
Persia,
Bakr,
we
find
Omar and Osman. They
them
hold that
the Khelafat should devolve in the family of the Prophet by selection
must be confined to the family, for the Prophet no unworthy can be born.' According if
by
truth
election,
is
to
it
'
;
in the family of
to them, the real be found not in the lines of the Quran but between the lines of
the Quran.
The
secret of Islam
was
told to
Imam
Aii.
Ali told
it
to
Hasan, Zafar Sadiq, Musa Qasim, Ali Musa Raza, Muhammad Taqi, Hasan, They believe that there will be a resurrection when the tru<
Imam would come
out.
THE FORCES AT WORK
129
extending their religious supremacy even over the
Timurid kings As we have J
Humayun the Shia
Samarkand
of
pointed out,
already
had
and
Hindustan.
Babar and
to accept, willingly or unwillingly,
This
supremacy of the Persian Sultans.
claim of the Persian
Sultans continued
till
a very
5
Indian history. During his stay Shah Tahmasp in Persia, Humayun's family had to observe the customs of the Shias. His wife Hamida Banu Begum was a
late
period of
at the court of
Persian lady of Transoxiana, daughter of the Persian
Akbar Jami. His brother-in-law was Bairanr Khan, a staunch and orthodox Shia. This contiguity of geography and family associaAli
Sufi Shaikh,
1
tion with the Shias had,
of coarse,
unconsciously
moulded, whatever may be the extent, the thought Akbar's childhood had passed process of Akbar. midst of ths folklore and traditions of that
in the
mystic land
had
kings
;
the
names
cast their
of her heroic
magic
and legendary
on the young and
spell
When impressionable mind of that Indian Boy. he came to Hindustan along with Humayun and Bairam, he continued
to
be under the Shia suzerain-
ty of the Persian monarch, whose 2
W.
Erskine, Vol.
II,
p. 275.
officials or
From Hasan
to
deputies
Zainul Abedin there
were twelve such, Muhammad Baqir, Akbari and Abu Qasim. that there has been no Imam and the Khelafat is now vacant. 3
Political
Theory
Cambridge History 4
of the Indian
of India, Vol.
II,
Mutiny by Buckler,
PP
.
p.
83,
After
note
I
;
403-04, 411-12, 415-16.
Sultana Salima, the wife of Bairam, was the daughter and Gulrukh
Begum, a daughter 17
1280B
of Babar.
THE DIN-MLAHI
130 they were. 1556, he
When Akbar became
was under
whose attachment
a Padsha in
the virtual tutelage of
Bairam,
was
to the Shia Sultan of Persia
During the regency of Bairam, very pronounced. the whole religious administration of Hindustan Shia lines and the Sadr-us-Sudur was a
ran on
named Shaikh Gudai. 5
Shia Maulana
Akbar 's
religious tendencies were very well marked
early age
and he used
in
that
house of Shaikh
to visit the
Gudai and take lessons from him in the Quran and the Hadis. The early Shia influence on himj was so pronounced that he named his first two sons Hasan and Shias.
When
Husain,
the story of the ungrudging
age of Akbar to poets, caligraphists
Persians
of
travelled
found
Akbar always intellect,
two heroes
the
their
beyond
offered a cordial for
Hindustan,
in
and
he believed that
many b
and
to the
men
Hindustan
welcome
the
patron-
musicians,
painters,
home
of
intellect
has no
Maulana Shibli gives a list of 51 poets from Persia, and Badauni mentions no less than 50 and Sprenger makes a still longer list. The fall of Bairam was the signal for the loss caste.
1
of the
Shia supremacy of
Persia for
all practical
purposes though their pretensions about India conti7 With the fall of Bairam, his Shia Shaikh, nued.
Gudai, also
from power.
fell
5
For Shaikh Gudai's
6
See Bad., Vol.
7
J.R.A.S., 1924, p. 604.
II,
life,
p. 337.
see Badauni, Vol.
His Ill,
place
p. 122.
was
THE FORCES AT WORK
131
supplanted by a Sunni Sadr and a great change
was
effected
in the theocratic side of the state
and
a period of intolerance, orthodoxy and persecution
Mukhdum-ul-Mulk Abdulla Sultanpuri who was the chief Qazi of the state was responsible for an immense number of deaths of the nonfollowed.
Sunnis and the age-long feud between the Shias
and the Sunnis were
more accentuated by the overwhelming power entrusted into the hands of the Sunni Ulama of the state. Akbar, in his usual faith in the creed of the Sadr and Qazi of the state, completely lost himself and was often a silent the
all
we have found in his Shaikh Mubarak when he
party to those persecutions, as order for the arrest of
8
was represented to be a Mehdi. During the supremacy of the Sunni creed (156478) in the state, the position of the Shias was any-
They were
thing but satisfactory. participate
and was it
in
the Ibadat
Ibadat into
the
Khana
Sunni Mullas
of
the state religion,
not open to them.
know what
to
their
in course of the
that
the Mu'tah marriage.
failed
to
But
brought the Shias lawyer Imam Malik gave
discussions
prominence as
matter.
functions
allowed to
not
problem of marriage
direct sanction
to
the
Khana was
of
satisfy
the other schools
When
the
Akbar, he wanted
had
to
say in the This accounts for the favourable reception
the three Shia brothers, especially
Bad., Vol. HI, P. 118:
Hakim Abul
1
THE
32 9
Path,
DIN-I-ILAHI
Hakim Humayun
10
and Hakim Nuruddin 11
who came from Gilan near the Caspian Sea. These three Ulama not only attracted the attention of Akbar by their theological learning but Akbar had The eldest of high admiration for them as men. them, Abul Path, by means of his winning address, soon obtained great influence with the Emperor
though Badauni would like his readers to believe that Abul Path flattered him openly and comply' '
ing with
him
and
in all questions of religion
faith
and even going in advance of him, so that he was admitted as an intimate companion of His Majesty." Ultimately this Abul Fath got the dignity of a
commander
thousand and had power of a Vakil, an unusual dignity for a commander of a " thousand. Badauni says, he was one of those principal
Islam/' of
Akbar
his
meals
of
a
Akbar away from Hakim Humayun was so great a friend influences
that if
A very
led
that
he often said that he did not
Humayun was
clever Shia,
absent.
Say id Nurulla,
is
ed along with the three Gilani brothers. appointed as Qazi-ul-Qazzat of Lahore 9
Abul Fath.-Blochmann,
p. 424;
relish
12
Bad., Vol.
II,
mention-
He was on. the
p. 211,
Vol.
Ill,
p. 233. 10
"
Hakim Humayun
II,
p. 474. p. 214,
Humam
was the
not a different person.
See Bad., Vol.
No. 205.
Blochmann,
Vol.
p.
Ill,
233; Bloch-
Hakim Humam but, in fact, name adopted by Hakim Humayun and he was
Titus mistakes Nuruddin as
mann.
Hakim
Blochmann,
For Nuruddin, see Bad., Vol.
p, 474.
;
II,
p.
214; Blochmann, p.
474,
THE FORCES AT WORK recommendation
n Abul Fath.
of
famous book
very
133
Lahore
at
He
wrote a
defence of Shia
in
Another imporMajlis-ul-Muminin. with the connection in tant Shia is mentioned reign doctrines
Akbar both
of
Mulla
"
in politics
Mahammad
and
to the
was
it
;
tells
us,
Emperor com-
the Sahabis (companions
queer stories about them hard to make him a Shia." Further
of the Prophet)
and
to revile
religion
Badauni
Yazdi.
Yazdi by attaching himself
menced openly
in
tried
and
told
Badauni remarked that Yazdi along with Birbar, Abul Fazl and Hakim Abul Fath successfully
Emperor away from
turned the
of
contribution
that
Persian
Islam.
scholar
14
The
in the great
metamorphosis was really tremendous and the wide liberalism which was the greatest legacy of ;
Akbar
to
extent
due
Indian
Muslim thought was
to his contact
with the
Shias and
ciples of Islam, these Shias struck at the
Sunni
the
generally.
doubts, of spirit of
assailed
attack 13
tion
the
beliefs,
in
traditions
very root
and decisions
was an age of scholasticism, reason and the Persian schoolmen, It
;
enquiry and no less in a the
very
made by
citadel
of
of
spirit
of in a
venom,
belief.
The
might be
inter-
Sunni
the non-Muslims
Nurulla was appointed a Qazi-ul-Qazzat at Lahore on condihe would be allowed to decide the cases according to any of four laws sanctioned in Islam unthinkable at the time of that
Mukhdum-ul-Mulk Abdulla Sultanpuri i*
the
Accepting the three fundamental prin-
Persians.
of
to a large
Bad.. Vol. VI, p. 214.
or Sadr-us-Sudur
Abdu-n Nabi.
THE
134
DIN-I-ILAHI
preted as having been inspired by an ignorance of
Islam or by prejudice; but
within
more in
its
fold,
it is
A
violent.
the
tion,
more
when
more
subtle,
careful study
by one direct and
directed
of Ibadat
Khana
Mohsin Fani proves that inspiraprophet-ship and miracles of prophets light
of
and of saints in general were disbelieved by Akbar as a result of the controversy of Shias 35 He became convinced that a believer and Sunnis. might remain Muslim even if he would not put implicit faith in the minute details of the Quran as demanded by the Mullas. The infallibility of the Hadis and the Fiqh had already been in Islam
shaken by the Sunni discussions and disunions in the early part of the Ibadat
Shias joined
it,
Khana now ;
that the
he could see through the ignorance
and
their unchangeability, a and Akbar decided to put stop to the unquestion-
of the Mullas, their bigotry
ed submission to everything past in the name alone.
religion
the
The
was the formation of 'who vowed to decide
result
famous "Forty,"
things
of
10
according to reason only (Chihil Tanan).'
new
owing to the influence of the learned Shias, Akbar was by no means a he liked the Shias because of the freedom of Shia their intellect, because of their polish, and last but But inspite of
this
spirit
;
not the least, because of all
amongst *5
16
that
nations
See Appendix Bad., Vol.
II,
their
manners
were represented
A to Chapter
p. 318.
dignified
IV, pp. 97-1 15
in the
THE FORCES AT WORK
135
He
adopted some of the Persian not because he hated Islam but because it
Ibadat Khana. festivals
He adopted Turki Asian them as he had adopted some Central 17 The customs and some festivals of the Hindus. was
natural in the days of eclecticism.
insinuation of Badauni that the non-Sunni festivities
were introduced
in order to insult Islam,
misrepresentation and
wilful
represent
him
in the role of
The Hindus
Section III
To
start with,
Akbar 's
is
due
to
distortion of facts to
an apostate.
at the
Court of Al^bar
position
was very
critical,
had been between the high-handedness of the sturdy Bairam Khan and the intrigues of the wily Maham Anaga and her nefarious son, placed as he
Adam
Khan.
he had
Bairam,
petticoat, but
was
To
1
counteract
to
court
the
he could not
the
influence
good grace
of the
either.
So he
trust
need of an alliance somewhere
in
of
else
and he
availed himself of the into
Amber teen. 17
vals
first opportunity by entering matrimonial alliance with Behari Mai of
a
he was hardly a boy of nineOf course, by the time Babar had arrived in in 1562, while
In a subsequent chapter,
and customs
that
we
propose to discuss the different
Akbar inaugurated and point
out
their
festi-
historical
background. 1 Smith's suggestion is that the intrigues of the harem wete due to " Buckler also holds the " pro-Moghul feeling against Shia Bairam. a similar view. Behind this pro-Mughal feeling, was the ambition of
Adam Khan
engineered by
Maham Anaga,
foster-mother of Akbar.
THE DIN-MLAHI
136
Hindustan, he found that the
officers of the
revenue
department, the merchants and the artisians were all Hindus. As years rolled by, Akbar came to realise that against the
Pathan
spirit
of
stubbornness and
tendency of insubordination, the Hindu
the Turki
had stood him in good stead. Dictated foresight and by a spirit of toleration and fair
alliance his
by
play as taught by his teacher 2
(Sulh-i-kul
Jezia
upon the As a Muslim
in 1564.
with the tradition of Indian Islamic rule,
sovereign
was
of
Persia
Latif of
he experimented
policy),
Muslim system
Abdul
of course sacrilegious to remit
dues
5
payable of stood conviction His courage by him in good stead and he attempted that bold it
the unbelievers.
1
experiment.
With Akbar
the dicta
wherever ye find
"
place," believers." as his
He
Hindu)
is
not
the
in
the
monopoly
of
right
the
unhesitatingly chose Rajput princes
generals to
"recognise merit
"right man
it,"
intellect
were,
be the
and raised first
Tansen
(originally
musician of the court.
a
Daswa
Nath, son of a Kahar (palanquin bearer), was appoint-
ed the
first
painter of his
court
;
Mahadev became
physician and Chandrasen the first surgeon. His court was full of the learned Hindus like Madhu the
2
first
Reference
may be made
advising him how
to deal
to the instruction of
with the Hindus.
Review, August, 1923. See Shibli's Moqalat-i-Shibli, Vol.
Babar
Dr. Sayyed
Humayun Muhammad,
to
in the Indian 3
*
The
wife has
suggestion that Jezia little
truth
behind
it.
1 ,
and
was stopped
al Jezia
by the same author.
at the instance of his
Hindu
THE FORCES AT WORK
Ram
Saraswati and
Tirtha.
fl
Nine Jewels of his court no
The
Hindus/'
music,
ture,
Amongst the famous
sculpture,
than
less
were
four
Indian Timurid
the
greatness of
Empire, in whatever direction
137
we take
art, litera-
it
organisation,
painting,
government and army was as much due to the Hindu contribution as to the Imperial patronage. But the orthodox section of the
state
Mullas could
not and did not like idea of equal treatment between 7 the believers and the non-believers. It
must be said the
during
period
of
Sadr and
regime of
Akbar
to the credit of
that,
even
Sunni influence under the
Mukhdum, his orthodoxy and
patronage for the Sunni creed did not degenerate into anti- Hindu prejudice
in
the
field
of
politics.
was made amongst the believers of and persecution was reserved for the
Discrimination the
5
faith
See Appendix
A at
the end of this chapter.
Names of Nine Jewels Abdu-r Rahim, Raja Todar Mai, Man Singh, Birbal, Taiisen, Hakim Humam, Mulla Do-Piyaja fictitious?), Abul Fazl, 6
f
Faizi.
Mulln Do-Piyaja (according
Mr. P. Chowdhury) is not supported by a painting that exists in the library of Lala Sri Ramdas at Delhi
where.the
name
mentioned and occurs.
the fact that
is
absent and that of one Abul Hasan
in the place of Taiisen, the
Possibly the picture
his absence.
So the
of Do-Piyaja
to
was drawn
name
after
Miyan Kokultash Tansen's death and hence
The names of the Jewels are told all members might not be present
circle of
Gems
When
contained different
men
is
of
differently at all
;
that
is
due
to
times in the court.
at different times.
Todar Mai, a very tried officer of Sher Shah, was appointed Finance Minister, the Muslim grandees petitioned against the appointment and were only silenced by Akbar's snub (Kennedy Vol. I, p. 206.), " Have you not appointed in your estate the Hindus in the department 7
of accounts
?
"
18-1280B
THE D1N-HLAHI
138
non-Sunni believers of Islam though Hindus ed the customary minor disabilities.
During the
period of the Ibadat Khana, the
first
and was confined
Hall was not open to Hindus
who used
Sunni Muslims only,
to
suffer-
to
say their In the second period,
prayers with the Emperor. the other sects of the Faith were invited cussions.
when
was only during the last period mind of Akbar, not satis-
It
the ever expanding
with the ever circumscribed limits
fied
wanted
of Islam,
to
*
quench
the
at
by drinking all
to dis
his thirst for
Abul
the sects
knowledge
the savants
fountain of
dreamt by
climes,' as
Hindus were admitted
of
Fazl
that
of
the
Khana along
into the Ibadat
with representatives of other Faiths.
The Books
of the
Hindus were
translated.
Faizi
translated Yoga- Vashishta, Lilavati, Nala-Damayanti
and Batrish Singhasana Haji Ibrahim Sarhindi translated the Atharva Veda Mulla Sheri took up ;
;
Hari-Vansha were
;
the
Ramayana and
jointly translated
by a group of eminent scholars
including Akbar himself.
Hindu of
learned
Madhu
Narayan
men
He
to his court
Saraswati,
Hariji Sur,
the Mahabharata
called
and we
many find
other
mention
Madhusudan, Narayan Misra,
Damodar
Ram
Bhatta,
Tirtha,
These pandits Narasingh, Paramindra and Aditya. " " the first class in Akbar's were counted amongst court
"
who
"
as
Abul Fazl puts
" it,
in the light of
His Majesty's perfection, perceived the mysteries of the external
and
internal,
and
in their
understanding
THE FORCES AT WORK and breadth of
139
views fully comprehend both realms of thought and acknowledge to have received their spiritual power from the throne of His Majesty. their
'
Amongst of
other
Hindus who had adorned the court
Akbar, we find
Madhu
Bhatta,
Ram
Sri
Bhadra, Jadrup, Narayan,
Bhatta, Basudev Misra, Bidya
Nibas, Gopi Nath and Bhagirath Bhattacharyya.
The
'
stories that are
current in
Northern
8
India
very interesting things about Akbar's connection with Tulsidas, Dadu and Surdas. Tulsidas
often
tell
by Akbar to show some of his miracles but Tulsidas humbly submitted that he had no miracles to show and he was an ordinary devotee of Ramchandra. Akbar had is
said to have been requested
heard so
many things
about the miracles of Tulsidas
he became greatly disappointed and ordered that Tulsidas should be put into prison till he showed a that
miracle. Tulsidas in prison began to repeat the
Ram and Hanuman.
name
said that
monkeys, the descendants of Hanuman, the famous devotee of Ramchandra, infested the houses of Agra and Sikri,
of
It is
and the people were so much troubled by the
monkeys that they believed it to be sympathy of the monkeys with Tulsidas, a
incursions of the
due
to
fellow devotee of their ancestor
body interpreted the
affair to
Hanuman.
Every-
be a miracle of Tulsi-
Thereupon the Emperor released Tulsidas from the prison and gave a general order that das.
8
Ain-i-Akbari.
Ain No.
30,
Blochmann, pp. 537-47.
THE
140
D1N-I-ILAHI
monkeys should not be the tradition
Akbar
is still
killed in the
observed in Hindu India.
said to have conversed with
is
40 days and was much delighted tional side of the saint.
sation are
known
10
The
to
And
Empire. 9
Dadu
for
see the devo-
details of the conver-
to historians.
whose mystic a joy to millions of Hindus, had a long interview with Akbar and was much Surdas, that blind saint of India
songs (dohas) are
still
by him for his music. Akbar appreciated merit, and he knew how to pick it up and recogliked
nise
11
it.
Badauni mentioned
12
onePurshotham, who had written a commentary on the book Khirad had a long private interview with him and afza, he had asked him to invent particular names for that
'
'
Another Brahmin named
things in existence.
all
Devi,
who was one
Mahabharata,
"
of
the
interpreters
was pulled up the wall
of
the
of the castle
3;j
on a charpai till he arrived near a balcony, which the emperor had made his bed-chamber." While thus suspended he instructed His Majesty sitting
in the secrets
and legends
Hinduism,
in- the
Grieraon, notes on Tulsidas, p. 61.
9
Ramtanu
Lahiri Leclures, C. U., 1920.
was a Muslim, and
U
his real
K. M. Sen says that
Dadu
name was Dayood.
Bharatbarsha, 1338 B. S.
Badauni wrongly wrote
13
Charpai
'
12
men
of
'
raised in
tenets.
Puruko tham,' Vol. II, p 265. find in Badauni reference to two other and they gave to Akbar the seciets of their
Indian cot. '
Charpai
We
THE FORCES AT WORK process of worshipping idol, the
and
stars
of revering the
fire,
141
and the
the sun
chief gods of
the
unbe-
such as Brahma, Mahadev, Vishnu, Krishna, and Mahamaya. His Majesty, on hearing
livers,
Ram
how much
the
people of the country prized their institutions, began to look upon them In the opinion of Badauni, Devi with affection.
further as to
was responsible
Akbar's belief in the transmigra-
Jt
Akbar was very much impressconversation with Devi and not a day
tion of the soul.
ed by
for
' '
his
passed but a
new
of
fruit
loathsome tree
this
ripened into existence."
He
gave private
interviews
to
many Hindu
yogis and enquired of them the following (a)
The Hindu
articles of faith.
(fc)
Their occupation.
(c)
The
(d) (e) (/)
(g)
:
influence of pensiveness.
Their several practices and usages. The power of being absent from body.
Alchemy and physiognomy of the Hindus. The power of the omnipresence of the soul.
Through them, he believed that men might a hundred years and followed some Hindu and Buddhist practices, which might pro-
live for over
long his longevity. The idea f the transmigration of the soul was Bad., II, p 265 one of the cardinal beliefs of some sects of Indian Sufis though quite 14
against Islamic conception.
t
THE
142
D1N-I-ILAHI
'
'
accursed Birbar
that
Birbar,
hellish
made Kabi Rai
was
for his talent in
he
15
of Badauni, who had come dog the court of Akbar in 980 A.H. (I 572-73 A.D.),
that to
of Badauni,
'
'
'
tried to
Sun and
He
and
"
said that
and
supports
that luminary
Sun gives
since the
and
fruits
all grains,
light to all, ripens
therefore,
poets)
satires,
persuade the Emperor to worship the
Stars.'
of the earth,
and
verses
composing
of
treasure
(the
the
life
should be
products
mankind,
of
the object
of
worship and veneration and be turned towards the rising and not towards the 1G that man should setting Sun, which is the west
should
that the face
;
;
venerate
fire,
natural objects even
and
stones
water,
down
to
and
trees
cows and
that he should adopt the sectarian and
their
all
dung
;
Brahmani-
cal thread."
Several wise
men
at court
confirmed what
he
"
said, light
Sun was the greater by representing that of its inhabithe and benefactor of the world
tants, the
his
patron of Kings,
vice-regents.
This was
and
that
the
Kings
cause
of
are
the 17
worship paid to the Sun on the Naw-ruz-i-Jalali, and of his being induced to adopt that festival for his accession to throne." the celebration of
Every day he used 16
Bad.,
J6
This
turning
II,
put on clothes of that partl-
p. 335.
away from the west has a sly away from Islam whose sacred place is turinpr
of Hindustan. 17
to
Bad.,
II,
pp. 203-5.
icference to at
Mecca
Akbar 's
to the
west
THE FORCES AT WORK which accords with
cular colour
143
that of the regnant
18
planet of the
day.
The very presence of the Hindu wives harem was responsible many Hindu customs
The Hindu wives
for
the
in
Akbar's
introduction
of
Chogtai harem.
into the
Muslims were
all
dead
to the family of their fathers for all practical
pur-
could not go back to their
They
poses.
of the
nor were there any social
fathers,
between the
relations
The Hindu wives were given Muslim names and their children were named
two
families.
after their
were
They
fathers.
were buried
not
burnt
and
Muslim fashion
in
their
but
tombs
But inspite of their changed environments, the family customs and the social psychology of the ladies could not be altered so
many
exist in
places.
The Hindu
easily.
allowed
to
in the
princesses
follow
own
their
harem were
socio-religious
Yodha Bai was allowed to have her own Hindu cook. The road connecting the Mahal of Yodha Bai and the appartment of the Emperor was
customs.
and could not be used by others her Mahal a Tulsi plant, a place
entirely separate
and she had in for Horn and Yag 18
Humayun
(sacrifice
did the
same
man,
is
an old
trait
belief in the family of
movements
Chengiz
that, so
chamber was con-
and
proud position when they ceased Dabistan, Vol.
;
II,
p. 121,
in
long as they worshipped the stars
was the ascendency they
planets, theirs
the stars
Brahmins
shaping the destiny of the Turki-Mughal charactei. There was a
and the their
rituals).
so far as the audience
cerned. This belief in planets and their of
and
to
fell
away from power
worship the planets and
44
1
THE DIN
I-ILAHI
could be employed to perform
Generally the Emperor ladies
and held them
used in
sweet devoted nature.
Memoirs
her sacred
duties.
Hindu
to respect the
great
esteem
us
tells
Jahangir
for
their
his
in
Yodhpuri Begam one hair of his. 19 Along with these
that
could sacrifice her
whole
life for
ladies
many Hindu customs entered the Muslim As for instance, during the
harems permanently.
Salim with the
marriage of
daughter of Raja Hindu customs were observed
Bhagwan Das, many
"
on such as lighting the fire and strewing dried rice that the it But must be remembered the litter.
Hindu wives was proportionate to the liberalism of the monarch concerned. 21 Akbar had In Akbar's time, it was the largest. freedom allowed
the
to
from the beginning a high respect for the Hindus. He was the first of the house of Timur to be born in
Hindustan.
His
in
birth
while his father was flying away
when even
fugitive
not
to
speak
wholesome
on
influence
could not have any gratitude to his
Muslims his
"
marriage
Laj
"
paddy,
by Jadunath *1
house
of
were
as a
hostile,
had a If
the
very father
showing
his
benefactor's race, the son had.
At
dried and fried grass,
welcoming the bride.
life.
opportunity
W Jehangirnama quoted by Smith 20
Hindu
from India
his brothers
other
of
a
Bad
rice.
light ,
III,
p. 225.
Even
at the
time of Aurangzeb's
(Pradip)
and husker
352.
(Anecdotes
p.
were used of
in
Aurangzeb,
Sarkar.)
For the Hindu wives of Akbar, see.
J
R.A.S.,
1869,
customs amongst Muslims, see Qanun-i-Islam by Herklots.
and
for
Hindu
THE FORCES AT WORK
145
the beginning of his reign while he was placed between the crackers by Bairam and Maham Anaga, it
was the help
of
Behari Mai that carried him
through. His long and varied experience had proved to him that Hindu help was essential in the administration of the
land of the Hindus.
Nearly
50%
Akbar 's army were manned by the Hindus and the revenue department was practically a monopoly of the Hindus so he could not be blind to the sentiments, traditions and psychology of such a major section of the state. He was fortunate enough to have the lesson of Sher Shah before him. Indeed, Sher Shah had only anticipated the advent Like a wise man, Akbar adjusted of Akbar. himself to the change of circumstances and regarded the Hindu princes as partners in the adminisHis empire tration and not as mere subordinates. on and was based mutul adjustment. co-operation of
;
In their
blind fanaticism,
Akbar
understand
and
the
Mullas refused
interdicted
him
as
to
an
and even branded apostate or as irreligious him as a Hindu. He was not blind to the faults of
Hinduism
Islam.
He
as
he was not blind
to those
of
did not unhesitatingly believe what the to believe about their religion.
Hindus asked him
He
saw, he examined and he believed or rejected. Akbar's views on the Hindu conception of the doctrine
put
of
through
course of the 19
1783B
Incarnation the
mouth
discussion
was of at
very
excellently
the philosopher
the
Ibadat
in
Khana,
THE
146
"
You
say
DIN-I-ILAHI
acknowledge one God and then you having descended from his solitude,
first
that,
he assumed a great body; but with a body which tangible matter.
belongs
In
God is
not clothed
contingency and
to
manner, you attribute wives to your Gods. Vishnu, who, according to some, represent the Second person of the Divine Triad and according to others, is ackowledged as like
supreme God, is said to have descended from His Station, and become incarnate at different times, the
in the
forms of a
When
men.
he was
wife was ravished
the state
in
Rama,
of
He was
from him.
and acquired some
a tortoise and of
a boar,
fish,
his
ignorant the
knowledge by becoming
one among the sages of India, until he was freed from body; in the form of Krishna,
disciple of
he was addicted tell
yourselves this
many
incarnation,
a supreme
and
to lust
deceit of
stories.
there
was
God and much
You
little
which you in
state that
of the
wisdom
of
of the corporal matter of
Krishna; thus you compel mankind, of justice are superior to all sorts
who
capable
of animals,
to
and you adore the form Mahadev, whom many organ acknowledge to be God, and the female organ as his wife. You seem not to know that irrational
worship a boar, a
tortoise,
male
as
of a
cannot be
the
creator
of
the
rational
;
that the
one uncompounded is incompatible with division, and that plurality of the self -existent one is absurd. Finally
by the worship of a mean
object,
no
per-
THE FORCES AT WORK faction
can accrue
to the
noble."
22
thinking, a legacy of his ancestral '
Asia, led people to suspect that '
147
His
spirit of free
trait
from Central
the
Emperor was
The reforms Hindu commu-
(Hindu), which he was not.
gentile
which he introduced amongst the
nity sufficently illustrate the breadth of his
the
wisdom
which he
put
Hindu widows, character, and like
thropist after.
He
In his restrictions,
of his conception.
on the is
in
Lord
unrestricted
the
reflected
him we
view and
burning
human
of
side of his
anticipate a
William Bentinck
philan-
250 years
encouraged the marriage of the Hindu
whose marriage those widows, especially of had not been consummated. Many Hindu festi'
vals like
Rakhi
'
(thread) symbolising '
bond
of
'
and friendship and Dipabali (Dewali, the lights) were followed with due eclat in the same way that he followed the custom of using horsetails like a Turk and the Quesek like a Zoroastrian, and celebrated Christmas like a Christian.
unity
festival of
But inspite of all his social eclecticism and Hindu sympathies, he was nothing but a Muslim.
Section
IV
The Zoroastrians
at the
Court
During the acrimonious debates of the Ibadat Khana, Akbar was convinced that greatness was not the monopoly of any
22
Dabistan,
particular
I,
pp. 73-74.
religion
and
THE DIN-MLAHI
148
higher truths might be found amongst
all religions
and peoples. He, therefore, invited reputed saints from all parts of India. As far back as in 1573, during the siege of Surat, when his army was Kankara Khari, he had made acquaintance with Dastur Mahayarji Rana, the principal teacher of the Zoroastrians at Navasari, which was
encamped
at
then the great centre of the Zoroastrian priesthood
The
in India.
knowledge
great
Mobeds
the
of
and Zoroastrian theologians was almost a proverb in Hindustan. Even Abul Fazl had, before he joined the court of Akbar, thought of sitting at the feet of
the learned priests
the Zoroastrians and those
of
learned in the Zend-Avesta. Ibadat
Khana took
parliament of religions in of
theologians
great
1
576,
when the
cosmopolitan form and,
its
according to Falix Vayle, the
After
when
became the first the world, Akbar invited it
Navasari,
through his
governor of Guzrat, Shahabuddin Khan, and Dastur Mahayarji Rana arrived at the court in
He had long conversation with Akbar 1 FazL and Abul The Emperor and his chronicler learnt from " the peculiar terms, ordinances and rites Dastur 1
578-79.
1
There
is
a very popular story in Guzrat regarding a
Mahayarji Rana. metallic tray
By
force
magic a Brahmin raised
which resembled a second sun.
have brought down the incantation.
of
artificial
Akbar was much
Mahayarji Rana
sun by means of
his
is
a
said to
prayers and
surprised at this miracle.
There are innumerable ballads this story.
miracle of
in the sky
in local dialects of
Guzrat concerning
THE FORCES AT WORK and ceremonies all
of the
above
Zoroastrian creed the sun
the virtues of the worship of
Influence
149
and
fire."
Mahayarji Rana was so proregarded by his fellow Zoroas-
Dastur
of
found that he
is
have converted the Emperor to Zoroastrianism. But Prof. Karkaria, at a meeting of the
trians to
Royal Asiatic Society of Bombay on the 8th of asserted
August, 1896,
that
was
it
Dastur
not
Mahayarji Rana nor the Indian Zoroastrians that changed the mind of Akbar, but it was Ardeshir
and the Persian Zoroastrians for the leaning of 2
that
were responsible
Akbar towards
the Zoroastrian
view was that the Emperor was not
Prof. Karkaria's
Dastur Mahayarji Rana and he invited and this Persian Ardesir was responsible for with
Akbar.
He even Akbar.
doubts
if
Ardesir all
the
satisfied
of
Persia
changes in
Mahayarji Rana ever visited the
any
Dr
Modi, in his famous article in the Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XXI, p. 69, cleared the doubts raised by Prof Karkaria and court
of
But
profusely quoted from contemporary Muslim authors (Vol.
11,
p. 261)
and Abul FazHAin., Vol.
writings in the
16th-century Parsee
Marathi Ballads, Hindi Dohas) the
of 'Akbar
court
in
to
says," several
show
1578-79 and
their creed
infidel
and rendered eminent
name has been
influenced
Akbar's religious
of Ardeshir
was due
On
Akbar
1592.
practices in
to their
religion, for
the other hand, Ardeshir of Persia It is
which
names
Badauni and Abul rites
in
came
and Akbar at
1580-81
the existence of the Parsees at the court of
that period.
in
services
Bagchan (Artaxerxes of the Greeks) Akbar had adopted some Parsee to
(1782) to the
Akbar away from Islam. The Akbar had been converted to
associated in Parsee Prayers along with the
Fazl say that
of
that Mahayarji actually visited
Momalik-i-Hind by Golam Bihist and impious Parsees who were devoted
magic*' were responsible for leading Zoroastrians of Guzrat claimed that
this
Badauni
Later books like
practices.
his
like
p 184> and from the Prayer Books (Tansen's Songb, I,
to the court
absurd that Akbar's adoption of Zoroastrian
1581-82 should be
due
to the influence
of
one
who visited
THE
150 2
But
DIN-I-ILAHI
arguments advanced by Prof. Karkaria are too shallow to warrant such a suggescult.
tion.
the
the
Under the
influence of the Navasari Mobed, was Emperor gradually drawn towards the
ceremonies of the Zoroastrians.
Another, Azar Kaivan, also mentioned
He had
1681 and
at
Patna.
Mahay arji Rana,
3
the people
of
Arabia, they
glorified.
Persia
still
festivities
visited
Akbar and made
In -the
land of
an unconscious love
mystics and the mysterious
Turk,
for the
festivities of the
in the
country
folklore of the
Moreover, the Central Asian cult of
star
of
whose monarchies they Iran, Akbar had, in his
where he had drunk deep
and
Though
had accepted the Faith
Iran in
of
4
clung to their ancient ceremonies
early days, developed
land.
His
Kaikobad, son of
a favourable impression on the Emperor.
and
1685.
long conversation with the Emperor.
headquarters were
Dastur
was
with his disciples
between the years
fire,
sun
worship was in the vein of Akbar and every whether he is a Musalman, a Christian, a
Laotzian or a Buddhist, has a secret love for the the court ten years after.
Moreover
this
Ardeshir did not come to
India to attend any religious discussions which were almost closed that time in
;
but he was sent by Shah
his composition
of a
work
On
the other hand, the
Ma hay arji Rana visit
of
Institute of /bid.
Cama
Vols. 12-14.
did not
There visit
Magazine, Vols.
is
no
Akbar's
of land to
Mahayarji to the Emperor's
court. 3
by
Mir Jamaluddin
Farman granting 200 bighas
the family definitely proves the
*
to assist
called Ferang-i-Jehangiri.
truth in Karkaria's suggestion that court.
Abbas
20-21.
THE FORCES AT WORK manners of the cradle of
151
When
his race.*
the
Akbar the and star worship, they found in Akbar a congenial and willing hearer. Further, there was Birbal, Emperor's fiiend, with his cult of fire. There were the Hindu ladies in the harem 6 Horn with their and sacrifices to the fire. Gladly Akbar accepted some of the festivals of the Zoroastrian Mobeds wanted to propound to glory of the sun, fire
'
Christians
'
in
1
'
'
580-8
1
,
Persian
the
festivals
Persian holy days entered into the royal
list
and
of holi-
days, and he adopted a calendar according to the
manner
In 1589, he introduced
of theZoroastrians.
'
he had
the Solar Era, Tarkh-i-llahi, as
converted to sun and star worship. speaking, there
is
now been
T
But really no causal connection between the
Even Kamal Pasha intended the
5
manners and
'
festivals in the
revival of ancient Turki
names
dominions of Ankara.
Almost every great man of ancient times worshipped one of the Thus Moses worshipped the Saturn, therefore Saturday is holy " on which account day for the Jews. Jesus worshipped the Sun, Sunday is sanctified by him and finally his soul united with the Sun.'* " Muhammad held Venus in So the Christians hold Sunday as holy 6
stars.
wherefore he fixed Friday a sacred day." Yudhisthir also worshipped the Sun and all his greatness was due to that Luminary. Sauras (followers of the Sun) are a sect cf the Hindu. King Ferosh of
veneration,
Persians was
threat
believer of the Solar cult.
Akhetatan of Egypt was a
fanatical worshipper of the Sun, the life giving
and
his family felt
Stars 7
that
their
greatness
force.'
was due
to the
Chengiz Khan worship of the
and the Luminaries For details, see Dabistan, Vol. II, pp. 105-21. Tarikh-i-Ilahi was introduced at the instance of Mir Jamaluddin.
In his recent
work on
Tarikh-i-Ilahi
and
financial
aspects of the Era have been discussed
political
by Mr. Brendy (Poona,
hardly any connection with the religion. at its highest
in 1589
during the years
The
1933), the It
has
Zoroastrian influence was
1579-85 whereas the Era
was introduced
THE
152
Sun
DIN-I-ILAHI
Akbar and
cult of
"
ed, according to the Parsee custom, lit
up and never
wear robes of
to
the sky.
8
the
order-
fire to
be
be extinguished." He began to colours on different days of
different
week according
the
He
the Tarikhi-IIahi.
He
the
to
position of the stars
took the girdle and '
Parsee Mobeds called
9
ring of
in
the
*
'
Zunnar.' Quseke and Akbar began to prostrate himself in public before the Fire and before the Sun and when the
"
lamps were lighted in the evening the whole court was required to rise up respectfully." 10 The pro-
Akbar before the Sun,
stration of
Fire inside the harem,
and
1]
the lighting of
the acceptance of the girdle
wearing of coloured dress according to the days of the week, the introduction of Parsee festivals, the adoption of the Solar Era with ancient the
ring,
Parsee names, have
all
Akbar 's conversion
of
But inspite of
all
been interpreted as signs
to Zoroastrianism
these,
conduct
of
the
Mullas and his innate
enquiry had carried Humayun
him near
did the same in
to every
his Hall
Astrology was not an innovation
Chap.
were
they
His disgust against the
Christianity, nor Shiaism.
8
if
Akbar did not accept Zoroastrianism, nor
true,
in
even
.
in the
of
spirit
of
one of these
Audience and
house of Timur.
belief
See ante
HI, p. 51.
XXI. Rehatsek's translation Vol. of J.R.A.S., Bombay, ' * It is also a Parsee is correct. Zunnar as Brahminical thread 9
'
1
custom. 10
Smith, Akbar, p. 164.
11
Akbar *s
footnote.
fire
Den was
in
the
harem
Blochmann,
p.
210,
THE FORCES AT WORK
much
religions, so
of these
faiths
the followers
so that
might
as having converted
153
easily
each
of
themselves
flatter
who, Mogol,' according to some of them, had ceased to be a Muslim.
