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WhoSaysAkbarWasGreat Texta
WhoSaysAkbarWasGreat Texta
'IOM
Who Says
AKBAR
Was
Great ?
Who
Says
By P.N.
OAK
*m
New
SonxOthtt Some
1
Hindu Building
CONTENTS
4.
Some Missing
Page
Preface
I
The Need
M
for Reassessment
I
II
16
III
52
70
IV
V
VI
Immorality
120
126
O P.N. OAK
AU Rights Reserved by the
Author
VII
The
Blatant Abductions
VIII
Conquests
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
Akbafs
Taxes
Military
203
Greed
Personality and Nature
208
215
XIV
XV
XV!
P.B. Rg^25
H.B.
Publishers
Distributors
Treachery
224
Hypocrisy
:
XVII
Famines
Fanaticism
Malpractices
1U. 300.00
244
XV III
:
J340064
Delta- Ilouui
XIX
New
Edition
Prinleri
June 2000
.wm 2225770
XX
\\t
XXII
Revolts Calo
Buildings
Din-e-IIahi
264
282
322
PREFAC
In
lustreless
Gems
is
m
369
the
the
preface to
his
eight-volume
critical
Scribes.
study of mediaeval Muslim chronicles a well-known historian, the late Sir H.M. Elliot observes thai
history
Akbar
Tomb
a Hindu Palace
or the
Muslim era
in
India
is
an
Bibliography
Errata
399
401
"impudent and
But
a
interested fraud."
realization
fullv
mere vague
It
its
Index
not enough.
has to be
gravity.
415
417
proper appraisal of
Instances are
not
422
pockets dexteriously picking ihe pockets of the very constables leading them handcuffed to lockups.
Western scholars like Sir H. M. have Elliot, who have seen through the "fraud' still been duped by mediaeval Muslim claims in or instance they have failed to many respects.
Similarly
1 I
realize
in
that
as
other spheres
tall
claims
made
favour of mediaeval
founded cities All extant hundreds are also "frauds the mediaeval buildings whether forts, palaces, man* sions, mosques or tombs are of pre-Muslim Rajput Historians, architects and archaeologists origin.
blundered, for example, in believing Fatehpur Siku and the Red Forts at Agra In Delhi wire founded by Mogul emperorsbook titled "Taj Mahal was a Rajput Palace"*
have
thai
and
m\
and
Its
successor volume
titled
have already exposed the "fraud" of the mediaeval monuthai *hroudft the 'tallest' My other book ments namely ihc Taj Mahal. Research -Some Blunders of Indian Historical frauds or misconcepalso exposes some other
Hindu Palace/"
children as
people
is
fatuously
who had
nothing
of
in
tions.
But on a careful study of historical works on Akbar I have felt that to clothe him in raiment of nobility and Divinity, putting him on a ped
to The present book on Akbar is intended palmed off. expose vet another -fraud" glibly a great namely that Akbar was a noble man and
and throwing a halo of greatness around him is doing a great disservice to logic,history, historical research and TRUTH.
tal T
evidence led from ranking in this book goes to prove that far Akbar as a man and ruler of exemplary conduct cannot be classed even with ordinary law-abiding He was a law unto and God-fearing citizens,
long.
He was
neither.
Historical
in
Misinterpreting events, failing to size them up their logical context and losing sight of con-
himself.
On
immoral
rulers in
minds who consider all questions as finally settled, are likely to brush aside Akbar's appraisal in this book, as biassed. Such an attitude
Closed
is
for truth.
temporary noting* about Akbar's atrocious career and Machiavellian mental make-up, is not only unsemantic but is an insult to human intelligence. But that is exactly what most histories of Akbar's reign have done. Most of them have been haunted by the panegyric gloss of Abut Fazal's Akbar noma. They haven't had the courage or insight of Western scholar* who correctly regard the Akbarnama to be a tissue of lies. Abul Fazal's own contemporaries, fellow-chronicler Badayum and Prince Salim, call him a "shameless flatterer/ Bloehmann remarks in the preface to his transla1
Because of a time-lag of almost 400 years this author could have had no reason or occasion for any personal tiff or brush with emperor Akbar* would have, in fact, been very happy and grateful to Divinity had Akbar really qualified for greatness. It would have spared millions of his
I
"Abul Fazal has far too often been accused by European writers of nailery and even wilful concealment of facts damaging to the reputation of his master**. to my I wish to point out that in coming
tion of
Abul
Fazal's
Akbarnama
that
abject subjects
liation.
so
a
much
total
humi-
conclusions on Akbar's place in history I have relied solely on the evidence recorded by preceding historians.
to sifting that
he was, it would have been a matter of universal admiration and unique distinction for him to love as his own
And
My own
contribution
is
limited only
motivated
U.vj
and mandwJtfnS
explanatory obserruh off the fabc ploss pui on gory eW_ s to episodes awl affairs,
"
and
fldcnn
iii
Pulled on one side by the traditionally djnncdjuvenile notions of Akbar's fancied greatness, and
facts
learned through
importance inasmuch as they fell with Hie sledge-hammer of TRUTH a pari of the false and seductive facade
findings arc
of far-re aching
mature, adult reading, writer aftej writer has betrayed confusion and contradiction in his writings on Akbar. page after paj*e. or instance, on page 63
I
and
ceiling
and
filth
of
Akbar the Great, Vol. I. Professor Ashirbadi Lul Shnvaslava hads Akbar's so-called
Ins
book
Hi
us
would do
well
to
lift
then heads
mds of myths, and have a second from under the look and entertain second thoughts on India's history, to fathom, what Sir H. M. mediaeval
EJli
!
calls,
us
many
'frauds.**
book does not claim to be a complete chronological narrative of Akbar's life or reign.
rhta
It
marriage with the daughter of the Jaipur ruler, Bharmal, as "a significant, event in mediaeval Indian history inasmuch as u was a voluntary affair on both sides." And within half-a-dozen lines the learned professor somersaults and asserts "It must however be said that the proposal had emanated as Bharmal was hard-pressed and wanted to save his
famih and
state
from ruination*"
deals
ent
fully
The scope of this hook is limited to forceimpressing on all concerned that Ak bar's
Such confusion results from an inadequate understanding and wrong interpretation of Akbar's baste urges and motives.
of TRUTH is that it should reconcile evidence all seemingly incompatible contemporary any into a homogenous whole, without leaving This is what. I feel, 1 have loose, dangling ends.
image projected through official dossiers, institunal literature and academic text books is totally unwarranted and far removed from facts.
Thi> book aims at lifting the thinking on \kbar from its traditional ruts. Incidentally it
The
test
it a cohesive and rational or conciliation contradictory seemingly incompatible currents running through narratives of Akbar^ reign.
achieves
as
1
aho
see
succeeded
in
doing
key
oi
in this
an
in
unfailing
interpretation
Akbar's
of
particular
and
Muslim
India,
in
general.
of uncdifymg episodes and wishful interpretation of events is bound to result in an unsatisfactory, unconvincTim is the feeling one gels on ing notch pot eh.
reading the usual run of books on Akbar.
