By: Abhimanyu Kalsotra (MA Medieval History, CHS, JNU ,Email: abhimanyukalsotra5401@gmail.com )
The
institution of Kingship was the central and most essential feature of the
state. Kingship reached its zenith
during the reign of Akbar as there came about the formation of newer views from
Islamic tradition amalgamated with the
Indic traditions of the subcontinent which started a cross-cultural and socio-religious appeal to an audience not
just in cosmopolitan setting but elsewhere as well.
The
focus of this paper would be on how Mughal kingship was based on ideas derived
from religion. The scope of the paper
would be limited to the reign of Akbar from 1556-1605 CE. Furthermore, the political theory as
constructed by Abu’l Fazl would be considered to look at how religious notions shaped kingship. Akbar’s
policy of religious tolerance based on principles of sulh-i kul or ‘Absolute peace’ and the
imperial discipleship based on din-i ilahi or ‘Divine faith’ makes his reign more interesting as one sees
the commix of existing notions and origin of newer ideas of symbolism and imperial authority
making the empire robust for the coming centuries.
Abu’l Fazl (d.1602), the court historian of Akbar, was highly influenced by Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi’s theory of ishraq (illumination) which combined classical Greek and Roman thought with the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian concepts and Sufi treatises of Mishat al-Anwar (The niche for lights).1 The theory states that those beings who are imbued fully with the divine light will become the masters of age and gain not only power and wisdom but also the ability to rule justly as well as benevolently.2 Abu’l Fazl presented this notion to Akbar and used it to present him as the divine monarch.
According
to the theory of ishraqi, the divine light is passed down vertically from one
generation to another which gives a
sense of legitimacy to the rulers to rule. Abu'l Fazl directly traces the lineage of Akbar from Adam, the first man and
how the divine light got transmitted down the line which finally impregnated Alanquwa, a Mughal
princess, and hence, Nairun became the progenitor for the Mughal house and lastly, the divine
light reached Akbar3 and he is portrayed as a superior being who is much closer to God, the true
reality.4
The role played by divine light is not just to give legitimacy to the rule but also to establish Akbar as the perfect man who has esoteric knowledge and authority greater than the interpreters of sharia' (mujtahid), Sufi masters (pirs) and charismatic saviours (mahdi). Faizi in one of his eulogistic quatrains says “He is a king whom on account of his wisdom, we call zufunun (possessor of the sciences) and our guide on the path of religion. Although kings are the shadow of God on earth, he is the emanation of God’s light. How then can we call him a shadow?”5 At other places, he is eulogised as the new Adam, the “lord of the two worlds” or the “lord of surāt and ma’ni”. Akbar as padshah is seen as the one who is like a key of all locks, visible as well as invisible. The one who is the brightener of the temporal and the spiritual world (rawshani-afza-yi jahan-I surāt u ma’ni).6
The
control over the temporal and spiritual world which Akbar gets from the divine
light makes him a man of deeper
understanding who can judge a ray of divine power in the smallest of
things. Abu’l Fazl would like us to
believe, “True greatness in spiritual and worldly matters, he does not shrink from the minutiae of business, but
regards their performance as an act of divine
worship…no dignity is higher in the eyes of God than royalty, for a king
is the origin of stability”. In
concurrence with the long-standing Islamic traditions, stability of the empire
would mean the execution of justice.7
The justice which Akbar should maintain is not limited to the courtroom. It
involves dealing evenly between men in their disputes whatever the difference
of wealth, power and education be.8 The
ruler who is an object of divine light is always thinking of the health of
the social body of the age (shakhs-i
zaman). Through the action of a ray of amity and concord, a multitude of people becomes one body.
Warriors, craftsmen and merchants, people of the pen, and agriculturists are like fire, air, water and
earth respectively, as quoted by Abu’l Fazl. 9 It is interesting to note that ulema is not
mentioned in this category which might reflect the unspoken tension between the monarch and the
ulema.