But
it
'the
great
must be said
influence
on Akbar and
it
of the
the credit
to
Zoroastrians that, after Islam, theirs
was
greatest
had been through
their
priests.
Badauni
"
name
the
repeat
now began
us that Akbar
tells
Sun
the
of
bring the sun to his wishes."
in the
may
It
to
midnight to be so, for
he had learnt by his contact with the Hindu Yogis that supernatural agencies could be brought to help
human
When
actions
by means
of
12
(Zikr).
repetition
Bhanu Chandra Upadhyay came to the court, he was asked to " " and a disc compile the Surya Sahasra Nama was prepared containing these 1,001 names of the two years
after,
in 1582,
According to Badauni, Mulla Sheri presented to His Majesty a poem composed by him
sun.
*
entitled
Hazar Shu 'a,' which contained one thou-
sand verses the
of
in the praise of the
Sun may
also
The Hindu system
12
praise
be found in the Quran.
'
before
Hu, Ya itional form
do not cease
Hadi,' as the Sufi foim of repetition. Bad.,
II,
to
be Christians on lhat
I280B
it
'
Ya
was an add-
in the praise of the sun.
P. 346.
20
In 1582,
long
p. 203.
Mullah Sheri composed a verse
Quran, Chap.
34
*
The idea of Jap was ingrained in Indian Sufism. Akbar, he came in contact with the Zoroastrians, used to repeat
score.
14
The
Yoga has been adopted by many Ameri-
of
cans and Europeans; but they
13
Sun. 13
XXX,
Sura Shams.
Bad.,
II,
THE DIN-MLAHI
154
Thus
the praise of the
Sun and
the other luminaries
As
did not remove Akbar from the pale of Islam.
Akbar had
regards Fire worship, the liberalism of already allowed great scope to the Hindu ladies of
harem
the
to
follow
their religious rites
and they
'
'
performed Horn sacrifice inside the harem. Hom-Kunda' There was also a permanent '
Den) inside the harem. When the fire cult of the Hindus, with which he was long associated,
Fire
Mobeds, and was Birbal, Akbar began to
was coroborated by the Parsee supported by his friend believe in
the efficacy of bringing the elements of
Nature under his control.
The wearing
of the girdle
and the ring
the
of
by no means proved that he had adopted those marks as his acceptance of the creed. This was only to show honour to the Zoroastrians Zoroastrians
Mobeds
and
as
Christian Priests,
costume
to
he had done
to
honour
the
when he appeared
in their
own
receive them.
Similar
honour
was
shown to the Hindu Yogis when he used the 'Tilak' mark on his forehead. As has been already pointed out, this was only to create an atmosphere congenial to faiths with
the understanding
of
which he was dealing
the respective for
the
time
15
being.
15
Payne, Jesuits at the Court of Akbar, Chap. II, re costume. tells that Akbar used to shave the crown of his head
Badauni
Buddhist Lama, in the belief that his .
II.
p. 305.
soul
like
might pass'through
it.
a
THE FORCES AT WORK
The
155
came was full
introduction of the Persian festivals
under the circumstances of time. His court of the Persian element
he himself had seen those
days in Persia his mother was a Persian lady from Transoxiana. The Parsees in Hindustan and the Persians in Iran in their in
festivals
common
his
cradle
early
;
had followed the same
and the acceptance
of the Parsee festivals
festivals
in
was,
words, a partial acceptance of the Persian customs. The great names of the mystic Persia other
and the glamour
still
for
fame
greater
of her mystic kings
May we
him.
had a
further suggest that the
adoption of the Persian festivals was due to a motive of allaying the feeling of discontent
created in the
minds of the Persian elements in the court after the blow had been aimed at the Persian supremacy by
The same spirit of toleration the Mahzar of 1579. and equality of treatment that is responsible for the inclusion of the Hindu, Muslim, Parsee and Christian festivals in the holiday
list
of the British
Government in India, characterised the spirit of the Government of Akbar, when he adopted such festivals as the Persian Naw-ruz and Shariff ,
the
Hindu Rakhi and Dewali,
and Christmas
16
Festivals that (i)
in his official
of holidays.
Mass
16
were celebrated under the charge of the Kotwal
Naw-ruz when
the ign of Aries*
list
the Christian
'the
at the
:
great world-illuminating luminary entered
commencement
of the Farwardin (Maich)
;
THE
156
The
DIN-I-ILAHI
acceptance of some
of
the Zoroastrians, did not bring
the
him
formalities
of
into the fold of
their religion.
The
very fundamental principle of their religion * was questioned by Akbar he attacked the very ;
conception of good and evil emanating
from
God He
which was the cardinal basis of their faith/ " You admit the existence of Mobed, Yezdan and Ahrman, in order that Yezdan may
said to the
not be said to be the author of
Ahrman sprung
that
assert
thought of the
all just
from good and Just
;
you are
evil
Lord
evil,
forth
but
you
also
from the
evil
therefore, he sprang originated from God, the All
therefore,
;
wrong
in the
fundamental
most fundamental principle of and wrong must be every branch
principle, the very
your religion,
which you derive from astrian
(H) (
ill)
it."
17
Was Akbar
a Zoro-
still ?
19th of the
same month
festival of the glorious
sun
;
Feasts
3rd of Ardibishist (April). 6th of Khorbad (May). 10th of
9th of
Aban
(October.)
Azr (November).
2nd of Bahman
(January),
15th of Isfandaraad (Feb.) (iv)
month
Illuminations
Naw-iuz, Sheriff, Bharat (8th of the Arabian
on morning following illumination was celebrated a festival and kettle-drum was to be beaten on an elephant's back.
"
called Shaban)
Dabistan,
I.
p.73.
;
THE FORCES AT WORK
V
Section
157
Jains at the Court of Afybar
During the early Muslim period, Jainism was a of the South though it was not unknown to
creed
Northern India.
Muslim
In early
histories,
we
find
but scanty references to Jainism, as the Muslims 1 Abul Fazl knew did not come into clash with it.
knew many unknown to Akbar.
doctrines as he
its
was not Khana was opened to came in. But from
it
When
the
2
and
the Ibadat
the non-Muslims,
Jains also
scanty information
the Jain participation in the
modern
other things,
on
even many
debates,
completely ignored the sphere of Jain influence in the thought world of Akbar. Elphinstone, Von Noer, Malleson and even Bloch-
mann
historians
failed to notice the Jain aspect
In a
tion.
mark
of forgetfulness,
the mention of the
the
in
spirit
long
list
of
tremendously long
ways
classify the learned
For the
territory.
drawn
in Jaina
Jain influence
have begun 1
list,
;
Gurus
of course, al-
according to religion time,
Shashana of Benares
on Akbar.
Jain
not
attention in
1
9
3 1
was to the
Since then the historians
to search for definite information about
Mohsin Fan! who attempted a voluminous
and customs and of
religions of
Asia
2
Ain
3
Jaina Shashana of Benares, 1910, pp.
HI. pp.
treatise
on the manners
in the 16th century did not consider
Jainism to be of sufficient importance to Dabistan. ,
men
Abul Fazl did not
men first
the ques-
they did
of the
the learned
in his
or
names
of
embody
188-210. 1
13-28.
its
doctrines in the
THE
158
DIN-I-ILAH1
Akbar's contact with Jains.
And
humanitarian
of
regulations
a good deal of the
Akbar
have been
4
Smith attempted with the Jain influence in a chronological manner but his facts are rather scanty and the Jain ascribed to
to the Jain influence.
deal
on Akbar's personal than Smith supposed it to be. influence
life
much more
is
period of the Ibadat Khana, when the institution assumed a cosmopolitan character,
During the
last
invitations
were sent
His search
for the Elite
owing
to leaders of different creeds.
was postponed
to his preoccupation in the
for
the west and'feudo-religious outbreak in
from Kabul
After his return
a time
Mirza rebellion in
in
the
east.
1582,
'having heard of the virtues and learning of Hiravijaya, he ordered Sahib Khan, Viceroy of Guzrat, to send him to court,' as he had done 4 years back
when he had
There was,
Navasari.
he would
at
Mahayarji Rana of
much
first,
in
do with King
obedience to
Hiravijaya visited the
was persuaded
to
the
Viceroy
the
offered
interest
accept
him
of
his
rich presents
at
the
Jain
Royalty.
Ahmedabad and
Imperial invitation
religion.'
and
or
if
Viceregal farman,
'
in
hesitation
accept the Imperial invitation, for a
recluse has nothing to
However,
Dastur
invited
The Viceroy
cost of the journey but
inspite of every pressure the saint, true to his
own
creed, firmly refused everything. *
on the
Smith, Akbar, p. 166-68. subject.
K. P. Mitra has done some good work
THE FORCES AT WORK
The
party included
159
Bhanuchandra
Hiravijaya,
Upadhyay and Vi jay sen
Suri.
They
started
on
foot
with such scanty garments on as their order allowed them and without any guard or guide. They covered up the whole distance on foot from
Ahmedabad
Agra and were received with all the pomp of Imperial pegeantry. Hiravijaya became a guest of Abul Fazl till such time as Akbar would to
find leisure to converse witli them.
Akbar had long conversation with them on
Jain
philosophers specially on the doctrine of non-kill1
ing.''
the
in
This brought in Akbar a profound change Turki spirit of blood-thirst. 6 Regulations
issued by His Majesty
regarding the non-killing
were so wide and thorough that
know
the
name
if
7
anybody did not
of the author of these regulations,
he would immediately conclude that they were issued by a Jain or Buddhist monarch and not by a descendant of Timur or Chengiz. 8
"
famous tank
In 1582, the
Fatehpur which abounded in 5
called
fish
was
Dabul
at
offered
to
Smith was of opinion that the discussions of the Ibadat Khand
were closed
after
1582,
but
the picture as has been
Father Heras shows Rudolf Aquaviva and Jain
Gum
described by taking part in
Rudolf
left Agra in 1583 and Hiravijaya arrived must be dated between 1582 and 1583 when the discussions must have taken place.
religious discussions. in 1582.
6 7
8
this picture
'
Happy
Sayings,' Ain.
f
III,
Regulations of non-killing.
pp. 380-400. Bad.,
II.,
p. 331.
'
'
was due p. 137,
So
Hiravijaya Kalyan to the influence
mentions that stoppage of animal
of Hira.
Indian Historical
slaughter
Quarterly,
1933
THE DIN-MLAHI
160
Hira so as to stop fishing
same
year,
was much
9
at that
the
In
pond." hunting was stopped and royal
fishing
restricted. *
the Emperor issued orders for of prisoners and caged-birds and prohibit-
In 1582, the
*
release '
ed
the
killing
animals on
of
10
certain
days.'
were extended and disobedia capital offence. made was ence to them Hiravijaya was given the title of Jagat-Guru or In 1583, these orders
After this, the saint
world-teacher.
he had finished
The
retire.
profound
mained
of
In 1584, the
way he
His
of
influence
in the eyes
Jainism. his
work and wanted
that
he should
Jagat-Guru was so that he is
the
followers
his
with having converted the Emperor to
credited
on
his
thought that
visited
repaired
to
Guzrat;
Allahabad.
Bhanuchandra Upadhyay, reis said to have read
colleague, at court
saint
and Akbar
'
Surya Shahasra Nama' with him. The colophon that is given below, from the commentary on the
Kadambari, '
the 9
testifies to
n :
Smith, Akbar, p.
do not
kill
167.
animals and are
There are
strict
also Sufi
Hiranand ;
Sastri with the Jain
the difference
whom title
is
Muni
*
Sam vat
1711
Sri Vicaksanavijaya
that the latter
was written
(and not to Akbar \ attributes
at the
at
who
was seen by Barigaloie in
time of Jahangir,
the conferring
on the Jain monk Siddhi and Nadir-i-Zaman on the said monk.
Khushphaham the
Islam
This colophon is almost the same as in the Lekha-Likhan-paddhati,
11
c
sects 'in
vegetarians.
a manuscript copy of which, dated Bikram
to
Bombay
Rev. Heras, British Royal Asiatic Sociely, 1928
10
1933
Akbar 's reading
the fact of
Surya Shahasra Nama'
of
the
title
also the conferment of
THE FORCES AT WORK '
Surya Sahasra
The
Nama
'
with Bhanuchandra
point of interest
rather a cult of the
161
is
12 :
Sun worship
that
is
Hindus and Zoroastrians and
not of the Jains, but the fact is undeniable that the praises of the Sun were read with the Jain Muni. Possibly the scholarship of Bhanuchandra attracted
Akbar and he
scholar in the matter. In
1
availed of
the services of
13
587, the Emperor
orders
issued
the slaughter of animals for nearly
1
stopping in a
80 days
year.
In
1
590, one Siddhichandra
14
visited
Lahore and was honoured with a
title.
Akbar at He was
12
^' 13
The Surya Sahasra Nama which Akbar used
to
(tt)
read has been
published by Hiranand Sastri in Indian Historical Quarterly Review, 1933. 14
This Siddhichandra
Heras.
21-I280B
is
possibly
the
Santichandra
of
Rev
THE
162
DIN-I-ILAHI
places of the
placed in charge of the holy in
the
empire.
Satrunjaya In
1
The
on
tax
pilgrims
Jains
the
to
15
was abolished in the same year. Adiswara on the hills of the district of Kathiawar was con-
hills
590, the temple of
Satrunjaya in secrated
to
The
Hiravijaya.
has been
occasion
memorialised by a long inscription which contains details of the favours
shown by Akbar
to the Jain
Guru.
We
do
not
much
hear
the death of Hiravijaya in 1592, starvation
as usual
certain that
with
the
of
Jain
when he saints.
Siddhichandra lived
at
Jahangir and was honoured with the ' * i-Zatnan and Khushphaham.'
Section VI
Jains after
the title
died by
But
it
court
is
of
of 'Nadir-
The Sikhs
The Gurus
at the time of Akbar were Das 1552-74 A.D. Umar Ram Das 1574-81 A.D. Arjun 1581-1606 A.D.
Akbar had come to Hindustan, Sikhism was not a very famous creed it was only
By
the time
;
one amongst many.
In
almost
all religions,
it is
the early saints that keep the torch burning amongst
the disciples liance
;
so also
it
was
in Sikhism that the bril-
and attainments of the "
early
Gurus
Smith, Akbar, pp. 166*68.
attracted
THE FORCES AT WORK followers into the fold and kept
163
Umar Das had some Akbar, in whom Umar Das
these Gurus,
with
attentive
Das,
*
listener.'
who
died in
conversation '
found
throws some
light
an
Umar
This conversation with
574,
1
Of
them steady.
on the
Akbar even before the building of the Ibadat Khana. Guru Ram Das is said to have been held in The Emperor gave him great esteem by Akbar. a piece of land, within the limits of which he dug spirit of
quest in
known The Sikh
a reservoir, since then well '
Pool of Immortality/
that possession of
2
Akbar 's
who
Vairagee (recluse)
gift
as Amritsar or
accounts slate
was disputed by a
claimed the land as the
an ancient pool dedicated to Ramchandra, But the Sikh Guru the tutelary deity of his order. site of
*
was himself the true The Vairagee could representative of the hero.' produce no proof and Ram Das dug deep into the replied
earth
he
haughtily,
and
Demi-God's that Sikhs
the
displayed reservoir.
were known
3
to
ancient steps
Akbar
established himself at Lahore. is
4
'
*
much later Khana, when he The conclusion of only
against the existing evidence.
digging of the Pool at Amritsar was done by 1
Cunningham, History
2
Dabistan, Vol.
3
II,
Malcolm, Sketch,
If
the
Ram
of the Sikhs, p. 52.
p. 375.
p. 29
Journal of the Royal P. 292.
he
But Father Heras says^
than the discussions of the Ibadat
Father Heras
of
;
Cunningham, op. Asiatic Society,
cit.
p. 50, footnote.
Bombay
Branch,
1928,
164
THE DIN-MLAHI
Das on a piece of land granted by Akbar and if Ram Das died in 581 he must have made Akbar 's 1581 while Akbar estabacquaintance before 1
lished
himself
at
,
Lahore much
than
later
1581.
cannot be true that the acquaintance Therefore, of the Sikh Gurus with Akbar dates after the it
establishment of Akbar at Lahore.
Guru Arjun welded
the Sikhs into a religious
brotherhood with their centre at Amritsar.
he who, during Sahib.
If
the
this
the
period, arranged
mission of
Akbar was
It
was
Granth
to unite all
Hindustan by one religious bond, he should not have allowed a new religion to grow and develop myriads that were already existing. the other hand, he allowed every man, every
in the midst of
On
community, nay every religion to develop in its own way and even helped its growth. Tolerance of
Akbar was so helpful to the growth of Sikhism in the time that, to use the word of Mohsin Fani, of Guru Arjun, Sikhs could be found everywhere '
throughout the country.' saintliness and devotion
*
In
the
Punjab,
the
Arjun
was
Guru
of
almost a proverb. During the rebellion of Khusrau he beseeched the help of Guru Arjun not by any men and money, but through prayer.' It is said '
Arjun had helped him through his prayers and when Khusrau was defeated, Arjun had to pay
that
very dearly in prison.
c
3
Dabistan,
*
Cunningham, op.
II,
p. 270. cit.
,
pp. 52-60,
THE FORCES AT WORK In his
165
Mohsin Fani placed Sikhism
account,
amongst the most well established religions of India and he has devoted a large space to describe it.
A
eminence
of
position
for
Sikhism would have
been impossible had not Akbar looked upon it with favour. His conversation with Umar Das
and grant
land to Ram Das were eloquent Akbar 's sympathy towards Sikhism.
of
testimony to
Section VII
There
is
a good
yet
Buddhism deal
of
doubt
if
the)
Buddhists played any part in the discussions of the The existing evidence does not Ibadat Khana. directly
go
in favour
of Buddhist
Buddhism
the Ibadat Khana.
a dead religion by that time. for a long
past
monk
Buddhist
was
time
scarcely
Nepal.
in India
Abul Fazl any
in
was almost tells us,
trace
the
of
has existed in Hindustan.'
living a life of exile in the
India, in
participation
'
It
different corners of
Ceylon, in Kashmir, in Tibet and in But the philosophy of Buddhism produced
a great volume of literature in Hindustan, and was eagerly read by scholars in that age of Renaissance.
When Abul
Fazl
intellectual thirst,
in Tibet.
1
2
In
was pining he thought of
fact
satiation of his
visiting the
Abul Fazl made a
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,
Seriet, Vol. VIII.
for
Bombay Branch,
Lamas detailed
1928,
New
166
THE DIN-MLAHI
study of the Buddhist doctrines in their different forms and he found that Buddhism, though it had
away from the land of its birth as a creed, was strewn and diffused in the thought-world of India. Modern historians have failed to notice any influence of Buddhism in the thought process of Akbar and, in the absence of any direct testimony fled
corroborating the same, Elphinstone,
Von Noer and
Smith have not marked any influence of Buddhism on Akbar. Nizamuddin is silent about the Buddhists, nor could
we
was a mere
expect him to
mention them as he
and not a
court chronicler
great scholar.
The Portuguese
writers do not mention anything about the Buddhists as they have not done in case
of the Jews, Zoroastrians writers
sion
were busy with
and had no time
others in
their
The
Jains.
own
Christian
mission of conver-
or inclination to
record what
Khana were doing. Mohsin bring in the Samans in the role of Abul Fazl has the Ibadat Khana.
the Ibadat
Fani does not disputants in lonly
and
on one occasion mentioned
that the Buddhists 3
had come along with others into the Ibadat Khana and has not given any account of the Samans. Samans Badauni has mentioned the only '
'
once along with the Bramhans, as being responsible But Macdonald is of for the changes in Akbar. *
opinion that the
Samans
'
referred to, are a Central
Asian people and not Buddhists
Akbarname, Vol.
Ill,
;
whereas
pp. 252-53.
Lowe
THE FORCES AT WORK in his notes is
'
a Buddhist
form that
of
the
says that
the
*
Saman
Macdonald
Saman
The
Badauni
of
is
We
Shraman.'*
not correct.
is
'
and the word '
Sanskrit
*
167
a loose believe
discussions were
held in India and naturally the representatives religious
currents
India or originating in India,
in
should be invited.
of
If
he could
Sikhism or a minor sect
invite a religion like
like the C/iarfca^s,
5
there
why such an important 'religion of Indian origin should be omitted. If the Samans referred to by Badauni were a Central Asian people,
should be no reason
'
*
as
Macdonald would have us
believe,
why
should
be invited to the exclusion of so important a
they
Indian
religion of
Asian
'
was
mentioned
it
Samanism
Moreover the Central
origin. *
in
had no followers any
in India, nor
of the religious
books with
which Akbar was conversant. Further the mention and Brahman Saman of the words together by Badauni,
'
'
4
is
significant.
'
Badauni referred
to
contributions of both in the transformation of thought
Akbar jointly. To quote Badauni, "And Samans and Brahmans brought forward proofs based on reason and traditional testimony, for the truth of their own, and the fallacy of our own religion and inculcated their doctrine with such firmness This joint contribution may and assurance/' be due to the joint participation of savants having of
*
Badauni,
5
Akbarnama, Vol.
*
Badauni,
II,
II.
p. 264, footnote No. Ill,
p. 264.
pp. 252-53.
1.
THE
168
much
common
in
DIN-I-ILAHI
was
as
the
actually
case
of
Otherwise and Buddhist philosophy. and Badauni would have discussed the Samans Further Badauni says Brahmans separately. that Akbar used to shave the crown of his head in
Hindu
'
*
4
'
Buddhist manner.
May
be that Buddhists were not
the mainland of Hindustan but get
some from
Tibet,
it
Ceylon
to
be found in
was or
possible
to
Kashmir as he
did actually invite Christians from Goa, Jains from 7 Ahmmadabad, or Mobeds from Navasarai or Iran.
Abul
who was
charge of the affairs at the time, was deeply versed in Buddhist philosophy and it was in the fitness of things that Abul Fazl Fazl,
in
Abul
should invite the Buddhist savants.
Fazl
8
promised, in his Ain No. 77, to write a detailed as a religious guide to the treatise on His Majesty people' but he could not unfortunately fulfil his '
promise and thus *
first
ing
There
we
lost the
opportunity of know-
hand/ is
yet another direct proof of the Buddhist
participation in the discussions of the
In picture
IV,
No.
we meet with
Father Heras
9
IbadatKhana.
Appendix C to Chapter a picture of a Buddhist Shraman.
3, described
identifies the disputant
to
side just above the Christian gentlemen
Shraman.
Idhist
7
J.R.A.S.,
8
Blochmann, p.
XXI,
But no J. J.
details
Modi, p.
the
about the Buddhist
69.
162.
Royal Asiatic Society Journal,
1928.
right
as a Bud-
Bombay Branck
THE FORCES AT WORK
Khana
contribution to the Ibadat
are
169 available.
It
may, however, be confidently surmised that the Buddhists are not less responsible than the Jains promulgation of the regulations regarding the non-killing and similar humanitarian works in confor the
with administration.
nection
no
definite information
court of Akbar.
Beyond
that
we have
about the Buddhists at the
10
Section VIII
The Jews
The Dabistan-i-Mazahib informed Jews were present
in the hall of
us that the
worship and took
the
course of debates. disputants Mohsin Fani records the part played by a Jew in the midst of the debate between a Shia and a Sunni. the role
in
of
which a Jew was introduced by the author does not prove that they were held in great There was a good deal of ill feeling esteem. But the way
in
between the Jews and Muslims
;
the debate between
a Jew and a Christian was always characterised by as much bitterness as the quarrel between a Shia
and a Sunni. Often in the debates, the Christians were silenced by the Jews who disbelieved the virgin birth of Jesus nor did they accept Jesus as
a
prophet.
So
much
far
as
Akbar was concerned, he had not
respect for Judaism as could be gathered from
iO Jahanara saw the glass panes of Khwrabag of Akbar decorated with paintings of Buddha. Butenschon, Life of a Mughal Princess, p 87.
22-1280B
THE
170 the story of the
DIN-I-ILAHI
philosopher
a stick
turning
into
and reducing the eight serpents into means of magic. The Jews claimed a prophethood for Moses and based the greatness of Moses on his miracles by ^hich they were charmed. But Akbar almost entirely rejected
eight
serpents
1
the former stick by
the
miracles
so-called
We
of
prophets as a class.
have no evidence of any
direct contribution of
Judaism to the constructive side of Akbar's faith and beliefs inspite of our posssosion of numerous 'petty details.
Section VIII
2
The
General Remarks
Akbar 's
Christians at the Court of
A^bar
:
acquaintance with the Christians dates as far back as 572-73 on the occasion of his first
1
The Portuguese had come
of Guzrat.
conquest India about
Within
three
a
century
back.
period of time they made their their naval in the south-west coast short
this
influence felt proficiency
quarters of
to
;
made them
indispensable
to
many
of
the coastal states of India from Guzrat to the of of
Bay had in come Bengal. they pursuance trade, but when they found opportunities for
No doubt
employment them.
in different states, they gladly accepted
During his Guzrat conquest, Akbar was Dabistan, Vol. /lid..
Vol.
II,
II,
Section
p. 71.
II,
Chap. X,
THE FORCES AT WORK convinced
of
nism and
art.
the superiority of their naval
As
was not blind
As
with these the priests
1
which was
south,
with
affairs,
he
Portuguese once the
at
the European nations, along
and
traders
adventurers
and missionaries, mostly
making new
their zeal for
of
mecha-
and trade combined.
usual
is
shrewd man
a
to the significance of the
occupations in the seat of piracy
171
also
came
Jesuits, with
all
converts.
During the seize of Surat in 1573, the Portuguese came to the defence of the
Dom
resistance useless
city. Finding Antonio De Noronha 2 sent
Antonio Cabral "with instruction
As was
with
usual
the proposal for peace.
Akbar
sity
of Portugal
1576, two
"
made
made
The Emperor
did
not
refuse
unbounded
curio-
enquiries about of
Peter
the wonders
About
Europe."
came
missionaries
Anthony Vaz and character
his
In
and the manners Jesuit
he
Akbar,
make peace/'
to
Dias.
to
Bengal, Their personal
favourable impressions
on Akbar.
sent for the Vicar General of Bengal,
him about and religion.
Julian Pereira, to question
the
Christian
Accidentally people, their civilization this was the period when the Ibadat Khana had
been 1
built,
and heated discussions amongst the
The Portuguese
occupations during that period were Goa,
Daman, Dieu
Bombain, Bassein, Sea, the Persian Gulf the pilgrim hands to a large extent.
bal,
;
2
For
Dom
Antonio's
;
their fleet controlled
the
Muslims
was
traffic
details, see
of
Hosten,
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1912, p. 217.
also
Cham-
Arabian in
their
Journal and Proceedings
THE
172
DIN-I-ILAHI
were continuing and the ken of vision of Akbar was from day to day, Islam
of
sects
different
growing wider and circumscribed
The
wider.
sectarian
meet the ever
limits
of
any
could hardly demands of the soul of
doctrines
expanding the great Seeker. The Vicar General Julian was educated not enough to satisfy the cravings of
Akbar.
In 1576, one Pietro Tavaers, a Portuguese
employ, also proved useless for the purpose of Akbar. By 578, the relation between the Imperial
officer in his
1
governor
and the Portuguese
became very much Antonio Cabral, peace in
1573,
authorities
Goa
The Viceroy Dom
strained.
who had concluded was sent
of
the
former
to negotiate again.
At
Emperor had a talk with him Fatehpur Sikri, about the Christian civilisation and faith. But he the
also
could
not
improve
already supplied by
upon the information
his predecessors.
The Vicar
General suggested that the Emperor might invite the Christian Fathers from Goa who would be able to
give
him
the information that he might require
about Christianity.
3
Accordingly, the king sent one of his officers Haji Abdulla Khan with his interpreter Dominio Parez to bring the learned men of Christianity
from Goa.
3
The motive
Payne, Akbar and the
of
Akbar
Jesuits,, p. 16.
had some disputes with the Mullas regarding
Du
in inviting the
Jarric says that Julian
religion.
THE FORCES AT WORK
of the
Farman
There
be beautifully read
may
missionaries
is
173
Goa.
issued to the Priests at
a good
of
deal
in the text 4
controversy amongst
historians regarding the motives of
Akbar
invit-
in
Portuguese missionaries from Goa. The colour which has been given to the motive of Akbar, has been according to the angle from which histothe
ing
have looked
rians
the religious changes of the
at
The Muslim
Emperor.
historians
preted history in terms of facts. their
on the actions of monarch and not
interest
content with the
and
writings
religious reports
did
sionaries
the
The Portuguese
were as a class not historians were generally confined
often
The
which
Jesuit
to
mis-
care to verify the truth of
came
to
them.
Stories
them and the Fathers accepted them in credulity and put them in their despatches.
came all
to
and despatches.
not
information
and they did not the motive of Akbar
incidentally.
writers of this period their
historians rested
letter of invitation
supply us with any clue except indirectly
and
their currents
So the Muslim
currents.
and
concentrated
They
on the course of events or on cross
inter-
generally
to
Often they could not follow the native language in the absence of an interpreter often they did not ;
verify the half understood facts but merely
them
in their letters
and despatches.
To
entered the later
historians, they serve as materials of history.
4
For text of the Farman, see post, pp.
186-87.
THE DIN-MLAHI
174
writers
European rials as
these mate-
treat
generally
But without
invaluable sources of history.
minimising
their historical
importance,
we would
be taken very cautiously firstly because they were not political documents secondly they were at variance with one another suggest that they should
they have not been
thirdly
properly
We may
further they are not yet complete.
them
materials
as
for history
by other evidences
ported
As
Hindu
when
;
;
accept
they are sup-
either direct or highly
example Vasco da Gama's 5 the land of Zamorin he saw the
circumstantial.
description of
annotated
;
;
for
;
priests with their
white dress, blowing conch-
shells lighting candles and lamps at the altar, and Vasco da Gama mistook them for Christian
and
He remarked
priests. 1
5th
century,
priests in the
there
in
his Travels
that in the
were Christian churches
land of Zamorin.
It
and
took Europe
about 200 years to correct the mistake to which
Vasco da
Gama
led the
historians.
During the
reign of Akbar, the Fathers heard so
many stories, many despatches
many letters and sent so that they made their confusion worse confounded. On their way to Sikri, one of the Fathers heard that
wrote so
Akbar had mosques.
up
all his
the rest
issued orders for the
destruction
of
all
Another learnt that Akbar had given wives keeping only one and distributed
amongst
5
his
courtiers.
A
third
See discussions in the Introduction.
remarked
THE FORCES AT WORK
175
Akbar was going to Goa to be baptised but he could not do so in the capital for fear of a rebellion.
that
Some heard at Bijapur that Akbar died a Christian. The credulity of the foreigners only excites and needs no comment. The Fathers laughter came
convert
to
Emperor and they were too saying that Akbar had separat-
the
eager to have stories
ed from Islam.
And
there
who
historians
are
put faith in the
much religiously as did the One such is the famous Gospels.
Portuguese versions as Fathers in the
Whenever
V. A. Smith.
Dr.
between the
difference
there
Portuguese
was a wide and
versions
native versions, he rejected the native ones
because
they were not written by the Fathers.
Smith's
references to original Portuguese sources are
very
places, and he had not properly handled the sources even when it was not difficult
wide
many
in
for
him
on
the
do
to
Jesuit
the Great
He
so.
laid in
testimony
Moghul
so
;'
immense work
his
his investigations
weight '
Akbar of
the
ought to have been more thorough. the Payne is very right when he remarked that perfunctory nature of Smith's investigations is all Jesuit
sources
' '
the
more astonishing
weight attached to
view of the immense "
in
Jesuit
testimony.
references are often misleading
6
For a
detailed
Journal, 1888, Vol.
II,
description
Part
I,
252,
on
this
Smith's
and inaccurate point,
like
see Hakluyat Society
176
THE
DIN-I-ILAHI
Von Buchwald who had comunfinished volume of Von Noer's Kaiser
those of Dr. Gastav piled
*
the
The
Akbar.'
of
mentality
peculiar
Smith when
he rejected the authority of Abul Fazl on the capture of Asirgarh as forgery and wilful distortion '
of
writers '
has evoked strong censure from recent
facts'
7
of
Relacam
Smith often
history.
Jesuit
refers to
'
but he had not had more than a fragmentary acquaintance with Guerreiro's work and,
he
therefore, to
referring
accurate.
it.
often
committed
mistakes while
His note on Relacam
Similarly
Dr.
Gustav
is
very in-
Von Buchwald
cannot be excused for the damagingly wrong ver-
Akbar which he gave apparently bearing on Relacam. His study was so shallow that he mis-
sions of
took the very identity of Akbar and Jahangir and the facts of one have been thrust on the shoulder of the other.
Jahangir invented a method of sealing letters with the images of Christ and the Virgin. But Dr. Gustav
took this method of sealing
letters
as having been
invented by Akbar and on this flimsy datum, he " Akbar regarded himself built up a theory that In Chap. IX higher rank than Christ/' Dr. Gustav introduced the story of a discussion in
as of
which Akbar was the chief speaker on the divinity of Christ, but it took place two years after his death.
Dr. Gustav ante-dated
7
Payne,
ojt>.
cif.,
this
Introduction, p.
discussion
XXXV,
by
THE FORCES AT WORK some twelve 1595,
it
occur on the 5th May,
the date on which the third mission reached
Akbar's court. 8
was
making
years,
177
Further mistake
Dr. Gustav
of
he made Guerreiro one of the disputants
that
whereas Guerreiro was not a missionary and was never in the East.
Such instances
of colossal mistakes
modern authors who depended wholly on Jesuit versions might be multiplied. Only we
of the
the shall
mention Smith,
he
for
important authority on
Du
is
regarded as the most
Akbar.
Smith
and has taken
Jarric's Historia
it
relied
on
as a piece of
But if Smith had gone through the few pages of his work more carefully, he would have found from Du Jarric's own version history.
first
that he did not claim himself to be a historian. *
Historia' is
in
is
no sense an
fro 01 the first
exlracts
and
to
Jarric himself a history of the
tells
it
a series of
a compilation,
last
abstracts
Du
work and
original
H's "
from the writings of others." us that he wanted to compile
Jesuit
and not of the
missions
country in which they were located.
To
"
quote Payne,
work, and treatment,
religious
religious
as
general history, it the facts mentioned
8
Payne, op.
9
Ibid
,
such,
both not
is
in
as
essentially
treatise
and on
To
treat
theme
must be regarded/' therein
as
a
infallible
evidence
Introduction, p. xxxiv.
Introduction, p. xxxix. For detailed criticism, see Payne's
Introduction.
23
cit.,
Historia
1280B
THE
178 of history, as has
DIN-I-ILAHI
been done by Smith,
is
unhistori-
10
cal.
On
the whole,
work determined
the nature of
the
the missionary
scope of missionary writings.
Their writings were meant to keep the authorities informed of the progress they had made in their the
mind,
the
namely
mission,
condition of
possibility
his
of
conversion
chance of spreading the Gospel
the
Akbar's
in
and
the land
'
Mogor.' The reports were full of gossips relating to Akbar's so-called apostasy of
the
great
;
moment
to the
up had
of
his
death,
the
missionaries
Christianity.
hope converting him to Akbar's sympathetic attitude and
the
shown
a
of
lurking
respect
mistaken
by
knowledge
of
the
Aquaviva were who had only the
Father
to
Fathers
European religious intolerance of the 16th century and who could not dream of such liberalism of a non-Christian, unless he was a confirmed believer
in the
Similarly the Mullas,
doctrines of Christianity.
who
was monopoly of Islam alone, misjudged Akbar because he was liberal enough to find more or less believed that truth
the
truth in all religions
we
as
was done by Chengiz.
find mucli similarity
10
But
Historia of
judicious
it
must be
said to the credit of
Guzman and
Relacam
and methodical though a
So
between the Portuguese
bit
Du
Jarric
of Guerriero
;
that
he
more moralising.
is
he compared
much more
THE FORCES AT WORK and Mulla versions
was
of vision
different,
n
their
angle
their interpretations
were
though
But the real Akbar
the same.
bars of
of the story
the cage
built
179
the
by
behind the
lies
Jesuit Clergy
and
Muslim Mullas.
Now to resume, what was the motive that lay behind Akbar 's invitation of the Jesuit Fathers ? Some say that the motive was purely political. According to them, Akbar did not like the domination of the Indian seas by the Portuguese ;
their
eastern maritime
the
control of
humiliation to which
offensive to Akbar, the
Mecca were
to
pilgrims
traffic
were
subjected,
was the too
Emperor, and Akbar 's motive them neck and crop out of India." As the matter was net easy, Akbar had recourse to a tortuous policy of diplomacy and friendship '* " His friendly missions, sent avowedly combined 1J
was
the
to
annoying "
to turn
' '
with
the
instructions
had a
innocent
object
of
acquiring
and purchasing European
sinister
purpose
political
leligicus
curiosities,
also,
and were
means of espionage." As is mentioned Sousa, there was a suspicion in the
utilised as
in
De
minds 11
Du
of the governor
of
Goa
*
that
the Fathers
Father Xavier, whose letters generally supplied the sources of
Jarric,
wrote
in a letter of
Dec
4,
1615, that
Akbar had embraced
This mistake on the part of one who was present in the third mission anvJ who could see things for himself, betiays a lack of knowledge of contemporary events and as such should
Hinduism and died
in that faith.
not be taken as reliable source of history.
Smith, Akbar, p. 202.
THE
180
be
might
13
as
kept
DIN-I-ILAHI to
According
hostages.'
Maclagan, Akbar wanted the Jesuit Fathers to be used as priests for religious services to his European 11
Catrou
of
authority
Islam could not be
Akbar
advised
-further
Maclagan
employees,
16
that
made
to
suggests
Abul
on the
Fazl, finding that
a national religion in India,
give
Maclagan made too much
chance.
a
Christianity
of this fantastic theory
asserted that before the introduction
of
and
Din-i-Ilahi,
Akbar wanted to experiment upon India a third religion besides Hinduism and Islam. Maclagan's view is untenable in view of the fact that if Akbar 's motive was political unity based on religious unity, he should not have allowed religious freedom
Some
to all.
Fathers in their wild conjectures suggest that
Christianity
wanted
was predestined
to give a
advance
chance in
The
inevitable.
India
for
absurdity
of the
and Akbar
lo
what was
proposition
need any comment.
is
To them
apparent to wish is the father of thought/ But Payne with much greater sanity attempted to combine 'motif political with motif religious' of too '
!3
De
14
This
Sousa, Oriente Conquistado, Vol. as the
II,
number
p. 150.
of Chirstians
employed and they were too much scattered in the Empire to demand the services of bishops from Goa. If such motive did at all exist, it must have been mentioned in the text of the
in
Akbar 's
is riot justifiable
service
was
too small
Farm an. !5
Histoire
been 4 years cnly end a
been
Generale
Edition
1705, p. 96.
