court brought their verses. Translations of famous works in Sanskrit
literature, of the New Testament and of other interesting books were
read aloud, all of which captivated the vivacious mind of the Emperor
from which nothing was farther removed than onesidedness and
narrow-mindedness. Akbar had also a discriminating appreciation for
art and industries. He himself designed the plans for some extremely
beautiful candelabra, and the manufacture of tapestry reached such a
state of perfection in India under his personal supervision that in
those days fabrics were produced in the great imperial factories which
in beauty and value excelled the famous rugs of Persia. With still
more important results Akbar influenced the realm of architecture in
that he discovered how to combine two completely different styles. For
indeed, the union of Mohammedan and Indian motives in the buildings of
Akbar (who here as in all other departments strove to perfect the
complete elevation of national and religious details) to form an
improved third style,[28] is entirely original.
[Footnote 28: A. Müller, II, 386.]
Among other ways Akbar betrayed the scientific trend of his mind by
sending out an expedition in search of the sources of the Ganges.[29]
That a man of such a wonderful degree of versatility should have
recognized the value of general education and have devoted himself to
its improvement, we would simply take for granted. Akbar caused
schools to be erected throughout his whole kingdom for the children of
Hindus and Mohammedans, whereas he himself did not know how to read or
write.[30] This remarkable fact would seem incredible to us after
considering all the above mentioned facts if it was not confirmed by
the express testimony of his son, the Emperor Jehângir. At any rate
for an illiterate man Akbar certainly accomplished an astonishing
amount. The universal character of the endowments of this man could
not have been increased by the learning of the schools.
[Footnote 29: J.T. Wheeler, IV, I, 174]
[Footnote 30: J.T. Wheeler, loc. cit., 141; Noer, I, 193; II, 324,
326]
[Illustration: AKBAR'S GRAVE.]
I have now come to the point which arouses most strongly the universal
human interest in Akbar, namely, to his religious development and his
relation to the religions, or better to religion. But first I must
protest against the position maintained by a competent scholar[31]
that Akbar himself was just as indifferent to religious matters as was
the house of Timur as a whole. Against this view we have the testimony
of the conscientiousness with which he daily performed his morning and
evening devotions, the value which he placed upon fasting and prayer
as a means of self-discipline, and the regularity with which he made
yearly pilgrimages to the graves of Mohammedan saints. A better
insight into Akbar's heart than these regular observances of worship
which might easily be explained by the force of custom is given by the
extraordinary manifestations of a devout disposition. When we learn
that Akbar invariably prayed at the grave of his father in Delhi[32]
before starting upon any important undertaking, or that during the
siege of Chitor he made a vow to make a pilgrimage to a shrine in
Ajmir after the fall of the fortress, and that after Chitor was in his
power he performed this journey in the simplest pilgrim garb, tramping
barefooted over the glowing sand,[33] it is impossible for us to look
upon Akbar as irreligious. On the contrary nothing moved the Emperor
so strongly and insistently as the striving after religious truth.
This effort led to a struggle against the most destructive power in
his kingdom, against the Mohammedan priesthood. That Akbar, the
conqueror in all domains, should also have been victorious in the
struggle against the encroachments of the Church (the bitterest
struggle which a ruler can undertake), this alone should insure him a
place among the greatest of humanity.
[Footnote 31: A. Müller, II, 418]
[Footnote 32: Noer, I, 262]
[Footnote 33: Noer, I, 259.]
The Mohammedan priesthood, the community of the Ulemâs in whose hands
lay also the execution of justice according to the dictates of Islam,
had attained great prosperity in India by countless large bequests.
Its distinguished membership formed an influential party at court.
This party naturally represented the Islam of the stricter observance,
the so-called Sunnitic Islam, and displayed the greatest severity and
intolerance towards the representatives of every more liberal
interpretation and towards unbelievers. The chief judge of Agra
sentenced men to death because they were Shiites, that is to say they
belonged to the other branch of Islam, and the Ulemâs urged Akbar to
proceed likewise against the heretics.[34] That arrogance and vanity,
selfishness and avarice, also belonged to the character of the Ulemâs
is so plainly to be taken for granted according to all analogies that
it need hardly be mentioned. The judicature was everywhere utilized by
the Ulemâs as a means for illegitimate enrichment.