It
is pertinent to note how Akbar used the divine revelation which he shared with
the pre-Islamic kings and scholars and
mixed it with the notions of ancient Indian kingship of acting like a
father to the subjects, to create an enlightened
state.10 There was a commix of the Islamic notion of the king being accessible to subjects with the
Hindu practise of darshan, beholding to form a new ritual called jharokha-i darshan. Abu’l Fazl
records it being practised at Fatehpur Sikri by Akbar where he comes to a heavily ornate balcony at
fixed time periods and represents himself as the upholder of justice while being imbued with
the divine light of the sun.11
The
veneration of the sun by Akbar also became a primary ritualistic practice that
could offer an appeal to the divine
light imagery used in various traditions. Few scholars understood the
practice as purely Islamic as Tarikh-i
Alfi12 quotes various Arabic prayers dedicated to the sun from the early ninth century CE whereas few Sanskrit
sources place the ritual as Brahmanical or of Jaina origin. Siddhicandra in
Bhanucandraganicarita13 says that Akbar used to recite Sanskrit names of the sun during his morning prayers. Badauni
records that at various instances there used to be clashes between the recitation of Sanskrit
names of sun and the Islamic prayers.
Akbar
also gave impetus to the translation of Sanskrit works like mahabharata and
ramayana into Persian. Abu’l Fazl tries
to establish a link of Akbar to the solar ancestry in the Sanskrit cultural realms by drawing parallels between the
divine impregnation of Alanquwa with the story of the impregnation of Karna’s mother, Kunti by the
divine light in mahabharata.14 This helped Akbar to get a wider acceptance as the solar
ancestry was a common model of kingship, gave linguistic diversity to his interpretations of sun
veneration and increased the cross-cultural potential of legitimacy not just as the king but also the
perfect man.15
While
Akbar used the familial charisma residing in the direct descent from the
Timurid line as the vertical source of
divine kingship, a complex matrix of ties with the mystic personalities
present in the realms of the empire gave
him the horizontal legitimacy. Two major mystic episodes occurred in the life of Akbar which Abu’l
Fazl notes in great detail. One, during the early years of his reign which he termed as ‘Akbar’s great
solitude in the desert’ and two, in 1578 during a mass slaughter when he experienced the sublime joy
of attraction (jazaba) of the cognition of God.16 A prominent Chishtiyya saint, Shaikh Salim
Chisthi is considered to have given blessing (barkhat) to Akbar to become a father and hence, took
place the birth of Salim, named so in reverence and respect of the shaikh. The royal palace of
Fatehpur Sikri had an exquisite tomb of the shaikh made out of white marble, a symbol of austerity
and divine light.17
Akbar
also shared deep regards for Khwaja Mu’in ud-Din Chishtiyya of Ajmer and
visited his dargah a total of fourteen
times.18 It is believed that Akbar used to spend days at stretch praying and taking part in discussions at the
premises. Here, again, the tomb had white marble symbolising the divine light and Akbar’s interest in
mysticism.19 Chishtiyya silsilaha was the most prominent order of Sufism in northern India. A sense of
public display of affection and association with the order was not just to bring in mystical
attachments to the persona of Akbar but also to bring in a political appeal and popular reputation.20
The
religious affiliations of Akbar were pushed through a series of architectural
marvels which symbolised not just the
imperial authority but also blurred the lines between royalty and
divinity. The tomb constructed to
commemorate the death of Humayun at Delhi became the inspiration for future
tombs. It had a mihrab constructed within the main premise. The layout plan was
based on the Garden of Paradise. There
were carved stone screens added for the passing of the light.21 The outer wall of the main tomb had astrological
symbols like six-pointed stars and a moon. It is pertinent to note how visual reference to nur
or divine light is central to the tomb, as it mentioned in Qu’ran that God’s presence is likened to
light in a niche.22
Akbar
also happened to express his autonomy via public expression when he shifted the
capital from Delhi to Agra and later
Fatehpur Sikri. It was to show that mere virtual possession of citadels is not enough for legitimacy.23 Richards
calls the city of Fatehpur ‘an aesthetic effort of great appeal and near-genius’.24 It also enshrined
a mosque and tomb of Salim Chishti, as mentioned above, to display in action the binary
institutions of legal and mystic Islam. Later, the construction of Akbar’s Tomb at Sikandra further
institutionalised the religious ideologies which Akbar as the padshah championed. The Persian inscription
at the entry of the tomb says. “These are the Gardens of Paradise. Enter them and live forever”.
