Akbar was fascinated by religion and philosophy. At first, Akbar was a devout Muslim. He owed a great deal of respect to the state's top qazi, Abdun Nabi Khan, who held the position of sadr-us-sudur. Akbar even carried his slippers for him on one occasion. Initially, Akbar was a devout Muslim. However, by the time Akbar reached adulthood, he had become liberal and tolerant. In this article, we will discuss Integration of Religion During Mughals which will be helpful for UPSC exam preparation.

Integration of Religion - Background

• By the time Akbar reached adulthood, the mysticism that was being preached throughout the country began to influence him.
• He spent entire nights thinking about God, constantly pronounced his name, and that in order to feel thankful for his success, he would sit many mornings alone, in prayer and contemplation, on a large flat stone of an old building near his palace in Agra.
• He gradually drifted away from the narrow orthodoxy. As we have seen, he had already abolished the jizyah and pilgrim tax.
• He gathered a band of talented people with liberal ideas at the court.
• The most well-known of these were Abul Fazl and his brother Faizi, who, along with their father, a noted scholar, had been persecuted by the mullahs for sympathising with Mahdawi ideas, which the orthodox elements strongly opposed.
• Another was Mahesh Das, a Brahman who was given the title of Raja Birbal and was Akbar's constant companion.

Ibadat Khana

• In 1575, Akbar constructed Ibadat Khana, or the Hall of Prayer, in his new capital of Fatehpur Sikri. He invited selected theologians, mystics, and courtiers and nobles known for their scholarship and intellectual achievements to this.
• Akbar spoke with them about religious and spiritual matters. Initially, the proceedings were restricted to Muslims. They were anything but orderly.
• Even in the presence of the emperor, the mullahs wrangled, shouted, and abused each other. The mullahs' behaviour, their pride and conceit in their knowledge disgusted Akbar and further alienated him from the mullahs.
• At this point, Akbar allowed people of all faiths to enter the Ibadat Khana, including Christians, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Jains, and even atheists.
• This broadened the debates, and debates began on issues on which all Muslims agreed, such as whether the Quran was the last revealed book and Muhammad its prophet, the resurrection, the nature of God, and so on.
• This horrified theologians, and rumours about Akbar's desire to abandon Islam began to circulate.

Doctrine of Various Religions

• The debates in the Ibadat Khana had resulted in greater bitterness between different religions, as representatives of each religion denounced the other and attempted to prove that their religion was superior to others. As a result, Akbar suspended the debates in the Ibadat Khana in 1582.
• But he did not abandon his search for the truth. Even his harshest critic, Badayuni, admits that 'people did nothing but inquire and investigate night and day.'
• Akbar invited Purushottam and Devi to explain Hindu doctrines, and Maharji Rana to explain Zoroastrian doctrines.
• He met some Portuguese priests, and in order to better understand Christian doctrines, he sent an embassy to Goa, requesting that two learned missionaries be sent to his court.
• The Portuguese sent Aquaviva and Monserrate, who stayed at Akbar's court for nearly three years and left an important account. But their hope of converting Akbar to Christianity was never realised.
• Akbar also had contact with the Jains, and at his request, the leading Jain saint of Kathiawar, Hira Vijaya Suri, spent a few years at Akbar's court.
• Contacts with religious leaders, listening to their learned works, and meetings with Sufi saints and yogis gradually convinced Akbar that, while there were sectarian and creedal differences, all religions had a number of good points that were obscured in the heat of controversy.
• He believed that by emphasising the positive aspects of various religions, an atmosphere of harmony and amity would prevail, which would be beneficial to the country.

Tauhid-i-Ilahi

• Akbar gradually drifted away from Islam and established a new religion that combined many existing religions—Hinduism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and so on.
• However, modern historians are sceptical of this viewpoint and believe that Badayuni exaggerated. There is little evidence that Akbar intended or actually implemented a new religion.
• Abul Fazl and Badayuni referred to the so-called new path as tauhid-i-Ilahi, which translates as "Divine Monotheism." The tauhid-i-Ilahi was actually a Sufistic order. Those who wanted to join and were approved by the Emperor were allowed to join.
• Tauhid-i-Ilahi is not the same as Akbar assembling a small group of trusted nobles who were completely devoted to him.
• According to Badayuni, those chosen must promise to give up their property, life, honour, and religion.
• Giving up religion appeared to imply giving up attachment to narrow concepts and observances, which was consistent with Sufi ideas.
• Many leading nobles, including all of the great Hindu nobles, with the exception of Birbal, declined to join.
• As far as we know, this group consisted of only about eighteen people, whereas Akbar's disciples numbered in the thousands. Akbar did not use force or money to recruit disciples or murids.
• Akbar's enrollment of murids clearly served a political purpose as well. He desired a group of nobles and others who would be personally loyal to him and support his vision of a state based on sulh-i-kul, or equal toleration and respect for all sections, regardless of religious beliefs.
• Orthodox elements, such as Badayuni, sympathised with but did not support such a state.
• Badayuni attributes Akbar's decision to enrol disciples to his head being turned by many unworthy flatterers and panegyrists who told him he was the insdan-i-kamil, or 'Perfect Man' of the age.
• It was at their request that Akbar instituted the pabos ceremony, or kissing the floor in front of the sovereign, which had previously been reserved for God.

Decline of Tauhad-i-Ilahi

• The tauhid-i-Ilahi virtually died with Akbar, though Jahangir continued the practise of enrolling murids and giving them a shast for a time.
• However, Akbar's attempt to bind the nobles to the emperor through personal bonds was successful, and many nobles continued to boast of being the emperor's banda, slaves, or murids.
• Furthermore, in general, the nobles did not support elements that promoted religious orthodoxy in social and political matters.
• However, the belief that the king possessed miraculous powers, such as the ability to cure people by touching them or breathing on a pot of water, persisted.
• Even an orthodox ruler like Aurangzeb couldn't shake the belief.

Conclusion

Akbar attempted to emphasise the concept of sulh-i-kul, or religious peace and harmony. He established a large translation department to translate works from Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek, and other languages into Persian. Thus, the Singhasan Battisi, the Atharva Veda, and the Bible were translated first. The Mahabharata, the Gita, and the Ramayana followed. Many other works, such as the Panchatantra and works of geography, have also been translated. For the first time, the Quran was also translated into Persian.