Nguyen
Tran Tien*
Abstract:
Abu‟l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar
popularly known as Akbar the Great
(1556-1605) is considered as one of the greatest Mughal emperors for his
achievements in the military, politics,
and administration. In fact, he was the real founder of the empire after his victory at the Second Battle of
Panipat in 1556 AD. The victory has paved the
way for Akbar to become the sole emperor in the Indian sub-continent and
continued to wage wars against the Hindu
rajahs. During his reign, Akbar was credited with his liberal ideas and religious policies. These religious
policies emerged from different internal and
external factors and his success stemmed from his religious policy that
was based on Sulh-i Kul (universal peace
and harmony between all his subjects regardless with their social, ethical or religious identities). In 1582
A.D, he propounded a new religious ideology
namely the Din-i Ilahi (Religion of God). This was a syncretic religious
movement and was one of the most
substantial dimensions of mutual interaction and relationship between Hinduism and Islam.
This
paper aims to examine the factors influencing Akbar’s religious policy and
to critically analyze Akbar’s
Din-i-Ilahi and Sulh-i Kul by dealing with its basic features and virtues which shaped his attitudes towards
other religious and social groups.
Keywords:
Mughal empire; Akbar; religious policy; Din-i-Ilahi; Sulh-i Kul.
Received
5th March 2018; Revised 2nd April 2018; Accepted 30th April 2018
1.
Introduction
The Mughal empire was a great Muslim power in the Indian subcontinent. The advent of the Mughal rule in India brought in the rich culture and ethical changes. Historically, the Mughal era can be divided into two periods, namely the consolidation and glory period (1526-1707) and the decline period (1707-1857). During the glorious period of the empire‟s history, India was ruled by Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb. The second half of Mughal‟s period witnessed the decline of the Mughals, particularly after the demise of Aurangzeb in 1707 at a time when the Mughal empire was weak and besieged by serious resistance from the Hindus, power struggle among the royals, weakness, and incompetence of the rulers and invasion and intervention by foreign powers, particularly from Europe.
Among
the Mughal emperors, Akbar was not only
a great conqueror but a capable
organizer and a great administrator as well. In 1556 AD, a 13-year-old boy who would come to be known as Akbar the Great assumed the throne of the Mughal Empire. With “bright flashing eyes,” a legendary military prowess, and a distinctly strong
personality, “one could easily recognize
even at first glance he was King” (Tancred Borenius 1943: 68). He set up a host of institutions that proved to be the
foundation of an administrative system
that operated even in British India
(Thorpe 2009: 76). Akbar‟s rule also
stands out due to his liberal policies
towards the non-Muslims, his religious
innovations, the land revenue system and
Mansabdari system became the basis of
Mughal military organization and civil
administration. Akbar‟s ability to
mobilize the Mughal army and conquer
Hindu kingdoms one by one undefeated was
a feat not attained by anybody before him. Because of this achievement, Akbar was recognized as the greatest Mughal ruler
and given the accolade „Akbar The
Great‟.
Many
historians agreed that Akbar was the
greatest Mughal Emperor of all (Lee
2010: 51). Akbar consolidated his empire by marrying Hindu princesses from Rajputana and other powerful Hindu provinces. He also founded his own Sufi order dedicated to “divine monotheism” and wanted to found
a society based on “universal peace.”
This is attributed to Mughal‟s achievement
during his rule which saw the empire
extended to the entire of India.1 As a
strong personality and a notable ruler,
Akbar gradually expanded the empire to
annex Afghanistan with the Indian
peninsula. To unite the vast empire as
well as to protect peace and order in a
culturally and religiously diverse state,
he adopted a distinctive political and
religious policy. Akbar first established his control over the scattered land then weld
his collection of different states,
different races and different religions
into a whole. For achieving this aim,
Akbar firstly improved a religious
policy and did his socio-cultural
reforms. Akbar was tolerating other
religions. He did not discriminate other
religions but focused on the ideas of peace, unity, and tolerance. Akbar accepted all
his subjects equally regardless of their
religious identities and cultural
backgrounds. This religious policy was
based on the doctrine of Sulh-i Kul
which means universal peace as well as
tolerance for every individual and
considered himself the ruler of all of his subjects, including Muslims, Hindus, and followers of other faiths. Akbar did not persecute not-Muslims nor attempt to convert them to Islam. He observed Hindu festivals, sponsored and placed Hindus
in positions in his court and army,
and abolished jizya (the tax on
non-Muslims) and became a vegetarian and
quit hunting (a sport he greatly
enjoyed) so as not to offend Hindus.