Peoo
Chapter
man and
a noble
is
This
assessment
of
his
personality
thoroughly unjustified.
been a mere matter of opinion or of degree it wouldn't have mattered very much if those who considered Akbar 'Great' chose to hail him as such. But he was the very antithesis of sireatness and nobility of character.
it
Had
If
a person donates,
it
let
charitable cause
would
certainly be a matter of
opinion whether or not to glorify him as a generous donor. If the donor is earning just enough for mere subsistence his donation of even a modest Rs. 2 - could be classified as a generous gift. On the other hand if the donor were a millionaire a donation or Rs, 2/- by him would have to be
But all low amount. said and done he would still have to be bracketed But when with donors, generous or otherwise. throughout a person's life he is all along engaged
classed as
a
ludicrously
and extortion without ever parting with of so much as a farthing of his own, by no stretch and a imagination can he be glorified as a donor,
in
usury
generous one at
that.
Such
is
the case
with
Akbar's assessment in
Not
single
from cruelty, treachery, free wsi And yd he wealth or lust for conquest.
as an exemp!ar>
this
cited
It
iuJer
is
revived and sought to be hoisted on a public pedestal foi compelling obeisance a check-up on whether the faith in Akbar's greatness is warranted
hv
well-Settled issues
it
fact!
tive.
too ea$U) assumed that the person mghtg the review must It is conveniently be actuated by malice or bias. forgotten that there could be something like an indignation for righteous re-appraisal, ruTu.Ni
raked
up for re-consideration
is
To
"why
wc
suitable
ought to realize that history is nothing else but raking up the past. Moreover, they ought to know that they or their get away from test papers in relations cannot
replies
too.
The\
who fajl to see the need for a reappraisal are those who seem to argue that since Akbar is dead and gone why worry about brand
history in institutional or
Among
others
answer papers saying "Dear Mr. Examiner Since Akbar is dead and gone why bother your own head and mine by
iu>ns by scrawling a note across their
even assuming that he was a miscreant? Frum a lay point of view this may be considered But on closer scrutiny it to be sound advice.
g
him,
king
that
me
to write
about
like
is
it
his
reign"*
This shows
whether we
II
be with us.
written
that
uld simple
be found that
and
Tor
the innocuous as
suggestion
it
is
looks.
It
is
right-thinking
or
Individual lo see that all that is spoken m the name of history U the
truth.
author
cd
repose.
who wants
by
o\'
Ak bar's
it
truth, the
memory.
whatever
universal
been
the
is
i
consent
to rest in oblivious
that
Jn spile
of ourselves we rind
The very object of teaching or studying history past^ that to draw appropriate lessons from tl
Akbar 's greatness continues to be revived and foisted on generation after generation of school and college students. The myth of Akbat
ghost of
greatness
avoid cast mistakes, and derive inspiration from whatever has been glorious. This very object is
defeated
India
-i
if
history
is
sought, as
il
vers
l>
fle n
is
in
being constantly rubbed Into the minds of the people through classroom lessons and tesi
is
papers and other literature. In social and governmental business Akbar is held alofi as an ideal narch and a praiseworthy individual. When
the ghusl of his
of mistaken notions ol secularism and iiu '-communal harmony, to be blurred or glossed over, suppressed or misrepresented, and misconsout
trued,
All
truth,
memory
is
thus
being continually
is
ceaseless
search
far the
about a
5
,
country's
P^'
not .
ifi
therefore.
**'^
Wnal
this
book
tries
charter
d laud, ? Akbsr had anV character* at all 10 any whether we |i.known as CaPP 'n pported with factual be
""grtjft and
people and the invaders' inimitable capacity to destroy all ancient records and implant their own spurious versions in Indian history. Even those like Sir IT.M- Elliot who had the insight to detect
"^hThad
Tha;; tf
and
falsification
as
and
trace
In
its
ramifications.
SteU
the challenge.
responsibility
and
willingly
accept
of Akbars Over the centuries accounts and omission have matmc *s of commission under His bn carefully torn to shreds and swept
inennv
term 'historian' is very often abused. All those who earn money through teaching or administering history by virtue of their
India
the
employment
in
or the
Those bits are no! easy to salvage royal carpet" glamour of the and piece together in the blaze and
red carpet which
hides them.
Attempts to salvage
only
partial
and archives departments or by writing books on history do not qualify to be termed historians/ The real test is whether history blood and bones, whether he is is in a person's constantly pondering over Us missing links and
archaeological
inconsistencies,
met
with
success
missing.
whether he
is
striving to find
new
many
vital bits
have been
is
found
another laborious task, And lastly such piecing together is a thankless task which far from bringing any reward, laurels
them together
evidence to fill up the blanks, and whether in so doing he is bringing to bear on history a fresh. uninhibited, original outlook not wedded to any dogma or creed ? Such a yearning naturally
or patronage
1
1
is
frowned upon
has discreetly
in
many
quarters.
practically
presupposes a
identification
little
ii
every
chosen to toe the Jilional line of glorifying Akbar, as the best part of academic valour and called it a day,
with whose history is being investigated, and not a mere mercenary connection with the teaching or administering of history.
A
havl
and
automatically ex Abyssinian*. plains why the Turks, Arabs. Afghans, Uzbeks, Kazaks and Iranians who invadIncidentally
this
principle
impartial^
appraisal
but
intuition
and
insight
Muslim
Indian
Mongols, thousand years ed and occupied India for over a They history. had no scruples in falsifying India's or people had no love lost for India, Us euliurr
XfiT.COM
came and stayed to exploit it ro its utmost, n'ts and the assertions They were lifa made n,
The>
their
Here
logic
tells
the
investi-
Bui
chronicles ha\e to he handled verj carefully. wh\ we find is just the opposite. Mediaeval
.
I
gator thai
in
ISC
since
no
is
man
a
can
is
a clear
which a discerning historian like Sir H.M. Elliot was constrained to term as 'impudent and interested frauds/' have been treatr
Muslim
ik
of murder This gives us one very important law of judicial investigation which is very useful Thnt law is that whenever to historical research.
circumstantial evidence conflicts with a so-called document The document is a clear forgery. Here
ed is >,icrosanei source
gether India's history.
materials for
piecing
to-
A
burnt
student
if
of Indian history
earlier
is likely
to ask in
despair that
word 'document* should include not only writings on parchment but stone and copperplate inscriptions and all other written record. This
the
or
otherwise
by
the
Muslim
chronicles written by the invaders themselves are nol to be believed in what remains as the source for the reconstruction of Indian history ? Fortunately we don't have to
if
aders.
and
the
very important law of evidence should alert the student of history from putting implicit faith in
in despair.
Those very
any inscrip! ion or writing. It should also enable him to prefer circumstantial evidence and reject If this important law is the conflicting wrfting. kept in view many Muslim inscriptions and other
writings in
falsi-
chronicles contain all the evidence wc need to reconstruct history on the chassis of truth.
India
will
be easily detected to be
motivated forgeries.