[Footnote 34: J.T. Wheeler, IV, I, 156.]
This ecclesiastical party which in its narrow-minded folly considered
itself in possession of the whole truth, stands opposed to the noble
skeptic Akbar, whose doubt of the divine origin of the Koran and of
the truth of its dogmas began so to torment him that he would pass
entire nights sitting out of doors on a stone lost in contemplation.
The above mentioned brothers Faizî and Abul Fazl introduced to his
impressionable spirit the exalted teaching of Sûfism, the Mohammedan
mysticism whose spiritual pantheism had its origin in, or at least was
strongly influenced by, the doctrine of the All-One, held by the
Brahman Vedânta system. The Sûfi doctrine teaches religious tolerance
and has apparently strengthened Akbar in his repugnance towards the
intolerant exclusiveness of Sunnitic Islam.
The Ulemâs must have been horror-stricken when they found out that
Akbar even sought religious instruction from the hated Brahmans. We
hear especially of two, Purushottama and Debî by name, the first of
whom taught Sanskrit and Brahman philosophy to the Emperor in his
palace, whereas the second was drawn up on a platform to the wall of
the palace in the dead of the night and there, suspended in midair,
gave lessons on profound esoteric doctrines of the Upanishads to the
emperor as he sat by the window. A characteristic bit of Indian local
color! The proud Padishah of India, one of the most powerful rulers of
his time, listening in the silence of night to the words of the
Brahman suspended there outside, who himself as proud as the Emperor
would not set foot inside the dwelling of one who in his eyes was
unclean, but who would not refuse his wisdom to a sincere seeker after
truth.
Akbar left no means untried to broaden his religious outlook. From
Gujerat he summoned some Parsees, followers of the religion of
Zarathustra, and through them informed himself of their faith and
their highly developed system of ethics which places the sinful
thought on the same level with the sinful word and act.
From olden times the inhabitants of India have had a predisposition
for religious and philosophical disputations. So Akbar, too, was
convinced of the utility of free discussion on religious dogmas. Based
upon this idea, and perhaps also in the hope that the Ulemâs would be
discomfited Akbar founded at Fathpur Sikrî, his favorite residence in
the vicinity of Agra, the famous Ibâdat Khâna, literally the "house of
worship," but in reality the house of controversy. This was a splendid
structure composed of four halls in which scholars and religious men
of all sects gathered together every Thursday evening and were given
an opportunity to defend their creeds in the presence and with the
cooperation of the Emperor. Akbar placed the discussion in charge of
the wise and liberal minded Abul Fazl. How badly the Ulemâs, the
representatives of Mohammedan orthodoxy, came off on these
controversial evenings was to be foreseen. Since they had no success
with their futile arguments they soon resorted to cries of fury,
insults for their opponents and even to personal violence, often
turning against each other and hurling curses upon their own number.
In these discussions the inferiority of the Ulemâs, who nevertheless
had always put forth such great claims, was so plainly betrayed that
Akbar learned to have a profound contempt for them.
In addition to this, the fraud and machinations by means of which the
Ulemâs had unlawfully enriched themselves became known to the Emperor.
At any rate there was sufficient ground for the chastisement which
Akbar now visited upon the high clergy. In the year 1579 a decree was
issued which assigned to the Emperor the final decision in matters of
faith, and this was subscribed to by the chiefs of the Ulemâs,--with
what personal feelings we can well imagine. For by this act the Ulemâs
were deprived of their ecclesiastical authority which was transferred
to the Emperor. That the Orient too possesses its particular official
manner of expression in administrative matters is very prettily shown
by a decree in which Akbar "granted the long cherished wish" of these
same chiefs of the Ulemâs to undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca, which
of course really meant a banishment of several years. Other unworthy
Ulemâs were displaced from their positions or deprived of their
sinecures; others who in their bitterness had caused rebellion or
incited or supported mutiny were condemned for high treason. The rich
property of the churches was for the most part confiscated and
appropriated for the general weal. In short, the power and influence
of the Ulemâs was completely broken down, the mosques stood empty and
were transformed into stables and warehouses.