The top floor of the tomb is in marble reflective of the mysticism attached with the Sufi dargahs. It
does not have a conventional dome but is open to the sky. There also stands a lampstand,
chiraqdan, which was probably for a ceremonial fire. Another inscription at the tomb of relevance is, “May
his soul shine like the rays of the sun and the moon in the light of God”.25 It is here we see the
amalgamation of religious ideas which Akbar professed in his worldly outlook as the padshah.
Paintings
were another source of symbolism used to profess the religious connotations
attached with Akbar. Abu’l Fazl in Ain’
talks briefly about paintings and their significance to recognise ‘a higher truth, especially when abstract
concepts are given a realistic, immediate expression’.26 Paintings and
illustrations in Akbarnama affirmed Abu’l Fazl’s view of Akbar: “absolute light
which could carry…conviction as an image
of absolute power”.27 Akbar was usually shown with a subtle sense of calm. Although the focus
was never directly on him, he was central to the theme of these paintings. Furthermore, the
paintings from the imperial atelier were often signed by the artists submitting themselves as disciples of
the king.28 Before discussing the imperial discipleship instituted by Akbar one should understand the
notions of sulh-i kul which gradually became
relevant after Akbar became familiar with wahdat u’l-wujud of Ibn
al-Arabi.
Wahdat
u’l-wujud stated that all which is not part of divine reality is an illusion,
which led Akbar to the notion that all
religions are either equally true or equally illusionary.29 It was later formalised as sul-I kul, absolute peace. It became a
‘mystic notion alluding to the state of fana to that of a concept denoting the principles capable of
promoting socio-political amity in a culturally and pluralistic situation’. In a reply to Murad,
Akbar said, ‘if God so wishes, you shall enter, into private chamber of this wonderful divine
mystery’. Akbar wishes to emphasise the role of
preceptor. The status of preceptor perceived as insan-i kamil of Islamic
mysticism.30 This new outlook reflected
a tilt towards rationality which Akbar prescribed not only for his
personal devotees (arbab-i iradat) but
also the socio-political elite.
Abu’l
Fazl further redefined this newer concept of kingship even more majestically as
a social contract between the men of
society and those in the authority of the state. It not only created a shift from a matrix of royal linkages between
the amirs and royalty but also new elitist cultural values rooted in common sense and
rationality. Abu’l Fazl notes various instances to highlight the same. Akbar condemned Hindu men for inducing
their wives to perish in fire and Muslim men for giving a lesser share to their daughters in
the inheritance.31 Akbar received a strong reaction from the orthodox section of Islam but not so
much from the Hindus.32 Jesuits, and Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi and Badauni were highly critical of
his policies. Talking about rationality, Abu’l Fazl highlighted that a just sovereign should not
oppose reason (aql).33 But he himself is pushing for mystic theories of divine light while
creating the image of the padshah.34
Wahdat
u’l-wujud made Akbar open to all kinds of religious ideas and it surely
reflected in his idea of kingship. Akbar
adopted various practices from Hinduism, Zoroastrianism. He expanded his nobility to the Hindu Rajputs as well as
Shi’ites. Badauni saw this as a triumph of Shiaism over orthodoxy. There was also a sense of honour
for amirs as there was a shift from personal lineage to that of slave warrior administration.35
The relationship of slave and master was a unique method of proving loyalty to the ruler. Akbar became
the master and others his slaves. Many critics of Akbar highlighted that with the changing
composition of nobility, various others were elevated to the position of slaves and entered the system
of slave and master relationship.36 Sulh-i kul further opened up religious discussion and discourse
among men of different faiths.37 The policy was
rooted into multi-religious set up but it certainly had undertones of patriotism
for ‘Hindostan’ which had become an essential feature of kingship as well as
the state.38
Akbar
further devised the imperial discipleship into the formal system of Din-i
ilahi, Divine faith. While aspects of
the system are studied extensively by scholars, recent work by S.A.A. Rizvi
has highlighted the gaps in the previous
research. The term Divine Faith was misapplied by Blochman when he translated Akbarnama.39 What was
formerly interpreted as a newer form of ideological belief was more of imperial discipleship
rooting for political stability.
