A Short History of the Mughal Empire (I.B.Tauris Short Histories)

by Fisher, H, Michael

  … Hindústán is now become the centre of security and peace …. We, the principal ‘Ulamá … have duly considered the deep meaning, first, of the verse of the Qurán: ‘Obey God, and obey the prophet, and those who have authority among you,’ and, secondly, of the genuine tradition [Hadith]: ‘Surely the man who is dearest to God on the day of judgment is the Imám-i ‘ádil [“just leader”]; whosoever obeys the Amír, obeys Thee; and whosoever rebels against him, rebels against Thee’ … [therefore] we declare that the … Amír of the Faithful, Shadow of God in the world, Abu-l-Fath Jalál-ud-din Muhammad Akbar Padsháh Gházi whose kingdom God perpetuate!) is a most just, a most wise, and a most God-fearing king. Should therefore in future a religious question come up … and His Majesty in his penetrating understanding and clear wisdom be inclined to adopt … any of the conflicting opinions, which exist on that point, and issue a decree to that effect, we do hereby agree that such a decree shall be binding on us and on the whole nation … and further, that any opposition … shall involve damnation in the world to come, and loss of property and religious privileges in this.23

  Badauni asserted that he and most ‘ulama signed unwillingly, under severe threat to their offices, income, or lives.

  Scholars (then and now) have debated the nature, meaning and legitimacy of this mahzar and the extent of Akbar’s ambitions. The text explicitly recognizes Akbar’s authority to arbitrate any religious issue whenever the ‘ulama were not unanimous—as long as his interpretation accords with the Qur’an and Hadith. Some commentators designated this Akbar’s ‘Infallibility Decree,’ implying he modelled his claims on the concept of Papal infallibility (which, though not yet Roman Catholic doctrine, was explained by Jesuits at Akbar’s court).24 Some later scholars argue that Akbar intended to be Caliph over all Muslims in his own domain; others that Akbar claimed authority over all Muslims globally and thus rejected subordination to the Ottomans, Safavids, or Uzbeks; yet others assert Akbar proclaimed himself the millennial sovereign, equal to his ancestor Timur.25 Whatever the precise intention of this mahzar, it accorded with Akbar’s efforts to subordinate the Sunni ‘ulama; but some still resisted, even those who signed the mahzar. This further motivated Akbar to seek additional political support and religious knowledge outside Sunni orthodoxy.

  Akbar’s shifting ideology and policies affected the proportions of various ethnic groups among his mansabdars. By 1580, Sunni Turanis had shrunk to 24 per cent of mansabdars, less than half the proportion at his accession. Similarly, Shi‘i Iranis had also halved to 17 per cent. In contrast, Hindus and Indian Muslims had risen to 16 per cent each.26 With some small variations, these proportions remained relatively stable through the rest of Akbar’s reign.

  By the late 1570s, Akbar had also broadened his ‘ibadat-khana debates to include scholars and holy men from various other religious communities. He listened closely, challenging each speaker’s assertions, testing them against his own developing theology, and adopting parts of their ideology when they confirmed or advanced his own.

  From 1578 onward, Akbar welcomed leading Jains to court. Subsequently, Akbar reconciled divisions within the Jain community and endowed some of their sacred sites.27 Jains (then and now) credit their leaders’ personal and spiritual influence on Akbar for his empire-wide ban on animal slaughter during the annual Jain holy season.

  Indeed, Akbar experimented with vegetarianism, explaining:

  It is not right that a man should make his stomach the grave of animals …. Were it not for the thought of the difficulty of sustenance, I would prohibit men from eating meat. The reasons why I do not altogether abandon it myself is that many others might willingly forego it likewise and thus be cast into despondency …. From my earliest years, whenever I ordered animal food to be cooked for me, I found it rather tasteless and cared little for it. I took this feeling to indicate a necessity for protecting animals, and I refrained from animal food.28

  He thus explained vegetarianism in ethical and aesthetic terms, rather than by invoking the authority of any particular religious community.

  Around 1583, Akbar reportedly ceased performing the five daily Islamic prayers and began publicly worshiping the sun four times daily and divine light more generally.29 Akbar’s new rituals may have multiple sources. Mongol tradition proclaims divine luminescence as impregnating the Mongols’ mythic mother. Leading Indian Parsis, who worship fire, also attended on Akbar. Some of Akbar’s Rajput Hindu wives claimed descent from the sun, and performed Brahminic fire- and solar-worship in his harem. Indeed, Akbar reportedly included in his noon-time ritual the recitation of the sun’s 1,001 Sanskrit names. Further, Akbar invited Portuguese Jesuits to court, and questioned them about Mary’s sinless impregnation by the Spirit, among other topics.