Akbar had long ceased to be a faithful Moslem. Now after the fall of
the Ulemâs he came forward openly with his conviction, declared the
Koran to be a human compilation and its commands folly, disputed the
miracles of Mohammed and also the value of his prophecies, and denied
the doctrine of recompense after death. He professed the Brahman and
Sûfistic doctrine that the soul migrates through countless existences
and finally attains divinity after complete purification.
The assertion of the Ulemâs that every person came into the world
predisposed towards Islam and that the natural language of mankind was
Arabic (the Jews made the same claim for Hebrew and the Brahmans for
Sanskrit), Akbar refuted by a drastic experiment which does not
correspond with his usual benevolence, but still is characteristic of
the tendency of his mind. In this case a convincing demonstration
appeared to him so necessary that some individuals would have to
suffer for it. Accordingly in the year 1579 he caused twenty infants
to be taken from their parents in return for a compensation and
brought up under the care of silent nurses in a remote spot in which
no word should be spoken. After four years it was proved that as many
of these unhappy children as were still alive were entirely dumb and
possessed no trace of a predisposition for Islam.[35] Later the
children are said to have learned to speak with extraordinary
difficulty as was to be expected.
[Footnote 35: J.T. Wheeler, IV, I, 174; Noer, I, 511, 512. A familiar
classical parallel to this incident is the experiment recorded by
Herodotus (II, 2) which the Egyptian king Psammetich is said to have
performed with two infants. It is related that after being shut up in
a goat's stable for two years separated from all human intercourse
these children repeatedly cried out the alleged Phrygian word [Greek:
bekhos], "bread," which in reality was probably simply an imitation of
the bleating of the goats. Compare Edward B. Tyler, _Researches into
the Early History of Mankind_. 2nd edition, (London, 1870), page 81:
"It is a very trite remark that there is nothing absolutely incredible
in the story and that _Bek, bek_ is a good imitative word for bleating
as in [Greek: blêchhaomai, mêkhaomai], _blöken, meckern_, etc."
Farther on we find the account of a similar attempt made by James IV
of Scotland as well as the literature with regard to other historical
and legendary precedents of this sort in both Orient and Occident.]
Akbar's repugnance to Islam developed into a complete revulsion
against every thing connected with this narrow religion and made the
great Emperor petty-souled in this particular. The decrees were dated
from the death of Mohammed and no longer from the Hejra (the flight
from Mecca to Medina). Books written in Arabic, the language of the
Koran were given the lowest place in the imperial library. The
knowledge of Arabic was prohibited, even the sounds characteristically
belonging to this language were avoided.[36] Where formerly according
to ancient tradition had stood the word _Bismilâhi_, "in the name of
God," there now appeared the old war cry _Allâhu akbar_ "God is
great," which came into use the more generally--on coins, documents,
etc.--the more the courtiers came to reverse the sense of the slogan
and to apply to it the meaning, "Akbar is God."
[Footnote 36: Noer, II, 324, 325. Beards which the Koran commanded to
be worn Akbar even refused to allow in his presence. M. Elphinstone,
525; G.B. Malleson, 177.]
Before I enter into the Emperor's assumption of this flattery and his
conception of the imperial dignity as conferred by the grace of God, I
must speak of the interesting attempts of the Jesuits to win over to
Christianity the most powerful ruler of the Orient.
As early as in the spring of 1578 a Portuguese Jesuit who worked among
the Bengals as a missionary appeared at the imperial court and pleased
Akbar especially because he got the better of the Ulemâs in
controversy. Two years later Akbar sent a very polite letter to the
Provincial of the Jesuit order in Goa, requesting him to send two
Fathers in order that Akbar himself might be instructed "in their
faith and its perfection." It is easy to imagine how gladly the
Provincial assented to this demand and how carefully he proceeded with
the selection of the fathers who were to be sent away with such great
expectations. As gifts to the Emperor the Jesuits brought a Bible in
four languages and pictures of Christ and the Virgin Mary, and to
their great delight when Akbar received them he laid the Bible upon
his head and kissed the two pictures as a sign of reverence.[37]
[Footnote 37: J.T. Wheeler, IV, I,162; Noer, I, 481.]