Moin
argues that all the disciples were advised to salute each other in the
following manner: one says “Allahu
Akbar” and the other responds “Jalla Jalaluhu.” Both the salutations were in
praise of Allah but they had Akbar’s
name in them. Thus, literally, it would mean “God is Great” and “May His Glory be Glorious” but a few
scholars have interpreted it as “Akbar is God” and “May His Glory be Glorious”.40 Abu’l Fazl says
that it was intended to remind men to ‘think about the origin of their existence and to keep the
deity in remembrance’.41
The
disciples were inducted by Akbar himself at an initiation ceremony. They were
asked to swear to four devotion,
willingness to sacrifice one’s life (jān), property (māl), religion (dn) and
honour (namūs) in service of the master,
Akbar. And later perform prostration (sijdah) to the master. A new turban and symbolic representation of the
sun, and a tiny portrait of Akbar were also given. It was all a way to unify the new Mughal elite
around the padshah.42 It was a way to tie down the ever divisive and multi-cultural and
religious elite sections to the king who had reached the highest degree of purity and knowledge.
Abu’l
Fazl was certainly aware that the image he was creating for Akbar and that it
would be critically analysed by the
people in coming ages. He tried to create a legacy that embraced the multiplicities in the social spheres. Akbar
used this legacy to rule the state by inventing newer ideas of imperial ideology shaped by the cusp
of religion as well as culture. Few of these inventions were carried on by the later Mughal emperors
under the banner of symbols and metaphors of
imperial authority while a few were discontinued with the death of
Akbar. As Hardy says, Mughal Kingship
under the reign of Akbar had something of the insan-kamil for sufi minded,
illumined by divine light for ishraqi
minded, something of the esoteric teacher for the shi’i-minded and much of open-minded for the non-Muslim.43
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•
Asher, Catherine B., A Ray from the Sun: Mughal Ideology and the Visual
Construction of the Divine, in The
Presence of light, Divine Radiance and Religious Experience eds. Matthew T. Kapstein, University of Chicago
press, 2004
•
Franke, Heike, Emperors of Ṣūrat and Maʿnī: Jahangir and Shah Jahan as Temporal
and Spiritual Rulers, Muqaranas, Vol.
31, Issue 1, Brill, 2014
•
Habib, Irfan, A Political Theory for the Mughal Empire - A Study of the Ideas
of Abu'l Fazl, Proceedings of the Indian
History Congress, Vol. 59, 1998
•
Hardy, Peter, “Abu’l Fazl’s Portrait of the Perfect Padshah: A Political
Philosophy for Mughal India – or a
Personal Puff for a Pal?” In Islam in India: Studies and Commentaries, 2 vols., eds. Christian W. Troll, 2: 114-37.
New Delhi: Vikas, 1985
•
Khan, Iqtidar Alam, Akbar’s Personality Traits and World Outlook: A Critical
Reappraisal, Social Scientist, Vol. 20,
No. 9/10, Sep. 1992
•
Koch, Ebba, The Mughal Emperor As Solomon, Majnun, and Orpheus, or the Album as
a Think Tank for Allegory, Muqarnas Vol.