Akbar financed Hindu temples and
established a “House of worship,” where
representatives from all religions could
meet. For this purpose, he firstly fulfilled various significant implements regarding with religious social, imperial and
political issues which had an important
role in the development of his religious
policy and thoughts (Rizvi 1975:
409).
2.
Social and religious background for the
formation of Akbar’s religious policies
The
development process of Akbar’s religious
policy was a result of his interaction
with not only Muslim society but other
religious groups as well as local
prominent rulers. His religious policy was considered as one of the most liberal exponents of the policy of toleration
among all Hindu and Muslim rulers in
India. Therefore, to understand Akbar‟s
religious policies, one should also pay
attention to the religious challenges posed to him during his reign.
Akbar,
whose parents were followers of the
Sunni Hanafi way of Islam,2 was firstly
affected by his religious environment and background. The attitudes of narrow minded,
as well as world seeking Muslim ulemas,
had an important role to shape his
religious mind and policy. His early days were spent in the backdrop of an
atmosphere in which liberal sentiments
were encouraged and religious
narrow-mindedness was frowned upon
(Chandra 2007: 253). In his childhood,
Akbar had come in contact with Islam and
Sufism. He was educated by scholars who
were the follower of Shia tradition. His
childhood tutors, who included two Irani
Shias, made an important contribution to
Akbar‟s later inclination towards
religious tolerance. From his early age,
therefore, Akbar was exposed to Sufism
and Shia doctrines (Habib 1997: 81).
It
was also during his period that
conflicts were both inter-religious and intra religious. One of the
major intra-religious conflicts was
between the Shia and Sunni sects. Mughal
emperors clearly had a close association
with the Sunnis but followed a policy of
tolerance, unlike their contemporary
Islamic states. Meanwhile, a large
number of Shia migrations from the
Safavid state took place, which followed a very orthodox policy. Despite the high salaries of the Mughal court and
open-policy of the state, the conflict
between these two sects intensified. In
the beginning, Akbar was also inclined
towards the sect of Mahadawis. The
followers of this sect believed that the
advent of a Mahdi or a messiah was
forecasted and did not agree with the
fact that the Prophet Mohammad was the
last prophet. This easily identifiable
class was not well inclined to Mughal rule and could be easily be accused of
disloyalty as well as of unorthodoxy.
The orthodoxy saw them as heretics, but
the Mughal state did not persecute them
for a very long time. As a result,
Akbar‟s religious policies were implemented
in the background of such religious
challenges, of which the most crucial
one was the change in the relationship
and the constant struggle between the
emperor and the ulema.
Akbar
remained a staunch Sunni Muslim during
the period 1556 and 1562. He continued
the practices of Islamic tenets as a
devout Muslim and prayed five times a day, kept fast in the holy month of Ramazan
and honored the ulemas of Islam. He
never hesitated to punish the opponents
of Islam. However, his views gradually
changed after 1562 and one of the other
important factors was the development of
the Din-i Ilahi, Akbar’s religious
policy. Din-i Ilahi was Akbar’s a
special inclination and sympathy for the
society of various social identities
such as Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians as well as a close association with religious leaders like Brahmins, missionaries,
monks, and priests. With Din-i Ilahi,
Akbar aimed to express his tolerance to
all kinds of religious systems.
As
for the Rajputs and Hindus, his Rajput
views and contact with Hinduism made an
impression on his imaginative mind. An
astute ruler who genuinely appreciated
the challenges of administering such a
vast empire, Akbar introduced a policy
of reconciliation and assimilation of
Hindus (including Maryam al-Zamani, the
Hindu Rajput mother of his son and heir,
Jahangir), who represented the majority of the population. He recruited and
rewarded Hindu chiefs with the highest
ranks in government. He came into close
contact with the Hinduism and had
regular meetings and discussions with
Hindu leaders. He was impressed by their
strong philosophical solution on the
nature of man, the creation of world and
existence of god and then he ordered to
translate Hindu religious literature and
history into Persian. As a result of
close association with Hindus and
translation of some Hindu sacred texts to Persian or Arabic, Muslims
began to obtain some important knowledge
on Hindu religion and their history.