Abul Fazl had then
and was a young man of 20, and still a full-b^cded IVutljnn, moreover he \v?s never found in the court
favourably chspcsed towards Christianity.
'
biathi'
to
have
THE FORCES AT WORK Akbar close
in inviting the Portuguese
missionaries.
A
Farman of invitation and a phase of Akbar 's mind through
study of the
critical
view
of the
which he was passing us
convince
the
that
consonance with the
period ot
period of his
political
which characterised the
spirit
Akbar during that conquest was practically over had
the Shias
The
period.
the influence
;
Sunni
orthodox professors of the
was ebbing away
life,
was primarily and was in
invitation
of
temperament the
that
at
and secondarily
religious
of
181
creed
lost their
ground owing to their undignified vituperations on the companions of the Prophet and on the Sunnis. The Zoroaslrian Daslur Mahyarji Rana had dazzled
Akbar
by his Brahmins and
;
magnetism
personal
Yogis,
with
and
;
this
the
century-old
ph losophy and the Tantras, had made a favourtheir sacred books able impression on his mind ;
had
filtered
Akbar
into
s
mind
through
trans-
lation.
Stray acquaintance
made with
lay Christians did
not satisfy the insatiable thirst for knowledge of the Sufi
mind
of
Akbar
10
lover
of
wisdom
as he
was
He now
desired to have his ken of and vision expanded enlightened through discourses with the Christian priests whose Sacred Books
by nature.
had
been referred
Kitab or
the
Biochmann
to
in
the
Revealed Books. " sa>s,
Akbar was a
Quran If
as
Ahli
the invitation
Sufi at heart,
"
p. 210.
THE
182
DIN-I-ILAHI
Dadu, Surdas, Mahayarji Rana or Ram Das before theFarman to Goa, or to Hiravijaya and to Tulsidas,
had not been actuated by what reason have we to surmise motives,
Bhanuchandra political
after,
behind
a poiltical motive Christians relations
and
?
be
may
It
the
invitation
were
that there
to
the
political
between the Mughals and the Portuguese, inspite of
that
the
existence of the religious
was not
missionaries at court, political amity
estab-
(Akbar like Asok had not ceased to be a king because he had become a religious devotee.)
lished.
The co-existence of religious and political relations did not deprive
Akbar
the spirit of the
of the
that lay behind
sincerity
invitation.
the
Specially
way
in
which Akbar received the missionaries on their arrival and treated them during their stay, did not justify the
remark
'
that
a tortuous duplicity
'
was
guiding all the transactions of Akbar in his relations with the Portuguese.
As
usual in
Europe
of
the 16th
century, the
monarchs were almost all seized with the motive of proselytisation, and a wave of religious zeal explains
many
of
their
Behind
actions.
political
the action of the political authorities,
both politics
and
of
religion
co-existed.
Any
without the existence of the
enough
to decide in
the invitation.
other,
favour of
But so
selves were concerned,
one
the
was
the
sufficient
acceptance of
far as the missionaries
many
of
anxious for the conversion of
two,
them were
them-
sincerely
'
the
great
Mogor
THE FORCES AT WORK
183
and evangelisation of the dominions of the Mogor.' 17 At best it was so up to the end of the second mission in If they were to some extent 59 1
1
.
advantage by the Goa authorithe clergymen were generally unconscious and
utilised for political ties, it
was
the mission
and
was
the
observes,
the combination of the
motives which
political
activities of
As Moreland
them.
of
inspite
is
the
religious to
key
all
Portuguese during the sixteenth of their conduct which is inex-
century and much plicable
from
traders' point of
view finds an excuse
though not always a justification in the missionary zeal by which the rulers of the country were 18 We do not distinguished." fully agree with
" Akbar was influenced Payne when he says that, by both religious and political motives and the former was quite as strong and real in his theirs."
in
that
Akbar
advantage
We
would rather put
did
actually
from
his
derive
direct
it
some
contact
Portuguese missionaries but that
it
case
in this
was
as
way political
with
the
incidental
and was hardly ever premeditated. On the other hand, Akbar was often misunderstood and misjudged because of the Portuguese aspect of the question
There were opinions that from the had no belief in the
beginning, the Portuguese
conversion of
the
great
Mughal and
that
the
Similar attempts have I-een made by the Christians from time to time in the Turki House, see ante, Chap. II, p. 62. 17
l
Moreland, India at the Death of Akbar, p. 200.
THE
184
DIN-I-ILAHI
mission was entirely political from
This view has been
trade
English
porary
taken
start
by contem-
generally
and
writers
finish.
to
travellers
because they were actuated by a feeling of jealousy
who
and hatred against the Portuguese, at
time
this
According
to
them,
guese movements,
trade
if
politics
Indian
the
dominating
were seas.
was behind the Portumust be behind the
Emperor's. The perspective of the English meichant man was the L.-S.-D. in the 16th century; so they could not
follow
their
Of
details.
missionaries, at
Portuguese currents in
course,
the
in
least
the
later
the
of
services
the
of
stages
all
missions, were utilised for securing commercial and No doubt the plans of the political privileges.
English visited
merchant
Akbar's court in
obtaining
trade
countrymen were
1603
himself
time frustrated
a
for
with the object
for
facilities
But
Portuguese missionaries.
who
Mildenhall
adventurer
to ascribe
of
and
his
by
the
unalloyed
end
shows
absence of knowledge of court events and
betrays
political
motive from beginning
a lack of insight on the part Fitch, Terry
and Roe.
It is
the political authorities to sent,
of
to
early
writers
indeed true that
whom
the
it
like
was
Farman was
because the religious missionaries were under
the political control of the governor of
Goa and
the
political authorities at
Goa were
primarily concerned
with the extension
of
country's
cial facilities
and were
their
fully
alive
to
the
commerpolitical
THE FORCES AT WORK advantages
So
which might accrue
far as the political
they welcomed
as
'
offered
for
political
'
Akbar
tions in the doctrines of Christianity
religious
trade.
their
to
were concerned,
authorities
the appeal of
185
instruc-
for
much
as
for
opportunities which it political incentive by
But the existence of
.
no means demonstrates the insincerity of a religious Had diplomacy been the whole issue, a urge. shrewd man like Akbar could easily have had recourse
than this
means much easier and slow, long and tedious process.
to
Since the beginning of
Portuguese
shorter
other
missionaries
the
had
third
mission,
the
become
actually
political agents,
and there were occasions when both
Father Xavier
and Pinherio
gave
offence
great
Akbar, as for example, in the siege of Asirgarh in Khandesh. But Akbar was magnanimous enough to forgive and forget. If his intention was to
to
punish them,
it
was so easy
for
him.
The
Portuguese missionaries lost their prestige in the estimation of both the rulers and the ruled when they
So long as the mission was represented by men like Rudolf Aquaviva, they commanded the respect of all and sundry, but the
meddled
Fathers
in
who
politics.
followed, were as unworthy
sacred trust, as were
the
Qazis of
the
of
their
Mughal
Empire. By the time of Shah Jalian, they ceased to be any thing more than political hirelings in clergymen's gown and were treated by the Mughal authorities as such. 24-12&OB
Our
conclusion
is
that
the
THE
186
motive of Akbar in
I
DIN-I-ILAHI
580 was primarily religious
as was that of the missionaries that
mission
first
authorities
motives of the Portuguese
the
Lisbon
Goa were
and
primarily
Akbar were
derived by
proportion to the religious
less in
gained
but
The advantages
political.
much
;
at
composed the
by the
political
objectives
and as such
authorities
themselves that they were
they flattered
sefving
the cause of Jesus.
The
First
Mission
1580-83 A.D.
The Farman "
In the
:
name
of
God.
Letter of Jalaluddin
Muhammad God. the Order
Akbar, King
placed in the seat of
To
the Chief priests of
Be
it
known
to
them
that
I
am
of St. Paul.
a great
friend
of theirs. I
have sent
thither
Abdullah
my
ambassador,
and Domenico Perez, in order to invite you to send back to me with them two of your learned men, who should bring the books of the law, and above Gospels, because I desire to understand their
all
the
truly
and
perfection
earnestly ;
and with
great urgency I again demand that they should come with my ambassador aforesaid, and bring
For from their coming I shall obtain the utmost consolations they will be dear to me,
their books.
;
THE FORCES AT WORK and
shall
I
receive
As soon
honour.
them with
as
the
and
instructed
in
hended
perfection, they will
its
law,
every
possible
have become well
shall
1
187
have compre-
shall
be able,
if
willing
and I shall send them honours and appropriate regards.
to return at their pleasure,
back with great Let them not fear
them under
my
me
the
in
Khan reached Goa
of
for
receive
I
and assure
faith
pledge of good
them concerning myself." With the above Farman
Abdulla
invitation
September, 1579, and was honours reserved for the royal
received with
in
governors of Portugal. honours was apparent.
and
least,
The motive behind such For reasons both
political
was accepted.
Rudolf
religious the invitation
Aquaviva and Monserrate, along with a converted Persian Christian Eenriquez to work as interpreter, formed the mission. 10
They 1
579,
started
and
reached
February, 1580. the
The
was
Emperor
The King
on the
17th day
Sikri
of
on the
last
of
day
splendid reception offered by
Mughal show honour
typically
in order to
November,
in
grandeur.
to the
priests
a
in
costume, unique Portuguese appeared honour indeed. He assigned them residence in the
royal
changed
19
palace,
their
For a short
Monserrate,
abode
life
p. 171.
though
at
a
later stage
themselves to a
lonely
of Aquaviva, see "Smith, Akbar, p.
they
quarter
170
and
foi
THE
188
DIN-I-ILAHI
from
was supplied
Their food
of the city.
the
They were exempted from offering the 20 customary prostration when visiting the Emperor. royal table.
In the
court,
had
they
seats
their
by the
royal
Often the Emperor would show familiartiy by taking walks with Aquaviva
cushion.
arms on
his shoulder.
to talk to arrival,
them
that
Akbar
with
The King was so anxious on the very night of their
he kept them questioning
the morning.
much
2'oclock
till
in
21
a
copy of the Bible with respect and also some pictures which he kissed. He
had
accepted
also a chapel
He
built for
them
in the
palace.
Murad under the tuition of placed Monserrate, while Abul Fazl instructed Monserrate Prince
in Persian.
We
no formal record of
have
between the Mullas and the not of any of those
that
the
the extracts
and
Fathers
the
court acquaint
the
21
it.
from the reports
pictures
of
and debates.
Sijdah was not compulsory
exempted from
Akbarnama,
III,
references
Stray
the
us with some details of
of their conversations
^ The
amongst what we get except
Dabislan-ul-Mazahib.
in the Dabistan,
we have
had been held
the doctors of different faiths in
debates
the
priests, as
for
all.
Mughal
the
nature
The day The
of
weie
Sayids
Beveridge, p. 399.
This extreme impafience for conversation with the priests
an outward expression of the storm Akbar.
of
that
was raging
in
the
is
only
mind
of
THE FORCES AT WORK passed in reception,
their arrival
and
of greetings
On
formal exchange
the 18th of March, the
first
Akbar.
with
interviews
private
189
formal debate was
and the third on the there is no chronological have no definite infor-
held, the second on the 4th
6th of April.
After that
We
mention of debates. mation as
to
and discussed
the exact points raised
But the nature and subjectmatter of the debates have been gathered from debates.
in different
the contemporary
and
letters
The when
despatches.
that Aquaviva was the divine Muhammad had acknowledged origin of the Gospel, he was inconsistent in refusing to
main "
of
point
acknowledge the "
Christ."
divinity of
he
Further
Gospel having been foretold in the Old Testament must be superior to the Quran the
contended,
which was not." 22
The subsequent points of disputes were the character of Muhammad's heaven, (if) the :
(i)
outside witnesses of Christ's divinity,
and
natures of Christ
Quran
(iv)
the
the two
(iii)
inconsistency
of
the
towards the character
in its varying attitude
of Christ's death.
De Sousa debates
:
adds the
(v)
certain
had
tampered
Bible, (vi)
the
doctrine
(vii)
the
subjects
of imputation that with the text of the
of
personal
Trinity and Incarnalife
and
views
Muhammad. 22
of
absurdity
Christians
tion,
other
Commentaries, Memoirs, A. S. B, 1914,
p. 24
(fc).
of
THE DIN-HLAHI
190
The
in their debates
had
regarding
Muhammad, and Akbar
warn them more than once
to
strong words
fathers generally used very
of the
which they invited by such conduct.
danger
However, the
could not explain the birth of Jesus, who according to them was the son of God and accordpriests
ing to Muslims might have been the son of Joseph, the carpenter, with
whom Mary was
married.
They
could not fully explain the Trinity. 23 On the whole the Fathers had a very willing and sympathetic listener in Akbar though not him;
self
ready
He
be converted, he gave permission
to
the priests
himself
by accepting
With
his
make
to
conversions in
showed
honour
to
Christian
pictures
with
sons and
chapel and had
courtiers,
Bible
the
"Ainamevay Gesa
use: usual
*
he
translated
Bismillah~ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim
create a
Christian
priests
reverence.
visited
Chr/s/u,"
atmosphere
9
in the
to
Empire.
the
by
he asked Abul
In the translation
Fazl.
the
their
Abul
Fazl
to
instead
of
in order to
subject
of
study of Christian doctrine.
This
liberal attitude of
the Christian Fathers
them
22
in various
The famous
Akbar's mind
and the concessions given
ways have been
story
of
towards
the
fire
interpreted
ordeal between the
to
by the
Muslims
and
Fathers to prove the respective truths of Islam and Christianity needs no comment in the face of the wide diffeience of the facts as narrated
by Badauni and by Monserrate. Vol. HI, p. 363.
See Beveridge's note
in
Akbamaina,
THE FORCES AT WORK
191
orthodox Muslims as his virtual lapse from Islam.
The
Christian priests
the
in
period
to Christianity
give
all his
up
Some
but for the
wives
asserted that
Christian
if
if
fact
during
despatches
gave a favourable Akbar that he was almost willing
this
impression to
a
Akbar promised
they could prove the
of
be converted
he would have
he became
24
to
to
Christian.
25
become a
Divine birth
of
explain to him the significance of Monserrate went so far as to say that Trinity. Akbar promised to become a Christian even if it would lead to his abdication only if the Priests could explain to him Trinity and he promised to go to Goa for conversion on the pretext of
Jesus and 2fi
pilgrimage to Mecca."
and nonsense partly
owing
7
Similar gossips
were sent
and temperament and partly
14
The
attitude
was not what the
the
for
was
mission
the
that
showing
Europe
pupcse of
towards
doing
Christianity
Akbar 's mother
deserved or desired
priests
to
actually
the ladies of the harem
of
half-sense,
misreading of Akbar's mind
the
to
Goa and
to
'
to
whom
he denied nothing* wanted Akbar to tie the Bible round the neck of an ass and show about the town of Agra, just as the Christians tied a copy of the Quran round the neck of a horse and
showed
it
round the town of
of his mother
saying,
became
Al-Coran
it
tempt of
any
"if
it
Ormuz were
ill
;
Akbar refused the request the Portuguese to do so to the
but in
not a
religion
King to requite ill with ill, for that the conwas the contempt of God and he would not be
revenged upon an innocent Book." Laval, Hakluyat ^oc Journal 1888, Part 56 27
Maclagan, op.
cif
,
I,
p
252.
pp. 33-34
Monsenate, Mem. A.
S.
B
,
Vol.
Ill,
1914
folio
42
(a)
THE DIN-MLAHI
192
work
their part of the
who were
near
so
the priests
If
successfully.
Akbar could make such
to
away may
conjectures, the ordinary people living far
be excused, tures
made even wider
they
if
regarding
monarch.
The Mullas
and people
in their ignorance
conjec-
views of that august
the religious
and
in their bigotry
disgust,
and blindness
inter-
preted his liberal tendencies as having been actuated not
if
by love
towards Islam.
Just at
Bengal and Behar
in
raging
Punjab and Kabul
and
in the
28
that
During
and uncertainty, wild rumour got current which added
a
fuel of
in the East
West.
the
in
moment
psychological
many
by hatred that time rebellions were
Christianity, at least
for
religious
of
unrest
discontent to the flames of civil
war engineered by the disgruntled jagirdars, ejected Qazis and soldiers whose pay had been reduced. According to Guerre iro, Akbar stopped all corres28
Monseriate, commentaries, said that the
42 (a)
Christianity.
rebellions
began foi
Mem.
was
rebellion
A
S. B., Vol.
against
Akbar' s
EW
religious in origin.
in Januaiy,
1580,
past
for
Priests
is this all
correct
and the
was added
to the
May be
rebellion
rebellion
granted to the Christians
To
owing
to
accelerate the
Akbar 's
that
The
the liberalism of
priests, too, misinterpreted
Crescent.
gossips
The
into their
a
leniency
despatches and
were winning the great Mughal
Akbar
of at
later
movement
lo
the popular
?
concessions
the Mullas gave wide publicity
that they
Folio
rliat
these
rebellion
which preparations had been going on came on 28th February, 1580. So there
can be no causal connection between the attitude Christianity
1914
leaning towards
Smith, on the basis of the Jesuit testimony, said
were
some time
fury
Ill,
to
towards
stage
more
having been
of the rebellion, to
Christianity.
Akbar and embodied flattered
the
Croat
themselves
from
th*
THE FORCES AT WORK pondence with the tent of the public.
priests for allaying the discon-
But
we do
1
must be dated not before not correct.
1
582
;
;
Guerreiro
thus
is
the
If
way
to
Why
(1)
come from
all
powerful did Christ allow St.
Why
hands
Akbar asked Mon-
:
did not Jesus
he was the Son of (2)
Lahore,
him
serrate to explain to
his
same
very
Akbar stopped correspondence fear, Akbar would not have taken Monwith him as a tutor of Murad to Lahore.
On
if
the
In
where we meet Aquaviva, Hiravijay also Hiravijaya came in 582 so the discussion
portrait
occurs.
out of
know wherefrom
not
Guerreiro got his information.
serrate
193
into his
wounds
God
Cross
the
?
Thomas
to
put
?
What was meant by (3) hand of God ?
sitting
at
the right
Celebacy of the Clergy.
(4)
The The The
(5) (6)
(7)
Last Judgment. Status of Paraclets. relation
between the Quran and the
Gospels. After return from Lahore the tinued
again,
attitude
the
discussions
subject-matter
being
(a)
conthe
the Quran towards unbelievers, (fe) between Grace and Faith, (c) the Son-
of
distinction
ship of Christ.
Back
to
the rituals 25
Sikri,
and
1280B
the
Emperor adopted some
of
formalities of the Christians such as
THE DIN-MLAHI
194 '
'
Bells
;
as he
Hindus and
At
had adopted the
'
'
of the
Rak.hi
*
'
Quese^
of the Zoroastrians.
between the Portuguese in Guzrat had beGovernor Mughal come definitely strained. Rudolf Aquaviva informed the Emperor of this quarrel between the Portu-
at
that time the relation
Goa and
the
guese and the Mughals, and Akbar was
news."
at the
Smith
of
Akbar at
shocked
work made too much
in his
'
and attempted
of this quarrel
"
to
the perfidy
prove
'
as February, 1580.
as early
the very
moment when
approaching his court invitation addressed
in
Says he,
the missionaries
response to the
w ere r
friendly
to the Viceroy and other he had Goa, organised his army to Smith very intellicapture the European ports."
authorities
of
129
gently
wove
the
facts concealing the point of sore
was not the Mughals that opened hostilities but the Portuguese. Gulbadan Begam in 1575 was proceeding to Mecca but the Portuguese detained her ship near Daman and compelled her to cede to them the village of between the two.
Butsar.
When
the
she ordered the village.'
Daman
It
Begam
from Mecca,
returned '
Imperial
officers
to
retake the
Kutubuddin, Governor, attacked where the village of Butsar was situated. the
This was a petty affair and even Monserrate ' admitted that the ordinary quarrels between the
Muhammadans into
the
avowed
and
the
hostilities.'
Portuguese developed
When
Portuguese was reduced
to
the
position
difficult
of
straits,
THE FORCES AT WORK the Fathers were informed
of
195
and Aquaviva
this
complained to the Emperor who was really shocked to hear the news and he regretted very '
'
had begun. He said and that he had no knowledge of the affair senior as a of a official Kutubuddin, high rank, had acted on his own initiative/ The Fathers
much
the
that
hostilities
'
'
Emperor should rebuke the Governor which Akbar refused to do, for as he
desired '
said, acts
that
the
he could not well censure his viceroy for
done with the intention
interest/
Inspite
of serving
public
Akbar knew
of the fact that
guilt of the Portuguese of
the
Daman
the
in
compelling renounce Butsar, inspite of the fact that the Portuguese were committing piracies in the
Gulbadan
to
Western Seas, inspite of the disadvantages to which the pilgrims were subjected by the Portuguese the
Emperor recalling
was
enough the troops from Daman gracious
were obeyed immediately. 30
If
to ;
send orders
his
commands
30
Akbar was actuated by a motive
of destruction of
the
Portu-
Akbar once sent Todar Mai guese he was powerful enough to do so " to submit report as to how the port (Surat) could be taken. in 1572
He
reported that the capture of the fort could be very easily effected
(Akbarna
na,
III,
Bib. Indica,
Beveridge, p 24
)
His
fleet,
as
is
given
by Mukherjee (Indian Shipping, II, Ch. II), shows that it commanded If his intention strength enough to sink their entire fleet into the sea was all perfidious, he should not have ordered Kutubuddin to recall his Smith wanted that Akbar would be as docile as a troops from Daman. the Dewani of 1765, so that the Portuguese would after Mughal Emperor have an easy go into the main land
Akbar would have btvn priests while the pirates.
lost into the
Empire be
Smith would have been glad
if
sea of ielit?ious discussion with the
sliced off the Indian seas
by the Portuguese
THE DIN-MLAH1
196
The
mission stayed
when
they grew impatient
India
in
saw
they
and
for 3 years
Akbar
that
was moving like a mirage. At times they found him so near to Christianity that they thought his conversion only a matter of hours and days. They more than once proposed conversion, but Akbar instead off
a
of
and blank
curt
without offending
When
the
refusal put the matter
feelings
of
the priests. *
continuous efforts
after three years of
the
'
Mogor was not converted, the Provincial of Goa grew impatient and asked the Fathers to return
great '
they found it desirable.' immediate occasion lor the break-up of
with a discretion to stay,
The
the mission
was the
in a discussion in tavour
Though
for
active part
former
some time
;l
in
Abul
tae
Fazl,
defence of
Priests,
Islam.
the actual break-up of the
mission was postponed owing of
which Akbar took
between the Mullas and the
the
of
if
final
to
the
dissolution
intervention
was only a
Aquaviva desired to go back In the to Goa but Akbar wanted him to stay. it was mutually arranged that Akbar should end, question of
days.
send an embassy of Spain
and
on
to
Europe
to congratulate Philip
his accession to the throne
of
Father Monserrate would form a
that
of the party along with
II
Portugal
member
Abdulla Khan and Muzaffar
By then, Akbar had received an embassy from Queen Elizabeth of England who sent one Khan.
31
Du
Jarric,
Payne's Translation, p. 35.
THE FORCES AT WORK
Newbury with a
request that he might be
" honestly
and promised "to
and received*'
intreated
197
re-
compose the same with as many deserts as we :w can." Father Aquaviva was allowed to return to Goa in May, 1583, on condition that he would
some
return to Sikri after
Was
We
time.'
the mission a failure
think
it
was
53
?
not, at least
compared to what Chengiz, Timur, or
happened of the missions to The distinct services rendered by Kublei Khan. the missions were :
Permission was granted to
( 1 )
make
converts
and build Churches. Permission was granted
(2)
to build hospitals
in India.
Portuguese prestige in the central and local
(3)
32
a
The
Fitch, p. 44.
Christians of Europe.
Rum, who was
Rum
a natural
to
form
enemy
of the
Another embassy was
the leader of Christianiiy ally against
embassy was
political object of their
league against the Khalifa of
;
the
to be sent to the Pope, motive might have been to secure an
Already Akbor ha i repudiated the Khelafat pietenand declared himself Khalifa-uz-Zaman and his
sions of Constantinople
as
Kingdom
Rome was 'Mahzar' 33
the
to
recitation of
the
embassy to Spain and Khutba and issue of the
of 1579.
He
the harem.
Du Jarric,
This proposed
Dar-ul-Khelafat
corollary
returned with a family of Russian
Aquaviva was
killed
Payne's Translation, p.
slaves
in
the service of
by a mob near Salsette soon
after.
43.
It is interesting to know that Akbar had an adopted son, a Christian boy named Zulqarnain he was brought up in the harem with great He ultimately became a governor of a province in the time of care. ;
Jahangir and Shah Jahan.
THE DIN-MLAHI
198
was increased
government
by the stay of the
Fathers at the Imperial Court.
Their stay encouraged other nations of Europe to try their luck in the land of the Mughals. (4)
The Second Mission A. D.
1591
After 1
583, there
for
departure of the first mission in lull in the Christian activities
the
was a
about 7 years
Aquaviva
at the
till
1
590.
hands
of
Possibily the death of
mob
the
served
as
a
brake to the march of the missions.
During this period only two Christians, Newbury and Fitch,
are heard of at Fatehpur Sikri
not
4
named Leo Grimon
on
back
way
his
the royal
at
country, appeared
was
Greek sub-deacon
1590, one
In
religious."
but their object
;
his
Lahore.
court at
man
to
sense Abul Fazl pictured Grimon and knowledge. He received high honours, and was put in charge of translation of some Greek as
a
of
During that period many Firingis and Armenians arrived at the court. On his way back, books.
Grimon was charged with two
34
Only two
the General
letters of 1590
Secretary at
events of the period 1896, Vol.
LXV,
of the mission
These
pp. 62-63.
and
its
and
Rome
addressed to
by the Provincial
al
Coa and
supply us information regarding the
letters
The
of 1591
letters
have been reproduced
first letter
in
J.R
AS
,
of 1590 spoke of the arrival
departure and that of 1591 narrated
its failure.
THE FORCES AT WORK the
of
Viceroy
The
Society.
much more ing the
are
letters
the
of
and are
really beautiful
than the one preced-
Grimon
mission.
asserted
the
that
He
mission were favourable.
the
of
the head
to
strongly- worded
first
prospects
Goa and
199
King had destroyed the minarets and mosques which were being used as The King stables. dismissed all his wives and shew genuine respect for Christianity/ 3r further
advanced
that the
'
'
Akbar even celebrated in
Virgin
1 '
to
respects
the
590 by bringing
Own Lady/
Our
Grimon roused enthusiasm to a pitch for
Fathers,
and a
assumption of
out "
of the
and paying
The
(>
report
Fathers of
of
Goa
and there were innumerable applications
appointment
students
of
day
of
to
the
the
missions even
Unfortunately
College.
Edward Leioton and Chistopher
lay Brother
from the
two
di
Vega, were chosen along with a Brother
Estavas Rillerio.
Work The
of the Mission
mission was very honourably received by They were provided with residence in
the King.
the royal
35
palace.
All necessaries
life
were
The
Possibly
story of dismissal and distribution of his wives was fantastic. Grimon misunderstood the regulation of 1587 when Akbar issu-
ed his 'Ains' regulating the marriage. more than one wife unless the woman 36
of
Maclagan,
op. eft, p. 48.
*
is
In
no case men should marry
barren or diseased
Smith, Akbar, p 253
'
THE
200
DIN-I-ILAHI
from the royal household. A school was started under their direction for the royal supplied
children and children of of
written
Provincial
the
showed
in
instructions not to leave the
pleting their
work
report
November,
1591,
were given definite
Fathers
the
that
The
the nobility.
court
or without
the
suddenly returned
instructions the missionaries
mission
sudden break-up of the mentioned anywhere. Maclagan for
this
suggests that the Fathers returned
opposed by
a strong
when
thought
they of
intention
to
year of their arrival.
not
is
express permis-
But inspite of the
sion of the superior authorities.
Goa within one The reason
com-
without
section that
when
at
the
they were
the court
and
had
no
King
As Smith baptism. possible that the Fathers were faintaccepting
*
suggests,
it
These
hearted/ take
On
up
is
the
the report of
were
Fathers
not
fit
to
which they had been sent. Grimon, the Fathers had probably
task
for
concluded that Akbar's mental conversion was already complete and he was only waiting for a priest to convert
him
formally
They grew impatient
when
chance of conversion was remoter
and
by giving baptism. they found that the
every day
growing
remoter.
for the Unfortunately Fathers, the Emperor was at that time very busy with wars in Sind and had no time to listen to the
debates on religion or to attend to their sermons. They took it as apathy or antipathy towards
THE FORCES AT WORK Christianity
and soon
201
work and
heart in the
lost
retired.
The second
mission was entirely
fruitless.
The Third Mission 1595-1605 A. D.
The sudden
collapse
of
the
second mission
amongst the authorities Akbar, too, was not at all pleased with the way in which the Fathers fled away from their post. However, he was created great dissatisfaction at
Goa
as well as at
Rome.
enough to extend a fresh invitation through an Armenian Christian. The Viceroy was eager to accept the invitation, of course for political reasons though the religious motive was courteous
The
not altogether absent.
ing
owing
to the failure of
was
Provincial
hesitat-
the previous missions.
Ultimately with the consent of the authorities of Goa,
was accepted and the acceptance was subsequently ratified by the King of Spain. the
invitation
This time
men were
chosen very cautiously
for
and the choice
reasons both political and religious, fell on Father Jerome Xavier, Father
Pinherio and
Brother
Emmanuel
Benedict of Goes with
Armenian guide who had conducted
the
tour
an of
Rudolf Aquaviva.
The mission started on December 4, on the way met Murad, but he took no the doctrines. 26
1280B
Du
"
Jarric says,
1594, and interest in
He had no
respect
202
THE DIN-MLAHI
for the
Muhammad
mosques of 1
attended/
which he seldom
;: '
After a strenuous journey coveiing over 5 months, they reached Lahore on the 5th of May, 1595.
The
conveniently studied till
in
the end of Akbar's
Lahore period
...
2.
Tourist period
...
3.
Agra period
...
1
.
may be
Third Mission
the
of
history
three well-defined
as
life
periods
Mclagan has done
:
Three years and 6 months. Two years and 6 months. Four years and 6 months.
Unlike on previous occasions, the King avoided fiequent religious discussion for he feared misunderstanding unless the Fathers
pursued
discussion
excited admiration of Akbar.
took
much
Persian.
on various topics was The recent Portuguese conquest of Chaul
that time
During
could follow
The King
interest in the progress of the
'
for their services lo
of
Spain
mission/
8
God and man/ Akbar showed,
in his usual catholicity, a
dealings with the priests.
the cushion reserved for
good deal
of leniency in his
He
gave them seats near himself, and the Prince
attended their chapel, showed reverence to pictures and clasped his hands. He went on his knees like a Christian prince
when
the priests recited their Lita-
nies, wore the reliquary, which had the Virgin portrayed on one side and Angus Dei on the other. He showed his collection of European books and
37
Du
38
Rehatsek, Calcutta Review,
Jarric, p. 57.
LXXXII,
1883, p. 9.
THE FORCES AT WORK gave them started
for the
the
for
exercised
He gave
some
203
A school was
use of the priests. children
royal
influence over a
at
Lahore which
number
written permission to baptise
of Princes.
who
those
all
Salim has been portrayed as "a firm friend and protector of the mission/'
liked to be baptised.
regular religious debates were
Though '*
held, of
no longer
we
hear
to dispute
with
disputes occasionally took place and
Akbar
'
'
setting his
Chronoligist
Father Xavier regarding
the
God
possibilities of
having a son."
Akbar as Akbar as given by the Christians definitely portrayed "At Lahore there was no mosque a non- Muslim. During
period the description of
that
and no copy of the Quran people were killed for Whatever the King s actual faith killing cows." ;
was,
He
it
was not
followed
worshipped the
and wished
tenets
Sun
new
founder of a
He was
Islam.
the
of
like the
a Hindu (Gentile).
Jains
He
He was
Parsees
the
faith (secta pestilem et perniciosa)
to obtain the
name
of the Prophet.
He
had already some followers, but these were only obtained by bribery (sued auro con up/us). Nothing from him, at any rate, than the religion 10 This picture of Akbar is rather of Muhammad."
was
further
modelled on Maclagan, op io
cit.,
Maclagan, op.
Blochmann, Ain., p. 262.
information
the
Leo
p. 54.
cit., p. 55.
Vol.
supplied by
I,
Compare Badauni,
p. 204,
II,
p.
2CM-206
Ain
,
and Finherio as quoted by Smith,
THE
204
Grimon and
DIN-I-ILAHI
The
looks like translation of Badauni.
motives of both were the same, namely to paint
Akbar
as
the lines
an apostate though from different angles, of force met at one point. A man from ;
who
outside,
did
not understand the tendency of confused the eclecticism of manners
the Emperor, and customs with the
stood the
shell
this portraiture
show that Muslim and
'
lo
religion itself
they misunder-
;
The reason
substance.
for
for
served a twofold purpose, namely the great Mogor had ceased to be a
'
by his lapse from up by Christianity. That
that the void caused
Islam might be
filled
Akbar was a Muhammadan following the cumbent Islamic religious duties is proved by fact of his offering prayer personally after the
of
Abul Path Gilani and
and
after
the
period
the
death
Nizamuddin during Leo Grimon
of
of
in-
which
spoke. In
Akbar
597, while
1
palace at Lahore '
Sun,
fire
The
sat
on the throne the
celebrating
festival
came down from heaven/
his
of
the
41
missionaries were so superstitious that they *
attributed the
is
Heaven
to the anger of
fire
King's irreligious presumption/
Akbar
of
said to have
After
the
at
the
fire,
Kashmir and
repaired to
took with him Father Xavier and Brother Goes. is
suggested by Smith that after the
Akbar
41
ceased
Maclagan, op
cit.,
to
apostatize
p. 55.
Cu
Jariic,
fire
and
of
It
Lahore
returned
Payne's 1 lanslalion, p.
74.
to
THE FORCES AT WORK Islam.
42
Of
to the illness of
owing
course,
205 both the
was no progress for sometime in their work. By November, 1597, the priests returned. On his way back Salim was attacked by a lioness priests there
'
was saved by the Saviour's will,' as Jairic " in order that the Church might increase says, " 4n and many souls win salvation. but
The
Fathers had by
much
but the
of his acceptance of
was as
as
distant
them
asked
now completed two
desired conversion of
'
to
some
of
the
Von Noer
suggested that Akbar
was disgusted
hear of the Inquisition at Goa.^
12
Smith, relying on this story of the
Akbar from Islam
Akbar returned
actually
lo
But as Maclagan
nothing on the records to show that
he had heard of the Inquisition.
actual lapse of
inspite
Christian rituals
But the King of Spain remain by the spot no matter one
did not accept Christianity as he
is
years
ever.
died or re-called.'
admits, there
Akbar
the fitness of things that
to
for
1
'
fire, built
17 years
Islam aftei the
file,
it
up the theory
from
of
15/8 to 1595.
might have been
Akbar shouM have dismissed
the
the If
just in
Christian
Akbar look the missionaries to Kashmir and continued So in our opinion, there was no 'falling off' his lavcurs to the priests nor 'coming in' of Aklar so far Islam was concerned.
mission
4:1
;
instead
Payne,
of>. cit.
t
p. 81.
He
" says,
Prince Salim publicly expressed his
devotion to our Lord and our Lady and placed their pictures, on which
he delighted to
t?aze in his
own chamber."
The more
the conversion
Akbar seemed remote, the fairei grew the picture of Salim. The hope son. of the missionaries was now transferred from the father to the " God would one day work in him a great Father Xavier hoped, of
miracle," meaning
'
conversion.'
For details see Maclagan, op.
Chap. IV.
Von 45
Noer, Kaiser Akbar, Vol.
Maclagan, op.
cii.,
I,
p. 486.
p. 66, footnote 17.
cit..
206
THE DIN-HLAHI Tourist Period
(/598-/60/)
Akbar though an old man now, personally went Deccan campaign and as usual, took Father Xavier with him Brother Goes remained at Agra. He was much troubled by the people but the to the
;
authorities protected 1
a
him.
During that time (July
Father Xavier complained that in course of
599)
"
conversation, the
had shown much
Emperor
impatience and did not listen to the Christian priests But Akbar had been struck with the death properly. '
of Prince
'
Murad
not possible for the
and
same of
zeal
him
it
was
to attend to the discourses
with
and fervour with which he began them
which we heard so much.
But soon
Emperor had to go to the power oi Khandesh was causing
after, the
Deccan where the
him some seige
month before and
a
just
He moved
anxiety.
of Asirgarh,
the
great
of
was a very important point in the history guese missionary tical
The
personally.
fort
of
Portu-
Here the
activities in India.
side of the priests', undertaking
Khandesh,
poli-
was revealed
in
an ugly and unseemly manner. In need of an " called on Xavier and Goes to artillery, Akbar write to the Portuguese at tions but
action
The
would be contrary
apparent.
for
guns and muni-
Xavier refused on the plea that such to
duplicity behind the
forces
Chaul
According
had no
less
to
the
Christian
refusal
Du
Jarric,
of
faith."
Xavier
the
was
Khandesh
than seven Portuguese defending
THE FORCES AT WORK
207
Beveridge and Smith suggested that the motive of Akbar behind the Deccan the fort of Asirgarh.
campaign was jhe complete destruction of the the conduct of Akbar was Portuguese and that '
only a treachery cloaked in friendship towards the Christian priests.'
we
to
If
the conduct
Akbar
was
think the
in all its
hospitality
using
forces
their
grandeur and splendour, were
much
come
that
to
their
against
This refusal of Father so
of
same charge is no less applicable the Christians, who, while professing friendship the Mughal Emperor and enjoying the Mughal
foul,
to
4 *5
Xavier embittered Akbar
he would not permit the Fathers
his presence.
After the
in his usual
Akbar, grace, forgot Xavier and excused the priests then too small siege
of
hcsl.
hospitable
the
seven
Asirgarh,
duplicity
of
were
till
for they
Akbar 's wrath.
for
Asirgarh
fall of
the
to
During the
Portuguese
officers
* '
were about
to be punished cruelly but they were saved by the request of Xavier, to whom they were handed over/' Still it is the treachery of Akbar ;
!
Father Pinherio arrived
soon
same cordial way. discussion with him on the ceremony of received in the
the Pope's
46
of
1
foot
by the
and
was Akbar had a
after
the kissing of
Holy Roman Emperor and
he one-sided view of Smith regarding the comparative value
the historical accounts of
Abul
Fazl,
Faizi Sarhindi,
other Christian priests has been completely answered
masterly note on Smith's conclusions on the cause of ihe garh.
Payne,
of>. cit.
t
Chap.
II,
note.
Xavier and
hy Payne fall
in his
of Asir-
208
THE DIN-MLAHI
the significance attached to to the
owing foot."