27, Brill, 2010
•
Lowry, Glenn D., Humayun’s Tomb: Form, Function, and Meaning in Early
Mughal Architecture, Muqarnas, Vol. 4,
Brill, 1987
•
Moin, A. Afzar, The Millenial Sovereign, Sacred Kingship and Sainthood in
Islam, Columbia University Press,
2012
•
Richards, John F., The Formation of Imperial Authority under Akbar and
Jahangir, in Kingship and Authority in
South Asia, eds. J.F. Richards, Oxford University Press, 1998 • Richards, John F., The New Cambridge
History of India, The Mughal Empire, Cambridge
University Press, 1995
•
Rizvi, Saiyid Athar Abbas, Religious and Intellectual History of the Muslims in
Akbar’s Reign with special reference to
Abu’l Fazl, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1975
Notes
1
Catherine B. Asher, A Ray from the Sun: Mughal Ideology and the Visual
Construction of the Divine, in The
Presence of light, Divine Radiance and Religious Experience eds. Matthew
T. Kapstein, University of Chicago press,
2004, p.169
2
Ibid. p.170
3
Ibid. p.170
4
John F. Richards, The Formation of Imperial Authority under Akbar and Jahangir,
in Kingship and Authority in South Asia,
eds. J.F. Richards, Oxford University Press, 1998, p.292
5
Ibid. p.298
6
Heike Franke, Emperors of Ṣūrat and Maʿnī: Jahangir and Shah Jahan as Temporal
and Spiritual Rulers, Muqaranas, Vol.
31, Issue 1, Brill, 2014, p.131
7
Catherine B. Asher, 2004, p.171
8
Peter Hardy, "Abu’l Fazl's Portrait of the Perfect Padshah: A Political
Philosophy for Mughal India – or a Personal
Puff for a Pal?" In Islam in India: Studies and Commentaries, 2
vols., eds. Christian W. Troll, 2: 114-37. New Delhi: Vikas, 1985, p.119
9
Ibid. p.120
10
Catherine B. Asher, 2004, p.179
11
Ibid. p.177
12
Audrey Truschke, Translating the Solar Cosmology of Sacred Kingship, The
Medieval History Journal, Vol.19, 1,
Sage Publications, 2016, p.137
13
Ibid. p.138
14
Ibid. p.139
15
Ibid. p.140
16
John F. Richards, 1998, p.291
17
John F. Richards, The New Cambridge History of India, The Mughal Empire,
Cambridge University Press, 1995,
p.30
18
Catherine B. Asher, 2004, p.168
19
Ibid. p.167
20
John F. Richards, 1998, p.292
21
Glenn D. Lowry, Humayun's Tomb: Form, Function, and Meaning in Early Mughal
Architecture, Muqarnas, Vol. 4, Brill,
1987, p.135
22
Catherine B. Asher, 2004, p.168
23
John F. Richards, 1998, p.289
24
Ibid. p.290
25
Catherine B. Asher, 2004, p.186
26
Ebba Koch, The Mughal Emperor As Solomon, Majnun, and Orpheus, or the Album as
a Think Tank for Allegory, Muqarnas Vol.
27, Brill, 2010, p.278
27
John F. Richards, 1998, p.299
28
A. Afzar Moin, The Millenial Sovereign, Sacred Kingship and Sainthood in Islam,
Columbia University Press, 2012,
p.181
29
Iqtidar Alam Khan, Akbar's Personality Traits and World Outlook: A Critical
Reappraisal, Social Scientist, Vol. 20,
No. 9/10, Sep. 1992, p.22
30
Ibid. p.23
31
Ibid. p.24
32
Ibid. p.25
33
Irfan Habib, A Political Theory for the Mughal Empire - A Study of the Ideas of
Abu'l Fazl, Proceedings of the Indian
History Congress, Vol. 59, 1998, p.335
34
Ibid. p.336
35
John F. Richards, 1998, p.288
36
A. Afzar Moin, 2012, pp.180-82
37
Irfan Habib, 1998, p.334
38
Ibid. p.335
39
John F. Richards, 1998, p.306
40
A. Afzar Moin, 2012, p.156
41
Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History of the Muslims in
Akbar's Reign with special reference to
Abu'l Fazl, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1975, p.401
42
Ibid. p.398
43
Peter Hardy, 1985, p. 136