This process, on one hand, enabled to
some informed Muslims to discuss with
Hindus in a true manner, on the other
hand, caused to reveal a new section
among the Muslims who were called
“muselman hindu ve mizaj”, Hindu minded Muslims (Siddique 2001: 97). Akbar’s deep intimacy with Hindus, especially with Raja Birbal and some converted Hindus like Bhavon played a significant role to lead him away from
the orthodox way of Islam.
From
the beginning of the fifteenth century,
the Bhakti movement had created a new
religious and political environment in
India. As a result, a lot of rulers in various parts of India adopted a more liberal
policy of religious tolerance,
attempting to set up communal harmony
between Hindus and Muslim. By the impact
of Bhakti thinkers, who particularly
emphasized on the devotion of Hindu gods
like Rama and Krishna, Akbar also
appreciated the value of Hindu gods and
goddesses. He made some coins in which
pictures of Ram and Sita were engraved.
These liberation and quality songs are
sung by the teachers and popular gurus
of the Bhakti movement such as Guru
Nanak, Kabir, and Chaitanya. These outstanding and effective ideas of
Bhakti leaders have also impacted the
development of Akbar’s religious
attitudes towards others. (Chandra 2007:
253). Moreover, in the process of
improvement of his religious discourses
and ideas other religious traditions and
their imminent leaders such as Christian
missioners and Jainist monks had an
important role (Siddique 2001: 109). So,
in order to understand his unique religious policy of the Din-i-Ilahi and to carry out
a critical evaluation of his religious
policy the factors impacted on his mind
should be clearly analyzed.
3.
Akbar’s religious policy of Din-i Ilahi
and Sulh-i Kul and its features
Akbar‟s
religious policy of peace, harmony, and
synthesis among all the religions did
not emerge all of a sudden but after a
long process. This is the reason why his
religious policies can be understood in
diverse manners as representing a much
wider change in Akbar‟s perspective on
religion and the development of his religious ideas. We can also link the changes that were introduced in the organization of
the Mughal government and religious
policy to the structure, composition,
and changes under Akbar or a changing
attitude towards the ulema and divides
Akbar‟s reign in the context of his
religious ideas.
At
the beginning of his reign (1556- 1574), Akbar seems to be in agreement
with the Islamic orthodoxy. There is
also a tentativeness in the manner in
which he dealt with different groups. He
made serious departures from the
traditional Sunni system of government.
In 1562, the pilgrimage tax on Hindus
was abolished. Abu Faz‟l informs us
about the abolishment of Jiziya in 1564 (a
tax on non-Muslims), and also the
abolishment in the practice of enslaving the
prisoners
of war and their families. These changes
had great political implications. In
this context of the political challenges, Akbar had to face the side of his Turani nobility and had to look for new support groups and he turned to Rajputs as possible allies. Jiziya was thus abolished in order
to win them over. However, even
after adopting liberal policies as such,
not all Rajput groups joined him. As a
result, Akbar had to change stance and
took some aggressive measures against
the Rajputs in 1567. Also, in the same
year, Chittor was attacked, and in a
Fathenama issued by him after the
victory, identified it as a jihad,
subjugation of the infidels. In 1569, a farman was issued to the
Muhtasib of Bilgram, to stamp out all
kinds of infidel worship (idol worship)
in his pargana.
Despite
these policies were in favor of the
Hindus, Akbar remained largely Islamic.
The nobility was also dominated by
Muslims. His inclination towards the
leading orthodox Sunni personalities
prevented any overt break with the ulema
and he gave them full and independent
control over the religious affairs.
Meanwhile, dominant scholars included Makhdumul Mulk Sultanpuri and
Shaikh Abdul Nabi, were highly
conservative Sunni Mullahs. This period
kept Akbar quite busy because of his
several military conquests, and reforms
implemented in revenue, military, and
other sectors. Thus, ulema had full
control over affairs and were never
satisfied with Akbar‟s concessions. Under these elements, the non-conformists
groups like the mahadawis were also
persecuted.