This
leads
us to
of the
law of evidence for historical research. A clear understanding of how evidence is sjfted graded and pieced together in a court of law is essential
tor historical study,
though the inscribers or writers themselves have made no claims scholars of Indian history have committed the grave error
At
some
places
of
dead bod,
ymg unc
med
Into
t
connecting ihc writing with the creation of Akbar's instance for the monument, Thus, inscription on the Buland Darwaza (gateway) at Fatehpur Sikn, recording his victory over the Deccan. has been unwarremedly interpreted by
niurie by
nd o (] hody
J
A,
fc ttmc
tSSJ"
no
in vest iga i j4
* *" Lind
is
imply that Akbar Stone galewu\ to commelofty the erected This over the Deccan. morate his victory decisive speculation could never lead to an} conclusion since the very assumption that the of inscription on it commemorates the creation
historian
after
historian
to
noticed
_
rec*Jfctf
rba'
nc
****
lion*
name or other
buffdifigs feirtoric
picnic
how
confessions* arc to
Akbar'* mscrip.
only a
royal
enjoins
pect
upon
a magistrate to
is
*^ T,
0f
^iaoo
bolt]
'
SL^f
Btrtand
DanvLiz^
he confession but
thai
under no obligation
make
a
i
if lie
made
a confession or record
anj
Sri
to
^ve
Mogul" that Akbar used rThc tbar the Great his command to masons and carvers at
/rsenptions he desired,
slight
V incent
v, 11If
hook
i\t the
against statement U would be definitely used him but never in his favour. Muslim chronicles arc and it is left to the in the nature of 'confessions.* free to use it the appraiser, the historian to feel mouth way he likes. It would not lie in anybody's those chronicles should either be
to
insist
that
Intfoducins a
variation
in
the
example
the
reader
how
This wholly believed or wholly rejected. deal. done. Evidence is never a package
In the
is
never
urted from his home with a genuine note written xai signed by himself saying that he was going out commit suicide which need not be investigated,
absolutely useless as the so-called suicide notes are Yei evidence to shield the arraigned murderer. as trash. They those notes won't be thrown away the hands of the are very valuable evidence in and the prosecution to trace the other accomplices
a
Hi
ven in such a case if the man has died of a stab ound in the back it can clearly be inferred thai though the man left his house with the intention of commiittmi suicide, before he could carry out his resolve he was intercepted and murdered. In this
very
curiously
the
'suicide
document'
is
nne and yet the death is not suicide but murder. This gives us another valuable law of dence thai a document may
connection
be genuine but its the event could be spurious. In io the circumstantial evidence will be
with
led to
many
anomalous conclusions
in Indian history.
crucial.
The
in
the law of
ma
down
10
it
<
tMrcTed.BuiifiMhc
he has
ihc 0M*>" > b,,ml to voluntary statement! anv rinn * Inch need noi *, rthing 10 iavc his ow n count or thai statemenl
i
historian
that
as
it
lull
m^or
i
rejecting the
i
who
or
oi
lie
my pan
the
>i
weptevidence
instil
allowed some
be
which implicate Incriminate him, can certainly be used 10 regaled and made use or as very
Innts lo
Tail
mi
fi
can never
mouth of the
accept or
ol
iiapect
i
"i
accused
a partisan witness to
oi
l,,i
the the
judge, appraiser
historian
strong evidence.
reject
whole evidence.
In a
conn
now
or accused, accused. dmissihlc as evidence to incriminate the hypothetical cast In which a longilce married Hindu couple is sitting in the drawing
..
our discussion a step further we shall suspect point "out. Hits rime in favour of the is that ai times even a clear confession
arryinjr
ll is never evidence |l properly silted as a package, Sometimes valuable hints from rejected is taken while the rest arc [I At Othet times the whole statement trash.
I
used ruthlessly to confront and contradict accused at every stage but never in his favour.
If,
the
room of
their
home.
visitor
happens
visitor.
CO
come and
quarrel in
a
murders the
As
good
subsequent pages of this book the reader finds lis sometimes quoting a partisan chronicler like Abu Fazal or Badayuni lo
therefore,
in
ihe
Hindu wife who always prefers to nrc-deceasc her husband the wife helps the husband to abscond and that he murdered ihe visitor In tell* the police case though the wife is apparently the such
murderer
place
yet
B
bring
home
we
to
Akbar
his
manv misdeeds,
and
at
(hers
refuse
would no!
have
at
much
reliance
even on her
own
incriminating
confession
In
such
mind
ihe possibility of a
Hindu wife
of (hose chroniclers we do so on very sound ground* explained above. In fact not using winnow, select, -aft such discretion and cautio and appraise all ihe evidence would amount to committing tile greatest academic folly and grave in injustice in Ihe field of academic teaming, and
assertions
the search for Truth
impersonating for her husband as the real criminal, It will also consider the faci that a Hindu wife is
not prone to
is
noi generally
invoked
having explained the importance of the law or evidence in historical research we shall now turn to ihe other equally important requirement
Alter
man
won't
generally
will
murder
man.
etc. etc.
n
be very chary
.is
in
using even
dcarcut confession
e\ iderice
of ihc crime,
These instances
namely logic or instance, to anybody who asserts that Akbar was great and noble we would like to The first question i* that put U few questions. ihc present 20th ccntuT) parliamentary democrat
I
il
13
13
^dually from mediaeval "*>* evolved vcrv who died .n 1707 AD, /d if emperor Aurangwb " NVC been very barbarous and hii^E i Akbar who could h& great grander ZSFE*
very epitome of
all
history
If*
afforded
sverc
by Ins
relations
with
Rana
whai made his son *kbar was such an ideal man turn out to be virtual grandsons and great grandsons question we would like to pose beasts? The second born and bred in a country's is thai when princes
alTc
sworn deadly enemies of one as If then Rana Pratap is to be admitted another. son of ihc soil who a patriotic, brave, and righteous Hindusthan from fought, back-to-lhc-watl to save follow that Akbar cign domination, does it noi murder Rana WBS an alien villain who wanted to
Pratap.
Both
self-aggrandizement Pr&tap like many others, for and for cnsalving Hindudom?
own
jdeal
ancient
rulers
tradition
religion, culture
inordiif
nate
love
for
people?
And
he
did he merge or identify himself wth the religion, language and culture of the vast majority of the people he ruled over? The
developed such a
alone is enough to in historydebunk and expose spurious claims and the law or evidence when we Armed with we come across studv accounts of Akbar's reign to the hilt our staggering proof to corroborate grandfather of Aurangzeb surmise that as the great For a was even worse than the former.
Wc
thus sec
how
logic
Uw
Akbar
third
question
we should
like to
pose
is
that can a
drunkard and a drug-addict who is illiterate and who swallows principality after Indian principality for no ostensible reason except self-aggrandizement be a
of history, thereproper studv and understanding documents as logic and the Tore, it is not so much and are indispensable. Logic lav, of evidence which us to locate the needle the law of evidence enable writings. of truth in a haystack of false
man
ask
we should
like to
H
histon
LvJ| seen
is
an invading gang of dacoits claims that it looked after the children of a village with ten* der filial care better than their slaughtered parents could, will any man endowed with reason pay any heed to that claim? Likewise when histories claim thai Akbar who killed or conquered one Indian ruler after another did so only to lavish more loving care on the Indian people than those slaughtered or conquered Indian rulers ever could one must at once di*mi*i Mich a claim as nonsensical.
