The policy of Sulh-e-Kul, which contained the essence of Din-e-Ilahi, was adopted by Akbar not only for religious purposes but as a part of the general imperial administrative policy and his religious sympathies.
Mughal ruler Jalal-ud-din Akbar was born in 1542 in the Rajputana area of Amar Kot of Sindh area of India, that is, he was Indian by birth. Since he was brought up in India, he had seen people of different religions living together peacefully. The mixed harmonious culture of India had such an impact on Akbar that after getting power, he attempted to bring all the religions on one platform.
Akbar envisioned the future of India with oneness and unity, living together peacefully. He presented the idea of sulh-e-kul (peace and harmony with all) to the countrymen.
He created the concept of Din-e-Ilahi for the first time. He set a fresh example by making a special Ibadat Khana (prayer place) at Fatehpur Sikri to organize the Sarva Dharma Sabha.
He made a unique effort to establish religious unity by encouraging people of all religions to assemble together. Akbar’s attempt to establish religious unity 580 years ago was both opposed and supported.
Some people were suspicious and felt that Akbar was presenting a new religion to the world, while some historians were of the opinion that Akbar’s effort in introducing a new religion was wrong.
Din-e-Ilahi was wrongly interpreted as a new religion
Din-e-Ilahi is interpreted in Wikipedia as “The theory of Din-e-Ilahi being a new religion is a misconception that arose due to the mistranslation of the works of Abul Fazl by later British historians.
It is also accepted that the policy of Sulh-e-Kul, which contained the essence of Din-e-Ilahi, was adopted by Akbar not only for religious purposes but as a part of the general imperial administrative policy and his religious sympathies.
At the time of Akbar’s death in 1605, there was no sign of dissatisfaction among his Muslim population, and the belief of a theologian like Abdul Haq (Shaykh Abdul Haq Mohaddis-e-Dehlvi) was that close ties were maintained.”
Rejection of Din-e-Ilahi
However, Ahmad ul Farooq Sirhindi, the Qazi of the province of Bengal and the famous religious leader, completely rejected the idea of Akbar’s Din-e-Ilahi and called it anti-Islamic. One reason for this was that some Muslim Ulema felt that Akbar was bringing a new religion, whereas the common people thought that Akbar’s effort was only to make everyone understand each other’s religion, build tolerance and grace for each other’s religious views. He wanted the people to imbibe principles of respecting each other. He tried to unite all the religions and did not talk of merging them.
With all his efforts, Akbar could not go beyond the grand buildings of Fatehpur Sikri, but at least it did so so that the people of India got a chance to get acquainted with the soul of secularism for the first time.
Akbar’s honor for Sufi saints
Akbar’s special quality was that he used to pay a lot of respect to Sufi saints, and attended the tomb of Khwaja Ajmeri in Ajmer several times and built a structure named Panch Mahal around the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti in Fatehpur Sikri.
Akbar got a son with the blessings of Sheikh Salim Chishti, thus Akbar named his first son Salim. After Akbar, his son Nuruddin Mohammed Salim ascended the throne by the name of Jahangir.
Jahangir and the East India Company
During the era of Jahangir, the East India Company made their wayinto India and colluded with Jahangir overpowering him by taking advantage of his weakness for liquor. By offering him very expensive foreign liquor and winning his heart, the East India Company made inroads into India.
Jahangir and the Portuguese
In the era of Jahangir, the Portuguese army hijacked a ship named Rahimi full of Indian pilgrims, after which Jahangir took control of the Portuguese-occupied city of Daman and captured all the Portuguese present in India, and ordered their churches to be demolished.
Jahangir had to face the rebellion of his own sons and he sent his eldest son Khusru Mirza to jail. He fought with his second son Shahzada Khurram (Shah Jahan) (more details about this will be given in the next section).
Jahangir also persecuted the Shia and Sunni Ulema of that time. Shia cleric Qazi Noor Ullah Shustri was sentenced to death on false charges while he was appointed by Akbar to the post of supreme Qazi.
On the other hand, he tortured the eminent Sunni religious leader Ahmed ul Farooq Sirhindi tremendously and even imprisoned him. Of note, Jahangir was indifferent to religion and his image of alcohol
In fact, it was he whowrote the first chapter of the story of the destruction of the Mughal rule by allowing the British to set up the first factory in India.
(To be continued)