During
the period of 1574-1580, there gradually
emerged a tangible change in Akbar‟s
religious beliefs. In his early age,
Akbar had held a special interest in the
spiritual matters and felt that the orthodox view of Islam was not giving him the needed
answers. Hence, this was a period of
intense discussions and introspection which led to radical change in his religious
views that affected his future policies.
His growing awareness of repercussions
of the traditional orthodox Sunni
dominance over his administration
compelled him to an active search for
new solutions. He, therefore, encouraged
the emergence of a new elite group.
Furthermore, Akbar was very much aware
of this diversity in the country of
India. It would not be possible for him to rule the country with the support of any
one group. As a result, after the
Gujarat campaign, he had to bring all on
one platform by establishing the Ibdad
Khana,3 in 1575 at Fatehpur Sikri in 1575.
With
the help of Shaikh Mubark and his sons
Faizi and Abdul Fazal, Akbar collected a
library of books on history, religion,
philosophy and sciences (Mahajan 1965:
93). These were read out and explained to him by Faizi. The result was that
Akbar‟s views on religion became very
liberal and he wanted to go deep in
religious matters4. After long discussions
between religious leaders, it was
concluded that salvation is to be
achieved only by the knowledge of Truth
and by following the precepts of the “Great Namus” i.e. reason (Rizvi 1975: 411-12).
In Akbarname the explanation of the
emperor on the building of the “Ibadat
Khana” was cited as follows: I have
organized this “majlis” (gathering) for
this aim only that the facts of every religion,
whether Hindu or Muslim, be brought out
in the open. The closed hearts of our
(religious) leaders and scholars be
opened so that the Muslims should come
to know (essentially) who they are.
Because most of them, unfortunately, are
unaware of their religion... (Rezavi
2008: 197).
The
purpose of Ibadat Khana was to resolve
disputes within groups through
discussions. Initially, it was open only for the Muslim sects, but later it was opened
to the representatives of other
religions and faiths too. The exponents
of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism,
and Christianity began to be invited. All the
scholars were given due respect. Akbar had a keen interest in the religious and intellectual debates and discussions and
thus took part in them in the hope that
he would educate himself in spite of the
fact that he never got a chance to
formally educate himself. Abu Fazl, the
Grand vizier of the Mughal emperor
Akbar, and author of the Akbarnama, the
official history of Akbar's reign
recorded that these discussions very
useful, which according to him guided the people away from the darkness and enlightened them. These deliberations
were not conducted only for the sake of
inquiry and search but most of the
participants hoped for a way to obtain
favors and promotions from the court. As
far as the composition of the
intellectuals is concerned, Ibadat Khana included scholars from across the religions. Special
efforts were made to associate
distinguished Sufis with the activities
of Ibadat Khana. The debates were open
to the Shias as well, Hindus were also
being favored as the new alliance was budding
between the crown and the Rajputs. Akbar
also invited Zoroastrian priests, Jesuit
missionaries, and Jain priests to widen
the scope of discussions. However, later
we find that the confluence of different
ideas led to confusion and led the debate to no conclusion. Thus, as professor R.P
Tripathi
says, ”[i]nstead of bringing credit, the
Ibadat Khana brought growing discredit” (Chandra 2005: 171). Thus, Akbar
himself became convinced of the futility
of these debates and finally closed the
Ibadat Khana. However, for the time
being, Akbar found that the debates in
the Ibadat Khana were not helpful in
leading to better understanding between
different religions, rather they created
bitterness. Hence in 1582, he
discontinued the debates.
In
1579, Akbar became Imam-i-Adil or the
final interpreter of Muslim Law5and
issued Infallibility Decree (Mahazarnama). He views that if Muslim intellectuals
will have a different opinion on an
issue, then as religious head and ruler
of state will choose any one decision.
However, his search for the common
ground for all religions was not over.