Anoiuvi
easy
tally
of how an accurate reconstruction records we "possible from even falsified of Akbar s indicate how a reappraisal
straight.
logic compel us to Secondly requirements of conclusions from debunk absurd and illogical reign. available evidence of Akbar'a
to
XhT.l-jM
14 IS
Tr
nidi
tfl
wrong conclusions
the rationality of
We
allowed
to
persist tliQ
j,,,
,.il
|
viilK
man. and
make
prone to
without
pi
am
Ml}
readymade conclusion*
is
deductions
education*
i
whal has actually happened In India in the field of history. False nolens of secularism and Hindu-Muslim amity permanently incapacitated and precluded have
questioning.
Tins
ii
If
Akbar
is
to
be accepted a$ great
students and
scholars,
teachers
and professors,
and noble Ran a pratap. Rani Durgawati and a Other Hindu princes and princesses would
have
to
authors and
be
classed
'great
as
villains
who wanton))
opposed the
.i
Fourthly the presumption of Akbar's greatness mounts to saying that an alien could love and nurture his Hindu subjects better than their own
orators from prying deeper into true history. Such terror which prevents any free questioning and cross-examination of long-standing dogmas and shibboleths is unacademic The late American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had must said that to be able to find the truth, one A student or teacher of feci free to search for it.
rulers
would connote that an illiterate monarch who had all the vices on earth could still very loving, considerate and efficient.
Fifthly,
it
Indian history has never felt free to piy into true Indian history. His inquiring faculty has been deadened and his voice has been gagged so that he may accept unquestioning!) all that is dinned into
his cars
even
pathetic
Sixthly,
it
leads
to
the absurdity
that
though
nonsense of the Law of Evidence. of Akbar's role thus assumes great importance not only for a correct understanding of dial sordid chapter but also for academics
Akbar's ancestors and descendants were all very cruel yet he alone was almost a saint, an angel and
an ideal man.
If
reappraisal
Akbar was
so
noble
how
did
his
sons,
in general.
grandsons and
\icioui sadists?
great
How
Our two earlier books: The Taj Mahal is a Hindu Palace; and Some Blunders of Indian
Research, have attempted cleaning some other parts of the Augean Stables of history hoped that this book would prove to be is It
Historical
yet
thai
courtiers
Such anomalies and contradictions which follow from the assumptions of Akbar's greatness Hid nobility if thiust down the throat of generalion* of students, they will permanently impair and benumb students* rationalism and make them
another beacon
its
in
reconstructing
history so
other chapters
the
may
be equally purified
by
climirtlMmL'
dross of falsehood
contaminating
them.
n
was Badruddin (meaning 'The full moon of Mohammad Akbar. The adjective religion"*
birth
2
11
March
cision
A
the
discuss
the main events of chronoloeical survey of before we proceed to ^kbar's reign is ncccssar) roles as man and king to evaluate his
his
in historv.
It
regarded
Akbar was circumcised. Circumto We tnay have, over the centuries come Muslim as a sacred and indispensable
1546:
origin to necessities of religious rite but it owes its Since Islam had Us birth in the desert hygiene.
are all approxi\anous dates given hereunder Though there have been ever so many mate recorded the events of the chroniclers who have Muslim rulers, and reigns of mediaeval lives
Place
may. however, be
stated that
and princes yet they differ hopelessly on they narrate since they were the dates and events mamlv concerned with eking out a soft living m times by humouring those dangerous and turbulent and reading out to their patrons, by recording
counters
not wash themArabian desert where people could was found as a way selves for months citcumcision phymosis. Circumcision owes out of complaints of needs tf therefore, to the Its origin, and cannot have an> hygiene in waterless deserts, where In countries like indta
M
P-S*
religious significance.
is enjoined as a plenty and a daily bath becomes irrelevant even for necessity, circumcision more so for spmtual physic^ well-being, much
water
is
bliss.
in
callous
Monday
January 27.
in
I5S6:
Humayun
fall
died
Delhi,
His
at
Thursday, November 23, 1542: Akbar was born Umarkot in Sind where his father Humayun.
from a staircase of a building He was earned, about QUa on Frtday, January 24.
"
^** Puuiu
inside the
Akbar's
father
to having been defeated by Sher Shah, and made India, had flee leasing his crown and throne in
Akbamama
On
chieftain sought the hospitality of the local Hindu ai Rana Virisal alias Rana Prasad- Akbar's name
Vincent Smith *uy? an page 10 of his book "AkbarTneGrcal Mogul" thai many Persian and English author* In FaCl it <* Vincent erroneously a-> Amarkol.
I
Sunduv
instead or Thursday
and Akbar
*>
hirtndai
IS.
write the
name be Amarkol. Smith who ii wrong. The original name could only After Muslim occupation it must have been chanted W appear Muslim in origin* Umarkot io make
il
on muaUj
Akb#r,
referred
fi
WiWplM
,i',
18
19
W"*-.
l,c,
,hic
nalace
He was
palace
buried
in
dlei
his
r:!,^ The
deaih.
I:
believed
,Ma
,
in
which
where Akbar had encamped. Those hmld.ngs had been ruined through successive Muslim onslaught* from ihe beginning of (he 8th century A.D.
cm
November
Pantpat
lived
against
S,
1556.
flow
d.cd
in
in
the
Akba
.hcrHumayun.
therefore
and
Akbar
region.
On
page 29 of
two months old) was m Akbar (then 13 years and of the Punjab at Kalanaur, the Gurudaspur district Khan, engaged b> h is guardian Behram
accompanied
in military
at
time of hit
father s
death
in
Delhi,
but for tI, accident that he was struck in the eye by an arrow which pierced his brain and rendered him uncon
Probably
Hemu would
His army scattered and made no further resistance Hemu's elephant (led to the jungle."
scious.
Humayun's For about a fortnight the news of courtiers look death was either suppressed or the
time to pro claim young
Akbar
king.
marriage is unknown. According to the practice of marrying the paternal uncle's daughter Akbar was married to Ruqaiya Begum the daughter of his uncle Hindal. He was bethrothed to her in November 1551.
first
February
ui
Delhi
in
February
in
14.
Akbar was proclaimed king Three days later thai is on absentia 1556, Akbar was formally enthroned Hindu the plinth o! an ancient
//.
1556:
\mccnt Smith is mistaken in observing r page : his book! that -the ornamental and subsidiary buildings subsequently acted and visited mast than once by Akbar t disappeared Such canards of Akbar having fabulous buildings and townships which mysteriously disappeared without lea\
trace
Akbar was married to Abdulla Khan's daughter. This was Akbar \ second marriage. His guardian Behram Khan had frowned on this match. This was probahtv the beginning of the feud between Akbar and hi* guardian Behram
I
Early
May
that
1557: Sikandar
long siege of
Mankot
Behram Khun,
to
the
repeated
by historians like Vincent Smith. mat ion is thai Akbar was proclaimed the rums f a.iuent Hindu buildings
,
Akbar's lather's sisieis daughter Stilima Begum Obviously Akbar had his eye on her because this betrothal so angered him that he ordered the royal elephants to be .lauipcdcd into
beihroihcd
Behram Khan's
tent.