In the interesting work of the French Jesuit Du Jarric, published in
1611, we possess very detailed accounts of the operations of these
missionaries who were honorably received at Akbar's court and who were
invited to take up their residence in the imperial palace. The evening
assemblies in the 'Ibâdat Khâna' in Fathpur Sikrî at once gave the
shrewd Jesuits who were schooled in dialectics, an opportunity to
distinguish themselves before the Emperor who himself presided over
this Religious Parliament in which Christians, Jews, Mohammedans,
Brahmans, Buddhists and Parsees debated with each other. Abul Fazl
speaks with enthusiasm in the _Akbarnâme_ of the wisdom and zealous
faith of Father Aquaviva, the leader of this Jesuit mission, and
relates how he offered to walk into a fiery furnace with a New
Testament in his hand if the Mullahs would do the same with the Koran
in their hand, but that the Mohammedan priests withdrew in terror
before this test by fire. It is noteworthy in this connection that the
Jesuits at Akbar's court received a warning from their superiors not
to risk such rash experiments which might be induced by the devil with
the view of bringing shame upon Christianity.[38] The superiors were
apparently well informed with regard to the intentions of the devil.
[Footnote 38: J.T. Wheeler, IV, I, 165, note, 47; M. Elphinstone, 523,
note 8; G.B. Malleson, 162.]
In conversation with the Jesuits Akbar proved to be favorably inclined
towards many of the Christian doctrines and met his guests half way in
every manner possible. They had permission to erect a hospital and a
chapel and to establish Christian worship in the latter for the
benefit of the Portuguese in that vicinity. Akbar himself occasionally
took part in this service kneeling with bared head, which, however,
did not hinder him from joining also in the Mohammedan ritual or even
the Brahman religious practices of the Rajput women in his harem. He
had his second son Murâd instructed by the Jesuits in the Portuguese
language and in the Christian faith.
The Jesuits on their side pushed energetically toward their goal and
did not scorn to employ flattery in so far as to draw a parallel
between the Emperor and Christ, but no matter how slyly the fathers
proceeded in the accomplishment of their plans Akbar was always a
match for them. In spite of all concessions with regard to the
excellence and credibility of the Christian doctrines the Emperor
never seemed to be entirely satisfied. Du Jarric "complains bitterly
of his obstinacy and remarks that the restless intellect of this man
could never be quieted by one answer but must constantly make further
inquiry."[39] The clever historian of Islam makes the following
comment: "Bad, very bad;--perhaps he would not even be satisfied with
the seven riddles of the universe of the latest natural science."[40]
[Footnote 39: In Noer, I, 485.]
[Footnote 40: A. Müller, II, 420 n.]
To every petition and importunity of the Jesuits to turn to
Christianity Akbar maintained a firm opposition. A second and third
embassy which the order at Goa sent out in the nineties of the
sixteenth century, also labored in vain for Akbar's conversion in
spite of the many evidences of favor shown by the Emperor. One of the
last Jesuits to come, Jerome Xavier of Navarre, is said to have been
induced by the Emperor to translate the four Gospels into Persian
which was the language of the Mohammedan court of India. But Akbar
never thought of allowing himself to be baptized, nor could he
consider it seriously from political motives as well as from reasons
of personal conviction. A man who ordered himself to be officially
declared the highest authority in matters of faith--to be sure not so
much in order to found an imperial papacy in his country as to guard
his empire from an impending religious war--at any rate a man who saw
how the prosperity of his reign proceeded from his own personal
initiative in every respect, such a man could countenance no will
above his own nor subject himself to any pangs of conscience. To
recognize the Pope as highest authority and simply to recognize as
objective truth a finally determined system in the realm in which he
had spent day and night in a hot pursuit after a clearer vision, was
for Akbar an absolute impossibility.