"
this
Cross worn by
form of obeisance
the
Pope upon
his
47
Before leaving the Deccan,
embassy
Goa
to
for
of skilled craftsman
an
Akbar again
alliance
and
"
for the
for facilities
sent an
despatch
for the
purchase of precious stones and other objects." 48 Goes went with the embassy and returned to Agra with
Father Antony
Machado
in 1602.
The Agra Period (1601-05) Akbar came back to Agra in May, 1601 from the Deccan, soon after Goes and Machado also reached. The number of missionaries was now the largest in Akbar 's court. Some time after ,
Pinherio returned to Lahore but not before he had received a Farman.
n
sion to the Christians
The Farman granted to make conversions,
permis-
*
permit-
such of his subjects as desired to embrace r Christianity to do so without let or hindrance/ ting
'
47
Maclagan. Ibid..
PP
.
of>
cit.,
pp. 251-58.
58-59.
49
Journal of the Punjab Historical Society, 1916, The Mughal Farman, by Felix Vayle. 50 If Akbar had become a Muslim again after the fire at Lahore, as has been alleged, it is inconsistent to say that he would give a general
permission for conversion
we have come
told before,
back.
Mirza
to Christianity, after his
Akbar
neither ceased to be a
'
coming back.' As Muslim nor had he
Azam Khan, who was\ member
of the Din-i-Ilahi,
opposed permission to the Christians for conversion why ? A member of the Din-i-Ilahi remained as much a Muslim as any other follower of the Faith
and would hardly
members
of the brotherhood.
tolerate concession to
any,
other than
the
THE FORCES AT WORK Mirza
Azam Khan who was
a
member
209 of the Din-i-
Ilahi strongly protested against the permission.
After
the
grant
of
this
Farman
the priests
thought that the task of conversion and evangelisation of the land of Mogor had become easy. *
'
Lahore they found a strong Viceroy, Quliz Khan, who has been described by the native But
at
historian '
51
feared in
and learned old man, Hindustan as were formerly Nero and as
character.
pious
The
Diocletean.' altogether
a
hatred of the priests
could not
obliterate the better side of Quliz
Quliz
Khan *
esy, said a priest,
Khan's
treated Pinherio with court-
though he was not treated well
That Quliz Khan was not very orthodox is proved by the fact that he allowed his wife, The opposison and daughter to visit the church. tion which Quliz offered was not against Christianity at Court.'
but against the political designs of the Christians with which Quliz was conversant during his Vice-
and which was gradually becoming prominent, partly owing to the indulgence given by the Emperor at Court. What Quliz Khan would not understand was the attack by the Father on Muhammad and that aroused the Viceroy's
royalty of Guzrat,
Hence was the dark picture of Quliz Khan by the priests. Over and above the displeasure of the Muslim Governor, Pinherio was displeased with " for attacking them for their alleged the Hindus, frenzy.
51
27
1280B
Ain.,
I.,
Blochmann, p,
34.
THE
210
D1N-I-ILAHI
The Hindus returned " ate human flesh Christians
immorality and infanticide." hatred by alleging that
and fattened up young men to be sold in Portu62 The relation between guese lands and so forth." the Christians and the Governor became so much 5th September, strained that a day was fixed, the 1
1604, for the arrest of the
Christians
carried into effect
wives and
all
But
Lahore.
at
owing
to
children
of
could not be
it
the transfer of Quliz
Khan to Agra. In his absence, his son Say id Khan and Mirza Abdur Rahim governed. The liberal Akbar had by then done its work and Sayid Khan was liberal enough to attend the he ate with them and listened to Christian church
spirit of
;
their
stories
Gospel
and
their
discourse
upon
53
religious subjects.
When
Quliz
very glad to see
Khan came
him
back,
Pinherio
was
' '
forbidding deduction of the
usual commission on a grant of a thousand xupees which the Fathers received from Akbar," and
expressed
great
glee
the
at
Hindus who opposed him
for
misfortunes of the
some time back.
At Agra, Father Xavier had opportunity of having discussions with Akbar and we have record of these discussions
India
M
in
Terry's
of their best attempts they could *f
Voyages
divided under fourteen heads.
Mac lagan, op
ci'f.,
not
Terry, A.
Voyage
p. 60.
to East India,
East
make Akbar
/bid., p. 61. 54
to
But inspite
Ed. 1777, pp. 419-22,
THE FORCES AT WORK believe
in
the
the miracles
divinity
Christ
of
of to
Christ. his
211
He
ascribed
knowledge of the
science of medicine.
So the troubles of the Christians did not come from the Muslims but from quarters unexpected
and unsuspected. Christians began
At Lahore a group of Armenian look upon the Portuguese Fathers with suspicion. The cleavage was created by to
an English merchant adventurer Mildenhall, who acted as an ambassador from Elizabeth of England to further her political
was
the signal
Portuguese and the English into the ports of the
opposition
of
who
coveted
Mughals. Inspite of the greatest
'
merrie enough
to
when
later
the Fathers
the
grant the English
of entrance into the ports of the
Towards the
entrance
Portuguese Fathers, Akbar was
the
'
Mildenhall's advent
ends.
a series of quarrels between the
for
Mughals
right
in 1604.
portion of the third mission
found Akbar receding like a their heart on Prince Salim.
they set Probably in the autumn of 1603, after the murder of
mirage,
Abul
Fazl,
when Salim was
in
an open
rebellion,
Xavier paid a visit to Salim at Sikri then a We have no direct information as deserted city. Father
to the object of the visit but there is
speculation with regard to the
much 55
visit.
scope for
Soon
after,
we no doubt found Xavier and Machado following Akbar when he was marching against Salim to 55
Smith, pp. 291-92.
THE
212
November, 1604, the happy recontook place between the father and son
Allahabad. ciliation
DiN-i-iLAHi
In
amidst universal rejoicing. the
Emperor departed from
priests to
and
make
of their predecessors.
September, 1605,
this world,
leaving
the
experiments with the son the half -achieved mission
their final
to attempt to finish
In
CHAPTER V APPENDIX
THE HINDU LEARNED MEN AT THE COURT OF AKBAR (In the light of
Class
I.
Madhu
Madhu
Sudhan,
Narayan Misra, Hariji Sur,
Damodhar
Bhat,
Saraswati,
Ram
Tirth,
Nara
Singh,
Parmindra, Aditya. Bhadra, Jadrup Narayan.
Class
11.
Ram
Class
III.
Thelogians.
Class IV.
AbulFazl)
Narayan, Madhu Bhatta, Sri Bhatta, Bishnu Nath, Ram Krishna, Balbhadra Misra, Basudev Misra,
Baman
Bhatta,
Bidya Nibas, Gauri Nath, Gopinath, Krishna Pandit, Bhattacharyya, Bhagirath Bhattacharyya, Kashinath Bhatta-
charyya. Class
V.
Physicians.
Bijay
Sen
Bhas Chand.*
Mahadev, Bhimnath, Narayan, Siwaji (Tabqat
Musicians.
Suri,
also
mentions
Bhairam),
Durga Mall, Chandra Sen (Surgeon). Tansen, Baba Ram Das, Sur Das,
Ranga Sen. *
the
list
Bijmy Sen Suri and Bhas of the Buddhist group.
Chand have
also
been mentioned
in
DIN-MLAHI
214
HINDU COMMANDERS
(In the light of Tabqat-i-Akbari)
Number
Mai
in Charge.
...
5,000
Raja Bhagwan Das
...
5,000
3.
Man
Singh
...
...
5,000
4.
TodarMal
...
5.
Raja Rai Singh Bikanir
6.
Raja Jagannath
...
3,000
7.
RajaAskaran
...
3,000
8.
RajaLankaran
...
2,000
9.
Madhu Singh
1.
Bihari
2.
...
Singh)
4,000
(Brother
...
4,000
Man
of
......
2,000
10.
Raja Kanga
...
2,000
11.
Raja Gopal
...
2,000
12.
RajaBirbal
...
13.
RajaSurjan
...
14.
Raja Rupsi
15.
of Jagat Singh (Son
16.
Rai Monohar
17.
Raj Singh (Son of Askaran)
-
2,000 ...
(Bairagi)
Man
Singh)
...
19.
... RaiPatraDas Ram Das (Kachwaha)
20.
Medini Rai (Chauhan)
21.
RajaBhoj
18.
...
2,000
1,500
1,500
...
700 (Ain)
...
1,000 (Ain)
700 500 (Ain) ,000, 700 (Ain)
... 1
-
1.000
HINDU LEARNED MEN AT THE COURT OF AKBAR 2 5 1
NAMES OF OTHER HINDU OFFICERS MENTIONED CONNECTION WITH AKBAR *S MARCH TO
IN
AHMEDABAD, 1573 1.
2.
Jagannath. Rai Sil.
3.
Jagmal Pat war.
4.
Birbal (Birbar).
5.
Raja Dip Chand.
6.
Man
7.
8.
9.
Singh Darbari.
Ram Ram
Das Kachwaha. Chand. Sanwal Das (possibly painter).
12.
Jadu Kaith Darbari. HarDas. (Is he Patr Das?) Tara Chand Khawas (painter).
13.
Lai Kalanwant.
10. 11.
of
14.
(Is
Blochmann,
Parmanand, a
p.
he Mia Lai
612
relation of
"
musician
"
?)
Todar Mai
of the fleet (Beveridge Ain.,
Ill,
in
charge
p. 97).
CHAPTER
VI
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION 1575-95 A.D. In the midst of the sea
of religious discussions,
Akbar did not lose sight of his Empire, its organisation and administration. The problems of the were Government growing wider and Imperial Since 1526 A.D. the Central wider every day. Government at Delhi was passing through a course of uncertainty
unstability of the Sur
;*
Empire had
been supplanted by a steady and settled system. The Empire was now an abode of peace and plenty.
The
reputation
reached
of
a
well-settled
the
far
firm
of beyond government Hindustan and the Empire attracted peoples from from Persia, all climes and regions, the Shias Turks from Central Asia, Uzbegs from Badakshan,
Zoroastrains from Guzrat,
limits
Buddhists from
Nepal and Kashmir, Jews from Sur in and Christians from 1
(a}
Humayun's
\b>
SherShah,
(0
Jalal
(dt
Firoz
Khan
flight, 1540.
1540-45. I
Islam Shah), 1545-54.
(e)
Khan, 1554. Mubariz Khan (Adil Shah),
(/)
Ibrahim Shah,
(g)
(M ii)
1555.
Sikandar Shah, 1555.
Humayun, 1555-56. Akbar (Bairam), 1556-60.
1554-55.
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
217
European countries. The gates of Hindustan were open to all and the benevolent spirit of the Empire and the ungrudging patronage of Akbar served as ;
Akbar himself took over the task army, and in this he was ably
incentives to all. of organising the
He placed the Rajput generals. provincial administration under Raja Man Singh, the administration of revenue under Raja Todar assisted
his
by
under Abul Fazl, the Sadr and Qazi administration under Sadr-us-Sudur and the
Mai,
secretariat
Mukhdum-ul-mulk and under Shaikh
was
left
with a
the department of culture of the state
No department
Faizi.
untouched and Hindustan was
new
pulsating
her limbs.
life in all
But the hand of Akbar was not a touchstone to turn every thing as he
expected.
The system
branding of horses and opening up of created a
good
feudal
of
land
of
deal
The
lords.
led
to
of
the
dismissal of 2
of
ejectments Jagirdars. of the judiciary ended in the
The
roll register
in the circles
opposition
survey
of
and settlements many Qazis and reorganisation
dismissal
of
many
1
bribe-taking Qazis.'
The
feudo-religious-cum-political
Bengal and
Behar
necessitated
rebellion
appointment
cf of
Hindus and the promulgation of many new regula4 and orders against the Mullas.
tions
1
Ain., Blochmann,
3
Ibid., pp. 111-14.
*
See ante, Chapter IV, 28
1#OB
pp. 203-09.
p. 56.
THE DIN-MLAHI
218
The mismanagement
"
"
Sayurghal
lands and
fer of the finance
Sadr-us-Sudur. dari
the the
"
5
"
the
in
Aymas
of
distribution
"
led to the trans-
department from the hands of the "
The
Mansab-
introduction of the
Hindu element in army which was now manned over 50% by " 6 Kaffirs/' The co-ordination of the different system brought a large
elements represented in the court ushered in a
common
formula of court formalities. 7
Soon the
economic and
social,
the
attacks
by the orthodox sections of the
desired
Akbar
as a
Musalman
a pro-Muslim policy.
regula-
political
by Akbar became
tions introduced
target
They
state.
sovereign to pursue
Their angle of
*'
asserted,
and
religious
In Islam there
nothing purely
is
was
vision
and orthodox, and they interpreted regulations of the Emperor in an orthodox exclusive
They
of
all
the
light.
nothing purely 8
The
political."
MuIIas interpreted the whole existence of a man, irrespective of time, place
and circumstances from
*
See ante, Chapter IV, p
6
Erskine,
7
Ain., Blochmann, 65 (i) 7 rouble arose out of the definition of " Injunction."
An Empire
57.
Builder in the Sixteenth Century, Introduc-
lion
5
mean
four things (a\
(b) (o* f
rfi
It
may
:
The Revelations of God -Quran. The Sayings of the Prophet -Hadis. The Legal Decisions and Juristic Precedents The Decisions of the Assembly Jam 'at.
There are many infallibility for itself, to
in cipretations
of
the exclusion of
Fiqh.
the Injunctions, each
all others.
claiming
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION the standpoint of the
219
To many
Quran
non-observance of the minutest details junctions whether
them,
the
of
in-
from the Quran, Hadis, Fiqh from Islam. to a lapse
amounted
Fatwa
or
of
Mulla conception of the Religion, Islam is so rigid that there is no scope for compromise from any standpoint whatsoever. The Laws
According
to the
are so rigid that any faithless
if
man
a shrewd
Mulla
life.
So
far
simply
many
so, for there are ever so 9
could be proved
points
Akbar was concerned,
likes
in
to
be
to
do
a man's of
curtailing
pension of the Mullas and Qazis, the liberal interpretation of the problems of Islam, withdrawal of the vested judicial theocratic side
of
from the hand of the
rights
the
state
offered
innumerable
opportunities to the Mullas for giving adverse verdict
on Akbar.
10
The charges
of apostasy or
that
irreligiousness
have been levelled against Akbar would not have come had he not attacked the Mulla interests from
By way of example, Appendix to this Chapter,
the secular point of the state.
we have
depicted in the
the
character,
life,
and motives
events
Abdul Qadir Badauni, a and one of the bitterest
great critics
will illustrate our reflections
view of 9
below *
of
Mulla
Mulla of the age of Akbar, which
on the Mulla point
of
criticism.
A man ceased to be an orthodox his ankle, according to
Muslim
some orthodox
See ante Chapter IV, pp. 73
80.
if
school.
he wears a
per; a
ma
THE DIN-MLAHl
220 Let us
now
give a
list
of
the regulations
were promulgated by Akbar chronologically, that
it
maybe
easily followed
1575-76 A.D.
(1)
(2)
that 11
so
by the readers.
Mu'tah marriage was allowed. Chronogram of the seal was " inscribed Allah-o-Akbar" nstead of usual
' '
Bismillah'
ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim.' (3)
Order was issued
(4)
Commentary on the Quran. The Atharva Veda was taken up
1
576-77 A.D.
(1
)
to write a
for translation.
was openwith a Superintendent
Pilgrim department
ed
of Pilgrims (Mir-i-Haj).
1577-78 A.D.
(1)
(2)
1
578-79 A.D.
(1 )
Royal hunt was stopped.
Khutba was read name.
in
Akbar 's
Tajuddin introduced Sijdah
at
court. (2)
Coming court
of
the Christians to
and Abul Fazl under-
took to translate the Bible
with the headline,
11
The
Hijri dates
Prof. Brendiy.
have been synchronised with Christian dates by
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
Aye name weye Gesu **
instead of
221
"
Chrisiu
Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim.
" (3)
be
scrutinised of the
boundary was to be
was to and the " "
Aymas
fixed.
"Mahzar"
The
(4)
"
Madad-o-ma ash
the so-
or
was
called Infallibility Decree
presented.
1579-80 A.D.
Shaving of beard was permit-
(1)
by a Fatwa
ted
of
Haji
Ibrahim. (2)
Hakim-ul-mulk
was
sent
Mecca with Rs. 50,000
A.D.
(1)
for
Sharif s.
the
1580-81
to
The oath of allegiance was demanded and the so-called four degrees were defined.
(2)
The
Nauruz-i-Jalali
was
cele-
brated with great eclat. 1
581-82 A.D.
(1 )
The
rebellious Shaikhs
and
Mullas were transported to
Qandahar where they were exchanged 1
582-83 A.D.
for colts.
(2)
was promulgated. Tarikh~i~Alfi was begun.
(3)
Wine
(4)
Prostitutes
(1
)
Din-i-Ilahi
selling
was
restricted.
were segregated.
222
THE DIN-MLAHI Boars and dogs were reared up and meat of boar and tiger
(5)
allowed. (6) Silk
and
dress
were
gold
allowed to be worn.
Marriage was regulated. Sradh after death was
(7)
(8)
dis-
couraged.
Azan, Prayers, Fast, Pilgrimages were regulated and
(9)
*
'
spurious Qurans were descentres of troyed in the rebellion.
(10)
Reading of Arabic was
dis-
couraged amongst the mass
and
of
curricula
changed
education
.
Names of Ahmad, Muhammad and Mustafa were
(11)
stopped. (12)
"The Assembly
of
Forty*'
Tanari)
was
estab-
Animal slaughter
was
regu-
(Chihil lished. 1
583-84 A.D.
(1)
lated. (2)
Mosques were
changed
into
stables in centres of rebellion. (3)
Poor houses were started with separate establishments.
223
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION (4)
Dice play and
interest
taking
were allowed. 1584-85 A.D.
Era was introduced.
(1) Ilahi
(2)
New
of
basis
computation of
almanac was accepted according to the sun. 1
585-86 A.D.
(1)
Hindu
social
manners
during
were
Royal harem
introduced in the
of
marriage
Salim. (2)
The dead were
to
be buried
with heads towards the east. (3)
Brahmins
were
allowed
to
decide litigations of Hindus. (4)
"Allah-o-Akbar" was
intro-
duced as mode of greetings instead
of
"
Alai^um-us-
Salam." 1586-90 A. D.
(I)
Flesh of cows
and
buffaloes
were prohibited.
was discouraged.
(2)
Sati
(3)
Circumcision
was
not
done before 2 and was optional. 1
1591-92 A. D.
(1)
to
that
Badauni summarily referred
many specific
regulations
but
be too
to
no
mention was made.
224 1
THE
592-93
A.D
DIN-I-1LAHI
made
Regulations were
(1)
ing the burial of a
or
"
Darshaniya."
marriages were entered into register.
All
(2)
regard-
cremation
to
be
1593-94 A.D.-(l) Freedom of building a church
was granted to Christians. was granted to
(2) Toleration
all
religions.
Islamic Canons of Test of
We
now proceed on were anti-Islamic. regulations shall
Law
how far these What are the canons
to test
of test according to Islamic principles?
usually four kinds of Injunctions 1
Of the
.
There are
:
Religious.
2.
Social.
3.
Cultural.
4.
From
the point of etiquette.
religious groups there are different grades
:
incumbent such as Prayer, nonobseivance of which will mean lapse from Islam. (b) Wajeb C-r^l;), a religious duty but not incum(a)
Farz,
bent,
(^>j-*)
non-observance of which
is
sin, not
amount-
ing to a lapse from Islam, such as Korbani, sacrifice of animal on certain days, (c) Sunnat-i-Mul&ada " " Do as Muhammad did and asked
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION his followers to
do.
of
is
injunction
such
Wajeb,
a
to
ing
Mu'kk.ada
Non-observance of a
sin
but
Tarabi
as
fixed
225
^c
(d)
kind
accord-
Sunnat-i-Ghair-
actions
u^L.),
this
solemn as
as
Ramzan
in
process.
(actf'y*
not
which
were
performed by the Prophet but not insisted upon by him, non-observance of which did not amount to a
Namaz-i-T uhajjud
such as
sin,
prayer after
2 o'clock at night. So far as the injunctions that relate culture
and
etiquette are concerned,
it
to is
society, definitely
Hadis that they are in no way binding and changes may be allowed according to time, stated in the
and circumstances. The Khalifas (Commanders of the Faithful) have proved by their life and actions that changes and departures might be allowed as might be demanded by time, place and circumstances. The treaty of Badr is an eloquent place
testimony to what the Prophet himself did to meet the convenience of the conquered Jews.
Even amongst
"
the injunctions that are
incumbent, there are two groups what may be done or (f) Halal
'
Farz,
:
may
not be
as sanc-
done, such as eating of flesh tioned by the Shariat. (H) I Jar
am
what
must
not
be
done,
such as idol worship, wine drinking.
The makes a
infringement
man
regulation
laps 3
of
(rom the
a
haram
faith
makes a man an ordinary
29 -1280B
but
regulation of
sinner.
a halal
THE DIN-MLAHI
226
Discussions
As
has been pointed out, the Ibadat Khana was built in 1575, and soon after discussions followed. It
was an age
The
Scholasticism
of
the age
spirit of
and Renaissance.
was the quest
of the
why and
wherefore of everything, not always in a spirit of protest, but most often in a spirit of enquiry.
Many
obsolete,
problems were
or innocent
naughty
apples of discord in the intellectual Badauni says, of the Ibadat Khana.
introduced as
gymnasium Crowds of the learned men from all nations came to the court, and were honoured with private After enquiries and investigations conversation. which were their only business and occupation day and night, they would talk about the profound points of science and subtleness of revelation, the 4 *
and wonders of nature, on subjects of which large volumes could give only an abstract summary. of
curiosities
history '
'
Mutah
Marriage Allowed
1575-76
Thus
"marriage"
questions debated upon. ately
Akbar had many
was
one
of
the
first
12
Fortunately or unfortunwives as many as any of his
predecessors had, much more than the orthodox number but as a pious Sunni he could not have more ;
than four
at
a time. 1*
Badauni,
The II,
traditions
Lowe, Ed
1884,
p
on the point 263.
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION were
many and
so
to
permitted
divergent.
Akbar was
beyond the prescribed of the Chief to the Fatwa And there were precedents for
marry
number according Qazi of the the same.
so
227
State.
One of the Mujtahids Abu many as nine wives from too
had as
bin Laila liberal
an
"
marry whatwoman you like, two and two, and three and 13 Badauni related four/' three, and four and interpretation of the
Quranic verse,
ever
many on
details concerning the discussion
interesting
this
problem
decreed,
"
Imam Malik by Nikah) a man might he pleased." One night Khana.
in the Ibadat
by Mu'tah
(not
marry any number of wives Akbar invited Qazi Yakub, Abul Fazl, Ibrahim and Badauni to a discussion near Anuptalao where Badauni gave "
The
many is in
his opinion as follows
:
conclusion which must be drawn from so
contradictory traditions
a word this
:
and
Imam Malik and
sectarian customs
the Shias are un-
upon Mu'tah marriage as legal and the Imam great Imam (Abu Hanifa) look upon Mu'tah marriage as illegal. But should at
animous
in looking
;
Shafii
any time a Quazi of the Maliki sect decide that a Mu'tah marrige is legal, it is legal according to the common belief even for the Shafiis and Hanafis." This
much.
view of Badauni pleased Akbar very But Qazi Yakub was much annoyed with
this decision
and openly 13
Badauni,
expressed his dissent.
II,
p. 213.
THE
228
DIN-I-ILAHI
Yakub and
The Emperor thereupon dismissed appointed
Hosain
Qazi
mediately decided
This led
legal.
and discomfiture difference in
in
Sadr and
of the
road
the
opinion
were
of
opposition and
of
open,''
lay
im-
many Qazis " Mukhdum. From
the dismissal
to
who
place
Mu'tah marriages
that
day forward
this
his
Badauni.
says
14
Thus the dissensions grew after Badauni 's decision and Akbar was not responsible for the decree on marriage.
Allah-o-Akbar
in the Seals
and Dies of
his
Court
1575-76 A.D. In
Rahim
"
"
usual
of
place
Akbar wanted
people would but
like
finally,
it.
Many
Haji
"Allah-o- Akbar"
he enquired liked the
suggested
the
that
Akbar
1*
Badauni,
15
/bid., p. 213.
16
The
Literally title
II,
it
the
phrase
meaning as 15 Allah is Akbar.
might mean Allah is great or Ibrahim "Ala suggested Haji
A^bam."
how
substitute
had an ambiguous
it
16
simpler,
Allah-o- Akbar."
sound
it
Ibrahim
"
to substitute a
shorter phrase of sweeter
Before he decided
Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-
was
very
Zil^rullahae
much
displeased
p. 213.
means,
of Zill-ullah
or
"To remember God Miadow of God was
Sultans like Iltutmish, Balban, Firoz, Shershah.
Ziauddin Barni, pp. 70-75 and Tabqat,
p. 230.
is
the greatest thing.
"
already assumed by
Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi by
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION that his
" told,
229
words had been so distorted and he only no man who felt his weakness would claim
This showed the angularity of Haji of humility that ran through Ibrahim and spirit
Divinity."
Akbar.
Commentary on
the
Quran
1575-76 A.D.
was asked
Qazi Jalaluddin
to
write a
com-
mentary on the Quran along with other Mullas. Badauni says that this led to great dissensions
amongsl them and sharply divided the theocratic into two Thus par;y groups. unconsciously Badauni gave Akbar a compliment. The marriage debate had exposed the diversity of interpretations of the sacred texts and variety of texts themselves.
Indeed Akbar was
justified
in his desire to
have
an authorised commentary, all the more so when " he found that the commentary led to great '
dissensions.
If
Mullas differed so
much amongst
themselves, certainly Akbar would incur the wrath of one or the other party of the Mullas according
would accept or reject and comments. Later on we
as he
these interpreters
responsible for
"
path
if
"
who by
their interpretations
shall
find that
it is
their conduct were more a way from the Akbar leading
he had done
so.
230
THE DIN-MLAHI
Translation of Sacred
Hindu Books
1575-76 A.D.
The Atharva Veda was given
for translation
Bhawan, a Deccani Brahmin; Shaikh Badauni and Haji Ibrahim also took part to
Faizi, in
it.
the funny comments made by Badauni on Atharva Veda, he took Akbar to task for Badauni in his fanatitranslating Hindu Books.
Besides the
cism refused to observe that long before him, the Hindu religious books and philosophy and no fess
Greek had been
Islam through tran-
into
Harun-al-Rashid, and Shah Mansur were
slation.
famous
filtered
translators
;
a peep into
or Alberuni's archives,
17
even of
Tughluq's would convince
was only
opposition
Mahmud's
Sultan
orthodox Firoz
us that Badauni
out-Islamising
in
Islam and that
too not in a spirit worthy of his knowledge.
Opened
Pilgrim Department
1576-77 A.D. Sincerity this
17
period
Names
and devotedness is
of
Akbar 's
soul during
very well illustrated by organisation
of Sanskiit books translated
Sushan's Introduction, E.
&
See
my article,
aur
Hindiwthan Ke Taloqat
published in
D., '
"
Vol.
VI,
by Alberuni may be found
Appendix
to last
Bulbul,' Calcutta, in 1936, July
in
chapter.
and " Arab
by Yusuf Suleiman Nadvi, Allahabad.
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
231
of the pilgrim department at the expense of the state
which has already been
referred
18
Haj (pilgrimage)
III.
a Muslim
means
of
is
and
to
in
chapter
an incumbent duty for no Indian Muslim
Aurangzeb, undertook a
sovereign not even
To
pilgri-
Akbar it must mage be said that, if politics prevented him from undertaking a journey, he gave all facility for the same to to
all
of
Mecca.
his subjects.
the
of
credit
The
pilgrim
department of
Akbar will ever remain a glorious chapter in the life and achievement of the greatest of the Muslim Kings of Hindustan. He had his own fleet for " " which contained pilgrimage named Jahaj-i-Ilahi one hundred ships.
19
Kamargah Hunt 1577-78 A.D.
While on
his usual royal hunt,
and he immediately stopped the
of
beginning
slaughter.
Akbar
his
has
he had a trance
royal hunt.
prohibition
been much
of
This
is
animal
condemned
stopping animal slaughter and this has been ascribed to the Buddhist and Jain influence. But for
chronology
tells
humanitarian
us that the background of these regulations may be found in the
innate contemplative humanitarian instinct of Akbar,
not
came
traced
to
after 1880.
the
Jains
who
and Buddhists
Trances were
W See ante, Chapter III, pp. " Badauni, II, pp. 260-61.
not 63-64.
new
to
his
232
THE DIN-MLAHI
experience. Late in cried out in
big as that
feed on
it
!
Emperor is said to have Oh, had I the body as
"
agony oi soul, of an elephant so that all world might " There was no question of Jain and
Buddhist influence it
slaughter,
the
life,
came
the
in
of
stopping
animal
as a matter of course.
Khutba Read
Name
the
in
of
Afybar
1577-78 A. D.
As
has been pointed
out
in the
Appendix
to
Chapter IV on the so-called Infallibility Decree, the recital of the Khutba had a deeper significance than
an ordinary
recital of the
same.
Sijdah 1
578-79 A.D.
In this year, as Badauni says, Shaikh Tajuddin called (Prostration) and introduced Sijdah
Zaminbos the
reverence
religious
king as
due
Looking on a King as an absolute
ground).
to
command, he
called the
Ka'ba-i-Muradat
50
See ante, Chapter V,
p. 94;
(Sanctum
J.R.A
all
'1
pp. 73-75.
Badauni,
II,
pp. 266-67.
of
S.,
1924, p. 594.
of
the
desires)
Akbar Khutba was
the Sultans of India including
Shah, even by some provincial governor*.
Museum,
face
of necessities)."
and Qibla-i-Hajat (Goal
read in personal names by almost
it
"
the
(kissing
21
Firoz
Lane-poole, Coins of Bi.
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
233
much maligned
for this Sijdah. V. A. Akbar almost claimed divinity by demanding Sijdah which was due to God only. Blochmann suggests that ** starting from divine right theory of kingship, Akbar almost claimed
has been
Smith says
that
in the
divinity
end."
The king
Mulla Sheri wrote a
this year
To
satire,
has laid claim
be a prophet.
After the lapse of a year, please God,
He
Now
the question
God that
only and
was
it
point
is
will
become God."
whether Sijdah
is,
due
to
Him,
or precedents
sometimes offered to
men
whether Akbar introduced
is,
command or as a court many other customs.
claimed by
is
too.
it
showed
The
next
as a religious
custom, as he did introduce
Really in the orthodox
could be
sense, Sijdah
and is due to God alone and But in some sacred books there are to none else. " references against this view. Sijdah is due to
claimed by
God
God and
one
and
"
to
into
Iblis
held,
to
did not.
"
n
if
who
whom
inspiration."
obeisance
only
22
made complete "
has been breathed
My
(God's)
As such, angels were asked to make Adam. They did obeisance but In this sense as
obeisance
is
Quran, edited by
30-1280B
has been
due
to
one
Muhammad
All,
Shaikh Tajuddin
who
is
complete,
Note on SijdaH,
234
THE the
certainly
most perfect it
DIN-I-ILAHI
King who is the Insan-i-Kamil or the " and man, is a fit subject for Sijdah
called Sijdah-i-Tazim.
is
light Shaikh Taijuddin brought forward some apocryphal traditions and practices of some of the disciples of Shaikhs of India. 23 Yakub
Possibly in this
of Kashmir, one of the greatest of the authorities
supported the view without logical discussions. Apart from
religious
matters also
entering
into
the
whether
the questions,
God
most
or as the
Sijdah or not, Sijdah
Now
is
Akbar
offered only
to
as the
man was
perfect
us accept
let
on
shadow
of
entitled to
the orthodox view that
God and
to
none
else.
whether Sijdah introduced by religious command or a simple court
the question
Akbar was a
is,
custom.
AbulFazl
Ain. No. 74
in his
in connection with
"
custom of Kurnish,
Taslim."
24
described Sijdah After narrating the
and a new mode of was introduced etiquette by Humayun, Abul Fazl passed over to SJjdah. This shows that it was a part of the court customs, and it had very court
little
Taslim
that
connection
Fazl said that
with religion,
if
any
some people objected
obeisance and
"His Majesty
continued by
the
ignorant
ordered
and
ranks, forbidding even his private
Abul
at all.
to this it
to
remitted
form of be it
attendants
dis-
to all
from
" Kings alto are called Zil-1-ullah," shadow of God.
13
Jn Islam
54
Ain., Biochmann, pp.
158-59.
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION using for
Darbar-i-Am.
in the
it
"the
eclect '
Zaminbos
Now
And
do so."
to
was only allowed
It
he called
it
'
(kissing the ground)
to Sijdah as
.
a family custom
was a ceremony
ground
25
235
Kissing the
:
the maternal side of
in
when Kayuk Khan was chosen as the " the members of the assembly prostrated Khaqan
Akbar
;
themselves nine times, and the vast
same
side at the
ground
;
Kayuk and
obeisance of
time
then went and did
followers
new custom
another
multitude out-
foreheads to the
times to the sun.
three
Akbar,
beat their
"
At
2(
of
the time
dinner
table
was introduced when Akbar 's Central Asian cousin Mirza Suleiman came from Badakshan to Hindu" " " " 27 stan. Kettledium as and Horsetail military honours were already Jn vogue and were given
to
Beharimal
were
they
;
Central
Asian
honours.
Moreover
if
Even
formality?
25
Badauni
so
as early
offered
Zamibos was introduced
as
1
the time of
court
custom
not be satisfied
Zaminbos.
in India
men
Firoz Tughluq.
during till
the
Tripathi,
28
The
late as
text of
by Balban and it was continued was a common Polos '
Similarly
Sultanate
Islam
period.
he had received homage
of his court.
submit to that
577 and as
'
till
obnoxious and
should Badauni
why
anti-Islamic,
1593,
Zaminbos was
to his
Some Aspects
of
Shah Sur would
shoes by the
noble-
Muslim Administration,
p. 61. 26
W 28
Howorth, op. Badauni,
II,
cit. I,
p.
J.R. A.S., 1869, article
from Sijdah.
163.
p. 220.
by Blochmann. Sayids were also exempted
236
THE DIN-MLAHI
the
treaty
with Ranthambhor
the proud Rajput
that
manded
to
make
1569
in
showed
should not be com-
the prostration (Sijdah) on entering
the Royal presence.
up
House
20
30
And
this treaty
was drawn
12 years before the so-called apostasy of Akbar.
This
treaty definitely proves that Sijdah
some form
did exist in
or other long before the promulgation of
the Din-i-Ilahi
.
Translation of the Bible Undertaken
1578-79
Abul Fazl
was entrusted with Orthodox objection
of the Bible.
was based on
Why
(i)
AD.
three grounds
the translation
to this translation
:
should he go in
for the translation of
the Bible, a Christian Scripture?
The
(ii)
translation
was made
because he be-
lieved in the doctrines of Christianity
and did
it
in
order to propagate that faith. (HI)
" "
A
i
The
translation of the
Name Wey
Bismillah-ir
Bible
Jesu Christu
"
began
with
instead of usual
Rahman-ir Rahim."
Badauni being a student of history should not have taken exception to the translation of the Bible, for translations
were
common
sacred books of other religions in Central Asian and Arabic houses. of
In our chapter on Central Asian Background, we have shown that a love of culture had pervaded the 19 3o
Smith, Akbar, p. 99. Ibid., p. 99.
237
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
Timur and
family of Chengiz and
instinctive in those families.
acquaintance
it
was almost
Discussion on religions,
with other nation's Revelations and
attempts of Kublei
Khan
to find
a
common
synthetic
formula would always shine as glorious examples of inquisitive Central Asian minds.
Now
the Semitic
Arabs excepted, Khalifas
Omar, Mansur, Harun-al-Rashid, have Alberuni
(the
Falaki,
Khalid Khani and Zainul
scholar),
of
Abdin, a court writer
and
their contri-
Mahmud, Mansur,
butions to make. Sultan
like
Firoz,
are
famous
for
from Scriptures of other nations. So, by tradition Akbar made no departure from Islamic Canons when he ordered the
their collections
translations
translation of the Bible.
Then Badauni wanted ' *
that
His Majesty firmly
Christianity
and wishing
Jesus, ordered prince in
Fazl
to
believed in the truth of
spread the doctrine of Murad to take a few lessons to
under good auspices and charged
Christianity
Abul
his readers to understand
translate
Christians arrived
the
on the 28th
and Akbar ordered the
Gospel."
Now
the
of February, in 1578,
of the Bible in
translations
March. Was he so completely influenced by the Jesuit Fathers that within less than four weeks of their arrival he believed in their doctrines and wishing to propagate lated?
Akbar life
It ;
at
looks rather least
do not support
them, had strange
subsequent it.
the Bible transfor
a
man
like
readings of Akbar's
238
THE
DIN-I-ILAHI
Badauni's great proof of Akbar's apostasy is that Akbar asked Abul Fazl to begin the translation " " with Ai Name Wey Jesu Christu and omit " " Bismillah-ir
Rahman-ir Rahim
completed that couplet adding
SiwakaYahu."*
Faizi further
;
"
Subhanaka
la
1
Badauni intended his readers
to believe that the
change anticipated the anti-Islam and proved the But far from it. pro-Christian in Akbar.
A
Christian
title
was given
order to create a attend
the discussions
Hindu marks on Mobeds with fire
to the Christian
Christian of
atmosphere the
Hindu
Book
in
as he did
Yogis with
his forehead, or of the Zoroastrian
up, or of the Jesuits with PortuIf he had done it only with guese costumes on. the Christians there might have been some reason lit
way of Badauni. But he did it with every faith he came in contact with to create Thus when the Bhagabat Gita local atmosphere. " Om the head line used was was translated, for thinking in the
Sachchidanand.'*
The tendency
B2
Akbar even after the translation, says Badauni, was that especially on Friday " he would sit up there the whole night nights continually
31
of
occupied
Mir Taqi
in
discussing
Similar passages were the
common
questions
fashion
of
amongst
free thinkers.
Rahim began his Madanastak with Sri Ganesh Ahmad began Samudrika Ganesh and Ahmadulla invoked Sri Ram, Swaraswati
12
;
his
and Ganesh
;
in his
Nayika Bhed.
239
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
Soon
fundamental
whether
religion
after this
Badauni
buted a charity of
tells
us,
or
collateral,"
"Akbar
ns
distri-
rupees to the Sharifs
five lacs of
Mecca through Hakim-ul-mulk." The tendency of the mind of Akbar as characterised during this period definitely proves that Akbar could not have of
been actuated by so deep a as to order the translation of
statement
is
belief in Christianity
the
Bible.
Badauni 's
self -contradictory.
1
578-79 A.D.
During this year Madad-o-ma'ash were reorga" " was issued. Mahzar nised and
The
significance of
these
actions
has
already
been elaborately discussed in Chapter IV and they were more political than religious if at all.
Shaving of Beard Permitted 1579-80 A.D.