  Akbar evidently first encountered the Portuguese in Gujarat in 1573. He even briefly ventured into Surat harbor in a Portuguese vessel. In 1578, some Portuguese came from Bengal to Fatehpur and the Portuguese viceroy sent an ambassador from Goa. Seeking more educated informants, Akbar requested the viceroy in 1579 to ‘send me two learned priests who should bring with them the chief books of the Law and the Gospel, for I wish to study and learn the Law and what is best and most perfect in it.’30 In response, the Viceroy sent three Jesuits (their young order had worked to convert India since 1542). This delegation included a Persian-speaking Iranian convert to Catholicism. The Jesuits reported (in the third person):

  Akbar, from his throne, ordered them to come nearer to him, and asked them a few questions …. Having retired … into an inner apartment, he ordered them to be conducted to him … in order that he might exhibit them to his wives. Then he … put on Portuguese dress—a scarlet cloak with golden fastenings. He ordered his sons also to don the same dress, together with Portuguese hats …. He also ordered 800 pieces of gold to be presented to them; but the Fathers replied that they had not come there to get money … whereupon he expressed admiration at their self-control …31

  During their three years at court, these Jesuits diligently but ineffectively pursued their usual strategy for the conversion of the entire kingdom by starting with its ruler.

  Akbar appeared very open to learning about certain topics from these Jesuits, treating them as he did many other diverse courtiers he allowed to attend upon him. He quizzed them about an atlas they presented (probably Abraham Ortelius of Antwerp’s 1570 Theatrum Orbis Terrarum), showing inquisitiveness about European geography and how the cartographer could know the names and locations of Indian cities.32 Akbar also learned about the Americas; Mughal courtiers heard:

  Of late years the Europeans have discovered an extensive and populous insular continent which they have called the New World. Some shattered vessels have been here driven ashore. A man mounted on horseback was seen by the inhabitants. Mistaking the man and his horse for a single animal they were overcome by fear and the country fell an easy capture.33

  But Akbar evidently made no practical use of the atlas or European-style globes he later received, treating them as curiosities, like the European-made musical organ that one of his courtiers brought back from the Hajj.

  Akbar admired European-style art for its unfamiliar perspective and figuration. He had some of his best artists copy European paintings and incorporate their conventions. He reportedly displayed special veneration towards pictures of Christ and Mary (traditionally revered in Islam, although not considered divine). He also commissioned a Jesuit to compose a biography of Christ in Persian.34

  Showing the Jesuits favor, Akbar ordered them moved from their distant lodgings to nearer his own living quarters, converting a perfume workshop for them. There, they installed a small chapel, before whose altar Akbar reportedly prostrated himself, with head uncovered (as Europeans showed respect and Hindustanis showed abject submission). Akbar appointed Jesuit Father Monserrate (who wrote a detailed report for his superiors) as tutor for his second son, Mirza Murad. But Akbar found unconvincing the Jesuits’ insistence on monogamy (even for Akbar), the Tr
inity, the divinity of Christ and the low status of the Prophet Muhammad. Ultimately, Akbar frustrated Jesuit expectations for his conversion.

  Akbar, however, recognized the value of some Portuguese worldly knowledge and their potential as allies, or troublesome adversaries. In 1582, he dispatched two envoys to King Philip II (ruled Spain, 1556–98, also Portugal, 1581–8), proposing regular diplomatic exchanges and requesting Arabic and Persian translations of the Pentateuch, Gospels and Psalms.35 Akbar’s emissaries, however, never got further than Goa. Additionally, skirmishes erupted in Gujarat over Portuguese seizures of Mughal ships, confiscation of a village and blockade of Surat.36 Akbar received another short-lived Jesuit mission (1591–3) and then one that arrived in 1595 and remained 20 years, well beyond Akbar’s reign.

  Akbar, however, did not limit his exploration of the cosmos to established Asian or European cultures. Starting in 1582, Akbar experimented to resolve the long-standing philosophical debate about whether human beings have an inherent natural language and religion, from which all others diverged. He ordered 20 newborn babies purchased from their parents and isolated, attended only by absolutely silent servants. After a few years, Akbar observed that the children had no language or religion at all, concluding ‘Learning to speak comes from association, otherwise men would remain inarticulate.’37 Akbar also tried inter-breeding varieties of animals, to observe whether they could reproduce and, if so, the nature of their offspring. Further, he worked to master alchemic production of gold and esoteric means of achieving immortality.