He continued to explore and search for
truth. In this, he invited saints of different religions and had a discussion with
them.6
In
1579, Akbar‟s break from the orthodoxy
is also symbolized with the propagation
of the Mahazarnama. This document, like
a petition, was presented by the ulema
gave the Crown the right to accept any
position in case there is conflict among
the orthodoxy. This made it clear that
Akbar‟s position was higher than that of the mujtahid, the interpreter
of the holy laws. By issuing this
decree, Akbar was in favor of weakening
the powers of the ulemas and Mullahs
(The term mullah is primarily
understood in the Muslim world as a term of respect for an educated religious man).
He wanted to combine in himself both
political and spiritual powers.
According to the decree, Akbar became
the supreme arbiter in civil and
religious affairs. This declaration was
signed by leading divines. Akbar himself
began to read the Khutba (earlier read
by the Imam of the Mosque) from the
pulpit of a Fatehpuri Mosque.
Many
historians had different opinions on the
meaning and its consequence of the
decree. It is perceived as an infallibility decree, influenced by papacy, stating
that Akbar was influenced by the
Jesuit propagators. I.A. Khan opines
that Mahzar can only be understood if we look at Akbar‟s general attitude of promoting
and befriending the Indian Muslims. He
wanted to show that he would not accept
any orthodox, sharia law which lacked a
logical reason. S.R. Sharma argues that
Mahzar was introduced to replace the
sharia laws (Rizvi 1975: 157). Nurul
Hasan has discussed Mahzar at different
levels in which Akbar never sided with
any one Islamic sect and made the Mughal
state all inclusive, unlike the Ottomans
who sided with the Sunnis or the Persians
who favored the Shia sect. At the
political level, Mahzar made it possible
for the king to deal with the ulema and, keep the nobility under his influence and
also placing himself above the sharia
law interpretations. The real
significance of Mahzar, it seems, was
that it was the first effective
declaration of the principles of Sulh-i
Kul which Akbar had decided to implement
firmly (Chandra 2005: 174). Hence, we
can see a final breakup between Akbar
and the ulema orthodoxy.
During
the period of 1581-1605, Akbar‟s
religious beliefs are defined by the
crystallization of Akbar‟s ideologies. To consolidate his political position and to reach
an understanding among his people, Akbar
introduced the idea of a new religion
known as Din-i-Ilahi (Divine Faith), a
conception of a new religion combining the virtues of other religions. It seems
that Akbar wanted to utilize religion
for his political advantage. When the
empire expanded and included people of
different religious faith, it is necessary
for him to broaden the base of the
empire. Therefore, he tried to establish
a composite governing class which would
not be discriminated on the grounds of
religion as can be clearly seen in the
case of assimilating the Rajputs into
the nobility7.He was accused of
completely abandoning Islam and created
his own religion of which he was the leader. Meanwhile, the focus of Akbar‟s
religious beliefs was his faith in Din-i
Ilahi that based largely on the
philosophies of Ibn-i Arabi. After he
acquainted himself thoroughly with the
principles and practices of different
religions through listening to the debates and discussions of religious
philosophers and scholars and watching
their lives. Abu Fazl links Din-i-ilahi
with the concept of Akbar being a
spiritual guide of the people. He opines
that the intention of Din-i Ilahi was to
find a common ground between the din or
the religion and the duniya or the
materialistic or non-spiritual affairs.
During
this period, there was a negative
discourse about Islam and it was argued that Islam with its own entire aspects was not
a valid religion until the day of
judgment. Badauni opines that “According
to Majesty, it was settled fact that the
one thousand years since the time of the
mission of the Prophet, which was to be
the period of the continuance of the
faith of Islam, were now completed,
which he treated in his heart. (Badauni
1898: 327) After persuading with this
idea, Akbar seemed to change and design
ordinances of Islam. The outcome of his
deliberations was the Din-i Ilahi at the
beginning of 1582 (Siddique 2001: 115).
The
fundamentals of the teachings of
Din-i-Ilahi can be found in his ideological beliefs and religious practices. With Din-i
Ilahi, all followers of the religion must
believe in the oneness of God and must
prostrate before Akbar. Akbar is a viceroy of God who always receives the guidance
of truth and strength. In daily rituals,
fire and sun worship is encouraged.
Sunday is the official day of worship.