AfC
^h
later at .tiillundur
Behratn Khan
to
21
assert
or believe
that
Akbar
built
Fatehpur
Sikri
Ufl
,n
!U-M|*
envy
uJ
ro y3 ,
,re.
. *~ in ^gr* 1 later aeain Akbar made Aera ,avvi " . , , After reiiirn to of bullying ht. iruard.an mstrumem elephant the
Bchram IChan.
removed his seat of govern* This clearly Sikri. fr. m Aura to Fatehpur before Akbar. rve Tat Fatehr- Silii existed by the Muslim the change is given ffe reason for Akbar s nurse
,tffl
/>
**kbar
January 1561 Behram Khan was assassinated at Siddhapur Pultun In Gujarat. He was obviously murdered by assassins sent by Akbar since for three years earlier Akhar had vigorously hounded him out of office, stripped him of all power, inflicted several defeats on him in open battles and finally Ultimately he was cornered and exiled him. murdered. Soon after his murder his wife accompanied by her thiec-ycar-old son, who later became Abdur Rahim IChan Khanan, was brought to
:
hronicler
Ferishta.
He
says* that
A k bar's
and Pir
Scared design to imprton Akba. safe in longer considering himself this and no bv to cause which determined Akbar ra '-was the " This shows that all talk and belief that Asra Sikri just for the heck of
S S
bam Anaga
it
was
March
Adham Khan
Baz Bahadur the ruler of Mandavgad at Sangrur near Dewas in Great atrocities were committed in central India. this campaign by Akbar "s generals.
defeated
Mohammad
Akbar moved
himieir
Fatehpur Agra because he felt burin. Me had to quit move at short insecure there. That he could
to
Akbar left Agra post haste April 27\ 1561: because he was informed that Adham IChan had
holding back the harem, and choice spoil.
been
women
of Baz
Bahadur's
with bag, baggage retinue, notice to Fatehpur Sikri harem of 5000 women and a the entire court, a animals shows that menaceric of 1.000 wild composed Fatehpur Sikri was a captured township some that we see now in it. and
June
seizing
4, 1561.
the
Akbar relumed to Agra after women and adding them to his own
of
all
more
blunder of history
people
Power
in
Hisiorj of ihe Rise ol the Mahomedai* I four volume*) nil the year A D, 1612,
iroruliilcd
Ak bur
on
fire
Mummed
John
Ratlin FtfMlM,
and
death-
about
thousand
Hindus
were burnt to
Bri^s.
I0fifl
reprint,
published
S Dey
59 A
sar.wM
22
r ((
,
f<A/
*kh.ir
Kfrm
23
of forging inter-communal
deal with this matter quent chapter.
marital
tics,
We
a
ihall
in greater detail
in
subse-
H
,
\,s
remade
who were n
first
*S
,11
\r.
by his rcoli agains. Akbar revolts galore by Hlmosl slo be followed by and subordinates of Akbar's male relations Akbar's lechery, ircaprotest and disgust or
courtiei*
Baz Bahadur, the ruler of March 1562; A D M and a v gad. finally surrendered and agreed to be a minor courtier at Akbar's eourt.
:
chery.
Agra ostensibly GhistTs shrmc in Aimer. to visit saint Ifflamuddiii shrine were conObviousl) ftkbar's visits to that reduce His ieal intention was to temporary ruses
January
Akbar
fcfl
A senior nobleman and tela1562 ion of Akbar bearing the name Sbamsuddin Atga Khan was murdered outside Akbar** bed-chamber Adham Khan who had led Akbar's army in the
May
16,
:
i
by Sangrur
on the date thisincident as on other important dales. The Tabakat-i-Akbari chronicle written by Nizamuddin
battle.
Authorities
differ
attributes
this
gruesome murder
to the succeeding
Some years later cmc after the othet object was achieved he Mopped going to Ajmcr.
This
first
when
this
late
as
1565 A,D.
the it. second storey of the palace apartments Being only hall dead, he was again Port in Agra. hauled up and hurled down a second time.
Raja Bharmal and compel htm to sunender Earlier Bharmal his daughter for Akbar % harem. subjected to cruel and devastating raids by general Sharfuddm, and three Jaipur \\t-j.\'ruler.
Rs.
princes
were held
in
captivity!
under pain of
torol
1162 A.
D
in
Munim Khan
die Chief
Minister
turous death unless Bharmal consented lo surrender his daughter for Akbar*s harem, and grandson
Akbar
Sarwat
rebelled
at
Manvingh and son Raja Bhagwandas to reside In perpetual tutelage at Akbar's Court as hostages 10 ensure the Jaipur Hindu royal family's permanent
iithinisw
ii;i
He was
the second
rebel against
\kbar
,
Whs
blatant
i-.-i
ol
glorified in
IS&\ Shariuddm the ^^ Jaipur ratal who had terroraed and hounded the
Novemi
in
Bharmal
eaung
his
Rajput prideiifldsu
24
hi*
bi,i*I
was another daughter to AH*W* ubar's court to revolt. An arms was lm and he was hounded away first to
harem
Mecca.
days later
25
Oujerataitd then u
\ ftw
Abu
on
courtier, declared
efce
that
his
WW
Akbar.
Like everyone
around Akbar he was of such a bcastfo nature a princess and murdered Bl K.ihul he married
he was passing alongside the Parana Qila in Delhi his way from the Nizamuddin shrine lo the Red Foil (The Red Fort in Delhi is a very ancient building and was not built by Shahjahan as is mistakenly asserted), This attempt on Akbar's because he was nosing about to life was made abduct good-looking vvives, mothers, sisicrs and daughters from many families,
mother-in-law
Akbar is said to have been tigerA.D, 1 References to 'hunting in hunting 5 al Mathura. Muslim chronicles arc not to be taken literally
>3
:
March IS64
the .liziya tax
Akbar
is
which was
the
levied by
Muslim sultans
This
on Hindus
abolition
is
\
for
\cr> often
It
they
rulers.
is
common knowledge
Accordingly hunting expeditions of Muslim monarchs were mere contemporary ruses to throw he people off their guard This Mathura 'hunting* enln in Muslim
are b closel)
guarded secret.
hoax as we will describe later. Akbar is also believed to have forbidden the enslavement 1562 and of prisoners of war in abolished the tax on Hindu pilgrims in 1563. It will be pointed out later that these are canards and motivated myths blindly believed in by writers of history books without undertaking any investigation.
chronicles,
at
therefore,
Akbar was
Mathura on one of those missions to destrov Hindu places of pilgrimage Ancient Mathura has been razed to the ground in successive Muslim Some of these were by Akbar. It will bus
awn
place
later
ma ior
centre
of Hindu pilgrimage
similarly
destrov
those
queen Banu Be gam) became ihe mother Hamida fifth courtier to revolt against Akbar, He was then sent a prisoner to a dungeon in Gwalior fort where he became mentally deranged and died.
the
being
brother
of
January
shot
at
12.