Shaving of beard was permitted by a Fatwa of Haji Ibrahim.
This was a social custom, the infringement of which did not amount to a lapse from Islam.
Regarding the shaving of beard there was a discussion and there were some apocryphal traditions in
its
favour as
advanced by Haji Ibrahim.
doubt the orthodox
section
did
not approve
shaving of beard. 33 3*
Badauni,
II,
p. 262.
Leicester University Lecture, Buckler History Section, 1924,
No of
THE DIN-MLAHI
240
meant a lapse from Islam, we think more than half of the Muslim world has lapsed from faith. But
if
the shaving of beard
The Oath
A llegiance and
of
' *
Four Degrees
1580-81 A.D.
The promulgation tion of the
Khutba had
Akbar was conscious in
many
of the
He
circles.
Mahzar and
great political
that a flutter
the
recita-
significance.
had been created
intended to guard against
all
was a time of great Islam, contingencies. murders and mishaps. Shah Tahmasp political had been murdered in Persia Vizier Sokoli in Rum In
it
;
was
assassinated
a terror in the
his
the Ismailia assassins had created
minds
had broken out and
;
own
men.
Already a rebellion Behar and in the Punjab Shah Mansur was found to
of
in Bengal, officer
;
have been implicated in it. Akbar did not know where to place his confidence, and where and when
So he wanted a formal declaration of allegiance by means of Oath of Fealty. It was a sort of Test The test was the readiness to sacrifice ProAct. not.
Honour and Religion indeed the best To begin with, this oath treasures in a man's life. 35 had nothing to do with his religion of allegiance perty, Life,
it
proclaimed that 3*
Smith cunningly they were the famous four degrees
was purely a
Oath
fat History.
of Allegiance
state
affair.
was common
in the
Abbas id period
of Khela-
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION of his
241
But he did not mention the
Din-i-ilahi.
dates of the two events
four degrees were
;
defined
on the 25th of February, 1581, and the Din-i-Ilahi was promulgated in 582 (February). So this 1
difference in time, the oath preceding
the
religion
50
Smith has quoted from Badauni he has referred to a letter from incidentally Mirza Jani of Thatta. We have already pointed
is
very significant.
and
out that Badauni wrote his Muntakhabut in
1
592-93 and
May
connect the two. initiation
the
such
as
formal
similar points, but
it
Tawarikh
was easy
be that in
declaration
for
the
him
to
form of
contained
four
does not necessarily follow that
it
they were meant for all and sundry, as Badauni himself admitted in the next line that the courtiers
only used to recite the Declaration. the
In this year,
Ilahias
alleged apostasy from Islam
were arrested
for their
and punished.
This
doubt that heresy against Islam
proves beyond not tolerated by Akbar.
Nauruz~i-Jalali
was
Celebrated
1580-81 A.D.
This Persian festivity
was
festival
and ceremonies
to allay
in this year.
great
Probably
this
the Persian Shia discontent which might
have developed of his Khelafat
in
title 36
31
was celebrated with
1280B
Persia
owing
some time back.
Smfcfc,
Akbar, p. 215.
to
assumption
The
Persians
THE
242 were
DIN-I-ILAHI
the back of the rebellion of Mirza
at
Hakim.
So gorgeous Persian ceremonies were celebrated
in
order to soothe the feeling of discontent that might exist
amongst them. Expulsion of the Mullas 1581-82 A.D.
The that
the its
insinuation of Badauni
and
Smith was behind the expulsion of the guardians of Islam, the
Mullas, full
made
anti-Islamic feeling of
But,
play.
Chapter IV,
37
his throne tremble,
expelled.
been pointed out in rebellious Mullas who had
and
A rebel was a rebel
nonbeliever
;
Akbar had
as has
was the
it
of
it
was they who were
whether a believer or
the sting of an arrow of a believer
not sweeter than that of a non-believer.
is
Fortunate
were these Mullas that they were not trampled under foot of elephants and that Akbar was not Alauddin. 1582-83 A.D. This year was really a vital one in Akbar's life. Badauni mentioned about a dozen and a half regulations
in
this year
by which he
tried to
that the promulgation of the Din-i-Ilahi
prove
was accom-
many
other socio-religious changes partly as adjuncts to the new creed and partly as measures
panied by
against Islam. 3T
Sec ante, Chapter, IV, pp.
1 1
M
14,
243
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
Though year,
really
they have
all
been placed
they were not of
the
in the
same
same year
;
without a diary at hand and writing history long after, Badauni placed all of those regulations together, in
order to
give
more
force
to
his
conclusions
We
regarding Akbar's deviation from Islam.
shall
up some important regulations of this year, and shall try to show that inspite of them, Akbar was not an apostate even if these regulations had take
really
"
been promulgated by him.
" A Ifi Era The Era of One Thottsan d Thousand Years introduced
of
1582-83 A.D.
change was introduced with a desire of slighting Islam, why was not the monogram on If
this
made compulsory? In both new and old monograms
his
coin
of Islamic
monarchs
;
we
coins,
we have
find
instances
using non-Hijri eras in
some
Even Muhammad used Rumi era himself Hijri was inaugurated by Khalifa Omar and the It had Hijri era was not a religious injunction. Another commandments. his with no connection reason for starting the new era was his attempt to places.
;
introduce more astronomically scientific of
the
mically
current
lunar
defective.
Hijri
This
era
which
attempt
of
era is
instead astrono-
Akbar
to
change the mode of computation had precedents in
Omar Khayyam,
the great astronomer-poet of
THE
244 Persia era
who
owing
to the
some changes
bring
attention to this defect of lunar
The mode
in
Hijri
fundamental defects of lunar
Alberuni, the great scholar
culation.
drew
tried to
DIN-I-ILAHI
of computation
of
cal-
Ghazni, 58
calculation.'
Hindu almanac was
in
changed in 990 A.H. That clearly proves the angle from which Akbar brought in the changes in the defective system of both Hindu and Muslim
also
Eras. Tarikh-i-Alfi
1582-83
The
history of
Akbar ordered from
the
1
A.D.
,OCO years was to
that the date
death
"
of
the
be
written.
should be calculated
Prophet
and not from
was accepted by the orthoAs Badauni says that Akbar 's ground for dox. " " was making the change was that the flight the
flight,"
as
derogatory to him, so the date should
with his demise. of
opinion.
Right or wrong,
But there
it
commence is
a
matter
was much boldness
in his
conception and more in the execution.
Wine
Selling Regulated
1582-83 A.D.
Use of wine was allowed officially by Akbar, a Muslim King. Badauni 's great objection was that Akbar being a Muslim sovereign should not have formally allowed wine in 36
the
Encyclopaedia of Religion, see
face art.
of
the
strictest
Omar Khayyam.
245
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
Badauni, inspite of his
injunction to the contrary.
great knowledge of history, forgot that in the Turko-
Mughal
families,
wine was almost a family
and
trait
Timur, the Turk, was a confirmed " the woman in Timur 's harem drunkard and V) Abu Mirza had almost a wine-jar in his drank/'
blood-element.
stomach and he could drink Babar was notorious
stretch.
Akbar " 10
Even
bouts.
Jahangir narrated,
his
raised
early
at a
days
his
for
drinking
career,
drinking
The grandees
an art."
almost to
in
21
for
of
as
ceremony the
court
only vied with each other in getting near to their ideal, the Sultan and each was a miniature edition his
of
master.
In
Gibbon's phraseology,
'*
the
wine of Shiraz had always prevailed over the laws of the Prophet." Attempts were made by some monarchs from time to time to regulate or prohibit wine but
human
to
no purpose.
Balban
could not
efforts
inspite of his
abolish
it;
inspite of his barbarous ordinances failed
So Akbar
it
the
like a
"
Better
Impossible
Good."
wise
Instead of
man "
in-
Alauddin lo
check
without attempting " tried the Possible
making the whole of India dry, on medical grounds, and
he would allow wine
made
elaborate
controlling
ments 39
for
Davy's
its
arrangements
sale
and
excessive
Institutes.
One
such a function. *
Smith, Akbar, p. 114.
laid
for
down
drinking,
restricting
and
severe punishcarousals
Christian Priest, San jan,
and
was present
at
246
THE
disorderly conduct.
41
DIN-I-ILAHI
Thus
drinking within limits
;
his attempt
of course his
was
to bring
measures were
and Mughal India America is to-day inspite "
not completely successful
"
mained as
"
wet
as
her best attempts to
make
her
re-
of
dry/'
Prostitutes Segregated
1582-83 A.D.
wine was followed by regulation The prosperity and population of
of
Regulation of prostitutes.
was a
the capital
great attraction to those
In order
to
"
devil's
keep the
city atmosphere uncontaminated, he segregated them in one corner
agents."
of the city
and
built for
them what
is
known
as
Shaitanpura or the devil's quarters.
Dancing girls but conditions under certain home taken be might no prostitutes. There was a register in which
names of all prostitute-hunters were to be entered. Thus was effected a great check on the new entrants
at
least;
was indeed
fault
for
that
this
he
legislation
"
was
Akbar's
cursed
with
reason."
Dogs and Boars Reared up 1582-83 A.D.
Badauni was almost wild with rage when he narrated the story of dogs and boars, the most 41
Harun-al-Rashid used to lake wine on medical advice (Arabian
Nights).
"
Qanun
Arabic
Bu Ali
Senai,
(treatise
on medicine), praised wine
"
the
great
scholar, for
in
his
famous
medical reason*
247
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION 42
Animals were there were kept in the Zoo for hunting purposes Badauni mentioned other kinds of animals too. for their the and boars, presence meant only dogs unclean things for a believer.
;
defilement in Islam. chitas
There were camels, bears,
elephants,
(leopards),
boars, buffa-
dogs,
mules and many varieties of birds, as loes, Abul Fazl informed us. There could be no objection to a king's maintaining a Zoo. Hunting was a passion in the Timurid family. Akbar had 43 caressed dogs when a child at his father's place.
Hunting dogs were always kept in the family. " Timur had his falcon, his dogs as his compa" nions
in his
hunting excursions.
fashion in the 16th century India,
Dog
44
racing
was a
and as such there
were dogs kept and maintained by the grandees of the age In Fiqh there is a discussion whether
game hunted by a dog could be taken the decision was that it could be taken.
a
dog was not always unclean. were tamed for hunting and
In for
or not
and
In that case
Arabia dogs protection
of
householders.
Regarding boars, Badauni told that the Hindus persuaded him that boar was one of the ten forms,
which the dlv n ;
So Badauni 's <*
Badauni,
43
Akbarnama,
II,
sly
assumed in coming down." suggestio i was that by allowing
ll>
:
ty
p 314-15. 1,
Beveridge, p. 589.
Badauni,
II,
p
Badauni,
II.
p. 314.
69.
THE
248
DIN-I-ILAHI
Hindus was expressed. But so far as Akbar's belief in incarnation was concerned, the boars, love of
discussions of the Ibadat
Khana were
explicit that
he
and laughed at the " the All Perfect assuming the form of an
did not believe in incarnation idea
of
animal
Philosopher,
wanted
a boar)."
fish or
(a
therefore,
4G
The speech
what Badauni
contradicts
his readers to believe.
of the
The
rearing
up
of a
dog or keeping boar in a royal zoological garden had no connection with his Din-i-Ilahi. Flesh of Wild Boar and of Tiger Allowed
1582-83 A.D.
Indeed
this
kind of meat was allowed not for
the Muslims but
permitted
for
to take flesh of
Ramayana,
the
those
Hindus.
Hindus were
kinds of meat.
In
the
hunted wild boar was one of the
47 Tiger meat was allowed in Central Asia. Badauni had mentioned the occasion when
dainties. If
the regulation
also
the
names
whom
they were meant, the complicawould have been removed. During the
of those for tion
was introduced and
Chitor expedition (1568-69), the army included heterogeneous elements and principally there were
Rajputs and Turks; amongst the former, boar meat was sanctioned and among the latter tiger meat was
46
Dabistan,
#
Firdousi,
II,
p. 91.
Shahnama; Badauni,
II,
p. 317 (Original).
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION sanctioned and not for Muslims
in
249 This
general.
permission was given long before his alleged so it had no connection with the Din-iapostasy Ilahi. Badauni in order to give more force to his ;
apostasy, placed the event in the year of the Hahi.
Use of
Silk
<*
Din-i-
n d Gold was Allowed
1582-83 A.D.
There are decisions against the use of silk and But the Prophet himself once gold no doubt. wore silk which came from the Roman Empire. It
was a
time of Khalifa
military necessity at the
Omar
that
owing
to
soldiers
were asked
to
the very nature of the
up
give
stuff
it
silk
contain-
time they were generally at war. followers were denied the ordinary luxuries of body and in the time of Omar the people were debarred from using silk. But as soon as for at
ed,
that
The
Muslims had strongly entrenched themselves in their position, Khalifas like Mu'awiya, Rashid and others began to enjoy luxuries of body and used to wear silk. Sher Shah presented to Shaikh Byram the
a fine piece of Bengal silk/ 8
The Sadr
of
Akbar's court used
permitted the use of silk where in large quantities.
to
it
Islamic people
wear
silk
was produced changed their
dress almost in every country they domiciled 4*
32-12808
Pringle Kennedy,
of>. cif., I,
and
p. 209,
them-
THE
250
DIN-I-ILAHI
Babar himself introduced the Kazal-bash
selves in.
(red cap), a Persian custom,
amongst
his
49
troops.
The
use of a chapman down to the ankle is not Arabian an custom but was introduced from Persia
and
Turkey
These
are of course
within
falling
"
Muhammad's
after
long
commandments
occasional
M'ashrati
"
death.
group and
lapse
is
no defection from Faith.
Marriage Regulated 1582-83 A. D. In Islam, of course marriage
Any
in age except puberty.
has no restriction
one that can produce
permitted to marry and any woman who 50 can bear a child is a fit subject for that contract. a child
But
is
Prince Salim,
at the instance of
51
Akbar pro-
mulgated this regulation in 582 it is improbable for Salim to promulgate this regulation as he v/as 1
that
at
time only
1
3 years of age, unmarried
was not mature enough reaching
implications
regulation
was put
order
'*
to
prove
;
in
to
understand
and
the far-
This marriage laws. 582 like many others in
of 1
lapse of Akbar.
1 '
However, the
law was that no boy below 6 and no girl below 4 should marry and that a cousin or a near relation 1
1
should not be married because in that case the 49
Erskine
80
Muhammadan Law by D. F. Mulla, Akbarnama. Vol III, p. 503,
6
of>.
cit.,
p. 244.
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
251
52
sexual appetite was small. Really, what the social reformers have found and decided in the twentieth century,
years '
great anticipator did
the
and he
earlier
cursed with reason
is
four
hundred
a criminal because he was
'
.
Feast at Death Birth
Discouraged and that
at
Encouraged
1582-83 A.D.
Badauni must
because he was out to Akbar had done something in accordance with the Law. Here is an instance to the point. The death feast for Muslims in India was an Indian custom and has no connection with Islam where it was un" 53
do so even
criticise
if
There can be no sense," said Akbar, in offering food which is material to the spirit of he could not certainly the dead person, since
lawful.
experience any benefit fiom fore,
to
would
make
it
that
it;
much
be, on the day
of
a high feast day."
better,
there-
any one's birth
And
Hadis
' '
one goat to be sacrificed for daughter and two for a son." Anniversary were always observed in Central Asian feasts That is a custom indeed. Prophet's families. at birth-feast
enjoins that
birth
is
always celebrated in
Badauni,
II,
p. 315.
Herklot Qanun-i-Islam,
p. 424.
"
Milad-un Nabi."
252
THE
Many Muslims
celebrate
in
imitation
DIN-I-ILAHI
the
of
of that
their
own
birth
Prophet.
It
days has no
connection with Mazhab.
Prayers of Islam,
Azan and Haj Stopped
1582-83 A.D.
"
Pilgrimages were
" said,
But were they ? Again Badauni Friday prayers were not stopped." Baduani's
statement
more he
is,
therefore, self -contradictory.
said that the
Shir az,
offer
forbidden," so
Baduani.
said
of
henceforth
who was
61
new Sadr Sayid Mir appointed in
Shia prayers in public.
1
Soon
Fathulla
582, used
to
Badauni
after
Mu'azzin
mentioned of Shaikh Arif Hosain, the (criers for prayers), calling for prayers
Once
at the
house 50
Abul Fazl near the portico five times a day. Akbar himself offered prayers after the death of Abul Fazl long after the Din was promulgated. 56 Akbar said prayers personally on his grave. Badauni would have been true had he said that prayers and Azan were stopped in the unauthorised mosques, built during and after rebellions in Bengal and Behar and instances can be found in the life of
the
of
when he
Prophet
ordered the demolition of
unauthorised mosques as he did at Medina. M 65
W
Badauni.
II.
p. 3 6. 1
Darbar-i Akbari, Hosain
Tabqat-i-Akbari,
E 6
Azad
D, Vol. V, p.
I8I. foot
note
I.
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION So
253
stopping of the pilgrimage was cona distortion of facts. After the discovery
far as
cerned,
it is
embezzlement of the pilgrim grant by Mir-iAkbar Haj, stopped grants to pilgrims for some
of the
time.
We
know
it
from
Du
Jarric that the
Third
Mission (1594) while proceeding to Lahore, saw a large number of people going to Mecca on pil-
grimage from the port of Guzrat. Even the ladies the royal familes were found sailing towards
of
Din was promulgated. His insJahaj-i-llahi will ever remain a monument
Mecca long titution of
of his
after the
Nizamuddin
achievements.
leader
or
appointed Mir-i-Haj, to conduct a caravan
from
of
"
says,
the
Akbar
pilgrimage
Hindustan
like
the
caravans from Egypt and Syria to the Holy place.
The
design was carried out and every year a party of enlightened men of Hind received provision for their
journey from
the royal
treasury
and went
under an appointed leader from the port of Guzrat to the
Holy places."
"'
Arabic Reading Discouraged and Curricula
Changed 1582-83 A.D.
The
regulation
read
thus
"
The
common
people should no longer learn Arabic because such
57
Tabqat-i-Akbari,
E &
D, V, p. 391.
254
THE DIN-MLAHI 58
people generally cause mischief." bited
common
the
for
people,
was
It
who
as they generally were, often half
more often misunderstood the
prohi-
half educated
understood and intricacies
of
the
Arabic language with its pun and play on dots. They should be easily led by the Mullas to believe disbelieve anything to suit their convenience as has been the case during the Bengal rebellion. The Maulavis in charge of the Madrasas attached or
Mosques were
to
Ab Julia th
e
of the type
Sultanpuri.
Mullas during the
their
The demonstration given by Ibaclat Khana discussions of
understanding of Arabic language with
differences
of
was not
interpretation
Akbar had seen
couraging/
spirit
a
of Renaissance,
with
curricula
very
Akbar desired
introduction
cultural subjects
en-
Being infused with of
to substitute
philosophy,
astronomy, medicine, mathematics, poetry,
and other
their
the baneful effects of
exclusive attention to theology.
a
Abdu-n Nabi and
of
in
the
place
novels of pure
literary Arabic.
gave more attention to Persian Arabic and Hindi and extended royal
In language, he
than to
development of pure Persian,
patronage to the Persian being the poetry, of
of
53
The Far man
common
art
of 495
from learning science
Dabistan,
II,
p. 99.
of literature.
A. H. ran
in the cities
these people.*'
W
and
language of the scholars
" thus,
The
fulness
Prohibit the basest people
because often insurrection
arose from
255
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION of
Akbar's Empire was overflowing and Akbar's age
was the Augustan age of Persian literature in India. According to Abul Fazl there were over 50 poets 1
from Persia alone not Persian.
fancy for
to
speak of Indian poets in
no crime if Akbar had taken a It was purely Persian words and phraseology to
the exclusion of Arabic alphabets. fault with
Akbar
that
Badauni found
he asked his poets
^* purely Arabic letter (> ^ &-& &\ was henceforth and -
-
-
Ji>
-
to
k
-
written
exclude ^
w>
)
41>1
<J^I
.
1 his play upon words and dots was a characteristic Faizi wrote a famous commentary of the age.
on the Quran where no dot was used on the top and another where no dot was at the bottom.
"
"
were Destroyed
Qurans
1582-83 A.D. Yes,
they
But which ones
were.
?
the un-
authorised ones written and distributed by mischief
makers during the rebellions in Bengal and Behar and not all Qurans. The description of the Pries ;s of the 1st and 2nd Missions pointed out that qurans were destroyed between 1578 and 1584. the period of the Bengal rebellion and just
is
That
is
after.
This synchronism with the per;od of rebellion a It was measure against significant.
rebellions.
Even Khalifa Osman did destroy un-
authorised quranc. **
A
Badauni,
copy of the Quran which II,
p. 316.
THE DIN-HLAHI
256
was
a version
not
the
of
real recitation of the
Prophet from the Message brought by Gabriel was no Quran and its destruction was no crime.
Names
Ahmad, Muhammad, Mustafa
of
Not Allowed 1582-83
Was
it
compulsory
?
at Court.
AD. No, Akbar's own name
was Jalaluddin Muhammad. courtiers of that is
name
There
were many But this much
in his court.
true that he discouraged the association
sacred
names with
not certainly
names frail
of Islam.
human
name
tainly the fore,
his hatred
was a
It
Sufi
"
of
mode
is
uttered,
Sallallaho."
of a
is it
This
is
the hallowed
not to associate
beings with that sacred
of the Prophet
with usual the
to
mortal beings.
Orthodox custom
Prophet.
name
due
frail
those
of
name
of the
that as soon as the
should be followed
In ordinary conversation,
man like Muhammad
is
uttered,
cer-
customary epithet is not mentioned. There-
it was better that the sacred name was dropped.
Even Badauni advocated a similar idea when he had to utter the name of Fatima in connection with " To call such miserable an unchaste woman. wretches by
the
name
of
our
blessed Prophet's
daughter would indeed be wrong," says Badauni. And still in the same breath, he would curse
Akbar
for
doing so. 11
61
Badauni,
II.
p. 324.
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION "
The Assembly
of Forty
257
was Inaugurated
1583-83 A.D.
was an intellectual assembly of the wise men and had behind it a purely Islamic tradition, known as The Chihil Tanan or the The forty Abdals. It
' '
'
'
Muhammad,
the death of
After
* '
series of prophets, the
Earth
felt
'
*
the last of the long that she could
no
longer be honoured by prophets walking on her God promised, so runs the story, that surface. there
always be on earth "Forty holy for whose sake He would let the
should
men, Abdals, Earth remain." It
was
Khana
clear
from the discussions
no absolute
in the Ibadat
on and so varied. many So this body of intellectuals was inaugurated who " decided questions, as Badauni tells us, according that
reliance could be placed
the authorities, for they were so
to
reason and not
Renaissance,
was in famous
a child
fitness
of
In that age of
by tradition/' of culture as
things
** It
Forty." of the Ibadat Khana.
Alms Houses were
was
that
the
Akbar was,
it
he should form the fitting
culmination
Established with Separate
Establishments
1583-84 A.D.
Badauni was so uncharitable
that
he
could
hardly brook the idea of even humanitarian regula33-1280B
THE
258
DIN-I-ILAHI
humanity concerned the non-Muslims. Akbar only carried on the work of Sher Shah
tions
if
that
when he
established Poor in
separately
Sher Shah
ments
of
imitiation
who had
in Sarais.
Houses his
started
the
for
predecessor
great
establish-
separate
That showed the
Hindus
catholic
spirit
Emperor and the sympathetic sentiments of that great ruler of men. But Mulla Badauni would not appreciate it, for, to him humanity meant
of
the
only Muslim humanity.
Dice Play and Interest Taking 1
583-84 A.D.
harm.
play was for play's sake, there was no But if it was on stake basis, certainly
Akbar
infringed an important injunction of religion.
If
dice
But was
it
within the Mazhabi group
Era was Introduced
Ilahi
1
Indeed scientific
it
was
era in
?
;
584-85 A.D. it
was a purely
consonance with the
political
and
spirit of the
It had no age of Scholasticism and Renaissance. It showed his breadth connection with religion.
of
vision
and length of wisdom.
Prof. Brendry
has exposed the myth of apostasy behind the
Era in his book on the
"
Ilahi
Era."
Ilahi
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION Salim's Marriage and
259
Hindu Manners
1585-86 A.D.
The
festivities
at
marriage of Salim were
the
mostly Hindu.
The customs and usages of mothers
are
followed
generally
The
ceremonials.
the
during
elasticity
marriage
of the
Turko-Mongol accept manners
temperament has allowed them to and customs of any country of higher culture wherever they had gone. In China the Turks accepted Chinese manners,
and
Arabian, introduced
the
paraphernalia
system kings.
of It
;
in
in
in
Arabia
Sultana
Rezia
Russia Russian,
India
Indian.
Royal umbrella as a monarchical Sekander Lodi introduced the
weighing
in
gold
was a purely
religious implication should
The dead
to
like the ancient
matter where no
social
come
Hindu
in.
be Buried with head
towards the East 1
585-86 A.D.
Akbar indeed looked upon life-giving force of the world and
the there
Sun is
as
the
no doubt
that he gained some miraculous powers by Yogic Preference of one direction to another practices.
was due to the influence of these occult practices. Akbar himself slept with his head towards the east.
260
THE
DIN-I-ILAHI
This has been interpreted by the orthodox as a mark of slight, for Akbar allowed the dead to stay in grave with their feet towards the west
direction
lay
reference
to
and unconsciously Mecca,
it
What Akbar
Mecca.
Mecca but
which
did had no
to the east.
Incidentally
had a reference
action
his
in
to
being towards the west of India.
Brahmins Allowed
to
Decide Litigations
amongst
Hindus 1585-86 A.D.
This
is
the
just
requisition
judicial
trials
recognition
different
The angle
of vision
had done
Sher
It
orthodox Muslim Sultans in India
of
was no new thing in India in the services of the Brahmins Even extremely involving Hindus.
Shah's procedure. to
official
it.
parts
of
shown by
Abdulla Sultanpuri during the trial of the Mathura 62 Brahmin only convinced Akbar of the necessity of such a step.
Hindu Pandits
Badauni bitterly
felt
" Allah-o-Akbar
Muslim Qazis.
Introduced in
Greetings instead of 1
Yes, Akbar did of
Akhlaqi group 6*
?
appointment of
especially because they came
after the dismissal of the
"
this
"
the
Mode
of
A s-Salam-o-A lai^um
585-86 A.D. it.
Was
As
Badauni,
has II.
it
not a social custom
been noticed before,
p. 128.
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
261
changes had often been made in manners and customs of Islamic peoples in different parts of
world where they
made
settled or
conversions.
was introduced in 585-86 and the Din-iHahi in 1582-83. no immediate It had necessarily connection with the Din-i-Ilahi as it came four The whole trouble came from the years after. " Akbar." Was it used as an adjective word "' " '* the or did it refer to Akbar great meaning But it was no crime for the son of personally." It
1
Humayun
to
have the name "Akbar"
was not
responsible.
the law
fell into
Even
if
for
was a
it
which he violation,
the Ma'sharti (social) group
and
not Mazhabi (religious) group.
1586-90 A.D.
These were the years of war in Sind in which Akbar was personally busy and no new regulations have been ascribed
"
to these years.
Sati
" Discouraged
1590-91 A.D.
The burning
of
widows on
the funeral pyre of
If Akbar was a their husbands was discouraged. believer in Hinduism, he should not have stopped But he did it a sacred custom of the Hindus.
only
to
prevent a cruel custom whether
or Muslim. belief at all.
And it had no
Hindu
reference to his religious
THE
262
DIN-I-ILAHI
Circumcision was to
Done
fee
not Before 12th
Year and that too Optional 1590-91 A.D.
was a Jewish custom adopted by Islam. Akbar 's regulation was that it should be made optional and should be done, if at all, at an age when boys could understand what it was. Here Akbar gave every man a choice and opporIt
have a play of his reason. Indeed the child of Reason as he was, he could not deny it tunity to
According to the orthodox section, it was But Akbar had been cursed for
to others.
against Islam.
having his
The
own
reason.
circumcision
is
only
a
social
custom
adopted to suit the hygienic condition of the Semitic This law of circumcision was not adopted people.
by
all
Aryan
Christians
even when they
were
converted to Islam.
1591-92 A.D.
Badauni said that many new regulations were introduced this year but did not mention what they were.
This was the time when Badauni was under orders of suspension
for
overstanding leave and
producing a false medical certificate from Hakim Ain-ul-Muluk of Delhi. If there was any very objectionable regulation, certainly he would have
mentioned them.
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
263
"Cremation of a Darshaniya 1592-93 A,D. Dr. Smith, quoting from fantastic
Badauni, says that a
was made
regulation
'
for the
disciples
(Ilahian) chelas.
"
If
whether
any of the
man
Darshaniya disciples died, or woman, they should have some
uncooked grains and a burnt brick round the neck of the corpse and thrown into river, and then they should take out the corpse and burn where no water was." 68
The Badauni
has no meaning.
regulation quoted above
sentence half finished
left his
could not
make
out what he
meant,
entire regulation untold with the
mention here
" ;
effect to this regulation,
(2)
to
remark,
the
left
" I
cannot
give
not be entombed
There must be a definitely
in
To
two things are necessary
certain
:
;
river.
what Akbar himself
said about the last rites of Birbar.
cremated
he
be peculiar.
The body must
Now we know also
when he
;
ignorance or wilful omission?
This ceremonial seems
( 1 )
a place
at
it
cases.
The body was Therefore,
at
where the body was cremated, the regulation became necessarily ineffective.
least in those cases
w
Smith, P 219. .
264
THE DIN-HLAHI
And
a river was not always to be found where a In such cases the regulation Darshaniya might die.
became
ineffective.
was actually put into practice, of course if there was any such one, Badauni So our should have mentioned the whole of it. If
this regulation
conclusion or
is
was
that the quotation
Badauni did not understand
distorted
either
it all.
Registration of Marriages
1592-93 A.D.
This was a corollary to a previous regulation " "
One man, one wife regarding marriage. being the law, a record and registration was inevitable
if
was meant
it
to
be
And
effective.
Akbar meant business and not pious wishes It was a pure administration of affairs.
alone.
Toleration Granted to All Religions
1593-94 A.D.
The
root
of
troubles
universal toleration.
lay
his
in
The Mulla
policy
section of
of
Islam
claimed thai Islam was the only repository of truths and hence there was no scope of compromise with other
examples of W
Does not the Quran bristle with rl the highest form of toleration dees not
faiths.
Quran,
II,
;
259.
"Cultural
Fellowship" by
published by Thacker Spink, Calcutta, pp. 34-39,
A. Chakravarti,
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
Muhammad
the example of
compromise
after the
typify
the
of Badr?
battle
265 spirit
When
of
he
granted the Jews and Christians right to stay and worship in the Darul-islam did not the Quran " " ? There is no compulsion in Religion assure, the
If
latter
order
in
converts,
their
suit
to
convenience changed or distorted his teachings, Islam was not responsible. Akbar in preaching universal toleration of the
The
Prophet
in
was only following the path its true spirit and perspective.
forces of time, the spirit
Sufi tendencies of the age,
Abdul
Latif
,
constant
principle
of
Hindustan
universal
erst
of
the teachings
and
responsible for that open
all
Renaissance,
with
association
of different creeds of the age
were
of
the
his innate
saints
nature
preaching of
toleration
in
the
land
while torn asunder by the
the
Shah
the of
bitter
attacks of orthodoxy.
Freedom of Building Churches 1593-94 A.D.
To
the Christian
priests,
right of building churches. belief in Christianity or
Or was
it
by
Akbar granted the
Was
it
actuated by his
his spite against
a part of the Din-i-Ilahi?
None
Islam? of these
indeed.
He
did not believe in the doctrine of Christian-
ity in its entirety.
34-1280B
This
is
proved by his questions
THE
266
DIN-I-ILAHI
clergymen in the Ibadat Khana.
to the
Christian
him so far as the Trinity, the Sonship of God and Virginity of Mary were concerned. Earnest and long attempt of saints all but proved like Rudolf to convert Akbar
Fathers could not satisfy
futile.
There was no question of
when
Islam
was
"
when
Akbar 's bias More than once Akbar had
plained
of
the
clergymen com"
against
Christianity.
warn
to
Islam
Christianity.
against
pitted
Instances are not rare
against
spite
the Christian
priests of the
danger of using unguarded language Further Badauni against the Mullas or their faith. " and Smith said, after the Lahore fire, Akbar
had turned back
to Islam."
have been actuated
in
If
so,
1592-93
how
could he
he
after
returned to Islam, by spite against Islam to the Christians the
right
of
to
had grant
building churches
?
Therefore, neither was there any lapse from Islam, nor was there any coming in, nor any spite against Islam.
So
concerned,
permission to build churches was we ask if it was a part of the Din-
far as
may
churches for Christians? certainly not, as has been pointed out previously in Chapter IV. i-Ilahi to build
Was
not
strongly
Azam Khan oppose
an Hahian
?
Did he not
this rpeasure permitting the Chris-
tians to build their churches ?
From
the above discussion of the regulations of
Emperor Akbar, it is clear had Islamic background.
that
most of
Some
of
"Ains" them ha'd
his
THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATION
267
precedents in the actions of Khalifas or Sultans that preceded him. Others were allowed by the Shariat ;
"
for reasons of State
"
many more were
the social or economic
necessi-
of the by Empire and such changes were permissible in the Muslim dominions inhabited by non-Muslims. 65 It tated
conditions
not proper to brand Akbar as an " because he promulgated those Ains." apostate Of course, Badauni did brand Akbar as an is
therefore,
apostate
and there was personal
bias for his
doing
so as has been metioned in the appendix following.
Tritton,
Non~Mulim
Subjects in Muslim Empire, Introduction.
CHAPTER
VI
APPENDIX BADAUNI AND HIS
Abdul Qadir,
MUNTAKHABU-T TAWARIKH'
and Abul Fazl were the the famous Shaikh Mubarak in 558, and
pupils of
Faizi
1
were
three
all
'
Abul Fazl
medicine and poetry, and history, and Badauni in
In 1573,
Faizi specialised
brilliant scholars.
in
in
theology
grammar and
Abdul Qadir was introduced
logic.
to court
and
he accepted a Madad-i-Ma'ash. In
debate against
course of a
he
Sarhind,
first
Emperor who was much
pleased to see the range
of his theological learning/
And
often to debate in the Ibadat
Khana
pride
the
of
learning
Qadir took much
of
interest
of
the attention of the
attracted '
Ibrahim
he was selected '
to
the Mullas.'
and
break the
Abdul
displayed consider-
able knowledge in the naughty and subtle problems
Abul "the high opinion, which Akbar had formed of Abdul Qadir 's learning and disputational powers, was transferred to Abul Fazl whose boldness of thought and breadth of opinion dazzled the court and excited the jealousy " and envy of the Ulama. 1
of
theology.
Fazl
into
1
J.
But
after
the
court
R. A.
S., 1869,
the
introduction of
Bloehinaim'e
life
of
APPENDIX In the beginning,
was a
Sufi but in the
269
Akbar thought
that
end he regretted
to
Badauni find
that
2 Badauni was only a A bit sun-dried Mulla/ of Badauni s mind could be read in his reply to Akbar 's question enquiring as to why he v/anted *
Rana Kika.
to join the expedition against
Badauni
*
declared
proudly the
war was
that
intention in
his
to kill the infidels/
8
The
joming
first literary
production of Badauni was Kitab-ul Ahadis dealwith the excellence of ing, among oilier things, '
against the
expedition
infidels/
4
was
Badauni
Mahabhaiat along with some other scholars and for this he cursed his lot that he had to write the names of gods
entrusted with translation
5
of the infidels
he
took
of the
Badauni's mother
and
leave
went
died in
home
with
1
a
589
;
MS.
copy of the Khirad Afza, a very favourite book of Akbar. He overstayed leave by one year and moreover lo~i u A e copy of Khirad Afza and dared not appear before the Sovereign.
At
on
last
the
recommendation
of
F'aizi,
Badauni was allowed to appeai before His Majesty at Lahore and was restored to favour (1 591-92). In 1593,
favour
of
Abul Fazl helped
A kbar
recommended A in,
for
Blochmann,
Badauni,
II,
on the day
Badauni of
the post of a
p. 104,
N.
Mutwali
2.
pp. 233-234.
p. 329,
Blochmann,
p.
attract
Nau Ruz and was
Ibid., p. 234.
Ibid.,
to
104 N.
M utwali means keeper of a ehrine or holy place.
*
of the
270
THE DIN-MLAHI
tomb him
of Ma'in-ud-din at to
him with
entrusted ul
court
at
stay
Asmar.
In
But Akbar liked
Ajmer. his
for
literary
and Badauni was much relieved court, in religion,
at
Mulla Badauni
world.
venom
7
for,
;
if
completed the
In 1595, Faizi died
third part of the T'arikh-i-Alfi.
rival
and
Bahr-
the task of translation of
593-94, Badauni
1
gifts
nay
hear that his
to
in life,
had
his
expressed
he could not beat Faizi in
left
the
devilish life,
he
Akbar liked Badauni in spite of his lurid taste and bitter orthodoxy for his Till the end of his life (1595?) literary merits. must do so
at his death.
Badauni continued
in the court of
Akbar.
Badauni' s Angle of Vision
From
a brief sketch of the
the court of Akbar, of
we have
Madad-i-Ma'ash of
Imam
of
Wednesday
Rana Kika,
as
rival in school
1
BaHauni
at
seen him as a holder bighas of
,000
land, as
prayer, as a soldier against
translator
had
of
life
of
books,
risen to be the poet
whereas his laureate
of
Empire, his junior comrade was the highest naturally he lost the balance dignitary of the state
the
;
of his mind.
On
'deplored his lot
and envied
Faizi.
'
world *
than one occasion, he that of
Abul Fazl and
8
Badauni, in
more
II.
p. 420;
an abominable
Badauni,
II,
III,
state.
p. 271.
pp. 414-5.
He was
"
A dog
has gone
a miserable hellish dog.
from tit*
"
APPENDIX In his childhood
the lines
grand-father recitation
Badauni
an
of
of
271
Badauni had been trained on His maternal
orthodox Mulla.
Muluk Shah taught him grammar, the Quran and Islamic law. Once
set out to
pay a
visit to
Shaikh
Muhammad
Ghaus, a highly revered Mulla of the age. As soon as Badauni saw that the pious Shaikh rose *
up
do honour
to
forego the '
nonsense
pleasure. 9
;
Sunni,
he
felt
'
styled
with
obliged to
Sufism as
Ami.
Sharif
anything that was non-
whom
he immediately consigned to no other reason but that he was a Shia.
for
There
tolerate
*
when a Shia was wrongly murdered by a Badauni had not a word of sympathy for
the dead Shia hell
Badauni
connection
in
Badauni could not Sunni
Hindus
to
are
concocted
innumerable instances when Badauni facts
or
distorted
them
to
suit
his
As for spoke only half truth. example, Badauni interdicts Akbar for having given permission for the use of boar meat against laws of the Shariat. But he never mentioned
conclusion
or
whether the permission was given to Muslims or to anybody else and what was the occasion for it.