The Islamic greeting of al-Salam
„Alaykum is replaced by Allahu Akbar
while Wa„alaykum al-Salam is replaced by
Jalla Jalaluhu. As the head of the
religion, Akbar is prohibited from eating
all kind of meat or flesh and is forbidden to have intercourse with pregnant women,
old women, the infertile and girls who
have not come of age. These teachings
were implemented to make Din-i-Ilahi a
success to some extent. However, it
failed to achieve its objectives because
Muslim majorities opposed the new
religion which was considered to be
deviant and pro-Hindu.8 Followers of Din-i-Ilahi amounted to his adherents who were mainly made up of the
officials at the palace.
The
principles of the Din-i Ilahi were also indirectly referred to in Dabistan-i
Mazahib in the chapter entitled “Ilahiya
Beliefs”. It deals with a huge religious
discussion between Sunnis and Shias as well as other religious groups held in the presence of Akbar. The outcome of their religious discussions was to point out
that only by the knowledge of truth and
by following the precepts of the
reason, salvation could be achieved.
Renunciation and non-attachment of the
world; avoiding from lust and
sensuality; refraining from adultery,
deceit, oppression, unethical traits, intimidation,
foolishness; and emancipation from the
punishment of the hereafter and doubts
about the truth are all dependent upon
obeying the virtues. The virtues of the
Din-i-Ilahi listed as follows:
(i)
Liberality and beneficence; (ii)
Forgiveness of the evil-doer and repulsion of anger with mildness; (iii) Abstinence from worldly desires; (iv) Care of
freedom from the bonds of the worldly
existence and violence, as well as
accumulating precious stores for the
future real and perpetual world; (v)
Wisdom and devotion in the frequent
meditation on the consequences of
actions; (vi) Strength of dexterous prudence in the desire of marvelous actions; (vii)
Soft voice, gentle words, pleasing
speeches for everybody; (viii) Good
treatment with brethren, so that their
will have the precedence to our own;
(ix) A perfect alienation from creatures
and the material world, and a perfect
attachment to the Supreme Being; and (x)
Dedication of soul in the love of God
and, very close a union with god, the
preserver of all, that as long as the
soul may think itself with the Merciful
One until the time of separation from its worldly body (Mezahib 1904: 322)9.
However,
one cannot see the Din-i-Ilahi concept
as being developed into a new religion,
as it had no formal rituals, beliefs or
the holy books like the other religions. It
can be seen as Akbar‟s personal faith, which he welcomed people to join in.
Therefore, the biases of contemporary
accounts, calling Akbar a heretic has no
basis. This proves that he did not
abandon Islam, the accusations were all
from the bitter ulema, who were
complaining about the curbs put on their
revenue grants and political ambitions
and could not digest the fact that Akbar
had moved away from their influence of
an orthodox form of religion.
The
basic sources on Din-i Ilahi often
indicate the example of Birbal, a Hindu
voluntarily joined to the Din-i Ilahi, to demonstrate Akbar’ s religious tolerance
and freedom (Lal 1966: 242). It is
suggested that Akbar made no attempt to
use the authority of the state to spread
his religion. As tolerance for all human
being is one of the main core principles
of Islam and it has already ordered in
various verses of Quran. On the other
hand, it stated that such a person had
played an important role to mislead the
emperor from orthodox Islamic tradition.
Akbar,
probably, became aware of this Islamic
principles and values. As the historical
documents revealed, however, Akbar was
influenced by Indian culture and other
religious groups more than his Islamic
background. Therefore, when declared his
religious ideas, he attempted to differ from some Islamic concepts that are why he
was criticized by many Muslim
theologians. Nevertheless, by examining
virtues of the Din-i-Ilahi it is
possible to confirm that Akbar benefited
from basic sources of Islam, Quran, and
Sunnah when he built his religious
thoughts. When he criticized some Muslim
ulemas for their intolerance and
unconsciousness attitudes, Akbar also
referenced to “tahqiq” (sincere) belief of Islam. Even though he introduced some implements against Islam, he continued to hold in high regard many Islamic institutions and utilized them when he proposed his religious ideologies. The mutual interaction and close resemblance between Islamic values as well as his religious ideas, however, were
deliberately and not overlooked by some
scholars who had a bias or limited
knowledge of Islam.