1564
a
A
47
poisoned
arrow was
Se pi ember
rak
564
i
Akbar with
view to assassinate
page
o!
him while
book
QtMOgfe on
tiic
Vincent
Smith's
Great
ntiir
Moguf
apiiv
lor
r>
Mnihura
f Shah, ruler daughter for Aklnu's harem. This again was no marriage but abduction since the poor, helpless girl was seized and carried away to Akbar's court by the principal eunuch Ait mad Khan.
27
CJ
;r^er
fe
fitf
senior
I
liiruHN-
Akbar
d
is
Mid
to have ordered
bu.lt
..ear
fi/
met
ol
the
Nagarchain to be seen mile, to the south of Agra magnificent fine buildings and
* said to have ordered, can be found Akbar did hoax is is yet another jnvwh buildings, mid even a single building. All gardens 01 gateways ascribed to
^dem,
he
of Humtiyun's tomb in the mc while. The o n is said to have been completed when she returned three years laier. n rosier mother. Hi** own moth lama was Ha mid a Banu Bcgam This buiidh of Humayun "s tomb by a childless widow is another canard Humayun ties ruined m the cellai I a captured Rajput palace
I
1
'
urn
India
usurped or eonquered
by
him
from Red
Fort
1365
vkhiii
is
said
to
Hindu
niiei
Kii
flman.
leading
courtier
Another \ersion says that as early as 1561-1563 Akbar had started raising some
in
Agra.
rebelled
against
Akbar.
buildings
in
thc fort.
Bin
rding
ishta
dun Nabi appointed to look after royal grants 10 fakirs and other indigent persons, proved to be rapacious and unwon]
ordered his general A saf Khan ravage Ram Durgawati's kingdom with a view annex her excellently governed principality and
that beautiful
what the chronicles call "the fort" was the ancient \kbar have wall surrounding Agra at) ordered a few repairs to the cltj wall battered at H places during successive Muslim invasions minor repair work hai> been fraudulently magnified and misrepresented by erring hi
building of the
Hindu Red
Fort
in
That
Akbai could
chain,
his
for
start
foster
oFNagar
.1
1
palatial
11
queen for
his
own harem.
tomb
Lmtinl56i
7a
Twin 50ns Hasan and Husatn ar. Chough Akbar had a host romclcrs swarming around h.m the ,h nwl,,w of * '*** has * Hit been a Thc IW,ns dlcd * a month of
[h
ind deceased monarch if u ma u thc thai at the same time Akbar could if :he Red Fort in Agra demolition and rebuild while engaged in h war against Rani fawati
thc
I
id
is
absurd
the extreme.
1
1565*66
A saf Khan
the
general
who had
29
...tft
wined out.
Almost
ill
chroniclers unanimously
h "<
"2i
LoS
,
U.n,
erstwhile,
firr/r/Jtf; .,
;;
hie
vtf^
While
Ubar's brother Mohammad Punjab. Akbar arrived inv aded the his brother, February 1567 to stem Lahore Akbar organized a
at
Hakim,
brother Bahadur who had been in open revolt for over two Several other years were defeated and killed. adherents of the rebel leaders were executed bv
1567:
Ins
May
Ind
hunt.
AH
g^e
m
the
Akbar ravaged India's richest and most famous Hindu pilgrim centres namely \llahabad and Benaras fVaranasi). People fled in terror as Akbars armies ran amuck.
nd
lasso.
Taking advantage of
Ak bar's
absence
from
Akbar returned to his capital July 18 \ 1567 Agra from his 'Operation ravage'.
i
Delhi-Agra-Fatchpur Sikri region a host of high his relations classed as Mirzas and holding ranks at Akbar's court revolted against him. Akbar
had, therefore, to hurriedly leave to
revolt led by
courtier
suppressed.
Lahore to return
uncountable Mirzas.
Agra
April 1567
:
way back while Akbar was campjng at Thancshwar in the Punjab two sects of priests called Kurus and Purus complained to htm about a dispute between them regarding
his
On
to
his
Akbar began preparations September 1567 invade Chittor. On October 20, Akbar formed
:
camp extending
women
burnt
the
sharing of the
offerings
made
at
the
local
amass
Hindu -shrine by an unending stream of pilgrims. Akbar had them lined up armed with swords, sticks and daggers and made them annihilate one
another.
To
ensure that
both
sides
got killed
he kept reinforcing the weaker side with a band of fid fanatic Muslims and saw to ii that both
the
pries! iy
hands of Akbar* s barbarous Muslim hordes. The next morning Akbar rode into the fortress and ordered a general massacre in which 30,000 Many thousands were taken were slaughtered. prisoner to be turned into slaves. The holy threads of those slaughtered, weighed 74 raaunds.
factions
U,
Akhm
returned to Agra,
in revolt
recesses
rule.
of the
burqn
Ranihambhore
loMorili
bTccd
I
l
3i
*W
monU
Akbar is *aid to have inspected the newly built mausoleum of his father emperor hi m ay ii, On pace 74 of his book Vincent Smith
April 1570
:
I
years
to
build.
Mirak
within
fogim/i*
trict)
1 ,'
kalanjur
fort
(in
Buiula
dis-
This is a canard. Mtrza Ghiyas was the architect Humayun lies buried in a captured Hindu palace
in
possession
(he
Rewa) famous
to
Ramehand
and
of captured'
which he
lived.
Ram Ramehand
concubine bore to Akbar a son named Murad and nicknamed Pahadi being born on the Fatehpur Sikn hillock,
JutteS, J 570
to have said \kbai it September 137Q the arranged for the enlargement of the fort and
Salim (the
future
emperor
erection of
many handsome
is
buildings
in
Aimer. The
three years.
Jahangirj was
bom of the daughter of Raja Bharf Amber, whom Akbar had kidnapped from
work
is
said to
in
SaraW
very ancient Hindu town and all exist from belu historic extant buildings there emperor Prilhviraj's fore the I2lh century Hindu
Ajai-Meru
lime
precise
remembered that this* * the period when Akbar is said to have launch1
may
be
,Akl
n
Sikri while ed even the building of Fatehpur suppressing manyengaged in incessant wars and
a
re volts.
in
,,
Sheikh
Daniyal
least
believed
to
be
were at
*ano Begun,
!"
who
and stayed in on page Fatehpur Sikri says Vincenl Smith and magnifiThis proves thai majestic his book. we see m our own das cent monuments which Akbar s time and Fatehpur Sikri existed even in townshio is i that he founded that
August
IS71
Akbar
came
the
assertion
me were
illiterate non-cniitie*
canard.
n
J2
33
Mnmn
In
'-*"'
iucccssfillly defied
Gl
forma! coronation
took
place a
little
later
Bhayvvandas rendered to the alien mi march an empty honour conferred on him was never beihc grant of a banner and kettle drums fore bestowed on a Hindu.
February 26.
1
at
kumbhalmir
fort.
573
Smut
rebels capitulated.