  Akbar’s search to find a universal basis for all religions, and create congeniality among all his subjects’ religious communities, became his policy sulh-i kul (translated variously as ‘universal peace’ or ‘tolerance for all’).38 He thus respected all groups that submitted to him as the ‘perfect man’ and ‘universal sovereign.’ Since his armies continued to suppress dissidents and conquer neighbors, Akbar did not eschew warfare, however.

  Rather, Akbar justified his many invasions by asserting that enemy rulers were either immoral rebels against his sovereignty or else abusers of their people, who deserved the truly impartial justice only Akbar provided. He declared in 1586 his ‘cleansing of the four corners of India … was not out of self-indulgence or selfishness, but only for comforting human beings and for exterminating their oppressors.’ He continued:

  guided by the motives of the welfare of the subjects who were the covenants … of God, he (Akbar) had tried to clear the land of India during the [last] thirty years to such an extent that difficult places under refractory Rajas had fallen into his hands. The churches and temples of the infidels and the heretics had turned into the cells of God-fearing dervishes …. All … stiff-necked individuals have placed the rings of obedience in their ears and have enrolled in the victorious [Mughal] armies. In this way the heterogeneous people had been brought together in one stroke.

  Akbar thus wanted to bring all regional rulers into his great host and to unite all people under his transcendent sovereignty.

  Over Akbar’s final years in Fatehpur, his policies shifted from his family’s and his earlier strong identification with Sunni Islam. Instead, Akbar and his close companions created a new court culture centering on him that ‘made the world his bride.’ Service to Akbar would be the main—perhaps the only—way for men to reach their highest virtue. Their own households should be microcosms of his, and they themselves perfect men within them. Reorienting time, Akbar devised a new solar-based calendar, Tarikh-i Ilahi (‘Divine Era’), that began with his own accession. This calendar also had practical administrative advantages since the annual harvest and thus the revenue cycle varied within the lunar Islamic Hijri calendar. Akbar also added ‘Allah-o-Akbar’ to imperial documents and coins. Critics created a popular couplet in 1584:

  The king this year has laid claim to be a Prophet,

  After the lapse of a year, please God, he will become God!39

  Indeed, among Akbar’s courtiers and household, an imperial cult with him as spiritual master began to emerge.

  All these trends continued to develop after Akbar suddenly left Fatehpur in 1585, taking most courtiers and officials with him. He never lived there again. Instead, he eventually made Lahore his next imperial capital.

  THE LAHORE PERIOD, 1586–98

  By 1585, various factors contributed to Akbar’s shift from Fatehpur Sikri toward the north-west. Akbar had been curtailing his devotion to Chishti pirs, including Shaikh Salim—deeply identified with Sikri. Simultaneously, Akbar perceived political instability and also opportunities for expansion on his Empire’s north-western frontier. Uzbek incursions were pressing on Badakhshan and Kabul. Yusufzai Afghans were rebelling. Additionally, Akbar saw prospects for conquest of Lower Sind, Kashmir and Qandahar. The specific precipitating factor for Akbar’s move, however, was Mirza Hakim’s death in Kabul (10 October 1585); Akbar began marching his massive entourage from Fatehpur a week after receiving that news. By 1586, Akbar had settled in Lahore as his new operations-base.

  Unlike Sikri, Lahore was already well-established and thriving when Akbar moved his court there. The city had long remained the center for commerce and for military, administrative and political control over strategic Punjab—the major route for trade and invasion to and from Central Asia and Iran. Akbar had occasionally visited Lahore. But, in his absence, Lahore had been repeatedly attacked from Kabul and Badakhshan. In 1565, Akbar had ordered Lahore fort reinforced with brick walls and stronger gates. To secure the crucial region further, Akbar also hardened Rohtas fortress in western Punjab, guarding the upper Indus.

  While Mirza Hakim lived, he posed an ongoing political and military threat to Akbar. But Hakim’s rule in Kabul also buffered against Uzbek and Safavid invasions and helped control Afghans. So, at Hakim’s death from alcoholism, Akbar immediately rushed Raja Man Singh and other trusted commanders to consolidate power in Kabul. Akbar considered using Hakim’s young sons as nominal governors, but decided they might embody a Timurid threat to his supremacy. In 1588–9, Akbar journeyed to Kabul to supervise personally.

