In an ideal Islamic state, there should be no religion other than Islam; it is a country of and for the Muslims and Muslims only. But, even in the Prophet’s time, there were non-Muslims who refused to convert to Islam and it was necessary to accommodate them within the land or abode of Islam (Dar-ul- Islam). So rules were framed, under which the non- believers were divided into two categories: ahl-e-kitab or those who had some kind of revealed scripture and kafirs or the infidels.
The Prophet accepted the Jew and the Christian residents of Madina as ahl- e-kitab and offered them security and some freedom to practise their religions subject to the condition that they paid the jiziya or poll-tax. The word jazfl means compensation of requital from good or evil and it is in the latter sense jiziya is derived, meaning the tax imposed on non-believers for the security of life and property they enjoy by living in an Islamic state where ordinarily they have no business to be.
When the governments in Delhi became predominantly Muslim with the advent of the Sultanate, important modifications were bound to occur in the lives of the Indians.
Here, an observation by V.A. Smith is of significance: “The Muslims were not absorbed in the Indian caste system of Hinduism as their foreign predecessors, the Shakas, Hunas and others, had been absorbed in a generation or two. The definiteness of the religion of Islam, founded on a written revelation of a known date preserved its votaries from the fate which befell the adherents of Shamanism and the other vague religions of Central Asia.
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Then it was time for the Sultanate to disintegrate, bringing in a number of states and chieftaincies. In the Deccan, the Bahmini and the Vijayanagara states took shape; in the north and central areas, the Muslim states of Bengal, Jaunpur, Gujarat and Malwa were established; and the Rajput states of Mewar and Marwar emerged as powerful Hindu kingdoms.
The Muslim states more or less functioned like the erstwhile sultanate, while the Hindu kingdoms were modelled after the Dharmashastra’s prescription for kingship. The Vijayanagara empire, lasting for about two centuries was the most powerful of the Hindu kingdoms of the times. It was also a theocracy in the sense that it was based on Dharma.
But tolerance to other religions existed in the Hindu kingdoms. In the first place, Hindu Dharma is not a proselytizing religion. In the second place, the Dharmashastras do not lay down any specific laws prejudicial to the non Hindus. It is because this that so many faiths and sects could flourish side by side in India. Furthermore, there was also an economic angle to, for example, the Vijayanagara rulers policy of religious tradition.
They had considerable income from external trade through their ports on the western sea-coast and any policy of religious intolerance would have driven the commerce elsewhere. In the same way, the sultans tolerated the Hindu infidels as zimmis because without their help even the bare civil administration they were providing would have collapsed.
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Here, also a sort of enlightened self-interest worked. Probably, they realized that without a modicum of administration they cannot generate the revenue required to maintain themselves.
Be that as it may, in the time of Akbar, the conditions were somewhat different. Akbar since his boyhood was exposed to the liberal influences of the Shias, Sufis, fakirs, Hindu yogis, etc., and this had some effect on his thinking in such matters.
It should, however, not be concluded from this that the Sufis were in ascendancy at that time. The ulema, custodians of the law, who were attached to the royal courts or held the positions of muftis (legal advisers) or qazis in provincial capitals, were very hostile towards any religious movement which they believed would affect the pristine purity of Islam and dilute iman (faith) with kufr (infidelity).
The religious life of the Muslims in India were not only affected from time to time by puritan fury directed against what was regarded as Hinduising influences on Islam, but also the endemic Shia-Sunni differences which became much pronounced after the establishment of the Mughal rule.
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Its founder, Babar was an orthodox Sunni who was, however, remarkably tolerant towards the Shias, many of whom accompanied his cortege in the funeral procession taken out after his death. The story of Humayun’s conversion to shiaism during his years of exile in Persia was probably a myth, but a number of his followers, especially, the great Bairam Khan, were Shias.
Consequently, there was regular contacts between the Mughal and Persian courts leading to a kind of Persianisation of the Mughal court. While it meant improvement in the culture and sophistication of the higher levels of the society, there was a corresponding intensification of the Shia-Sunni fights. As, however, the number of Shias were relatively small and considering that the Sunnis enjoyed royal patronage, the Shias generally did not push their differences with the Sunnis to the extreme, thereby avoiding bloodshed.
This possibility of violence due to Shia-Sunni differences was very much there when Akbar ascended the throne. It was further compounded by the fact that two great Sunni bigots, Makhdoum-ul- Mulk and Abdun Nabi were holding the positions of chief ulema and sadr-us-sadr (supreme judge) respectively, powerful official positions which they were holding at the time of Humayun as also of Sher Shah Sur.
For the young and inexperienced Akbar, who did not have much of an education, it was necessary to follow their advice in matters of law, state and religion.