Juh
Sikri
A. 1?
on one of his Sikri was ihc may be noted here that Fatehpur he starts though fraudulent place from which Muslim chronicles would have the reader believe
The commandant
excision of his
father's service.
[jfrtl
Akbar
set
IS,
573:
-\kbar
leaves
3.
Ajmer and
on June
Fatehpur Sikri was a township built by Akbar and that it was completed only in 1583 A.D.
that
August
Gujcrat
23 % 1573:
Akbar had
led by
to
leave for
to quell
a rebellion
Mohammad
Sirohi the headquarters of the Deora sect of One the Chauhan clan was stormed and taken. hundred and fifty Rajputs deliberately sacrificed
their live* in
fought-
The battle of Ahmcdabad was pyramid of more than 2,000 slain heads
5,
futile
attempt at resistance
its
Sirohi
was
raised.
sword blades.
Muzaffar Shah 111 the alien Muslim sultan of Gujarat was captured and his kingdom annexed. His followers were ordered to be trampled to death by elephants.
:
\"2
1573
Akbar returned to
At
time.
first
Akbar in concert with Todarmal 1571-1574 the compulsory branding issued a proclamation for and every person owning of all horses so thai any became a royal slave such a horse automatically ordered. bound to be on duty whenever
October 2.
1573
:
The
three
rnnces were
circumcised
1574
at
Fatehpur
Sikri.
Ibrahim Husain were in revolt. Sural was one of their centres. Raja Bhagwandas and his adopted son Raja Mansingh Akbar in this campaign. Bhu "wandfls'S
iot
killed.
It,
The Mirzas
led
by
the first ; presented himself for of Akbar s court of an did not create much lim e before Akbar but
A D.
impression-
recognition
of
June
\5,
1574:
Akbar embarked on a
river
SvKtion wwwl
vovft ce
to
conquer Bihar
vessels
prince
During At
Akbar
.
35
for iyt B.nnris where he halted arrived nf the capture of Bhukkar At this time news tfcsv 111 Sind
!L, lC d
anyone could go on pilgrimage at State expense Vincent Smith's book "Akbar the Great (p. Mogul"),
March
Oi,
The
Tukaroi battle was fought with Orissa and Bihar. iter of parts of Bengal, massacred and their prisoners laken were
,\
I57S
ids
sley-hj
Aziz Koka, Akbar\ foster brother revolted and was subjected to house-confinement in Agra. He is said to have resented the compulBui there sory branding-of-horses regulation. could be many other reasons besides, such as Akbar* s licentiousness In helping himself with
nrza
others'
minarets,
women
since
Though we have
all
already
lost
Muniin Khan the general April 12, 1575 accepted the formal submission of Daud and left
.
him
possession of Orissa,
74-1575: Gujerat suffered
of Akbar's relations and generals revolted against him, we may tentatively class Aziz Koka as the 1th eminent person of Akbar's court who turned a rebel.
count,
almost
from severe
pesti-
lence
and famine,
Akbar's wife Saliina Sultan Begum (widow of fie h ram Khan), his father's sister Gulbadan Begum and Akbar's mother (some say
October 1575
Afghan ruler of Bengal was killed in a battle and his kingdom came to an end. The battle was fought near Rajmahal an ancient capital of Hindu Bengal.
July 12,
1576:
Daud
the
attributed
10 subse-
Hamida Bano Begum left on a pilgrimage of Mecca They were detained in Surat by Portuguese for about a year The group retur cd in I5&2 Guibadan Begum who is supposed to
I-
In fact
mother'J
cd Muslim assaults.
left
no record of her
experience as a pilgrim. It could be, therefore, that the mem that go in her name are a concoction.
between Rana Praiap the immortal hero of Hindudom and the aggressive Akbar lasted for a quarter of a century. Ultimately it was Akbar who withdrew from the and struggle white Pratap emerged triumphant
1572-1597
:
The
titanic struggle
pilgrims under the charge of a leader was also sent The novel and
ui
party
of male
The
;roi
The famous battle of Haldighat was fought, It was in this battle that Rana Pratap's the temple charger rested his raised front legs on redoubtable of Jahangir's elephant and as the
June 1570
:
36
fSfgt S
,
Jchangir with a blow forward lo kill haneir hid bchind thc P0Qr
37
killed.
!
jfemfer tf **
d
long time
in
A comet
with a
long
tail
be furnished as a travelling mosque in which he ostentatiously prayed five times a day as a pious Muslim should
to
tent
the sky
and remained
visible for a
1*77 A. 0,
Gujerat with a
executed.
arrived
1579 Akbar issued the infallibility decree declaring himself the absolute temporal and spiritual head in his realm. Within a week he left for what turned oui to be his last visit to
1,
September
Ajmer. ostensibly to Khwaja Moinuddjn Chisti's tomb. The promulgation of this decree has given
rise to the belief in
from an epileptic fit tough some fawning chroniclers prefer to term it His temper became us j si range spiritual trance.
1578
AD. Akbar
:
suffered
new
profoundly melancholic.
1579 A, D.
vjchcrjee
January 1580 Influential chiefs in Bengal revolted against Akbar. The revolt was brought under control only in 1584.
:
Rana who had become acquainted with Akbar during the siege of Sural in 1573, and took part in some debates at Fatehpur Sikri in 1578
went
Mirza
Mohammad
in 8,
Hakim,
younger
half
brother ruling
home
early in 1579.
Akbar displaced the regular chief mosque in Fatehpur Sikri to position as both the spiritual and
:
1581 Akbar left Fatehpur Sikri for India's north-west frontier. Shah Mansur, Akbar's finance minister was in league with the potential invader. He thus became the 12th important courtier to revolt. He was hanged by a tree at Thanc<ihwar and between Shahbad, midway
February
of Portuguese minionaries left Goa and reached Fatehpur Sikri on February 28. 1580. They presented Akbar with
;
November 1579
mission
as the
hangman.
much
later date.
Akbar entered Kabul while his half-brother Mohammad Hakim the ruler tied. Akbar started on his return journey after only a
1581
:
About
this
time
six-day stay.
'novations
On
his
bv aroused of calculated ^ncent Smith's book, page 130). way back from Ajmer he caused a lofty
''despread
January
17,
1582
Ak bar's
Since her return from Mecca she is said to have spent most of her time first in the construction and
SrKS&i ^..j,,
husband Hurnayun's *'" '", "llTr*aiernt on page 391-92. Vol. Nhrivastava's book "Akbarthe
,
^-nflcenicnt of her
about
SJ
had
f58l-$2 4
A
to
large
number of Sheikhs
for
house wheic 20 newly born children, purchased from their mothers, had been brought up in absolute isolation since 1578 under the care of dumb nurse* This was a sadist and whimsical experiment wh" completely ruined the lives of all those innoc
:
Augtist 1582
Akbar veiled
children.
e^ed"mostly
horses, to be enslaved.
The
at
six-mile
long and
burst.