After
Din-i Ilahi, Akbar introduced Sulh i Kul as the official policy of the
empire. The dynamic element in Akbar‟s
religious policy found its powerful
expression in his anxiety to study religious
orders other than his own. Max Muller
calls him the first student of
comparative religions. One essential condition
for comparative religious studies is
sympathy for all religions and antipathy
for none (Singh 1996: 140). By
propounding his doctrine Sulh-i-Kul, Akbar emphasized on the peaceful coexistence of
people belonging to different religious
communities. But this liberal attitude was interpreted as hostility towards Islam by
his orthodox critics (Nizami 1989: 215).
Sulh-i Kul is an Arabic term literally
meaning “peace with all,” “universal
peace,” or “absolute peace,” drawn from
a Sufi mystic principle, it described a
peaceful and harmonious relationship
among different religions. In keeping
with efforts to mesh the diverse populations
of his realm, Akbar proposed unity and
peace among all human beings. The
concept implies not just tolerance, but
also the sorts of balance, civility,
respect, and compromise required to
maintain harmony among a diverse
population. Jahangir, Akbar‟s son, described his father‟s policy of Sulh-i Kul in the following words: As in the wide expanse
of the divine compassion, there is room
for all classes and the followers of all
creeds, so … in his Imperial dominions,
which on all sides were limited only by
the sea, there was room for the
professors of opposite religions, and
for beliefs, good and bad, and the road
to intolerance was closed. (Shireen
Moosvi 1994: 123). Sunnis and Shias met in one mosque and Christians and Jews in one church to pray. He consistently followed
the principle of “universal peace”
(Sulh-i Kul) Sulh-i Kul‟ was his policy of reconciliation and liberalism in
religious matters. Sulh-i Kul was also
the product of the synthetic effect of
the Bhakti and Sufism and he was greatly
influenced by his Hindu mother, his
guardian and tutor Bairam Khan and Abdul
Latif. His contact with philosophers and
scholars like Sheikh Mubark and his sons
Faizi and Abdul Fazal, his contact with
Rajputs, his contact with other
religions and his political ambition to
expand and strengthen his empire with the cooperation of all religions. It was a
liberal philosophy, which translated as
the universal peace. In fact, some
scholars identify „Din-i-Ilahi‟ with
„Sulh-i Kul.‟ He watched the good men
professing different creeds and „Sulh-i
Kul‟ seemed to be the only solution of
developing harmony and friendship among
followers of different faiths. In the
field of interfaith dialogue, tolerance
plays an important role in constructive
interactions, so the concept of Sulh-i
Kul has great potential relevance to
discussions of intercultural dialogue
specifically, and cultural diversity more generally. It meant to inform everyone
about the main spiritual truth. This can
only be done by a sovereign who is a
representative of God. Abu Fazl‟s Ain-i
Akbari, put forward the theory of
Rawa-i- Rozi or the social contract
between the king and his subjects. It
suggested that like a god, a king should
not discriminate, in giving his rewards
amongst his subjects, on the basis of
religion they follow. The sovereign, thus,
had to follow the idea of a Insaan-i-Kamil or the perfect man who adopts and favors
the idea of tolerance. Therefore, we
find that the king, even if he did not
agree with the ideas and practices of
other religions, he should still uphold
the theory of Sulh--Kul and treat everyone equally. Evidence of this
practice comes from the fact that Akbar
disliked and thought poorly of his
finance minister, Raja Todar Mal as he
was a devoted image worshiper and Akbar
believed that the god was besurat
(limitless or formless). Regardless of
this, Akbar gave large grants of land to
temples. Hence, the theory of Sulh-i Kul
propagated by Akbar denied the temporal
practices of the Din and wanted to replace it with the declaration of
reason, rationale and also the rejection
of superstition. Sulh-i Kul was an idea
which was a result of Akbar‟s
experiences in while he quenched his
thirst of gaining spiritual knowledge
over the years, by different media like
being close with the ulemas, instituting
Ibadat Khana, Mahazarnama, the heavy
influence of Sufi Chisti silsilas and
many others. Thus, Sulh-i Kul was created to describe universal peace,
specifically with regard to interfaith
tolerance and equal treatment for all,
regardless of religious beliefs. In the
field of interfaith dialogue, tolerance
plays an important role in constructive
interactions, so the concept of Sulh-i
Kul has great potential relevance to
discussions of intercultural dialogue
specifically, and cultural diversity more generally. Given continuing religious conflicts matched to the reality of
cultural pluralism, it seems useful to
resurrect this historic term as a modern
tool. The concept also has the potential
for discussions of such concrete
contexts as managing a multicultural
workforce.