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Akbar was no doubt aware that some harmony was needed between these warring groups in order to bring peace and prosperity in the empire and that could only be done by curbing fanaticism whenever or in whatever form it might appear. For a time, probably he felt powerless to take any action against the ulamas, but when their depredations crossed the limits, he took the plunge, removing them from their perches of power and influence.
The second and far more bolder step taken by Akbar against the ulemas at that time was to declare himself as the spiritual and secular leader of his subjects. Akbar needed scriptural authority for such a step; Shaikh Mubarak found out verses from Quran and traditions of the Prophet supporting such actions of a Muslim ruler. A manifesto drafted by Shaikh Mubarak and duly signed by several jurists raised Akbar to the rank of a Mujtahid of his time (Mujtahid-i-Asr).
Shaikh Mubarak was the leading scholar of his times, persecuted (before he met Akbar) for his unconventional views. Faizi, Shaikh Mubarak’s eldest son was a poet-philosopher, while Abul Fazal, the other son, was a famous intellectual even in his younger days. Akbar’s discourses with the trio had apparendy created the most lasting influence in Akbar’s mind.
Akbar assumed the role of the spiritual leader of Islam. In 1579, he issued the so-called Infallibility Decree (.Mahzfirj in this regard. This decree made him the ‘Pope as well as king’, by which he appropriated to himself the right to choose any interpretation of the Quran in the interest of public good. This ended the dominance of bigots.
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Earlier, in 1575, Akbar had built the Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri. Here he gave impartial hearing to all religious experts-Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Christian and Zoroastrian. He was against rigid orthodoxy and narrow sectarianism of the Sunnis, who were bitterly opposed to his tolerant policy.
From 1579 to 1582, when the debates came to an end, representatives of other religions were admitted and the disputants met in the private apartments of the palace. The site of the House of Worship has, however, been utterly forgotten and no trace of the building, which was large and highly decorated, has been discovered. The probability is that Akbar pulled it down when he had no longer any use for it.
Akbar now took the bold step of introducing his four-fold path of renunciation, the Din-i-Ilahi in 1582. The sacrifice of course was to be made to Akbar, who was now the vice regent of God. Prostrating before him and chanting Allahu Akbar, the intending devotee had to bequeath property, life, honour and religion to him.
[Badauni says it prompted a contemporary poet, Mulla Shiri to write a satirical couplet: “Badshah imsal dawa-i-Nubuwat Karda-ast; Gar Khuda Khwahad pas az sali Khud Khawahad Shudan.” (“The king has this year claimed prophethood; God willing after a year he will become God.”)]
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Din-i-Ilahi, or Tawahid-i-Ilahi, was not inspired by any Revelation nor was it based on any well- defined philosophy or theology. Dr. S. Roy observes: “It was deism modified by Hindu and predominant Zoroastrian influence, a religion without priests or books. It was an ethical rationalism leading to the ideal of mystic union of the soul with the divine. In this respect it was based on the Sufi idea of absorption of the soul in the Divine Being.
It enjoined such ethical and social reforms as recommending alms-giving and sparing of animal life, permitting remarriage of widows, prohibiting child- marriage and marriage among close relations as also as forced sati, recommending monogamy, enforcing chastity and controlling gambling and drinking by restricting the sale of drink. The Din-i-Ilahi was definitely an attempt at religious syncretism. It was as much a child of Akbar’s spiritual development as a product of the age, following as it does the movements of Kabir and Nanak.”
In the Ain-i-Akbari, Abul Fazal gives twelve principles of the Din-i-Ilahi after stating that Akbar is now “the spiritual guide of the nation” who “sees in the performance of this duty a means of pleasing Allah (God).” These principles do not contain any dogma or belief which can be regarded as the tenets of a new faith in contradistinction to Hinduism, Islam or Christianity.
These principles describe the ceremonies performed by the Ilahia (member) upon entry or initiation and the code of conduct to be followed by him. The intending Ilahia is to perform sijdah (prostration) before Akbar when he raises the Ilahia by touching his shoulders, places the turban on the entrants head and gives the Ilahia his own portrait or shast on which is engraved the chant Allahu Akbar. The Ilahia is required to celebrate his birthdays by feeding his associates and one special dinner once in his life in anticipation of death, which would liberate him from this material world of desires, sufferings and sorrows.
The Ilahias are required to abstain from a diet of meat as far as possible, not to dine with or use the utensils of butchers, fisher folk and bird trappers. They should not marry old women or minor girls and should be regularly giving alms to the poor and the needy. Their devotion to Akbar is graded according to the number of items or possessions they would pledge as a sacrifice.
These are property, life, honour and religion. The person pledging one of these to the emperor (his spiritual guide) would be of one degree of devotion, the person pledging two would be of two degrees and so on in ascending order upto four. It would be seen that the pledging of religion was regarded as the most valuable sacrifice of all, but was not essential to become elligible for the honour.