  From Babur’s reign onward, various Afghan communities resisted Mughal control. Babur’s political marriage alliance with a Yusufzai chief had long ended. During the 1580s–90s, the militant millenarian Roshaniyya movement mobilized Yusufzai in Swat, which particularly threatened Mughal communication and commerce with Kabul. To suppress the Yusufzai, Akbar had sent strong forces in 1589, but Raja Birbal’s entire army met fatal ambush. Now, Raja Man Singh’s forces retaliated, temporarily subduing the Yusufzai, and Akbar coordinated his armies to re-impose order.

  Akbar also sent commanders to conquer southward down the Indus River to Lower Sind and northward through the mountains to Kashmir. Lower Sind controlled both the Indus delta and also the main land route to strategic Qandahar. Since about 1585, Timurid Mirza Jani Beg Tarkhan (d. c. 1598) had been nominally a mansabdar but effectively independent ruler of Lower Sind, based in Thatta.40 He had often proven uncooperative and Akbar rejected his offer of a daughter as an imperial bride.

  From 1590, Akbar sent Mughal forces to make Jani Beg actually submit. Eventually, Akbar’s commander defeated Jani Beg, who then gave daughters as brides for the commander and the imperial family, came to court where he became a disciple in Akbar’s imperial cult, and retained his mansab. However, when Akbar shifted him to be governor of Upper Sind and moved his jagir, many of his followers accompanied him, disrupting Thatta’s economy. Hence, Akbar pragmatically soon returned him as governor of Lower Sindh and restored his jagir there. Thus, Jani Beg retained much of his old kingdom as his watan jagir (inherited by his son, who held it until 1611) but now as a Mughal official, not an autonomous ruler.

  Akbar also ordered Mughal forces to march through Lower Sind to retake Qandahar from the Safavids, who had seized that strategic city during Mughal weakness following Humayun’s death. While attacking Qandahar proved militarily unfeasible, Akbar’s agents convinced the Safavid commander to defec
t to the Mughals, turning over the city in 1595 and receiving a high mansab. Thereby, Akbar secured this major land route into India from the west.

  Northward, Kashmir stood historically distinctive in its culture and physical environment, separated from the Punjab by difficult mountain passes (impassible by armies in winter). Occasionally, Humayun’s supporters had controlled Kashmir’s main valley and its capital, Srinagar. Soon after moving to Lahore, Akbar sent forces that defeated Kashmir’s Muslim king and annexed the region in 1586 (although various popular rebellions arose sporadically until 1622). Like his successors, Akbar found Kashmir a cool and verdant refuge from hot summers on the plain. He visited Kashmir in 1589, 1592 and 1597. During the last of these visits, Akbar remained in Kashmir for six months while the Lahore palace complex was restored following a major fire.

  Akbar lived over a dozen years in Lahore. But, unlike his earlier capitals, he invested only modest resources in buildings there.41 However, he did continue to develop his court culture. He welcomed various ambassadors and visitors from west and Central Asia and from Portugal. He recruited about 130 painters who, among many projects, produced richly illustrated editions of calligraphically exquisite Persian texts, including translations into Persian.42

  Vastly expanding his library, Akbar ordered scholars to translate literary and religious epics, romances and morality tales from Sanskrit, Portuguese and other languages into Persian (and sometimes vice versa). Many were read aloud in court. Akbar’s translators recruited experts in the original languages to assist. When nobody knew both the original language and Persian, an intermediary using yet a third bridge language (like Hindustani) helped.43 But the translations were often far from literal. Akbar himself quizzed translators about the nuances and implications of their omissions and word choices. Occasionally, Akbar ordered a second translation to cross-check. One courtier, Badauni, detested the several Hindu texts he was ordered to translate, including the epics Mahabharata (called, in Persian, the Razmnama, ‘Book of War’) and Ramayana. Indeed, Akbar directly confronted Badauni when his interpretations were vastly shorter than the massive originals and differed from Akbar’s own understanding of Hindu theology.44 In contrast, Abu-al-Fazl and others in accord with Akbar’s sentiments helped translate works from Sanskrit and Portuguese into Persian more sympathetically. After initially commissioning translations of literary and religious works, Akbar expanded to historical texts. Following the Mughal conquest of Kashmir, for instance, Akbar ordered Badauni to translate from Sanskrit into Persian Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, a remarkable history of Kashmir’s kings with similarities to Persianate and European historical genres.45