The permission was indeed given
to the
Rajput
whom
boar meat was permissible and the occasion was the Chitor expedition where soldiers
both the
amongst
Hindu and Muslim same ranks. Moreover,
J.R.A S. 1869, Blochmann'
soldiers
the
life
fought
in
permission was
of Badauni.
THE
272
'
given not only for
meat which was regards the
DIN-I-ILAHI
boar meat
permissible
regulation
*
but also for tiger's
As
among Turks. cow's
forbidding
flesh,
Akbar had stopped killing of cows in order to show his love for Hindu wives, and that he was actuated by an anti-Islamic feeling.
Badauni said
that
But the entire regulation taken as a whole reads
"
Nor
otherwise,
flesh of
cows, buffaloes,
sheep
and camels be taken, for they are domestic animals." But honest Badauni only mentioned cows, for the
mention of the buffaloes, sheep and camels
A glorious example purpose. was regarding the reconversion a Hindu woman who had fallen in love with
would defeat
his
of half quotation
of
*
She
(Hindu woman) should be 10 taken by force and be given to the family/ But Badauni did not menlion ths other part of a
Muslim.
Muharnmadan lady nor should a Muslim woman who had been in
the regulation which dealt with
"
love with Islam.
"
Hindu be prevented
a
n
According
to
from
Badauni
destruction of mosques.
ordered the
joining
Akbar
But Badauni
did not mention the date of the regulation and
The whole
had the
would have
occasion for
it.
been
had he mentioned thai the regulation
clear,
regulation
Bengal rebellion when those mosques of rebellion (unauthorised) were used as centres
came
10
M
after the
Dabittan, /bid.
II,
p. 413.
APPENDIX
273
such as the Masjid-i-Zarar in
the
time of
the
Prophet. In
his
blind
balance of
Abul
and
Faizi
against
his
and
fanaticism
Fazl,
venom
spiteful
he had
the
lost
judgment and we think the real was not so much to revile the
intention of Badauni
Emperor as to revile the wickedness of the sons of Mubarak. In reviling them, he had to revile the more than he possibly intended to, only Emperor to show the length of the apostasy to which the Emperor had been led by the designing brothers/ In his anger Badauni sometimes said that Akbar was a Christian, another time that he was a fireworshipper and a third time that he was a respecter of cows/ that is, he was a Hindu. "Akbar '
'
said
believed,"
Christian religion
Badauni,
"
in the
and being willing
doctrine of Jesus, ordered prince
few lessons
in Christianity
to
Murad
Du
the
of
spread the to
take
and charged Abul
the Gospel."
to translate
truth
a
Fazl
says that Akbar took some lessons in Portuguese himself so that he could follow their discussions in original.
Soon
after
names
Akbar was a sunone thousand and eight
Badauni said
worshipper and uttered
Jarric
that
Sun every morning. should not lose sight of the
of the
We
important
he began to write his Muntakhab in 590 the charge of he was labouring under
fact that
when
1
absenting himself from
when he was 35
I280B
the
court
without leave,
liable for the loss of a favourite
book
THE
274
DIN-I-ILAHI
named Khirad Afza, and when he was refused an interview at Bhambar after the discovery of his forgery of a certificate from Hakim Ain-ulMulk of Delhi. What better things could be expected of him at a time when his whole On the other hand one existence was at stake ? of of his comrades early years was enjoying the of Akbar,
reputation of being the chief poet of
the
and
age,
Indeed he another the chief uatyl of the Empire. was suffering from the complex of jealousy against his
injustice
Smarting under a sense of had not been properly
mates.
school
that
merit
his
recognised and respected,
Badauni's hand
not give anything better. Badauni dared not publish his '*
Muntakhabat
"
Cream
could
of History
when
during his life time;
the
book was published during the reign of Jahangir, " at the baseness of the he became so infuriated he ordered the son of Badauni to be lies that imprisoned and his property to
He
further
took
book. said
to repeat or
and which
commit
"
sell
the
Badauni has
Emperor which are would be improper
it
Indeed
to writing.
one-hundredth part of them
disrespectful to his 12
says,
the book-
things regarding the
quite incredible
retain
all
should not * 4
Even Khafi Khan
many
confiscated/'
an agreement from
sellers of the capital that they 12
be
memory/'
Ain, Blochmann, Footnote
2, p.
it
13
104.
Khafi Khan, Muntakhab-ul Lubab, Vol.
I,
p
196.
if I
should
would be
275
APPENDIX Badauni was a cynic by nature. respect even for the nearest ties of "
harm
father's
brother he If
human
rela-
scorpions in the
like
they do, therefore, be not directed by father's
For verily sorrow
or mother's brother.
by
are
Relations
tionship.
He had no
and
brother,
as
for
is
increased
mother's
the
destitute of all
good
qualities."
these be the ideas of a
man
about his cousin
is
we
or uncle, can
what
expect anything better than
Hindu official of Emperor, we mean Birbal? Nowhere Birbal
he wrote about Faizi or the
the
has been mentioned without his favourite
"
a wretch.
hellish
In his
adjective
venom he
dog," most disgraceful aspersions on Birbal that 14 This is the he had incest with his own daughter. cast
man who true
is
however
wrote the history
that
tongue
one
tries
found between the
may to
lie
Akbar; indeed it but pen cannot, and
of
do so he
lines of his
is
pen.
unconsciously
To
be
fair
Akbar, we
could only quote Major Nassau " it would be Lees and join with him in saying to
grossest
piece
of injustice to the
present the public his
character
has done
H 15
15
with Abdul Qadir's
and no other/'
it.
Badauni,
II,
dead Emperor
p. 312.
J.R.A.S., Great Britain, 1868.
to
review of
And V. A.
Smith
CHAPTER THE
VII
PROMULGATION
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
Significance of the Promulgation
The
was promul-
Sufi creed of the Din-i-IIahi
gated in the beginning of the year
1
582.
According
was a formal council before the pro" 1 old Shaikh the Din-i-Hahi, and an
to Bartoli there
mulgation of
(Mubarak) was sent
to
proclaim in
quarters that
all
a short time the law to be professed throughout the Mughal Empire would be sent from the court in
and it
that they should
and accept
for the best
1
The
make themselves ready
with reverence whatever
authority of Bartoli regarding the formal council
go unchallenged.
It
referred
incidently
to
But what
Empire.
Badauni
Christian
or
native
is
who
that council
Was
?
Akbar
it
the
?
should
have given more details on the council and
hand
Bartoli
authors.
or
Badauni
nevei spared
who compiled
Moreover according
guished old man, '
to proclaim
whom
to Bartoli
its
proceedings
;
on
a book in 1663 A.D., three quarters
one
of
coming
referred
the Shaikhs, a most distin-
Smith identified as Shaikh Mubarak
in all quarters the
the
occasion for
for his religious opinions,
of a century after the alleged council meeting, gave the account to.
not
Abul
a council meeting for renovating the religion of
Mazhar
the other
should
by Nizamuddin
has not been touched
Fazl, nor by any contemporary
the
it
to take
of the
new
creed.'
was sent
Now
Shaikh
Mubarak was at that time a man of 82 years was it possible to send him to all quarters at such an old age to proclaim the coming :
religion ?
THE
277
PROMULGATION
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
We
2
do not know anything more about the embassy of Mubarak moreover the tone and language do not fit in with the Happy Sayings might be.
it
;
'
of
Why
Akbar,
before
I
am
myself
should
men
claim to guide
I
3
guided/
Principles of the Din-i-llahi
Smith
the
that
says
of the system
principles
were not properly defined and there was a good deal of uncertainty as to its meaning till 587 Really it was undefined,' as it was no new religion 1
.
'
:
it
was the summing up
of
on the subject there was Von Noer is of imagination.
any written
much
treatise
scope for
opinion that the system was like
masons declare
it
of
pository
new
the
was not necessary
religion
was
fundamentals
the
Badauni 's narrative of
it
Free-
the
that of
to
Badauni also says that the
public.
the
Mujtahid of
rituals
So
or Illuminati. in
In the absence
of the old.
relates
creed
only
the
the
of to
re-
only
the
and described the
4
faith.
exterior
forma-
Badauni gave his reader hardly any new information about the principles
lities
observed by Akbar.
The language
2
of
the proposed
Biblical story of Jesus corning with
The whole passage and
is
new
embassy sounds exactly '
religion,
*
most un-Mughal
in
atmosphere.
Akbarnama, Appendix, Badauni,
II,
!
p. 349
'
Happy
The language does Sayings.'
like the
Comes
of Bartoli (pp. 175-77) has a Biblical touch
with the Mughal colour. 3
Lo
Light.'
round not
fit
it,
in
278
THE
DIN-I-ILAHI
Like an ordinary Mulla he identithe fundamentals with the collaterals, and
of the creed. fied
were
formalities
mistaken
for
Abul
principles.
"
Fazl in Ain No. 77 on the subject of His Majesty as the spiritual guide of the people," began in a Sufic strain but left the subject with
should
my
allow sufficient leisure
occupations
and should another term
my
is
of life be granted
intention to lay before the ' '
volume on the
subject
a pious wish,
5
.
"
me,
it
world a separate * '
His
occupations another term of life
gave him no leisure, nor to him and we have lost a separate was granted volume on the subject. The Portuguese missionaries who visited the court during this period had '
their
'
mode
peculiar
of describing
generally mixed up gossip with often than not deprived truth of
its
they
things,
fact
which more
essence
there
if
The only author who narrated the fundamentals of the Din-i-Ilahi was Mohsin Fani
was
any.''
who
has described a part of it in his famous "Dabistan-i-Mazahib. The Dabistan did not directly
discuss the Din-i-Ilahi but has indirectly expressed
inner principles
of the system through the in course of
the Philosopher
of
authority
of
Muhammad, directly
from
Mohsin
Fani
was
Mirza
The Shah
Baigh Khan who knew it Khan a member of the Din-i-
son of
Azam
mouth
a dialogue.
5
Ain, Blochmann, p
6
East India Association Journal, London, 1915, p. 29S.
166.
THE DIN-MLAHI
PROMULGATION
IN
279
Mohsin Fani was a sympathetic observer unlike Badauni or Portuguese priests ; and there is a touch of romance in his way of speaking a thing. Ilahi.
The Philosopher the
the
Emperor
Dabistan
of the
at the
end
of a
champions of other
pounded
who
represented debate general where
faiths
were present, pro-
the Din-i-Ilahi in ten virtues
:
and beneficence.
(1)
Liberality
(2)
Forgiveness of the evil doer and repulsion of anger with mildness.
(3)
Abstinence from worldly desires. Care of freedom from the bonds of the
(4)
worldly existence and violence as well as accumulating precious stores for the
and perpetual world.
future real (5)
Wisdom and
devotion in the
meditation on
the
frequent of
consequences
actions. (6)
Strength
dexterous
of
prudence in the
desire of marvellous actions. (7) Soft voice, gentle
words, pleasing speech-
es for every body. (8)
Good
treatment
their will
may
with brethren,
so
that
have the precedence to
our own. (9)
A
from creatures and a attachment to the Supreme
perfect alienation
perfect
Being. (
1
0) Dedication of soul in the love of
union with
God
God and
the preserver of
all.
THE
280
DIN-I-ILAHI
The whole philosophy
of
Akbar was
" :
pure Shast and the pure sight never err." stress
was thus
purity
of
laid
outlook
8
The
Great
on purity of individual life and on affairs of life. Practices * '
Akbar and his Happy Sayings as quoted by Abul Fazl, bear out the truth that lay behind Akbar 's philosophy. followed by
In discussing the Sufi system of
not
lose sight of
and
practices, initiations
its
and
rituals
Akbar, we can-
priests,
and symbols
ceremonies
of brotherhood
of the Sufi creed, for they are the concomitant parts
of the system.
Indeed in every religion whether
primary or subsidiary, formalities are given as prominence as the ideal to be worshipped.
development of a religion has the religious experience
of
the
in
its
background
propounder.
The
is
based
difference
amongst great
not on any
difference in the ultimate ideal,
object
of
worship
but what they differ
much The
religious systems
for
the
almost everywhere the same, in, is in the form of worship.
is
on the path but not on the destination. Really speaking the formalities and rituals are no ends in themselves, but are only means to some
The war
is
But unfortunately the history of religion has shown that the forms apparently are regarded as
end.
and ends lose themselves in the labyrinths forms and more new creeds have developed not
ends, of
by way
;
of difference of
8
fundamentals but
Ain, No. 77, Blochmann, p.
166.
by the
THE of
way
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
difference
of
PROMULGATION
281
and
rituals
formalities,
ceremonies. Priests
was no priesthood and " that is why Blochmann Akbar solely opines, on his influence and relying example, had established no priesthood and had appointed no proper In the Din-i-Ilahi, there '*
persons to propagate his faith."
Von Noer
says,
"
there was no priesthood in the Din-i-Ilahi it being confined to the select few." But to us it appears
Din was never regarded by Akbar as a new religion and therefore, there was no need of a separate priesthood and separate church so natural and so that the
common
promulgation of a new
to the
More-
faith.
is no priesthood and it has been condemned in unequivocal terms by the orthodox. From Islamic point of view, Akbar is justified in
over in Islam there
not having any priesthood in the system.
was the expounder creed.
and
10
The
learnt
Abul
Fazl
repository fact
A in,
the rules
Badauni,
I.,
II.,
36-1280B
exterior
were
Azam Khan of
the
according to
the
of
rules
priests
BIocKmann,
Dabistan,
11
Faizi.
who
separate
the
Mujtahids
his brother
have
of
p, 212.
p. 94.
p. 349.
of
were not
new
Tajuddin
Abul is
the
of
rites
Fazl
said
to
order from
Badauni, was the discipleship.
necessary
In
nor a
THE DIN-MLAHI
282 for
mosque,
was a
it
order of Islam within
Sufi
Islam depending on individual follower
and was only open
attained
a
order
strictness
stage
made
'
a
'
'
'
to enter into ' '
and
every
and reluctance was shown by His Majesty 12
who
fact that all those
without
development based on
clearing search
in admitting novices."
a
of
the
men who had
Akbar before allowing anyone
capacity.
the
certain
of
experience to
exception,
Of
course
could not be
it
entered into the order were
actuated
by a deep religious
some
conviction; royal favour was the prime " object, though His Majesty did everything to get Nor did Akbar himself this out of their heads/' in
play the part of a Pope, as Smith would have his readers believe,
"
Why
should
Akbar himself used
for
claim to guide
men
before
to
say
myself 13 Like his great Indian predecessor guided." Asok, 1800 years back, he issued a general order to all state officials to look after the spiritual deve I
I
am
lopment of
"
and
all subjects.
The Governor ought
not to oppose the creed
religion of the creatures of
a wise
man
God
;
in as
chooses not his loss in the
much
as
affair of this
how
should he knowingly tend to perishable world, perdition in the religious world which is permanent
and
eternal ?
thyself
against
M u
If
carriest
God
;
God
be with his
our
and
if
Ain, Blochrnann, Ain/No. Ibid, p. 1*3,
fails
77, p. 165,
then thou
and opposition him and he know-
controversy
God
faith,
THE DIN-MLAHI
283
PROMULGATION
IN
himself a rule
wrong way, then he proves to of erroneous profession, which
demand
assistance, not
the
takes
ingly
diction
;
pity
and
he,
who
acts,
ship to every sect/' officers
14
In the
* '
were
who
those
was the
Du Jarric informed God ought to be
the propagation of the
"If
says,
adopt his
violence."
God wished
Islamised
devotion to
morning and
basis of these
instructions.
'
'
Akbar
often used to say,
but
man
was the best missionary for Din as Akbar conceived it. the
wished
people
15
the whole
world
when God has
not
might have been willed
to
;
at Persia
U '*
had done.
Dabistan,
I,
p. 97
they
Indeed, the Quran says that
it,
compel people to come to by force Badauni says that some people Akbar why he did not make use of the the most convincing proof such as Shah right has
it,
and His Majesty declared be established by choice and
creed
that religion ought to
if
for
in the
us that
inter ventiofi in religion
not by
by
his
worshipped with every kind of Unconsciously his doctrine of non-
veneration."
might
same Farman show veneration
and pray
evening and at mindight. Toleration
well, bears friend-
distinguished
incomparable God,
Again he
to
required
were
enmity or contra-
and thinks
and
Akbar
replied,
what Islam
asked
sword Ismail
"Confidence
p. 429.
Payne, op. cit. p. 25, footnote; Dabistan, I, p. 97. " There ! no compulsion in religion." Quran.
284 in
THE
him
as a leader
DIN-I-ILAHI
was a matter
and good
of time
To
and he did not require the sword.." "
counsel,
Are not five-sixths Salim, Akbar said, mankind either unbelievers or Hindus? If
of
all
were
I
by motives similar to those which thou ownest, what would remain to me but to destroy " them all ? (Shea and Troyer, p. cxlvii.)
actuated
Initiation
The
was
fitness of the intending entrants
tested
by his readiness to sacrifice Property, Life, Religion and Honour. It was not that each of the Ilahians
would be
in
treasures
of
sacrifice
of
a position
was
the entrant
They were
Two
position
one time
those four
all
some
;
and was
stated to
"
to
as
according
Degrees
one or
offer
called
have obtained
more
' '
stage
nomenclature
a
in
styled
might
The
one and some two and so on.
peculiar to the order
"
sacrifice
to
at
all
lire
" Degree."
One Degree
they
were
of those
in a
precious
lh
These four degrees were defined " in 1579 when the Din-i-Ilahi fealty
possessions. as
"
oath of
was not even thought
When
the throne.
were included politics 16
and
In Sufi
in
the Din the
as
marks of
loyalty to
was promulgated they
preliminaries.
In
Islam,
were often combined.
religion
So
orders also are four stages according to the position,
which the Murid attains
in his devotional life.
In the Tradition (Hadis),
n
of,
spiritual order of a
man 's
Muhammad
life.
See ante, pp. 23-24.
mentioned of
different stages
THE
what was defined as marks
of
became
eminence
stages in
"
Badauni says, irrespective of
names down
spiritual
courtiers their
loyalty in
politics,
in
of all shades
religion.
and creeds
put their as faithful disciples of the throne/'
17
for initiation.
1
opinions
religious
Before introduction
was examined and on Sundays.
285
PROMULGATION
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
into
found
if
the order the
entrant
would be admitted
fit,
The new entrant was introduced The intending was to approach
*
Emperor with his turban on the ground and on approaching the Emperor should bow his forehead down to His Majesty's feet. Abul Fazl says, ihe tuiban is the sombol of "this is symbolical conceit and selfishness, so putting off of the Turban the
;
symbolised the putting
The Emperoi accepted him
off of pride
as usual with Sufi as his disciple
and conceit."
mode
and
19
of initiation,
him from head. The
raised
and put the turban on his initiation was by batch of twelve and by turns. They were to offer Zaminbos io the Emperor. the ground
of Brotherhood
Symbol
The
"
" Initiated
Indian teim meaning
a brotherhood M 18 ll)
was
and the Chelas "
called
"
Chelas," Jl
They formed
disciples."
amongst themselves,
Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri,
I,
an
and
had a
p. 60.
Akbar was born on Sunday and died on Sunday Am Blochmann, p. 165. About the inscription .
there are
various opinions. 20
Disciple
is
a
common
Sufi
tenn.
The
llahias
defeated near Afghanistan in 1564 also called themselves
whom Akbar "
Chclas."
THE
286
DIN-I-ILAHI *
' '
'
in which the shast common symbol called 'Great Name' was engraved and the symbolic " motto of was inscribed. The Allaho Akbar 4
'
' '
'*
was
inculcated
teaching
pure Shast
the
'
'
and
the pure sight shall never err."
Shast
The word round
"
"
either
the symbol
be called
Shast
"
was
"
means
literally
" anything
1
The shape of which ring may fairly was wrapped in clothes
a ring or a bow.'
like that
*
of
1
It
Swastika.'*
studded with jewels and was worn on the top of the
was
symbol of Brotherhood. On the Shast,' Badauni says that picture of Akbar was engraved. But others say that it " contained only Hu," the Great Name which turban.
It
their
*
might signify (a)
Allah.
(b)
As Samad
(c)
(d) (e)
(/)
the
The Eternal. The Living. The Everlasting.
...
A I Haiy
...
Alqayyum Ar Rahman Ar Rahim Al Mumin
...
.
.
The The
.
...
Qazi Hamadani says that " " "
word
91
Lowe
Hu
fctanslatad
or
He
Shast as
'
' '
Merciful. Protector.
the great
God
fih hook.
'
name
because Shast
signify a girdle worn by Fire-worshippers or Hindus.
is
also
' '
is
it
has
used
to
THE DIN-MLAHI
PROMULGATION
IN
a reference to God's nature as
has no other not
is
His 22
All
He
that
"
Hu
God
of
epithets
"
are
Possibly Hamadani's interpreta-
it.
true particularly because
is
shows
it
Again the wor'd
side.
derivative.
contained in tion
at
287
' c
"
Hu
a Sufi
is
term and in his early youth Akbar used to chant " " " " these Sufi terms Ya Hu and Ya Hadi
And
near the Anuptalao.
it is
word should
this familiar
that
quite probable
be repeated in his new
Sufi order.
Rules of Conduct amongst the Disciples
To
the
the
Emperor,
Chelas
were
to
offer
The King prostrate before him. Darshan from his window give them
Zaminbos and used
'
to '
called
'
'
Darshariiya Manzil
(House of Royal If a member met another he was Appearance). " " to greet him with and the other Allaho Akbar " was to respond with Jalle Jalalahu." 23
Ain, Blochmann, p. Ordinarily cipleship, e.g., of
162, F.
N.
a believer introduced
Ahmad,
Khabdin ending
disciple of
in the
name
2.
himself
Alam,
by the
of
tree
disciple of Byezid,
of that disciple to
whom
But an llahian would introduce himself by his symbol
"
he
dis-
disciple is
sworn.
Shast."
"
Sychophants and flatterers had come for alms and and assembled in front to have a Darshan some " came with a sick baby, others with barren daughter. many were " This may be true. Akbar, by his cured by his miraculous powers. 83
Smith says,
favours in the morning
constant association with the
;
Hindu Yogis, had developed some occult Abul Fazl gave hit subjects.
powers and used them for the good of some instances of such cures.
288
THE
D1N-I-ILAHI
Prayer
That there were prayers in the system is evident from his own examples. Probably Akbar offered prayers three times and not five times in the ortho-
Akbar
dox manner. death
of
Muslims.
offered
Abul
Fazl as
Advice
to provincial
prayers
after
custom
the
is
the
with
governors definitely times a day morning,
ordinanced prayer three y4
Abul Fazl had his own on his criers (Mu'-azin) for mosque portico were No there. separate mosque was prayers There was the same raised for the Ilahians. and
evening
night.
;
Quran for all deemed it
the
till
;
Fazl
last
The usual customary form "
t^um
and
his
life
Abul
of*' As-Sallam o-alai~
"
"
Alai-T^um-ns-Salarn
Abul Fazl explained
mode
day of
a part of merit to copy the Quran.
that
Akbar
of salutation intended to
of the origin of
their
deity in fresh, lively
grateful
down this men to think
in laying
remind
existence
and
were changed.
and
to
keep the
remembrance."
25
Practices of an llahian were (a)
Not
to feast after death,
(b) to feast of life
(d)
during life, avoid flesh as far as possible, not to take anything slain by one's ownself,
(e)
not to eat with
(c) to
butchers,
catchers, 24
Dabistan, Vol.
I,
p. 97.
Ain, Blochmann, pp. 158-59,
fishers
and bird
THE not
(/)
barren
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
cohabit
to
women
nor with
PROMULGATION
with
pregnant,
women
old
289
and
under the age of
20
puberty.
A disciple could
be burnt or buried according to Akbar lamented that religious practices. " the dead body of Birbal had not been brought to 27 it be burnt." his capital so that could
his
own
26
#
Dabistan, Vol.
Ill,
p. 91.
Ain, Blochmann, pp. 204-205 37
I280B
CHAPTER THE
VIII
DiN-i-lLAHi IN
MOVEMENT
The measures adopted by Akbar gation of the Din-i-Ilahi were much time, at least
for the
propa-
advance of
in
by 200 years. In Europe, the fire of had set ablaze its religious firma-
the Inquistition
ment the
;
the prelude to the
Roman
Catholics
and
drama
of contest
between
the Protestants that
was
to
come within the next half a century, was being arranged. The Jesuits in order to increase their brotherhood had fallen from
proud principles had begun, and often had conspiracy and murder in the name of
with which recourse to
the
they
In Islam, the bloody traditions of the blood-
Jesus.
were not yet forgotten the Shia-Sunni contest between the Safavi neighbours and their
thirsty Ismailis
Sunni
rivals of
;
Rum
were but too well known
to the
circle of Indian brethren.
The
continued throughout the the Christian era. traditions
small
the Mehdists
persecution of
systematic
In
1
the
5th and
1
"
terrible
required
it
of courage of conviction
no
and length
ought to
be
by choice and not by violence/ and
that
of liberalism, to say
established
6th centuries of
midst of those
and unholy environments,
Amount
1
1
that
religion
Ain, Blochmann,
p. 169.
THE what Islam
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
right has
man
291
to
compel people
With
force."
by
to
MOVEMENT come
resources
vast
at
to
his
command
if he simply wished he could have it, turned at least half of India to Ilahism. Indeed he
cried out
claim to
agony of his soul, guide men, before myself ' '
and not of the
"
in the
King
582
is
"
should
guided
I
?
' '
Religion
the religion of the subject." like his 2
which he reorganised in disgusted with Mulla unchangeand rigidity, had its own contribution to make.
after being
ability
No
am
Cuius Regio, Bias Religio
European contemporary? " The famous " Forty 1
Why
even Smith has drawn any infer" ence from the famous Forty" and the Din, both historian, not
coming
at the
same
time.
They were
The
related to each other.
debates
in
very
closely
the
Ibadat
Khana were no longer as frequently held as they were at the beginning. The discussions and decisions on knotty points ' '
of
law were
now
being done there
' '
The
was no need of a propaForty by decided ganda henceforth everything was to be " Free by reason and not by authority." Like the it was a grouping of the few masons enlightened common bound minds together by political allegiance, ;
there
' '
by the idea
of ultimate
good
to
humanity, breathing
man who occupied the we mean Akbar, who was the embodiment
the spirit of the great
centre,
of
the
forces of the liberalism of that age of Renaissance in
1
Air, Blochmann, p.
197.
F.N.I.
THE
292
DIN-I-ILAHI
no
roll register
definite statement as to the size
and extent
That
India.
insist
"those their
there
Abul Fazl
brotherhood. not
why
is
is
said that the
on conversion
who used
spiritual
acknowledge power from the
They stood
Majesty."
his
into
to
in
need
the
even
for
have received
throne of
of
Emperor did
order
to
nor any
of
his
no conversion
though they were intimately connected with the The members of the Din-i-Ilahi circle of Akbar.
may
be divided into two groups
:
who
accepted the creed in all aspects, internal as well as external forms. (b) those who accepted the "Sfiasf" only. (a)
those
Of
the
initiated
3
disciples
have been
its
men-
tioned,
(1)
Shaikh Mubarak.
(2)
Shaikh
Faizi.
(4)
Beg. Qasim Kahi.
(5)
Abul
(6)
Azam Khan.
(7)
Abdus Samad.
(8)
Mulla Shah
(3) Jafar
(9) Sufi
(10)
Fazl.
Muhammad
Ahmad.
Mir Sharif Amal.
(11) Sultan
Khwaja.
3 A list has been prepared from contemporary authors by Blochmann.
Salim.
Shahadad.
stray
references from different
But he did not mention Prince
THE
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
MOVEMENT
293
Mirza Jani Thatta. (13) Taki Shustar. (14) Shaikhzada Gosla Benarasi. (12)
Sadar Jahan. (16) Sadar Jahan 's son, no. (17) Sadar Jahan's son, no. (15)
I.
II.
(18) Birbal. (19) Prince Salim.
It is
very
only one of them, was a Hindu. Badauni that
significant
Birbal also called Birbar,
Akbar was not
says that
Hindus
as far as possible.
willing
to
include
the
4
Of the second class, 'there were many', says Abul Fazl. They were given "Shast" in batches on Sundays and had before they were introduced
of twelve
to
pass
the usual
test
to royal
presence.
No other
centre for intiation
has been mentioned
it was not a was only a Sufi order. As has been pointed out there was no separate mosque for them, and prayers were offered at least thrice
for the Ilahians.
This proves that
proselytising creed but
daily.
The Contribution
The principles
Din-i~Ilahi.
4
of the Ibadat
Khana
the
to
of the Din, according to
This statement of Badauni and the actual absence of Hindus
circle of the Ilahians definitely refutes the suggestion political
move
Din-i-Ilahi.
get the
of 'Imperial unification' behind the
If
Hindus
it
were
so, there
into the fold.
would have been
that
there
in the
was a
promulgation of
the
deliberate attempt to
294
THE
DIN-I-1LAHI
many, ware thrashed out of the fire of the sions of the Ibadat Khana. This is indeed far as the destructive side
the
of
discustrue, so
Din-i-Ilahi
was
destructive phase, the Din has a the Mulla orthodoxy, their with causal connection The abuse and misuse of immobility and pride.
concerned.
In
its
power and position as discovered during the distribution of the Ay mas," the embezzlement of their
'
the
grant by
pilgrim
that glittered in
the
rebellion
which
to
length
of
brought in
proved that
Mir-i-Haj
was not gold
and
;
their
all
participation
Bengal and Behar shew the affairs.
political
could be
intolerance
religious
The
religious
dis-
putes of the Shias and Sunnis in the Ibadat Khana had led him to doubt the infallibility of both and
convinced him of the necessity of a
The Faizi
Sufi brothers
Sarhindi,
and
Abul
light of their intellect
their
Fath,
new
outlook.
father
Tajuddin
Mubarak, by
had served as torch-bearers
the midst of the darkness of doubts.
the in
Constant asso-
had proved to him that God might be perceived even by the saints of other religions. Time, spirit and Central ciations with
the
saints of other creeds
Asian mysticism had given a romantic touch to all his actions legacy of his heritage and his early ;
political
pressionable
had made
mind more imand more accommodating. Even if
vicissitudes
were no discussions
his
in the Ibadat Khana, would have in some form or other. come changes His birth in a Hindu house, his early association with
there
THE DIN-MLAHI the polished Persians, his
Asian mystic
his Central
of the age, the
movement
forces of
of the
1
IN
MOVEMENT
295
own impressionable mind, heritage, the liberal
Renaissance, the
spirit
Mehdi
Oth Hijri and the influence of the
contemporary Sufis and Saints had moulded his mind. That in India such a profound change of outlook would come was almost a certainty. Peculiar circumstances
and favourable combination
had veered round
of forces
that mystic child of
Central Asia, born in the mystic land of Sind and
nursed in a mystic association of Iran, and the child
became the
priest of the
Change. form of the Change was conSo far as the actual cerned much depended on the influence of Sufi brothers, the
Mehdi movement and
The
personality
of
tendency of time coupled with intellectual ferment could have produced no other form except a very eclectic, elastic
Akbar.
general
and universa one.
"
liberal
His soul synchronised with the
pantheistic ecstasy of the Vedas, the universal charity
Buddhism, the grandiose poetry of the Solar cult and the profound beauty of Islamic mysticism/'
of
Nine out of ten commandments,
if
not
all ten,
were
extremely universal and could be found in almost every religion. in other
ing
from
Without going
religions,
the
writers, both in
we may
Quran and and outside
they were absolutely Islamic ideology.
into
quote other
their places
the
eminent
India, to in
follow-
show
conception
Sufi that
and
THE DIN-MLAHI
296
Original Text from Dabistan
(1)
Translation
:
'
A
-
^rxJ
and beneficence.
Liberality
Arabic parallel passage H*
& U/
:
&' &
A*
*' Ss A/
^^ ^^.f
l^ii-U
:
I
[j
JUJ
^
You
cannot attain goodness unless you spend most beloved things of yours. Translation
:
(Al-Quran). Persian Sufi thought
Translation
Try
:
charity,
You
:
will
Oh
brother
!
try charity
from
get relief
terrible
:
misery.
(Sadi.) (2)
Original Text from Dabistan
:
Forgiveness of the evil-doer and repulsion of anger with mildness. Translation
:
Arabic parallel passages
^so
% -^
x
Translation
:
^
..r x
And
X
:
e/ '
5
those restrain
their
anger
and pardon men, and Allah loves the doers good to others. (Al-Quran.) Persian Sufi thought
:
of
THE
4A>
Translation I
tell
MOVEMENT
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
|
su>
du>
297
jJb
:
what
thee
is
forbearance,
Whoever gives thee poison, give sugar. Whoever by force tears thy heart, give him gold as mine gives. Be not less than shade-giving tree. Whoever throws a stone at thee, give him fruit. (Sadi. (3)
Original Text from Dabistan I
-
Translation
JLJJ
Abstinence from worldly desires.
:
Arabic parallel passages M
Translation
:
Know
that
this
(Al-Quran.)
Persian Sufi thought
I280B
:
/lA
A
/
only sport and play.
38
:
:
world's
life
is
298
THE DIN-MLAHI Translation
:
Save thyself from the love of the world. Drink not the heart's blood for bread and money. (Bu Ali Qalandar.) (4)
Original text from Dabistan
:
j)
freedom from bonds and violence as well as accumulating precious stores for future real and Translation
:
Care of
of the worldly existence
perpetual world.
Arabic parallel passage sAx x xxyAxxuu ju
/
Ju
ju
:
xA *
f
xAx
Translation -^This worldly :
sports
and the other world
think properly.
is
life
is
the real
' x^
nothing but life
if
you
(Al-Quran.)
Persian Sufi thought
:
Accumulate your goods as far as you can, but if you have no accumulation you will be ashamed. (Sadi.) Translation
(5)
:
Original text from Dabistan.
THE DIN-MLAHI Translation
IN
MOVEMENT
Wisdom and
:
299
devotion
in
fre-
quent meditations on consequences of action.
Arabic parallel passage xA
/
Ju/A
...JBJJ w y
Translation
x
x
A
JbJ| x
s.
x
The
:
:
x ,
^
on conse-
pious meditates
quence of every action.
(Al-Quran.)
Persian Sufi thought
:
<3Ju)
Translation
He
:
of
consequence
blessed
is
actions.
who
looks
(Jalaluddin
the
Rumi
Masnavi.) (6)
Original text from Dabistan
:
tjJlc
Translation
:
Strength of dexterous prudence
in the desire of marvellous action.
Arabic parallel passage
Translation
expressed
:
if
:
have
been
you only think them wisely.
(Al-
:
Marvellous
Quran.) Persian Sufi thought
:
things
THE
300 Translation
D1N-I-ILAH1
Below the
;
curtain of
the cycle
of the world, look at the lights that shine. (7)
Original text from Dabistan
Translation
Soft
:
(Sadi.)
:
gentle words
voice,
and
pleasing speeches for everybody.
Arabic parallel passage
Translation
:
:
Speak with gentle and pleasing
words. (Al-Quran.) Persian Sufi thought
Translation
:
Oh
:
brother
!
If
you have wisdom
speak gentle and sweet words. (Fariduddin (8)
Original text from Dabistan
:
;
1 ranslation
:
so that their will
Good
treatment
Translation
:
afflict
brethren
:
Prefer (them)
though poverty may
with
>v
precedence to our own.
may have
Arabic parallel passage
A ttar.)
them.
before themselves
(Al-Quran.)
THE
D1N-1-ILAHI IN
Persian Sufithought
j
Counting
*
Namaz) and hermit's gown
napkins (before
no worship) but the
(are
the only worship).
(Sadi.)
Original text from Dabistan.
Translation
and a
(is
301
:
of beads, spreading of
service of brethren (9)
MOVEMENT
:
A perfect alienation from creatures
perfect attachment to the
Arabic parallel passage
:
0Atf0Ax/AAsxA*
Translation
:
Supreme Being.
Fly to Allah,
f
x
i
surely
I
am
x
a plain
warner from Him. (Al-Quran.) Persian Sufi thought
:
For thy salvation, give up the world. Attach thyself to God with faith. (Shamsuddin
Translation
:
Tabrizi.) 10.
Original text from Dabistan
Translation
:
God and
:
Dedication of soul in the in the
union with God,
love of
the Benefactor*
THE
302
DIN-I-ILAHI
Arabic parallel passage x
A
x
x\
A
/
\n
Translation
All
x x
Tell,
:
x
:
xAxxA
A
O, prophet,
good actions, all my sacrifices, all my and death are for Allah who is the
my
life
preserver of
all.
Persion Sufi thought
(Al-Quran.) :
b Translation friend
:
If
desire
you
(God)
dedicate
^
meet
to
life
your
with
to
the
your Soul
(God) (Fariduddin Attar.)
commandment was concerned Vedantic touch. The eternal craving of it has a the human soul for a union with the lord and the So
far as the last
ultimate sublimation
with him
has no direct and
background though many Sufis have stretched Quranic verse no. 163 chap. VI. part III
strict
Islamic
as quoted above to
thing like that, and
and philosophy. it as a a Sufi, Akbar cried with brother Sufis like Sadi, creed in their
accepted
As
mean some
Rumi,
Jami,
and
Hafiz
Him
life
Shamshuddin
Tabrizi,
and the Happy Sayings as quoted by Abul Fazl clearly illustrated the view for
union with
point of of his
;
the great questor.
own
life,
we
find a
Regarding the practice
profound influence of his
THE DIN-HLAHI
MOVEMENT
IN
303
Hindu, Zoroastrian, Jain and Buddhist associates. As an inquisitive inquirer endowed with the spirit of
he
reason,
medicine and
learnt
Hindu
the
cultivated their
alchemy and
Yoga system;
like
Asian ancestor, he believed in astroand astrology; and after his association
his Central
nomy
he believed that
with the Zoroastrian Mobed,
life
might be lengthened by lightning fire or by the repetition of a thousand names of Sun. Following the Buddhist custom, he used to shave the crown of his
head thinking that the soul passed through the
He
brain.
into a vegetarian
turned
later in life;
meal a day, slept for 3 hours daily these were actuated by a desire to lenghthen took one
and there was no question
life
man
attempted a process
reader
make
must
a
of apostasy
lengthen his
to
Akbar himself followed and what an expected to follow. into the Din-i-Ilahi
follow
practices
Ilahian
misconception has crept
owing
misunderstanding of
Islamic
precedents in the actions of
quoted.
No
life
been no ground
in
practices
an Ilahian or
origin
;
to
had
one or more renowned
or saints.
In chapter
behind his
doubt that
throughout his
was
to
were mostly
sanctity or authority
what
Much
which he asked
Islamic monarchs
a
The
life.
Akbar 's personal practices and follower's and for that Badauni is responsible.