There is a book, Dabistan-i-Mazfihib written by Mohsin Fani, decades after Akbar’s death, in the middle of the seventeenth century. Fani says that he received the details given in the book from one Mirza Shah Muhammad, son of Mirza Baigh Khan.
This Mirza Baigh got the information from Azam Khan, a trusted officer of Akbar and a follower of the Din-i-Ilahi. The Dabistan-i-Mazahib is a treatise on the Din-i-Ilahi in the form of dialogues between men of religion and a philosopher imagined by the author. According to this book, there are ten virtues which the Din-i-Ilahi professes. These are:
(1) liberal-mindedness and generosity;
(2) forgiveness of evil-doers and repulsion of anger with mildness;
(3) abstinence from worldly desires;
(4) non-attachment to the materialistic world;
(5) careful weighing of pros and cons of actions to be taken;
(6) performance of noble deeds with courage;
(7) softness of voice and gentle speech;
(8) good behaviour to others;
(9) absolutely no connection with bad characters and evil-doers; and
(10) total dedication to God.
It appears there was another reason for the promulgation of the Din-i-Ilahi at that time. The Shias, Sunnis, Mehdavis and Sufis were then fighting merrily amongst themselves in Kashmir and in Ahmednagar thereby causing damage to the life and property of the subjects. Probably, Akbar felt that a syncretic creed would quell the warring urges of the factions and help bring peace and tranquility. Presumably, as the first step, he wanted to change the thinking of the leading men, ulemas and the nobility.
The Din-i-Ilahi was Akbar’s attempt to unify different schools of religious thought. The Ain-i- Akbari states that there were only eighteen Ilahias who by pledging property, life, honour and religion qualified for the highest degree of devotion and the only Hindu among them was Raja Birbal. The total number of followers of all degrees were only a few thousands. According to Badauni, Raja Man Singh and Raja Bhagawan Dass, two of Akbar’s most trusted lieutenants, categorically refused to join the creed.
The principle of suleh-i-kul or universal tolerance which Akbar made a state policy in the second half of his reign, was actually the avowed creed of Shaikh Mubarak and Abul Fazal even before they came in contact with the emperor and started to attend the court. Thus, in the period of reign after circa 1580, the policy of universal toleration was fully applied in favour of Hindus, Christians, Jains, and Parsees, who enjoyed full liberty both of conscience and of public worship.
The policy adopted by Akbar in relation to his Hindu subjects was generally independent of his personal fancies or beliefs in respect of religion. It was a measure of his perspicacity to have realized at an early age that the badshah should be the impartial sovereign of all his subjects, regardless of religion.
In that medieval environ, it was remarkable that he considered this to be the absolute politically necessity. It should also be admitted that Sher Shah was also following such a goal and had he lived longer perhaps his reign would have also adopted similar measures.
Nonetheless, Akbar married Hindu princesses, abolished pilgrim tax, removed jiziya, and provided the Hindus with employment readily when he was a practising Muslim who took his religious duties seriously. Accepting Hindu princesses in marriage was not that uncommon among the Muslim rulers, especially in the Deccan, a fact which was known to Akbar. He, however, differed from the existing norms in the sense that he accepted his in-laws as members of the royal family and all due honours were accorded to them.
The Rajput families he married into, the Rajas of Amber, Bikaner or Marwar were never pressurized to convert into Islam. Without any restrictions they were taken into the highest command of military services or given the responsibility of the topmost civilian officer.
That was a policy decision Akbar entirely took on his own. No Shaikh Mubarak or Abul Fazal was behind this decision and this policy of Akbar afforded the strongest support to his reign and the reigns of his successors. It should also be admitted that the Rajput princes on their part gave their unflinching loyalty to the cause of the empire.
In his later years, he chose his friends and senior officers from among both Hindus and Muslims with a preference for the former. Raja Man Singh, riephew and adopted son of Raja Bhagawan Das of Amber was one of Akbar’s best generals and governors. He was the designated governor of Kabul for some time and is said to have ruled the eastern provinces with great prudence and justice.
Raja Todar Mai, withoi: the advantage of a royal connection, rose by shee merit to the top of the royal service and made hi, name as a revenue expert of exceptional abilities He was also an able military commander and was regarded as the ablest of the king’s courtiers, second to Abul Fazl. The sharp wit and ready repartee of Raja Birbal made him Akbar’s favourite. It seems Akbar developed a genuine friendship with the Jesuit fathers who visited his court and took part in the religious discussions at the ibadatkhana.
Using a twentieth-century term, it can be said that Akbar’s relations with the non-Muslims were politically correct.