Then too Akbar could not but see through the Jesuits although he
appreciated and admired many points about them. Their rigid dogmatism,
their intolerance and inordinate ambition could leave him no doubt
that if they once arose to power the activity of the Ulemâs, once by
good fortune overthrown, would be again resumed by them to a stronger
and more dangerous degree. It is also probable that Akbar, who saw and
heard everything, had learned of the horrors of the Inquisition at
Goa. Moreover, the clearness of Akbar's vision for the realities of
national life had too often put him on his guard to permit him to look
upon the introduction of Christianity, however highly esteemed by him
personally, as a blessing for India. He had broken the power of Islam
in India; to overthrow in like manner the second great religion of his
empire, Brahmanism, to which the great majority of his subjects clung
with body and soul, and then in place of both existing religions to
introduce a third foreign religion inimically opposed to them--such a
procedure would have hurled India into an irremediable confusion and
destroyed at one blow the prosperity of the land which had been
brought about by the ceaseless efforts of a lifetime. For of course it
was not the aim of the Jesuits simply to win Akbar personally to
Christianity but they wished to see their religion made the state
religion of this great empire.
As has been already suggested, submission to Christianity would also
have been opposed to Akbar's inmost conviction. He had climbed far
enough up the stony path toward truth to recognize all religions as
historically developed and as the products of their time and the land
of their origin. All the nobler religions seemed to him to be
radiations from the one eternal truth. That he thought he had found
the truth with regard to the fate of the soul in the Sûfi-Vedântic
doctrine of its migration through countless existences and its final
ascension to deity has been previously mentioned. With such views
Akbar could not become a Catholic Christian.
The conviction of the final reabsorption into deity, conditions also
the belief in the emanation of the ego from deity. But Akbar's
relation to God is not sufficiently identified with this belief. Akbar
was convinced that he stood nearer to God than other people. This is
already apparent in the title "The Shadow of God" which he had
assumed. The reversed, or rather the double, meaning of the sentence
_Allâhu akbar_, "Akbar is God," was not displeasing to the Emperor as
we know. And when the Hindus declared him to be an incarnation of a
divinity he did not disclaim this homage. Such a conception was
nothing unusual with the Hindus and did not signify a complete
apotheosis. Although Akbar took great pains he was not able to
permanently prevent the people from considering him a healer and a
worker of miracles. But Akbar had too clear a head not to know that he
was a man,--a man subject to mistakes and frailties; for when he
permitted himself to be led into a deed of violence he had always
experienced the bitterest remorse. Not the slightest symptom of
Cæsaromania can be discovered in Akbar.
Akbar felt that he was a mediator between God and man and believed
"that the deity revealed itself to him in the mystical illumination of
his soul."[41] This conviction Akbar held in common with many rulers
of the Occident who were much smaller than he. Idolatrous marks of
veneration he permitted only to a very limited degree. He was not
always quite consistent in this respect however, and we must realize
how infinitely hard it was to be consistent in this matter at an
Oriental court when the customary servility, combined with sincere
admiration and reverence, longed to actively manifest itself.
[Footnote 41: Noer, II, 314, 355.]
Akbar, as we have already seen, suffered the Hindu custom of
prostration, but on the other hand we have the express testimony to
the contrary from the author Faizî, the trusted friend of the Emperor,
who on the occasion of an exaggerated homage literally says: "The
commands of His Majesty expressly forbid such devout reverence and as
often as the courtiers offer homage of this kind because of their
loyal sentiments His Majesty forbids them, for such manifestations of
worship belong to God alone,"[42] Finally however Akbar felt himself
moved to forbid prostration publicly, yet to permit it in a private
manner, as appears in the following words of Abul Fazl[43]:
[Footnote 42: In Noer, II, 409.]
[Footnote 43: In Noer, II, 347, 348.]
"But since obscurantists consider prostration to be a blasphemous
adoration of man, His Majesty in his practical wisdom has commanded
that it be put an end to with ignorant people of all stations and also
that it shall not be practiced even by his trusted servants on public
court days. Nevertheless if people upon whom the star of good fortune
has shone are in attendance at private assemblies and receive
permission to be seated, they may perform the prostration of gratitude
by bowing their foreheads to the earth and so share in the rays of
good fortune. So forbidding prostration to the people at large and
granting it to the select the Emperor fulfils the wishes of both and
gives the world an example of practical wisdom."