The
his if
between
distinction
all
;
there
' '
Ains is
a
'
'
VI, the has been
Sufi
touch
and actions, but this would have
for
branding Akbar as an apostate,
THE
304
DIN-I-ILAHI
had he not touched the Mulla
the distri-
interest in
endowments and turned Them
bution of religious
out of their privileged position.
They Regarding court customs ceremonials were mainly Persian setting on Indian stage acted by a Turko-Mughal of Indian birth. Akbar had ;
spent his early
were
in that
were famous
amongst
the
the French
men
life
age
for their culture
Persians,
who
of the East
and
and refinement. From
them, he imbibed a love for refinement and finish. Thus many Persian festivals, manners and customs
were introduced.
There
that those Persian
customs were introduced out of
spite
is
no reason
against Arabian Islam.
Persian
suppose
His Persian mother,
Persian
association,
to
teacher,
Persian
kinsmen, Persian courtiers had cast a spell on that mystic Central Asian boy born in that age of transition.
and
He had
a genius for selection of
appreciation of talents
and
if
be appreciated, he gave him
a Persian deserved
to
what he deserved.
Indeed, not out of
spite
religious
but out of love for Persia, "the meet nurse"
for that mystic
child
of the
duced Persian customs and
no connection with said of
many
his
desert that he intromanners and it had
may be Arabia who when con-
apostasy.
Khalifas of
adopted and Persian customs and manners. quered
Persia
This
introduced
In the 16th century India, religious tual
men
he found that
and
many
intellec-
upheavals were extremely favourable towards
THE
MOVEMENT
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
305
development of Sufi orders. Already there were 72 sects in Islam and the Mehdi movement had the
created a
stir
minds
in the
men. The wide scope
of
commandments, freedom of worship and eclecticism in practices of daily life have given the of
the
fraternity a distinct Sufi
Like an orthodox unity of
presence
and sun
God
like
;
of the
"
touch peculiar to the age. Sufi, he believed in the
Islamic
a Hindu, he
Deity.
the
felt
To him
universal
the symbol of
the
fire
the Supreme Being represented of creation in the vast expanse of nature/'
letter
in
he was a Mobed, and the Jain principles of harmlessness and sanctity of animal life had almost as
if
a royal ViJ^shu. The Persian etiquette the and manners formed formula of the daily life
made him an
of
Ilahian generally.
He was
even more
was the
tion
Quranic
basis of
verses
eclectic in
system.
The
of toleration
and
whole
the
breathe a
manners. Tolera-
spirit
Quran was the back-ground of his thought gave him his inspiration for
the
beliefs
;
tolerance
Sufi
and
not the Mulla interpretation of the Sacred Verses.
Now of the
the
question
is,
whether the
manners and customs
world and
(a'
lime. lb;
Ref.
the contempoiaiy
their inclusion into the list of the court
formalities signified his lapse 5
of
adoption
from Islam, 6 or whether
Risal-i-Shibli.
The Prophet
himself adopted the firing machine during his
Chapter on Tarajman, p. 4. The Sahabis adopted many foreign
foreign languages
39 -1280B
Persian,
Hebrew and
social
life
manners and spoke
Syriac. Fathul Bui dan, p. 474.
THE D1N-MLAHI
306
non-Muslims
granted to
toleration
enough
is
to
brand him as an apostate.
The Din~i-Ilahi or new religion it was a ;
formula
which
in
all
the
was
Din-i- Islam
with
Sufi order
not
a
own
its
enunciated are
principles
to
be found in the Quran and in the practices
in
the
contemporary Sufi orders. Akbar did not on, nor did he like his own practices of
insist
daily life to be followed
and
regulations
were coin
Hahians.
was
The
cut 8 years prior to the
Akbar
was
Many
of his
Din,
some
and
earlier
than the Din-i-Ilahi.
later
Allaho
of
practices
all
had no connection with
Some came much
Din.
the
by
of
dice
Taslim
the
formulated
the
four
years
The gradual changes and adoptions showed the Din was no clear-cut system of religion
after.
that
and
no
had
formulated
changes
distinct ethical
by
in the
social,
economic and
The
participation of
and Christians was
between
was evolved
1
to
the
connection with
Khalifa
Mamun
ministers were
weie
Thus
political
life
the Din were
the Jains, Sikhs,
1582-92,
the
Din
582 before they had come So the Din had but little or no
early in
court.
if
that
beyond
Ten commandments.
would have come even
of the state
not there.
the
code
The Din was no
those faiths.
introduced
many laws
of
Ardesir of
more Zoroastrians than Muslims.
Persia.
His
Many Hindu customs
introduced in royal paraphernalia such as, Royal umbrella, weighing against gold by orthodox Muslim Kings long before Akbar in India.
THE
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
outside
religion
Islam,
Ilahian never regarded Ilahian
was
toleration
was given khan, an
Some
307
of
as a separate religion
;
an
When
a Mulla.
as
An
it.
was granted to the Christians, permission to them for making conversion. AzamIlahian, grew furious and vehemently
Din-i-Ilahi,
it
after
an
Faizi,
it.
made
even
regarded
nor cut out
often as orthodox
protested against
Islam
it
MOVEMENT
the
Mujtahid of
the
conversions of the Hindus into the
act
suggest that
of
Din was promulgated and merit to
the death
copy the Quran.
Abul Fazl was
of
procured by Salim as a protest against his father's religion for which Abul Fazl was supposed to have
been responsible. But this is not warranted by the way Jahangir
spoke of "
Jahangiri, forgot
God."
My
his
father
father
never
in
in
which
the
Tuzuk-i-
a
moment
for
There were personal motives with
Salim; a feeling of jealousy, a sense of insecurity and complex of inferiority to Abul Fazl served as
prime motives of the murder. Bir Singh Bundela, a Hindu, did the murder and not a Muslim. Had
been purely a religious protest why was not a Muslim hired for it ? Smith wants to say that Akbar it
ceased to be a Muslim at least for a time and quoted
Akbar's own speech to support his view. This misconception of Smith was due to his misreading of the text of the Ain-i- Akbar i.
The
India
Office
copy from which Mr. Yusuf AH quoted gives a In an open meeting of the true version of the text.
308
THE
DlN-I-ILAHl
East India Association
in
Dr. Smith and Mr. Yusuf
was shown
London
in
which both
Ali were present, Smith
his mistake.
The formula
of
the
Din "there
is
no God
and Akbar is his representative" as " Badauni says, was not a general creed of the Ilahians, but was meant only for the harem." Even if it were meant for all Ilahians, there would be no
but God,
necessary opposition
to
Muslim
Kalema
Hadis), as has been suggested by Mr. his
famous
article in the E.I.
does certainly
It
Akbar's attitude
6
(Ref.
Yusuf Ali
in
Association Journal.
imply a gloss which indicates towards the millennial ideas
which he was confirmed by the warring dissensions on open problems of religion 7 in the Ibadat Khana. May be that he was to some of the time in
by a motive similar to that of Erasmus, the Ilahians are as much non-Muslim as 8 were the Covenants of Scotland non-Christians.
extent
attracted
composed by Abul Fazl under instruction from his great master on a temple in Kashmir, illustrates beautifully the soul and craving
The
inscription
of that master
6
E.
7
Badauni,
I.
mind
:
Association Journal, London, 1915, pp. 296-298. II,
pp. 201-202.
Even during his own time the practices of Akbar were misinterpreted by the orthodox class. Abdwlla Khan Uzbeg wrote to Akbar charging him with apostasy to which Akbar replied refuting thope 8
charges which have been pieserved in the letters of Abul Fazl, Daftar-i
Abul
Fazl,
compiled by his son-in law.
called
THE
MOVEMENT
DIN-I-ILAHI IN
O, God,
in
every temple
worship Thee,
and
in
I
309
see people
that
every language
I
hear spoken people praise Thee. Polytheism and Islam feel after Thee.
Each
'
religion
says,
Thou
art
One,
without
equal.' If it
be a Mosque, prayer and
if
people ring
Thy
people murmur Thy holy it be a Christian Church bell
from love of Thee.
Sometime I frequent the Christian cloister, and sometime the Mosque, But it is Thou whom I search from temple to temple.
Thy
eclect
have no dealings with
either
heresy
orthodoxy for neither of them stands behind the screen of Thy truth.
or
Heresy
:
to
the
orthodox
heretic,
and
religion
to
the
:
But the dust of the petal belongs to the heart of the perfume-seller." Indian Antiquary, Col. Wolesey Haig, History of Khandesh.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Sources I
Secondary
Original
I
i
1
Indian (Incl. Turki^
Foreign |
Modern
Post-Akbar Non-Indian authors
Jesuits
'_
I
!
I
authors !
|
I
Literary Archaeo-
Numismatic
Non-Jesuits
Jesuits
logical Pictoiial
Books
Periodicals
Original Indian 1
I
)
Akbarnama by Abul
history written
comes up (2)
as
by any
to the year
Fazl
historian 1
602
is by on the
Akbarnama
to
subject.
It
.
Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl
supplementary
best
far the
may ;
it
be regarded
is
of a very
high value. (3) official
It is an Tabqat-i-Akbari by Nizamuddm. chronology it does not deal with Akbar's
(4)
covers
up to the year 1593-4. Muntakhab-ut Twarikh by Abdul Qadir It
religion directly.
Badauni.
This
for the study of
is
a
very valuable
Akbar's
religion.
source
He was
book
a staunch
Mulla and belonged to the anti-reform party in the state (up to 595-6). 1924 A.S.B. Tr. has been used. 1
(5)
In
Najatur-Rashid by the same author Akbar are mentioned.
marriages of
;
the
BIBLIOGRAPHY (6)
Tarikhi-Alfi
years'*
by Maulana
The
Akbar.
"the History
Ahmad
this
1
Thousand
of
book
was coming
rooted
lay
to a close
1
000
Muhammad.
Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri or
(7)
1
written under orders of
of
genesis
in a belief that Islam
years after
3
It
Jahangir.
gives
some
Jahangir-nama
by
description of the Din-i-
Ilahi specially of the formalities
and ceremonies
of
initiation of the disciples.
by Jahangir;
Waqiyat-i-Jahangiri,
(8)
some
incidents
interesting
of
Akbar's
It
gives
life
and
give
some
throws light on his religion.
Humayun-nama and Babar nama
(9)
interesting information on the heredity of Akbar. Malf uzat-i-Timuri written by Timur him( 0) 1
Turki.
self in
translations.
much
It is
available in Persian
Though
and English
of self praise,
full
it
throws
on Timurid family customs.
light
(11) Tarikh-J-Ferishta
by Qasim Hindu Shah
widely known in India because it was the source-book of Elphinstone. But it cannot be very much relied upon as the
alias Ferishta.
author
It
is
very
depended more on unrecorded
without
taking
sufficient
pains
to
traditions
scrutinise
them. (12) Dabistan-i-Mazahib,
written
probably by Mohsin Fani about half a century after Akbar's This book contains very interesting diadeath. logues of
the
Din-i-Hahi,
Ibadat
Khana and maxims
of the
312
BIBLIOGRAPHY
valuable India
by
Akhbar-ul-Akhyar
(13)
a knowledge of
for
Abdul Muslim
Haq
is
saints
in
to 1572.
up
by Ziaul Indabi;
(14) lstalehat-i~Sufia
help of
interpretations
was published
in
is
of
The book
Sufi terms.
of
it
1322 A.H.
Jesuit Sources
Portuguese accounts relies
on
V. A. Smith much. The Jesuits
(Jesuits)
Jesuit authorities too
were hardly reporting or observing as historians. They were primarily missionaries and largely fortune-seekers.
"The
(1)
Their visions were often prejudiced. Mission to Akbar" first Jesuit
published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal J914). It is a translation of Mongolicae Legationis corn-
men tarius by
Monserrate's account
(2) 1
Monserrate.
582 published
in Journal
of
Akbar
and
written in
Proceedings
of
1912. The Bengal in Relacam has become famous in this connection. the
Asiatic Society
Far mans
Persian
(3)
of
granted to
the
Jesuits
Moghal Emperor published by Hosten. In them the motive of calling the Portuguese to the by the
court of (4)
Akbar may be found.
Peruschi
is
the
earliest
printed
authority
for the missions. (5)
Bartoli
hand, materials
supplies valuable,
on Akbar 's
though second-
religion.
313
BIBLIOGRAPHY (6)
De
ed in
Souza's account
is
of a later date, publish-
1710 and contains the account of missions
from 1564-1585. (7) is
Payne's famous work
work
a
"
Akbar and
" Jesuits
which Payne made a very
in
He
scrutiny of Smith's Jesuit sources.
reliable
has proved
that Smith's Jesuit references are misleading.
Maclagan's recent publication (April, 1932) Mogor" is a book of consi''Jesuits and the (8)
derable interest but
is
not absolutely faultless.
Non-Jesuits Sources In
these
sources, occasional references
may be
found about Akbar and the Mughal Empire, sometimes, fantastic but they have very little connection ;
with Akbar 's religion. The prominent of them are Fitch, Mildenhall and Roe.
SECONDARY SOURCES
Modern
Writers
The book Elphinstone's History of India. was published in 84 when the sources of Indian (1
)
1
history were not
written, (2)
Akbar,
it
worked
Though ably does not satisfy a present-day scholar.
Von is
1
Noer,
fully
the
great
out.
German
historian of
possibly one of the few European writers
who have written eastern chronicles 40-1280B
with respect and
314
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Smith has put him
reverence.
Abul
panegyrist like
the
in
roll of
a
Fazl.
"Akbar the Great Mogul," by V. A. He does not generally praise an eastern
(3)
Smith.
monarch nor can he brook any other praising an eastern monarch. He is a great historian no doubt but he
The
(4)
biased and anti-east.
is
the
translators of
histories
original
Mughal such as Blochmann, Gladwin, Raverty, Mr. and Mrs. Beveridge, Lowe, Briggs
of
the
and others have
often left very interesting notes
views of Akbar.
the religious
Blochmann and Beveridge it
certainly
are very useful.
E. G. Browne, Literary History of Persia.
(5)
In
Of them
on
we
find references to Sufi doctrines.
(6) Titus,
Indian
This book
Islam.
from a Christian's point of view and
written
may
be read
with interest.
Mohammad
(7)
Ghazni
different
;
Habib,
Muhammad
Sultan
Semitic
aspects of
and Aryan
outlook on religion has been discussed in introduction
(Temojin). (9)
native
It is
Timur
vivid
the
a general study on
"
Parker,
gives a
The
it.
of special merit.
Harold Lamb,
(8)
It
is
of
Thousand Years picture
of
Earth
Shaker
Timur the Lame. of the Tartars.
early
Turks
in
"
their
home.
(10)
Encyclopaedia of Religion, Vol.
on Akbar by Beveridge has been in the light of
Western
I.
Article
written purely
interpretations*
BIBLIOGRAPHY
315
by Ameer Ali. was India Governed by
(11) History of the Saracens, (12) Erskine,
Islam
How
?
Murray's Discoveries and Travels 1802, Vol. II. (13)
of
Ethnography
(14)
Prichard.
Upper
Geographical
(Royal
in
India
Asia,
Dr.
by
Society
publi-
cation.)
(15) District Gazetteers of Delhi (16) Studies in Mysticism,
an excellent book (17) J.
Akbar,"
J.
of
its
Modi,
Bombay,
and Agra.
by Nicholson.
is
It
kind.
"
Parsis
1903.
It is
at
the
Court
of
a good production
but requires to be rewritten in the light
of
modern
It is
a uade-
facts.
(18)
mecum
Hughes, Dictionary
of Islam.
for students of Islamic History.
Kennedey, History of the Great Howworth's After of the History
(19) Pr ingle
Moghuls. Mongols,
it
is
very informative.
India as told by its Own and Dowson, Vols. V-VIL Historians, by contain extracts from originals and some good They of
(20) History
Elliot
may be
consulted by beginners in the
field.
(21) Dineschandr a Sen's History of the Bengali
Language
is
valuable for
Hindu gods
in
Muslim
poetry.
(22)
Sind and
Theosophical
its
Sufism
publication
by Gulraj. and gives
glimpses of the tenets of Sufis of Sind.
It
is
a
beautiful
316
BIBLIOGRAPHY
H.
(23)
all
Wells,
new
It is
light.
a history.
Quran, by
(24)
World.
the
of
History
has been put in a
life
Chengiz's not after
G.
Muhammad
Ali.
Urdu (Modern) "
Arab aur Hindustan ke Talluqat, Nadvi. The relation Maulana Suleiman
(1)
by between India and Arabia in
Urdu.
work on
It
may be
the
is
excellently
of use to those
reciprocal influence of
depicted
who want
to
Hinduism and
Islam. Allahabad.
"Maqalat-i-Shibli,"
(2)
Vol.
I.
Here
the
Muslim writers of Hindu religion have interpreted Hinduism in their own light. Azamghar. (3) Asar-i-Sayeed. It treats of Muslim patronage of Hindu religion. Darbar-i-Akbari,
(4)
Azad
is
very
purely historical
by
Muhammad
Hosain
important Urdu work, though not ;
it
contains
many
interesting details.
Lahore. Bengali
" (1)
(Birbal) for (2)
"
Nana
by P. ChowdhuryNine gems of Akbar. Calcutta. Charcha,
"Madhya
Juge Bharater
KshJtimohan Sen.
Excellent
Moslem
the
fusion
in
History. Calcutta.
"
Sadhana,
lectures
Middle
Ages
by on Hinduof
Indian
317
BIBLIOGRAPHY
" (3)
Gupta
Moghul
Bansha,"
Raj
for details of
Ram
by
Pran
Turko-Moghul family customs.
Calcutta.
Hindi
" (1)
Prasad. It is
Hindi ke Mussalman Kabi," by Ganga (Muhammadan poets of Hindi Literature.)
an excellent
Abdur
of
find a place
Benares.
in every Library. (2) Life
and should
collection
Rahim
Khan Khanan.
Benares. (3)
Nine Jems of Akbar's Court.
(Nawratan.)
Benares.
Archaeological
The
Architectural remains should be personally
No amount
visited.
of
be equal to best thing would be to
study
will
The a personal inspection. read the books and then supplement the reading by personal
visit.
Report of the Archaeological India, 1871-87. (1)
Mughal Architecture of Fatehpur been described and illustrated by Smith. (2)
(3)
Akbar's
(4)
Abdul "
criptive,
the
modern
Tomb Latiff,
at
Survey of Sikri
has
Sekandra, by Smith.
Agra,
Historical
and Des-
with an account of his court and of city of
Agra."
318
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Numismatic "
Thomas,
(1)
Coins of the Pathan Kings of
Delhi illustrated by coins, inscriptions and other antiquarian remains/ History oi: Akbar's coinage has 1
some **
interest
the change
in
of
Bismillah-iHRahman-ir-Rahim
"
Monogram from "
to
Allaho-
Akbar."
H. N. Wright, Coins
(2)
Museum,
of the Indian
Calcutta.
Lane-Poole, Coins of the British
(3)
Museum
:
The Mughal Emperors. Pictorial
now no
has been
attempted through pictures, drawings and paintings of Mughal There are materials enough to form a period. Uptil
pictorial history of
history
Akbar.
Pictures
may
be found
Museums at Delhi and Agra, in London Museums and in the show rooms of the Delhi Fort. Some old families descending from the period in the
still
of
possess
many
contemporary
beautiful pictures
India.
So
and drawings
far as religion
is
con-
cerned, pictures of Khankas, Ibadat Khana, shrines
and tombs are valuable. PERIODICALS CONSULTED (1)
As. 1
Qu.
Rev., Jan.,
898.
(2) Cal. Review., Jan., 1906
Religion
of
Akbar
by Karkaria. Akbar's Religious policy.
(Karkaria).
319
BIBLIOGRAPHY (3)
Gal.
Review
Oct., 1906
Akbar's
Religious
Policy by Karkaria. Jan., 1908
(4) (5)
Parsis at the Court of
XXI, 1904
J.R.A.S.,
Akbar by
J.
J.
Modi. (6)
Jain Shasana Vir .
San
.
.
,
Published at Benares
.
2437. (7)
Cal.
Orien-
Quarterly
Review,
tal
Vol.
I.,
Ill,
pp.
1.S24. (8)
(9)
J.R.A.S., Vol. 192-212.
Mughal
Paintings
re: Akbar's Reli-
Journal and Proceedings
gious Discussions. Monserrate (Hosten.)
of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal 1922.
(10) Calcutta
Review, Jan.,
1897.
Akbar
and
the
Parsis.
(11) J.R.A.S.,
1915,
pp.
Smith's Article
on
Akbar's Court.
237-43. (12) J.R.S.B., Part
XXXVII,
I,
1868,
Vol. p.
14.
Part
(13) J.A.S.B.,
Vol.
LXV,
pp.
I,
38-
For Jesuit Missions at Akbar's Court.
113. (14)
J.R.A.S., 1869,
p. 20.
Blochmann's Account of Badauni.
(15)
Asia Major,
II,
1927.
Alphabet of Phagspa.
320
BIBLIOGRAPHY Paintings of the Ibadat
Bombay,
(16) J.R.A.S.,
Khana.
1928.
Smith's
(17)
J.R.A.S., 1917
(18)
J.R.A.S., 1869
Ibadat
Khana. Badauni's
For
Account. (19) Transactions
Bombay
For Blochmann's
the
of
So-
Literary
re-
ferences.
ciety, 1824.
published from Bombay, 1866.
(20) Article
Rahestsek
Prof.
By
Re-
"Emperor's
'
(21)
Yusuf
Ali's article
1915.
Journal,
" (22)
in
"
pudiation of Islam. East India Association
A New
Standpoint
on
Akbar's Religion." " " Ain-i-Akbari." by A. Akbar in Nigar Sobhan. 1927.
(23) Journal of Indian
History,
1
926.
''Islam in
Kashmir/' by R. C. Hall. (24)
For Akbar's
Indo-Moslemica.
Ephigraphica buildings.
For Khelafat pretensions. (26) J,R.A.S., 1844 Bombay Branch. 844. For local laws, (27) Calcutta Review, (25)
J.R.A.S.,
1
830.
1
customs and manners of (28) Journal of the
Moslem
(29)
Muslim
(30)
Islamic Culture articles
(3
1
)
Institute,
Review, 1910. for
on Akbar.
India.
tribal 1
905.
Allahabad.
Felix Vayle's 1
928, Vols.
I
interesting
and
2.
Transactions of the 3rd International Congress for History of Religion, Vol. p. 314
'
GENERAL INDEX (Arranged Alphabetically)
same word
N
'
(The numbers
*
When
refer to pages refeis to Foot Note. the occurs twice or more in the same page, it has been entered ;
only once in the Index.) 28, 58, 65.75N75.85.99, 104, III. 117. 124, 127, 148, 165. 176. 180, 188 196, 207N43, 21 1.217, 218N7,
Abbas, Shah of Persia, 32N18,
227, 234, 234N27, 234,237,247. 252. 255, 268. 269, 270. 275, 276Nl, 278, 280,281,283,285.287N23, 288, 292, 293, 302. 307, 308,
97,
110, III
Abbasid, 33, 106, 128. 240N35 Abdals (.sec Chihil Tanan), 95, 257
309N8
Abdul Latif, 52, 108, 136, 265 Abdul Qadir (see Badauni) Abdul Quddos of Gango, 122
i
i
I
Abdulla Khan, 187, 196 Abdulla Khan Uzbeg, 196
AbdulL
I
Niyazi, 67, 68, 70, 75
Abdulla Sultanpuri, 79,
i
87,
112,
122,
217,228,254 Abdullah (ambassador), 186 Abdu-n Nabi (Sadr-us-Sudur), 56
;
;
;
discredited, 78, 79, 85, 87, 94, 108, 112, 120, 121. 122, 124, 125; his death, 126. H3. 139,217,227, 228, 254 of Mathuia,
85 19. 20,
71
Abdur Rasul, 62 Abdus Samad, 292
Abu Ah, Qalaiidar, Abu bin Laila, 227
24
41
Ahrman,
156 *Airi-i-Akbari (also see
Abul Fazl 56N24. 58122N4, 76N14, N28, 126NI7, 139N8, 152N11. 157, 159N6 16818 IN 203N40, N8, 16, 209N5I, 2I7N2, 218N7. 234N24, 269N2, 278N5, 281N9, 282N12, 274N12, 285N19, 287N22, 288N24, 290N1. 291N2, 307 Ain-ul-Mulk, 262 Akbar A's birth, 25,26,31,39,44; A under Bairam's guardianship, 45,46.47.49; A's early difficuland Blochmann).
52, early impressions, 52, Shia influence, 57 66; Sunni background of influence, 57 66 in the Ibadat Khana, 67-69 T A's mental Ibadat Khana, 70 76 condition during this ptriod. 72 .
connection
A
;
;
commentary
of the
ordered, 74-75 pilgrim grant, 77-78 marriage debate, 79 quarrels be-
Quran
;
;
;
with
by Blochmann, Ed. 1873 A.S.B. 1280B
41,
;
Hanifa, 56, 227 A bu Mirza, 245 Abu Say id Mirza, 39 Abul Falh iGilani), 120, 131, 132, 133. 204, 294 *Abul Fazl <s?e Ain-i-Akbari}, 58N
References in
181
222, 238N32, 255
Ahmadulla, 235N32
54
AbuBkr, 128N1
*
;
ties, 51,
Abu
translation
Adiswara temple, 162 Aditya, 138 Afghans sec also lurks), 1, 4,6, 61, 89 Ahadis, 76 Kitab-ul Ahadis, 269
Ahmad,
;
Abdur Rahim Khankhan,in,
AdilShahSur, 135M
AhhKitab,
his orthoattainments, 57 doxy, 58, 60 in charge of Sayurin tfhal lands and Ay mas, 61 the Ibadat Khana, 75, 76; he is
Abdur Raharnan, Qazi
104,233 45, 135N1
14,
Adam Khan
f
58, 59, 75, 76, 131. 139, 124,
his
Adam,
Ain-i-Akbari
are
from
the
GENERAL INDEX
322 tween Shias and
Sunnis., 80-81
239; Alfi Era, 243-244; Wine 244-246 Prostitutes permitted, segregated, 246; Dc?s and Poars reared, 246-248; Silk dress, 249250 marriage regulated, 250-251 Feasts at death and biith, 251 Namaz, Azan, Haj, 252-253; Curiicula of educa!ion reformed, 253-255, alleged destruction of Qurans, 255 256 Sacred names
;
Khelafat pretensions of A, 8 1-83;
;
murder of the Brahmin of Mathura and its effects of A, 85-88; feudoicligious rebellion against A, 81-
;
;
,
Zaman, Sunnis
112, 116, 117, 118, 120; at court, 1 16-127 ; Shias at
;
customs,
omitted, 256; Assembly of Forty, 257 Alms house, 257 Dice play, 258 llahi Era, 258 laws of burial, ' disSali 259; Salutation, 260; Circumcision, 262 couraged, 26 Toleration Darshaniya, 263;
A
granted, 264-267, Bada^ni and Akbar, 268-275 Nassau Lees on A, 275 Din-i-Ilahi promulgated,
Hindus
court, 127-133;
133-147;
Nine
at
court,
Hindu
Saints,
;
aslrian festivals
1
and the
Tains, 157-169;
A
Jews, 169-70;
and
A and
the
;
behind invitation of
Christians, 173-186; evaluation of Christian sources of A's history, 174-178; Farman to Goa, 186-187; Debates on religion, 189; Translation of
A
;
;
Xavier, 207; A's legisla-
Cho* oWiral
:
li-t
of Regulations, 220-224, Canons and of Test of Laws, ?24-226 27-228 marriage question, and and court seals, 228 22; Trtnslalion of Quran, Hindu Books, 2^0 Pilgrim dept 230-31' Hunting stopped, 231232 Siidah, 232-236; Translation of the Bible, 236-239 Shaving of beard allowed, 239; Oath of allegiance, 240-241 Nawiuz celebrated, 241-242 Mullas exported, :
A
,
;
:
;
;
A
A
,
;
'
;
;
A
the Bible, 190; and Monserrate, 193; quarrel at Daman, 194-196 break up of the first mission, 196197; 2nd mission and its failure, 200-201 A's cautious behaviour with the 3rd mission, 202-203; Christian view of A's religious I ^ahore fire, ^205 quest, 203-204
A and
276-289; principles of the Din, 279; philosophy of A, 2*0 Priests of the Dm. 281-282; A's Farman to his governors, 283 Initiation to Din, 284; Chelas, 285 Shast,' 286 Rules of Conduct of an Ilahian,287; Prayers of the Din 288: Practices, 288; in connection with Estimate of his Din-i-Ilahi, 302-309 Akbar Jami, 129 *Akbarnama (also see Beveridge*, 165N2. 149N>, 73N8. 77N15. 166N3. 167N5, 188N20, I90N22. ;
A's fir*t acquaintance 170-212; with Christians, 171-173; motives
tions, 216-267
;
:
Christians,
;
;
;
A
adopted, 156;
;
'
140;
A's 143-144; views on Hindu incarnation, 146-147; reforms of Hindu pracand Toroastrians, tices, 147; 147-157; A's experiments of Zoroastrian practices, 152-155; Zoro Hir.du
;
;
Jewels at court,
137N6; Hindu Books translated, 138-139;
;
;
93; reform of education, 94; Sadei dept. reorganised, 94 Mahzar decree (Infallibility 98-115; title of the Khalifa uz-
I95N30,
206,
250N5I,
247N43,
277N3 Akhbar-ul-Akhiyar, Akhlaqi, 257
Alauddin
UN 16
Khilji, 6. 19, 86, 93, 242,
245 Al Beruni, 3 IN 17, 230. 244 Alchemy, 303 Alfi Era, 243 Ali, 127N1
AliMirza Sultan. 41N'43 Allami (see
Faizi)
Alms house, 257 Amir.
73, 98, 113. 119
Amir Khamau, 6N9, 16, Amir ul Muminin, 84, Angus Dei, 201
1
17, 18 1
1
Antonio Cabral, 171 Antonio Vaz. 171 Anuptalao, 67, 227. 287
* References in connection with Translation
Akbarnama
are from Beveridge's
323
GENERAL INDEX Aquaviva l6,
Rudolf,
120,
159,
185,
194, 195, 196,
189, 193,
188,
197
79, 85N36. 86N37 87,\38, 93N50, 95N53, 101N4, 102, 104 I07N23,
1/ON10,
Arab Bahadur, Arab Shah, 36
II3N22, 115,
112,
III,
122, 123, 124N8, 125NI3, I26NM5, 127, 130N6. 131N8, 132, I33N14,
Q|
Aiabic language. 74; language discouraged 253 Curricula changed 253254, Arabic alphabets substituted by Persian, 255 Ardeshir, 149N2 Ardeshir Bagchan, 142N2 Arhai-dm-ka jhopia, 6 Arif Hasan, 252 Arjun, Sikh Guru 162, 164
Aryan, 8N 12, 21,262 Asaf Khan, 73 Asan, 12 Asok, 70NI. 182,282
3, 225,
265
134 222,257,
Revenue, 50,
61,
152N8.
Bahatar Ferqa. 23
BahlolLodi,24 BahloiSufi,22 Bahmani Kingdom, 49 Bahrul Asmar (Rajtarangini), 270 Baigh Khan, 278
Atharba Veda (see Veda Atma, Param Atma, 18 Aurangzeb, 231
Bairam Khan,
Avar?, 9
Baisakhi, 10 Baitul mal, 105 Baitul Moqaddas, 105
12, 57, 62, 63, 77NI7, 79, 191,218,251,294 Azad Hosain l&rc Darbar-i Akbari)
101,
208, 209, 266, 278, 281,
292
Bakarji, 15
Balban,93 228N16, 242 Banerjee.S K., 107N13 Bartoli 273N 1,274 Basanta Panchami, 10 Basu Dev Misra, 139 Baul, 10 Bayezid,
125
1
33,40, 105, 115, 12!
Baz Bahadur,
B 91
Babar, 39, 40, 41, 42, 53N12, 84, 97, 111,
106,
121, 129, 135, 136
245,
250 *
Badauni (also Muntakhabu t Twarikh,,23,25.57N26,57N29. 59 62, 67N48, 68, 69, 70N2 71N5, 72, 73, 74N10, 75N12, 76, 77N15, 78N19, * (Bad. stands for Padauni.)
Vol. (Vol.
II,
are from
UK
45, 55. 56. 107, 135. 144, 145,
216N1
Ayma
RabaKhan,
44,
108, 122, 129, 130,
Ayatul Kursi, 75
Azan, 249 Azar Kaivan, 156 AzizKok-i.65,92,
168,
Baharji, 15
62 Astrology, Astronomy, 303
Azam Khan,
153,
203N40, 219, 223, 226, 227, 228N14,229, 230, 231, 232, 235N26, 236,237, 238,241,242 244,246, 247, 249,251, 252, 255N50. 256, 258, 260N52. 262, 2(3, 264 266, 267; Badauni'? angle of vision, 2*8, 275, 276N1, 277N4, 279, 281, 283. 285 2P6. 289, 293N4, 303,
308N7 Badr (battle^,
Assembly of
Forty, 291 (ChihilTnnai.) Land of Assessment
134N16, 135, 140, 14!, 142, 154N5. 157N7, 166 167.
51
Beads, 16 Rechna Devi, 9 Behari Mal, 135 Benedict of Goes, 201, 205,206, 208 Bengal and Behar Rebellion, 254, 255, 256, 272
Peveiidge (see Akbarnama^. Bhagirath Bhattacharjee, 139 Bhagwan Das, 64, 144
Bhanu Chandra Sen
Suri,
159, 160,
161
Bhanu Chandra Upadhay a.
153, 182
References to Muntakhabu-t Twarikh,
Lowe's Translation
(Bib. Indica),
and from Rankin
GENERAL INDEX
324
Bharatbarsha la monthly magazine*, 140N11 Bharat ltiha.h Samshodhak Mandai,
Poona, 72N6 Bhats of
U P
Bhawan, Bhudan.
140 7
,
237, 239,
154,275,293 Bir Singh Bundela, 307 151,
10
Boar. 222, 246, 247, 248, 271, 272
Brahma (Hindu God), 7, 9, 10. 13,
140
15,52, 54, 73,
181,223,260 of iVUhuia, 85, 86, 124
118, 120, 161, 168,
260
(also Catholic and PiotestamV, 1,2,3,4,21,28,29,30,33,
Christian
55, 64, 82, 83, 127, 151, 154, 166; Christians at the
court of Akbar, 167-212,225,235, 237, 239, 262, 265, 266, 273, 276N1, 290, 304, 306, 307, 309
Christmas, 145, 155 Christopher Vega, 179 Chogtai <scc also Turks\
39, 42, 43.
49, 64. 110, 121
Brahmin (Husaini',
ChwticuU,
11
Branding Regulation, 66N14, 214 Bribery, 57
Browne, E.
G
,
87, 89,
35N25, 105N9
Buddha, 30
Buddhism (Shraman,
Sarnan). 28,
29,31,49, 82, 120, 141, 154, 159 Buddhists at the court of Akbar, 165-169, 216. 231 232, 295, 303 Building of Churches, 265
11
Choudhuri, 61,
Chronogram
Bu AliSenai, 246M1 Buckler <'Lceister UniverMty Lec113, I29N3, ture>, 40N38, 66, 135N1
Bulbul
143, 151.
197,236 Chihil Tanan (forty Abdals>, 134, 222,257,291 Christ (see Jesus\ 169, 176, 186, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 211,238, 265. 273, 290
152,
Biswa Karma (Hindu God>,
Brahmin
29, 42,
41N42,
SON 15
Brahmin,
28,
154, 155, 159, 178,
Bikramjit, 22 Birbal, Birbar, 71, 85, 133, 142. 145,
1
Charbak, 167 Chela* (sec Disciple', 223, 263, 264, 285, 287 Chcngiz. 26,
9
Bible, 188, 189, 190, 236, 277, 293 BidyaNibas, 139
Bisii.
Chapkan, 250
6'J
of Seal, 220
Circumcision, 220, 259 Commandments of the Din-i-llahi, 279-282, 296-302, 303, 306
Commentaries, I89N22 Conveision to Christianity, 183N 18. 197, 208N50, 264 Conveision of a Darshaniya, 263 Cow, Cow slaughter, 31, 203,223, 23?, 273 Cultural fellowship, 264N4 Cunningham, 163N1. 164N6
monthly), 230N17
223,224,251,259 Butenschon. 170NIO
Burial,
D
Byram Shaikh, 249 Dabistan-i-Mazahib (.see Mohsin 134. Fani,, 143N18, 81N22-30, 147N27, 151N5, 156N17, 157N1, 163, 164N5, 165, 169, 170NI, 188, 248N46, ?54N259, 272N12, 278, 279, 283, 288, 289
Bysundar. 38
Cama Magazine
(Institute),
150N2
Cartrou, 180 Celebacy of clergy, 193 Central Asian, 4, 13 16, 26; Central
Asian background. 26-44. 127
27, 42,
53, 55, 167, 216, 235,236, 237. 248, 251, 294, 295, 303, 304
Chaitanya,
13, 22,
Chandra Sen
94
(Surgeon), 136
DabuKPond), 159 Dade Kulas (Hindu
Sect', 9 (Saint 15, 24, 139, 140 Daftar-i Abul Fazl, 308N8
Dadu
Dag Kardan
,
(sec
Branding Regu-
lations),
Dalai Lama, 30
Dara Sukoh, 22N27 Darbar-1-Akbari, 65, 252N55 Darbar-i-Am, 232
325
GENERAL INDEX DarrnesteU-r, 123N6
Drinking
Datshdniya, 224, 263, 2f,4, 285, 2o7 Darshaniyn Manzil, 287 Dar ul Mam, 265 I'ar-ul-KMafal, 197N32
* Davrid
Karararii, 66, 67
Shea and Antony Troyer
'see Dabistau-i-Mazahib' Degrees, of an Hainan, 221 240, 284 ,
DenaTalwa,
12
Deity, 305
De
Sousa, 180, 189
Devi (Hindu Yogi', 140, 141 Dewali sec Dipabalil, 11, 102,
147,
155
Dhuni
Wine) 17W11, 196N31,
177, 17ft,
I97N33, 20!, 202N37, 206, 253, 273, 283
Darweshiya Cult, 15, 37, 39 Dashera iHmdu Festival). 9, 10 DaMur, 118, 148, 182 Dastur Mahyarji Ra a (sec Mahyaiji Rana) Daswanath iPamter), 136
Daud Khan
(s<.e
Du Jmc,
Dcir.shan, 287
\Ash-pit), 9
Dice of coin, 304 Dice Play, 223, 228 68, 102, 115, 208N50, 221,236,240, 242, 248,249,252, 253,261,265, 266; Pin-i-llahi in Ten 276-289; promulgation, Commandments, 279 its Princi277-278: Priests, 281; ples, 284; Symbol, 285Initiation, 286; Prayer, 288; Practices, 28828^; Din-i-Labi in Movement 290-309 Contnbutkn of the Ibadat Khana to tbe Din, 293 294 parallel passages from the
2C4N41,
D (Elliot and Dowscn 5N7. 7N11 73N8, 6N10, 89N44. 107N14, 109NI6, 110N17 230N17 252N56, 253N57 E. I. Association Journal, 65N40, 278N6 307, 308
E and
>.