Though
Akbar had a dominating spiritual side to
him, which was clearly reflected in his
religious policies, one cannot deny the
fact that not always all of his policies were made with only this contemplation. The policies were largely propelled politically, which by the last phase is clearly
expressed in the theory of Sulh-i Kul,
the theory of absolute peace, where the
subjects were not allowed to quarrel
with each other and were to follow their
spiritual sovereign who‟ll guide them to
the ultimate truth. The Divine Faith had
far-reaching consequences. It totally
changed the character of Muslim rule in
India. Akbar‟s foremost aim was the
union of Hindustan under one head which
was difficult to achieve had he persecuted all non-Islamic religions. To accomplish such a union, it was necessary for him
to conquer and respect all consciences,
and all methods of worshipping the
almighty.
4.
Conclusion
Akbar‟s
success in unifying India under a single
rule namely the Mughal Empire placed him
among the greatest leaders in Mughal
history. Akbar ruled for nearly a half
of century. As a “workaholic” who seldom
slept more than three hours a night, he
personally oversaw the implementation of
his administrative policies, which were to
form the backbone of the Mughal Empire
for more than 200 years. He busied himself in the administration of justice, and
made fitting regulations for the
founding of empire and the cherishing of
subjects (Mubarak 1902 : 315). He
continued to conquer, annex, and
consolidate a far-flung territory
bounded by Kabul in the northwest,
Kashmir in the north, Bengal in the east, and beyond the Narmada River in the south-an area comparable in size to the Mauryan empire some eighteen centuries earlier. Akbar‟s religious policy and his
treatment towards the Hindus healed
strife and bitterness and produced an
environment of harmony and goodwill
where there had been racial and
religious antagonism of a most
distressing character. Thus, because of his ideal of cultural synthesis and
religious diversity, Akbar reserved a
unique place for himself in Indian
history.
Foot
Nots
1
See more: Bosworth, C.E. 1967. The Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and
Genealogical Handbook. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
2
The Hanafi school is one of the four religious Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence (fiqh). It
is named after the scholar Abū Ḥanīfa
an-Nu„man ibn Thābit, a tabi„i whose legal views were preserved primarily by
his two most important disciples, Abu
Yusuf and Muhammad al Shaybani.
3
The term was translated as the House of Worship or house of worship, gathering for
searching/realization of the Truth.
4
For this he thought of providing a meeting ground for discussion between Sunnis and Shias as well
as other religious groups such as Jews,
Christians and Hindus held in the
presence of Akbar.
5
At the suggestion of Shaikh Mubarak, Akbar decided to become Mujtahid. He was to act as the supreme
arbiter in religious matters. In 1579,
Shaikh Mubarak produced a document in
his own handwriting which was drafted in
such a way that Akbar became the supreme arbiter in civil and ecclesiastical matters.
6
After this discussion, Akbar came to conclude that the things are common in all the religions in
term of basic principle and final
objective. This was a conclusion and the
integration of these two led to the birth of the new religion ie. Din-i-Illahi in the later period
of his reigny.
7
The Kachhwahas were the first Rajput clan to join Akbar and also helped in the war against the
other Rajput clans as seen in the
Chittor campaign.
8
The opposition even came from Akbar‟s own ulema, among them was Mullah Muhammad Yazdi,
who supported Akbar‟s younger
step-brother, Mirza Muhammad Hakim, to
be the new Mughal ruler, considering
Akbar had deviated from the true teachings of
Islam.
9 Though it is mostly ascribed to Muhsin Fani, the recent studies have been revealed that the writer of the text is not clear. It is also argued some scholars that in fact this book seems to have been written by Zulfaqar Ardastani. See more: Rizvi, S. A. A. (1975). Religious and intellectual history of the Muslims in Akbar’s reign with special .
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