Educational Reforms of Alcbar 93 94 Elizabeth, 106, 112, 196, 219 Elphinbtone, 4N5, 51N5, 157 English, 183, 184 211 Era (sec Alfi, Hijn, I unar and Solan, 71 N2 81,243,244,259 Erasmus, 308 skinc 139N2, 218N6 250N49 Estavas Rillerio, 199
Din-i-llahi,
;
,
Quran and
contemporary Sun
writings, 295-302; Practices the Din discussed, 303-304:
customs 305 308
of
Dom
Religious Couplet), 19
Dommico Parez, Do-Pyaza 137N6 *
186 (a courtier of
Original used
171
is
70.
71,
207N45
217, 230, 238. 255, 268, 269, 270
273,275,281,292,307 Falzi Sarhindi, 207, 294 Falaki, 237 Fariduddin Attar, 300 301 158, 181 186, 187, 199N35, 208N49, 254N58 283 38N33 Farughi, Farz (Compulsory), 224, 225 Fatima, 127NI. 255 Fathul Buldan, 305N50
Fatwa (Injunction), 89. 219. 221 Felix Vayle (see Islamic Culture 27N4, 30N12, 35N26, 82N32, 208N49 Festivals,
147, 151,
155,
>,
148,
156N116,
304
172,
Akbar)
Nawal Kishor's
by Shea and Troyer.
65, 139,
Farman,
the order, 306
Antonio de Norhona,
111. 117, 123, 127,
Faridun Be^, 33, 106NII
Di^iple, 21,22, 285, 289, 292 Divine Era (see Era) Divine Faith (see Din-i-Ilahi) Dogs, 222, 246, 247
Doha
Arabia) 81
II,
o
Din-i-Islam, 305
I
in
Faizifscc Allami).
it
and ceremonials, 3^4
Criticism
;
Fadk 'Date grove
(Juristic Fiqh decisions!, 218N8U), 219.252
Edition,
Lucknow; Translation
134,
is
GENERAL INDEX
326
Fiidousi, 243N47 Fire ordeal, 190N22 Fire worship (see Zoroastnans*
FirozKhan, 216N1 Firoz Tushluq, 6, 7. 228N16, 230,
Haii Abdulla, 110, 172 Haji Ibrahim (see Ibrahim Hnji H'jri Eia, 81, 220N122 243, 244 Hakim Ain-ul Mulk, 262, 274
Hakim Humayun (Human),
120,
132
235N25. 237
Hakim, Miiza Muhammad,
Fitch. 183, I97N33, 208 Forty, 257 Fraud of Jagirdars, 87-93
91,
90,
92, 93, 108N15, 241 132
Hakim Nuruddin,
Hakim-ul-Mulk, 271 Hakluyat Society Journal, 175N6 Halal (prohibited", 225 Hamadani, Qazi, 285
Freemasons, 277
French Revolution, 90
Hamida Banu Begam, 43N44 Hammer-Purgstall, 106N11 139
Hanuman,
Hanafi (a School of 85N37, 227
Gabriel, 256
Ganga
Bai, 13
GanjBaksh. Ghazni,
UN 17
Mahmud
(see
Mahmud
Gazm) 5, 230 Ghori, Sahabudd'n Muhammad, 5 Gibbon, 105N9, 245 Gita, 238 (Killer of Infidel) ,32 2 6. 13,21. 26, 27, 29,
Ghazi
God
30,
34,42,53, 72,89, 118, 146, 186, 190, 193,228,234, 266, 289, 281, 283, 287 294, 302 307, 308 Gopinath, 139 'Sikh Religious Granth Sahib Book), 164 Grierson, 140N9 Giimon.Leo, 199,200, 204 Gudai, Shaikh, 58, 108, 130 Guerreiro, 177, 178N10. 192
Gulbadan Begum. 194, Gulraj, J. P, 52N10 Gulrukh Begum, 129N4 Guru (Master), 15, 16,
Sayings,, 276, 277N3 (Prohibited), 225, 302
Happy Haram
Hari, 14N25
Harold Lamb, 32N18, 36N29 Harsha, 16 Harun-ur-Rashid, 230, 237, 246N41, 249 Hasan, 11,52, 54, 130 Hasan Nizami 5 Hayes, 11 ON 18 Hazar Shu'a, 153 Hazrat, 14N25
Hebrew, 302N56
Hemu (Hem
Chandra), 44, 50
Henry VIII,
112
Hiranand
160N9,
160
Sastri
Hira Vijaya,
195
158,
159,
160,
162,
163,
Hira Vijaya Kalyan, 159N8 Hindi, 254 Hindus, 1,3,7, 10, 12, 16, 17, 21, 34 43,46,48,49,50,51, 52, 82, 117, 118
court
176, 177
180
120,
119,
126;
at
(Traditions), 24, 80, 134, 218N8
113, 122, 130,
87,
219,
248, 281N16 Hafiz, 2, 302 Haj (Pilgrimage). 76, Haj dept., 76, Mir-i-Haj, 77, 78, 220, 253,
Hindu wives,
143,
144N21,
272 Hiran Minar, 117
Holy Roman Empire, 207
.
HajBadl,76Nl6
Horn,
the
Akbar, 135-147; 161, 203, 209, 210.213-15,223, of
224* 238. 244, 247. 248, 258, 261, 268. 271, 272, 273, 287N23, 293. 294, 303, 306 Hindu learned men, 138
H
294
162,
182, 192
164
Ha^is
of Islam),
Hera?, Father, 71N3, 116, 161N13, 163, 167, 168
Guru Shishya (Pir-Murid, Master and Disciple), 21, 22 Gustav von Buchwald, Guzman, 178NIO
Law
151, 154
Horovitz,
6N8
Hosain, Husain (Qazi), 79, 228 Howorth, 27N4, 28N7, 235N26
260, 284,
154,
327
GENERAL INDEX Hughes 39N37, 103N6 Hulaku Khan, 28
135, 136, 138, 141, 189, 190, 191, 192, 234N24, 239, 240, 262, 264, 265, 266, 295, 302, 303, 305,
Humayuri.41,42, 43,
44, 50, 83, 97, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 112, 121. 122, 129, 136, 143N18,
152N8, 213N1. 234
Hunting,
Husaini, Brahmin,
154,
Islam Shah, 2 16N1 (c). Islam Shah of Pirana 10,
247
160, 220, 231,
145,
11
178,
218, 219, 230, 241, 242, 250, 281, 284, 290, 307, 309 11
Ismail 11,97, 105, 106, 110, 121
290 Itmad Khan, 63
Ismailis,
1. H. Quarterly, 159N8, I61N13 Ibadat Khana (Iradat Khana, lyadat Khana), 67. 68, 70, 72,
76.
87.
95, 96, 106, 116, 125, 131, 132, 134. 135, 143, 145 147, 151, 154, 157, 158, 163, 165, K6, 168, 169, 171, 226. 248,
126
254,257, 266, 268, 291; Contribution to the Dini-llahi 294, 306 Iblis, 233 Ibrahim Haji, 75 221, 227, 228, 229, 230, 239 Ibrahim Qazi, 227 Ibrahim Sarhindi. 124, 138, 268 Ibrahim Shah. 21 6N1 Ibu Hasan, 94N52, 126N16 Idolaters, 49 llahi, llahia
94,
(Sectl,
-
Imam, 88 115, 128N1 Imam-iAdil 100 113,
228N16 114
Imam Malik, 78 131, 227 Imam Mehdi (see Mehdi movement)
JagircW, 46, 48. 66, 89, 217
91,
Jai Singh, 70N1 Jain, 6, 82; at the court of Akbar, 157-162. 169. 203,231, 232, 303.
304, 305, 306
Shasan* 157N106 falalKhan, 213N1 alaluddin Qazi, 79, 229 alaluddinRumi.299, 302 famaluddin. Mir, 15IN7 faina
nma't. 218N8 iami. 302 Jehad, 5 87,89, 169, 186. 191, 192.
193,211,266 |esu Chiisto (see Christ)
Incarnation, 127N1. 146,
147,
189,
248 Indian Antiquary, 309N9 Indian Review, 136N2 Initiation to the Din-i-IIahi,
Injunction,
Guru, 160
Jahaz-i-Ilahi 'Pilgrim Ship), 63N39, 77, 231,253
i
Illum'nati, 277 Illumination, 155, 6N16 Iltutmish,6. 103N6. 104
ai?ir,
Jahangir (see Salim, Prince)
(Member of the Din llahi) 263,266,288,293, 303,305, 308 258
lagat
Jahanara, 169N10
285N20
llahi Era, 223,
120N1, R.A.S., 85N35, 89N45, 121N2, 122N3. 124N16, 130N7, 144N21. 152N9, 160N9 161N2, 189N22 165N1, 168N7, 171N2 191N27, 192N28 198N34 232N20 235N28, 268NI.275N15 Jadrup Narayan, 139 Jafar Beg, 292
J
93,
241; rebellion
Ilahian
J
173, 175. at the 178-180, 237, court of Akbar 238, 290 at Jesus (see Christ) 2, 3, 82, 151 the court of Akbar, 170-212, 265,
Jesuit, 170. 171,
;
284
218N8
Insan-i Kamil. 234 Institutes of Timur (see Malfuzat-i-
Timuri, Davy's Translation) 16, 17, 21, Islam, 1,3,4,5. 6, 7 22,24,32,34,36, 38,41, 42, 57 60, 79, 80, 83, 103, 127, 128, 133,
273
lewels(NawRatan), 137N6 iezia(PollTax),7, 18,51,78, 136 jhali, (queen), 14
Joseph the carpenter, 190 Judaism, 169 170 Julian, Perreriah. 171,
172
328
GENERAL INDEX K
Kitabul Ahadis, 269
Ka'ba, 35 Kaba-i-Muradat, 302 Kabir, 13, 14,24; Dohas, Kabir Parithis, 15,22 Kaikobad, 150
Kakas (Hindu Sect), Kalema, 8, 305
Koka (see Aziz Koka) Kokultash, 137N6 Kossacks, 31 Krishna, 9
11
Kubbi Khan,
12
Kurnish, 234
Kali, 12
Kutubuddin,
Kalka Mai (Hindu goddess*, 9 Kamal, 12 Kamal Pasha, 151N5 Kamal.. 13 Kanishka, 70N1
Lakshmi, 9
Kararani, 45
Lama
Karim Shah,
,
Last Judgment
Karkaria, 148, 149 Kaioris, 78, 87 88
(see also Shariat), 125;tes of laws, 225226, 251, 271 Laotze, 70Nl(f>) Legislations of Akbar (Ains), 216-
Kayuk Khan 238 dress),
Kennedy, Pringle, 27N5, 35N27 Khafi Khan, 41, 249N48 274 Khairatpura (see 257 Khakshafa, 16 Khaiid, 38 Khalid Khani, 237
111,
250
112,
267
26N1,
25,
Leioton,
137N7.
45,
Louis, Saint, 45 Lunar Calculation
hcuse),
105,
42,
107,
127NI.
I97N33, 225, 237, 255,
267,
83.
M
110, 128,
304,
Ma'sharti, 261 Macauliff, 14N25 Machado, 208, 211 Maclagan 180 191 N26, 200, 204N41, 202,
307N5 Khalifa urRashedin,
106, 128 Khalifat ul-lillah, 7, 33 34, 104
Khalifat-uz-7aman, 111,112, 179N33 Khalsa lands, 89
84,
104,
105
Khan Jalan, 75 Khan Zama^, 59
j
j
i
Khasrau, 164
Khawbag I69N10 39,
104, 105, 106, 110,
83, 112,
84,
103,
240N35,
241
33, 41, 66. 84, 107, 111, 112, 220, 232,
Kika, 269, 270 Killing of animals Cow), 31
I99N35, 205N45,
208N47 Madad-i-Ma'ash,63, 221, 239,
268,
270
Madhu Bhatta, 139 Madhu Saraswali 136,138 Madhu Sudan, 138 Madrasa 254 (Hindu god), 9 Mahabharat (see Sacred ,
Mai?ti
Khelat, 39 Khirad Afza, 269, 273 Khodawanda, 97, 110 Khushphaham 160N11. 162
Khutba,
(sec Eia), 71N2,
243, 244
121,
Khelafa*. 32. 34.
Edward, 199
Lilabati, 138
Lohani Afghans, 45
Alms
3, 5, 7, 32, 33, 40,
85,91, 103. 104,
193
Law
Kayestha, 15
Khalifa,
194, 195
(Buddhist priest), 30, 165 Lane-Poole. 1N2, 44N1 93N49
12
Kazalbash (Head
70N1, 82,
28, 29, 30,
197, 237 Kulliyat-i Nazir, 12
87,
138. 140, 144,
Mahadev iHindu god), 14, Mahadev Physician), 136 106,
240
forbidden
(see
Books
,
269
Maham Anaga, 45, 135, Mahapurushiya Cult, 15
70,
141
145
Mahamaya, 141 Mahrnud Gawan. 49
Mahmud,
Sultan of Ghazni (also
GENERAL INDEX Sultan Mahmud), 4, 5, 6, 230, 237 16 Mahratta, Mahyarji Rama, Dastur, 118, 148, 149, 151N7, 158, 159, 181. 182 1
Mahzar
(Infallibility
Decree
of
Smith). 40N40, 65. 66. 85, 89, 97, appendix, 98-115, 155, 197N32,
221,232,239 Mai mans of Kutch, 9 ul
Mulk
(Miiza), 91
Muhammad
Maliki
Jaisi,
Mirza, 60, 109
Hakim Hasan
Hakim)
(see Ali,
12
Jani Thatta, 29, 241, 293
Rebellion, 60 Mission (to A's court) 1st, 186-198; 2nd, 198-201; 3rd, 201 211, 255 Miyan Tansen (see Tan Sen)
12,
hibl
Mongol,
5, 6, 7, 29, 31, 40, 46,
Monserate, 187N19, I92N28, 197
Lunar
see
Mansabdar, 218
Mosque
28 Man Singh, 64,214 Mansur (Khalifa), 93N51, 230, 237 Marriage (see also Mu'tah), 82,
Mu'awiya, 249 Mu'azzambashi, 38 Mu'az7in, 252, 285
of Hindu widows, 145, 220, 222, 226, 227, 228, 250, 259; registration of, 264, 272
99, 100, 101, 123,
Mangu Khan,
;
(see
Mubarak
7IN2, 243,
Mufti, 55
Mughals
Masnad-i-Imarat, 108 Masu n Khan Farankhudi, 91 Masum Khan Kabuli, 90 Mati Dhawja, 30, 31 Mazhab, 258, 261 Malta Kunbis, 1 Mehdist (see Imam Mehdi, Mehdi 1
123,
131,
290 295, 305 Milad-un-Nabi, 251 Mildenhall, 184,211 Mirabai, 24 Miradi of Amritsar, 9
Mirak of Masud, 59 Mir Habsi, 58 Mir Hakim, Moqim of Isphahan, 59
Mir i-Haj (see Haj) Mir Sayid of Jaunpur, 23
(Shaikh),
58, 131,
64, 65, 75, 268, 276,
277. 292
Mars Chamber, 51N5 Mary, 190, 266 Mary, Queen of Scots, 106 Masjid (Mosque), 85, 88, 94, 254, 282 Masjid-i-Zaiar, 273
Mas j id)
Mubariz Khan, 213N1, 290, 294
Martin, F. R., 38N32
42-I280B
190, 191,
Moon Chamber, 5 1N5 Moreland, 183, 193 Moses, 151, 170
80,
188,
Era),
Mamun, 306N5
23,
120,
128
244
Malkana, Rajput, 10 Malleson 157
movement),
156,
Modi. J f., 149N2 Mohsin Fani (see Dabistan-i-Maza-
Moon
18
Arab Husain, 79
125, 131
154,
151, 152, 118, 168, 238, 303, 304
Majlis-ul-Muminin, 133 Maktab, 88, 94 Malcom, History of Persia, 37N31, Sketch, 163N3 Malfuzat-i-Timuri (st*e Timur), 6N10, 9, 23, 36N30, 41N42, 245
Malik
MirTaqi, 238N31 Mitza Mirza Mirza Mirza
Mobed,
Ma'in-uddin-Chisti, 53, 270
Ma 'in
329
(sec Mongols), 27,29,31, 116, 143, 175, 182, 183, 188, 189, I92N28, 194,
35, 115, 185, 187,
198,207,211,276, 277N2
Muhammad, 16, 21, 32,
Prophet, 3, 5, 12, 14, 35,50, 57, 74N11, 81,
181, 189, 202, 203, 209, 222, 225, 237, 244, 245, 249, 255, 265, 273. 251, 252, 256, 284N76, 302, 306N5
85,98, 133,
Muhammad Ghaus, Shaikh, 271 Muhammad Ghori, 5 Muhammad Hakim Mitza (see Hakim)
Muhammad
Hosain
Azad
(see
Darbar-i-Akbati)
Muhammad Khodawanda, 97 Muhammad Mirak Masad, 59 Muhammad Niyazi (see Abdulla Muhammad Niyazi"! Muhammad Qilha, Khawaja, 56 Muhammad Sahdad, 292 Muhammad Tughluq, 104N6 Mujtahid,
Mukhdum
6, 80, 98,
1
Sayid Ali,
14, 227, 1 1
281
330
GENERAL INDEX
Mukhdum-ul-Mulk
Abdulla
(sec
Sultanpuri;
Mukherjee, Indian Shipping, 195N30 Mulla, 60, 62, 63, 64, 74, 75, 79, 90, 93,94, 100, 104, 112, 124, 125, 126, 131, 134, 137, 145, 152, 153, 172N3, 178, 179, 192, 217,218,
219,
229.
242,268,269,270.271,
278,291, 294, 304. 305, 307 Mulla Sher., 138, 140, 233
Muluk Shah,
197
Newbury,
Nikah. 227 Niyazi (see Abdulla Niyazi) Nizam Husain, 110
Nizamuddin
Historian), see also 166, 204, Tabqat-i-Akbari, 73, 205N57, 228N6, 252N56, 276N1 Nizamuddin Awliya, 24 Nuruddin, 92, 129
Nuruddm Ahmad, 129N4 Nuruddin Omar, 104
271
Muntakhabu-t Twarikh
(see
Bada-
132, 133
NurullaQazi.
Nuyun Karacha', 33N40
uni)
Murad, Prince,
188,
192,
193,201,
206, 237, 273 Murad IV 'Khalifal. 97, 109 Murad of Persia, 107 Muiid (see Pir Murid), 21, 22, 284
Mushkil-aan,9 Muslim 'Muhammadan, Musalman 1,3, 8,9, 13,
17,
20,
O ,
21,23.24,
Oath
109,
Omar
115N23, 118, 119, 125, I37N7, 144, 147, 155, 157, 169, 179, 180N15, 191, 208, 209, 210, 218, 219N9, 231, 244, 248,249, 251,258, 260,261,267,
249
31,34,39,40, 41,
103,
105,
111, 114, 133, 136,
271,272 Mustafa, 222, 258, 306
Mu'taH
(see Marriage), 79
of Allegiance, 240, 243
Oju, 63 (Khalifa >,
128,
237,
243,
Omar Khayyam. 243 Omar Shaikh, 39 Ommiyads,
128
Ordeal, 190^22 Oriente Conquistado, IPO Osman (Khalifa), 74N11, 128N 1,255
106,
33, 60, 83, 106
Ottoman,
Mutwali, 269N6 Muzaffar fof Tandai, 71 Muzaffar Khan. 196
3,
Pabos, 235N25
N
Padmabat, 12, 18 Padshah, 130 Padshah Nama fA. H. Lahori), 115N23
Nadir-i-Zaman, 160M1. 162 Najatur Rashid. 72N20 Nala Damayanti, 138 Namaz (see Prayer^ Namaz-i-Tuhajjud, 225
PanchPir,
Namdev,
Paramindra, 138
Painting,
155,
Parsees, Parsis (see Zoroastrian), 118, 152, 154, 155 Pathan, 7, 136 Paul, St., 186 Payne (also Du Jarric), 154N15, 176, 176N7, 177, 172N3, 176, 180, 183, 197N33, 205, 207N54,
Persian Language, 254, 255
NayabatKhan,91 30N13, 70N1
10
283N15
221, 242
Nestorian Christianity,
16
Pandit, 30, 260 Paracletes, 193
14
Nanak, 14, 22 Nara Singh, 138 Narayan Hariji Sur, 138 Narayan Mishra, 138 Nassau Lees, 275 National Magazine, 92N46 Nawruz, Nawruz-i-jalali, 142,
1
8,
9, 28, 29,
Peswa, 116 Peter Dias, 71
GENERAL INDEX Phagspa, 30 Pilgrim
'Pilgiimage),
76,
77N16,
78, 124, 162, 191, 195, 222, 231, 244,252,253, 294 Pilgrim traffic, 171N2, 217,
331
280,285, 288; quotations from Quran, 296-302, 305, 306, 307
230,
230,
R
231, 253
Pmherio,
185, 201, 207,
208,
209,
Radha, 20 Rai Das, Ravi Das,
210 22 Pir Badar, 10 Pir, 21,
Raj jab ji,
Pir Muhammad Pir Muridi (see
Khan, 5 Guiu Shishya)
Polytheism, 6
Ralph. 184
Pope
Ram, 10, 15, 18 Ramanand, 13, 24 Ramayan, 138, 248
29, 64, 84, 99, 104, 207, 208,
282 Portuguese, 55, 64, 170, 171, 172; criticism of Portuguese writers, 173, 174, 175, 178, 182, 183, 184, 185, 187, 194, 195, 197, 202, 206.
207,210, 273, 278 Portuguese possessions, 171N1 Prayers of Islam, 250 Priests, 278
256,
139
Ram Chandra, 139, 141 Ram Das, 162, 163, 164, Ram Pran Gupta, 50N5 1
248,
165, 182
137
1
Raiia Kika (see Kika), 269, 270 RasulShahi, 10 Rawat-i-Akab, 59 Rebellion of Mirzas (see Hakim) Rehatsak, 152N9, 202N38 Relacam, 176, 178N10 Roman, 120,249,290 Rudolf (&ee AquavivaJ Rubrukis, 30 Rumi Era, 243
Muhammad)
Pyam-i Amin, 74N11
(see
Rambhadia,
RamTirtha, Ramzan,
Prostitute regulation, 221, 246 Prostration (see Sijdah) Purushottam, 140
Qamargah Hunt
22
Rajput, 44, 119, 136, 271 Rakhi, 145, 155, 194
1
Poor House (See KhairatpuraJ
Prophet (see
14,
15
Hunting),
Rum
(see Jalaluddin
Rumi)
231
Qanun, 246N41 Qanun-i-Islam, 144N21, 251N53 Qaraish, 81 Qara Yusuf 33 Qaaim Kahi, 289
Qasim,
Muhammad
Bin, 3, 4
Qayemuddin, 38 Qazi,5l,61,62,
78,
90,93, 123, 127,
79,85,86, 88, 131,
132,
185,
192,217,219,227,228,260,286, 288 Qibla-i-Hajat
115,
122,
128,
130,
134,
189,
193,
230,
124, 126
Sadr-us-Sudur (see Abdu-n Nabi) Sadr Jahan's Sons, 293 50, 102, 153,
203, 218, 219; 229, 221, 222, 233N22, 255, 256, 264, 265, 270, 181,
Commentary,
190,
Sadr,51, 56,57, 63, 75, 76, 78, 85, 86 94, 101; list of Sadrs, 122,
232
Quakers, 21 Qublei Khan, 82 Quesek, 147, 194 210 Quliz Khan, 209, Quran, 1, 2, 3, 15, 21, 23, 24, ^57 74,75 77,88,97,98,99,
Saber, 24 Sachau, 31N17 Sacred Books, 138, 181, 233, 236 Sada-Sohag Sect, 9 Sadi, 296-301, 302 Sadiq Nihang, 9
Safavi, 110, 128
Sahabis,8l,305N5(o) Sahib Khan, 158 Sahibuddin Khan, 148 Sakya Pandit, 30 Salim (also Jahangir), 72, 76, 78,
332
GENERAL INDEX
117, 118, 144, 162. 176, 197, 205, 211, 223, 245, 250, 256, 259, 274, 284, 292N3, 293, 306
Salim
Chisti, 54, 58, 60, 70, 71, 72, 99, 100, 162 Salim the Grim, 97, 105, 106. 109
Salima Be gam, 129N4 Sam an (Shraman, SramarO, 15
Sangram Singh, 53N12 Sanjak, 4 Sannyasi,
32, 33,34,39,40,41,52, 53, 55,59,61,62, 76N14, 80,83,84,
Shia,
89, 93, 100, 105, 106, 107, 121; 111, 112, 113, 114, Shias at court, 127-136; 152, 169, 108,
216,227,241,242, 270,272,290, 294 Shia-i-Taj, 40, 107, 121 Shibli, Maulana, 130
1 1
45, 47, 48, 49, 50 77N18, 114, 137N7, H45, 2I6N1, 228N16, 249, 259, 260 Sheri, Mulla, 153
85.
See
Buddhism Sanatan Goswami,
Sher Shah Sur,
17
Sanskrit, 17, 20
Sibratri, 11
Sarkar, Jadunath, I44N20 Sati,223, 261 Sauras (Sun worshippers), 151 Sayid (generally spelt as Sayyad,
Sidi Ali Katibi, 84
Sayid), 101, 188,
235N28
Sayid Ahmad, 23 Sayid Hasan, 15 Sayid Khan, 210 SayidMirFathulla, 252 Sayid Muhammad of Amboa, 63 Sayurghal lands, 61, 78, 124, 218 Seals of Akbar 'see Chronogram), 228 Sekandar Lodi, 1,7, 13, 70N1, 259 Sekandar Shah, 216N1 Semitic,
16,
Simn, 81 Sijdah (see
Prostration), 220, 232, 233, 235
Sijdah-i-Tazim, 234 Sikhs at the court of Akbar, 82, 162-165; 306 Silk, 222, 249 Sitala (goddess of pox), 9 Sivaratri,
Shah Ismail ,40, 197 Shahjahan, 15N23. 185, 197N33 ShahMansur, 91, 92,240 Shah Muhammad Mirza, 278 Shahnama (Firdaus.J, 39, 248N47 Shah Rukh, 37, 97 Shah Tahmasp, 83, 87, 97, 107, 1
108, 109, 110, 112N21, 129, 240, 242 Shaikh, 6, 35, 36, 37, 72, 73, 101, 102, 234 Shaikh Ali, 23 Shaikhzada Gosla Benarasi, 293 Shaitanpura, 246
ShankarDev,
15
Shariat, 54, 55, 57, 69; -Canon of Test of, 224, 267, 271 Sharif, 101, 239 Sharif? -Festival), 155, 156N (IV) Sharif of Amal, 27 1,292, 293 Shast, 280, 285, 286 Shaving of beards, 240 Shea and Troyer (see Dabistan)
1
1
Smith author of Akbar the Great Mogul, 45N2, 59N32, 63, 65N40, 85, 88N39, 90, 93N50, 94N52, 99, i
120, 108N15, 103, 102, 152NIO, 126N16, 135, 144N1 158N4, 160N10, 161N13, 162NI5, 194, 193, 195N30, 187, 175, 199N35, 200, 203, 206, 207N45, 100,
,
21
Sen, Dinesh Chandra, 12N21 Sen, K. M., 11, 12N22. 15, 140N10 Sepoy Mutiny, 34, 103N6 Shah Baz, 22, 92
188N20,
211, 233, 240, 241, 242, 245N40, 249,251,252, 263N63, 266,275, 282,285, 291,307,308 Sokoli (see Vizier Sokoln Sradh (see Feasts after death), 222
SriBhatia, 139 Vikshu Vijaya, 166N1 St. Paul, 186 Sufi, 15, 21; Sufi terms, 22N27, 23, 25, 43, 54,69, 72 117, 120, 127, 141, 153, 256, 265 269, 270, 280,282, 284N16, 295, 296-302; 303, 304, 306 Sufi Ahmad, 292 Suleiman Karaiani, 66, 67, 70N1 (e) Suleiman of Badakshan, 68 Suleiman of Rum, 83 Suleiman Wazir, 230N 1,235 Sulh-i-Kul, 52, 88, 136 Sri
Sultan-i-Adil,
1
14
Sultan Khawaja, 110,292 Sunnat-i-Ghair Mu'kkada, 224 Sunnat-i-Mu*kkada, 221 Sunni, 32, 33, 39, 40, 41, 55, 60, 80,
82,
84,
105,
109,
110,
111,
GENERAL INDEX 112,
115,
113,
Court, 138,
227,
168,
Sunnis
121;
121-128,
at
131,
133,
134,
236,
271,
290,
Trinity (Christian),
142, 152, (Solar), 119, 154, 161, 259,270,295, 303
Trinity (Hindu), Tripathi, R. P., Tritton, 267N65
153,
153,
146
12,
15N23, 235N25
1
Turban, 285 Turks (also Turki culture), 4, 7,8, 31,35,40,83, 135, 136,
160,
161
Swastika, 286 Syriac, 305
159, 183, 216, 248, 259, 272,
5, 6,
143,
304
Turko-Afghans, 47 Tuzuk, 49 Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, 285N18, 307
T Tabarra, Modhe-Sahaba, 80N2 Tabqat-i-Akbar> (see Nizamuadin)
U
Shah Tahmasp)
Tajuddin, 220, 232, 233, 281, 294 300 Taki Shustar, 293 Tansen (Miyan Tansen), 136, 137-
N6
!
I
|
Ulag Beg, 38, 84, Ulama, 37, 55,72, 85,
1 1
1
73,
74,
81,
84,
268
Utbi, 5
Uzbeg,84, 216
Tantra,
Taqi
191,
Tulsidas, 138, 139, 181
Surdas, 139, 140, 181 Surja Shahasra Nama,
isce
190,
Tudors, 84, 285N17
Sur Dynasty, 50, 97, 216
Tahmasp
189,
266
294
Sun
333
9,
181
13
Tarikhi Af 8 hana,44Nl TarkhiAlfi, 221,244,270
V
TarikhiDaudi, 70N1 Tarikhi Firoz Shahi, 7N1 Tarikhi Ilahi, 151. 152 Tarikhi Rashidi, 106N10 Tasbih-mala, 16 Taslim, 234, 306
Tauhid
1,
228N16
Ilahi (see Din-i-Ilahi>
Terry, 210 Test Act, 240
Testament (Old*, 189 Thebes, 34N20
Thomas (Saint), 193 Thomas Rce, 184 Tiger meat, 248 Timur, 1,6,7, 31,32, 33, 35, 36, 37,39, 41N42, 44, 64, 84, 104, 105, 115, 121, 144, 159,
Vaishnavism, 12, 13, 15 Vakil, 56N24, 133, 274, 281 Vasco da gama, 174 Vayle, Felix, 30N 12, 35N26 Veda, 11, 138, 181,220,230,295 Vedanta, 21, 302 Venus, 151N6 Vikshu, 305 Vijaya Sen Suri, 159 Virgin, 176, 199,266 Vishnu, 18 Vizier Sokoli, 110,230,240 Von Noer, 157, 205, 277, 281
197,236,
W
245, 247 87, Timurids, 26, 38, 39N36, 89N42, 103, 104, 105, 108, 109, 129, 137,247 Titus, 1N3, 5N6, 121N1 Todar Mai, 64, 91, 126, 137N7, 195N30, 214
Toleration to Christians, 224,
305 Translations
(see
264,
Sacred Books)
of Transmigration 122N27, 141N14
Soul,
16,
Wajeb, 221 Wansal, 52 Wazir Jamil, 91 Wells, H. G., 28 William Kaiser, 34N24 Wine, 41,42,221,244,245 Wives, 191, 199N35 Wolsey Haig, 309N9
Worship
of Fire,
Planets,
Sun, 142, 143N18, 151N5
Stars,
GENERAL INDEX
334
X
Yusuf bin Tashfin, 104N6 Yazdi, 133
Xavier, Father, 179NI1,
185,
201,
203, 204, 206, 207,210,211
Zakat, 76N11 Zainul Abedin, 237 Zaman Khan, 59
YaHu, Ya
Hadi,
53,
59,
101,
Yakub Qazi, 78, 227 Yavana Hari Das, 1 3
Shahi)
ZiaUlla, Maulana,7l Zich-i-Ulag Beg, 38 Zikar, 53N13, 153 Zoo, 247
Yazdan, 156 Yazdi Mulla Muhammad, 133
Yodha Bai, 143, Yodhistir, 143
144
Yoga,
22N27,
143,
153,
119,
153,
239, 303 Yoga-Vasista, 138
Yogi s
,
13, 50, 117,
154, 181, 258, 259,
287
Zeus, 34 Ziauddin Barni (see Tarikh-i-Firoz
!53NI,287
9, 12, 15,
Zamin Bos, 232, 235, 285, Zamorm, 174 Zend Avesta, 140, 148
118,
287N23
Yusuf Ali, 307, 308 Yusuf of Khaput, 121
_
Zoroastrian 'see Parsees), 31, OA Court of the at 119; 118, Akbar; 147-156; 161, 166, 181, 194, 203, 216, 237, 303,
Zulqarnain, 197N33
Zunnar, 152 Z.unnardar, 7
fl
306
INDEX OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES (The numbers refer to page.s same word occurs twice or more
'
;
N
'
to
refers
in
the
When
Foot Note.
the
same page, they have been
entered only once in the Index. \
Afghanistan, 285N20 Africa, 26
Cambay, 55 Caspian Sea, 42, 132
Agra, 77NI7, 79, 94, 100, 159, 191,206,208,210
1
16,
139,
Central Asia, 42,
53,
55,
4.
13,
127,
Ahamadabad,
39, 158
236, 237, 248, 251,
Ajmer,
60,
304
1,
II,
64,76, 101, 119,
16,
167,
Ceylon, 165, 168 Chaul, 202, 206
Amboa,
Chitor, 53, 123,248,271
Childrin, 106
China,
105 135
Angora,
163 33, 105
Arabia,
4,
Amritsar,
8, 29, 30, 82, 128,
259
Constantinople (Rum), 33N21, 83, 111, 112, 121, 197N33, 240
9,
8,
27,
294, 295, 303,
122, 269, 270 Allepo, 32, 35 Allahabad, 160, 212 Amarkot, 42, 43
Amber,
26,
216, 235,
Corsica,
103,
105,
128,
34N24
150,
244, 250, 259, 304
Ardbil, 42
Armenia, 35 Asia, 31
Asirgarh 207
(Khandesh),
185,
206,
Damascus, 35, 194, 195 Deccan, 206, 208, 227 Delhi, 42, 44, 45, 50,
Assam, 15 Azar Baijan, 38
107, 108, 216, 262,
94,
103N6,
274
B Badr,
3,
265
Bagdad, 24, 25, 104,
28, 32, 37,
93N31,
205
Badakshan, 110,213
Egypt, 106,253 Europe, 5, 83, 110, 171, 174, 179, 182, 183, 191, 197N33, 198, 202, 290
Bakkar, 95
Basakwan,
Bay
1 10, 213, of Bengal, 170
Behar, 45, 89, 90, 94,
235N28 192, 240, 249,
294 Benaras, 157 Bengal, 10,
Fargana, 39, 40 Fatehpur (Sikri), 64, 70, 72N6, 78, 82, 139,
76,89,90,92,93, 192,240,252,294
13,
94, 126, 170,
172,
174,
187, 193, 198,
211
Bhagalpur, 92N46 Bhambar, 273 Bijapur, 175 Butsar, 194, 195
Ganges, 32, 92N46
Byzantium, 35
Georgia,
6, 34, 109,
110
INDEX OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
336
M
Ghazipur, 67 Ghazni, 5, 244 Ghor, 5
Madras, 9
Gilan, 132
Malwa,
Goa,
171N1,
168,
172,
173,
175,
179, 180, 182, 183,
186, 191, 194, 196, 197, 199, 200, 201, 205, 253 Guzrat, 55, 58, 64, 73, 100, 108,
148, 170, 209, 216,
253
16,
32
57, 63, 77, 101, 102, 105 125, 126, 142, 179, 191, 192, 231,
Mecca,
238, 253, 260 Medina, 63, 77, 252 Mediterranean, 32
Mewar, 16 Moscow, 32
H N
Hajipur, 94
Hamadan, 286 Hindustan (India), 31, 34,42,45, 71,83,97, I04N'6, 105, 109, 110, 112,
114.
142N16,
129,
130, 144, 148, 165,
Nagor, 58 Navasari, 148, 158. 168
136,
140
Nepal, 213
212,
216,
Nevil,
77N16
217,232,245,259,260,265
Orissa, 45
India 'see Hindustan) Iran see Persia)
Ormuz, 191N24 Oudh, 92
Panipat, 44, 89 Paris,
Jaunpur, 90, 93 Jerusalem, 3
Jumna,
70N1
Patna, 150 Pekin, 32, 70N1
1
Persia, 22, 39, 41, 42, 52,83,84, 85, 97, 103, 104, 105, 107, 108,
K
109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 121, 128, 129, 130, 135, 150, 155, 240,
244, 250, 283, 294, 304, 305
Kabul, 83, 93, 105, 107. 158, 159 Kankrnkhari, 148 Kashmir, 1, 44, 168, 204, 216, 234, 308
Poland, 32 Poona, 116, 151N17 Portugal, 186, 187
Katl.ivvar,
162
Punjab, 240
Khandesh
'see Asirgarh)
Puskar,
8,
9,
10,
11
Qandahar, 93,
95,
25, 132, 133 Lahore, 11, 133, 161. 163, 164, 193,
Laban,
202, 203, 204, 208, 209, 210, 211, 253, 266, 269, 286
Lisbon,
165, 186,
London, 308
205
12,92,94, 192,
Ranthambar, 234
Rome, 198N34,201
107,
109,221
INDEX OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Rum
(Constantinople*, 137 Ru3sia, 31, 259
33, 83, 103,
III, 112, 121,
Sahibganj, 92 Samarkand (Samarqand), 83, 115, 129
Sarhind, 44, 89, 288 Sassaram, 48 Seistan, 35 Shiraz, 245 252 Sikri (ace Fatehpur) Sind, 22, 43, 200, 261, 295 Sirusti,
Tabriz, 295 Teliaghari, 92 Thatta, 241, 293 Tibet, 25, 65, 168 Transoxiana, 43, 110, 129, 155 Turkey, 99, 105, 250
U Ukraine, 31
I
I04N6, 201, 202, 205 Surat, 64, 171, I95N30 Spain,
104,
Surin, 213 Syria, 3
4,
43-I280B
Vijaynagar, 45,
337
u
4j
i
Q.