Fatehpur
Sikri
Khan Farhankhudi, anMarch 1582 : Masum Akbar, iirticr to revolt against other important co way from murdered one night while on his
was
ihe palace in
in
a birth-
Fatehpur Sikn
despite
his
having
mother,
stayed
AM.
monk
day party with some courtiers, had a narrow escape from drowning. This hurst made the lake go dry. The township having been deprived of its source of water Akbar had to leave it for good in 1585. having found it impossible to live there any more.
important courtier to revolt, conspired against Akbar with the rebels He was imprisoned. On expressing in Gujerat. repentance he was appointed governor of Gujerat.
another
Aitimad Khan,
Daman,
a Portuguese posses-
similar
The debates on religion which had commenced in 1575 came lo an end in 1582 A.D.
About
this
Aquaviva left Jesuit priest 158J Fatehpur Sikri having obtained Akbar*:; permis.it He sion to leave, with great difficulty the court for over three years.
Early
:
ed by Father Monserrate
was asked to proceed on an embassy to Europe. This was Akbar's way of getting rid of Sayyad Muzaffar. He deserted and
concealed himself August
in the
Mu?affar Shah, ex-king Ahmedabad and proclaimed Gujerat captured irj from J 1584 onwards he himself king,
September 1583
Deccan.
Christian youths were
1582
Two
at
Surkhei and
the sandy
he
Nandcd
wastes
into
murdered
He continued
to
rebellious ur
is
because they refused to accept lilanL A ransom of 1.000 gold coins offered for the relca&c of the Christian youths was refused.
in Sural
when
he was captured,
He
then report-
40
td I0 have
eommftted
-cidc
**
41
hi,
nine and he was forced to submit by paying personal humiliating homage. Earlier, in 1563 he had to pay a big ransom and surrender the musician
Tunsen.
couri
is
said
to
latter bitterly
we pi
when
in
virtually
to the
Muslim court
raged
in
Delhi
his
his
A
in
great
famine
Akbar's termor
J? ^ffi
Akbar
ccratcd
all
d?o W to
have reached
ostensibly to
(he the
spot
1583.
1584 A.O.
A new
era
known
as
the
Divine
5um
pyrCi
,..
relatives
save the
s
herself
on her husband
This
is
obviously a hoax.
yet
an-
beginning Era was started with retrospective effect Years day March It. 1556. the first Muslim New was a part of Akbar afier Akbar's accession. This
r
r
Hindu
prince
ik-
to his
harem.
Aicbai celebrated Id-ul-Fitr.
Ins
unfettered
sovereignty and
Daswant
OmherS,
B
1583:
on the day Raja Birbar was Akbar is said to have n bis hoi thrown gractousi) breathed on him and revived him. This
po
atch
pail;
of the
many
off
July
I ^
1584*.
nting
lou
to
show
some of
vaunted miracu-
spiritual
powers.
/
iter
\nd
li
urtiersare
city,
ns in the
Mtbai
The
the
and
of immemorial
i|
antiquity
of
Crediting
them
to
Prince Salim, February ft (SSS to Manbau the emperor Jahan.m was married M.msmgh. From her he had WQ sister of Raia Begum died A daughter hen
!
(the future
bland a*
3S
ftdW
been allowed
and disgrace
questioning-
text
January 29 l22 August 6. 1587, died on with his mother ,r.cc imprisoned along B*. H.s'o-called tomb m KhUSfU
,n
Wa4ra
Ml 'Lb
dl
:
RajaRaroChandfaorBhatha
Muslim armK...,,
i
he
third
iuk-uI w.r
S3
and UUer as
hi,
42
43
in
^S^-^,K.
,
Pnnoc Sa ,, m
This a scries of forts in this area. continued even beyond 1600 A.D.
:
tribal
re
tSSS:
uler
iTkJ* court,
had
Bed
panic.
Two
o her
Raja Bhagwan Das signed February 22\ 1586 Khan. Akhar a treaty with the Kashmir ruler Yusuf upbraiding Bhagwandas refused tc honour the
treaty.
In
,00th and nu.l
mountain
Bhagwandas deeply
hurt,
apparently behimself.
cause of Akbar's
faithlessness, stabbed
gtnesofS^nondBaJaut.
general belief, This shows how, contrary to the court came every Hindu connected with Akbar's
to grief*
Kh
claims
Yusufzai Afghans. Zain bar's forces apparent]} a commander of Ak chronicles to have .false credit in Muslim
I
Akbar's forces led by Qasim October 6, 1586 and Khan entered Srinagar, capital of Kashmir,
:
indulged
in
Yaqub
har
and
the
his father
to
he hilly north-west fort in built the Lhakdara His Birbai was slain in this campaign. frontier. He was born original name was Muhcsh Das. about 1528 A.D. m a poor Brahmin family of the Bhaua chin, in Kalpi town.
enemy by
July !589
surrendered. Yusuf Khan annexed. The was released after Kashmir was Akbar and was made a minor courtier by
:
Yaqub
latter
A
ble
second expedition to subdue the irrepressiYusufzats was sent soon after tinder Raia
During
his
prolonged stay
in
Lahore Akbar's
sortves
Todarmar* command.
But
predator)
this
only
incited
all
and ravaging forces indulging in desecrating coerced a number of against defenceless Hindus to sue fOl Hindu rulers of the neighbourhood included: Those surrendering to blackmail peace.
'
relenM
resist
I
forces.
Maniingh,
then a
He
Parashurani RajaBidhi Chand of Nagarkot. of Ja.swal. lUia Jammu. Basu of Mau. Anuradha and a number Kahlur. Pratap of Mankot
Tila of
for a
of other principalities*
It is
tribes.
Many
tribesmen
were slaughtered
i.
those taken
prisoner
were
built
said,
at
this
time
Yaqub of Kashmir
The
chronicle,
Akba.rnaijta
was done
to
liaudulc
credits
44
*l rrthtt
the
wearing of which
because of
43
proved
r
fetil
A
Tr
mteUi
Akbar's henchman,
SV **'* Eft *
das.
Akbar' a first grandson prince Khusru was born to Manbai, the Jaipur princess and jehangir. He led a life of dissipation and
\ugust 6, 158?
:
to
death
captivii
iter.
given the
reduced
to
Akbar's third son Daniyal was married to the daughter of Sultan Khwaja.
May
30,
1588
was brought to Lahore to be Jehangir) s harem added to Satim (future emperor many times earlier. though he had been married
ruler
J5#
the father August 1588: Prince Murad became of a son named Sultan Rustam,
of Bikaner.
The famous
court musician
Tansen died
at
Lahore
Raja Basu of November 16. 1586 time. irpur was subdued a second behaviour repressive and treacherous
.
His body first buried in ain the court for 27 years. to Ovsaliorlater. Lahore is said to have been carried
He decided hereafter to two governors to each of his twelve appoini provinces so that out of sheer rivalry they may keepfindin fault with one another and carry tale* Akbar so that he may keep both in check by
alienated his
officials that
i
Akbar set out on his first Burhanuddin was despatched visit' to Kashmir Dcccan kingdom of Ahmednaear againsi the
April 28
/>
1589
Itved for 36
days
in the palace
while rulers.
a
Early 158?
ordinance
Akbar promulgated
ftich
usurious
Akbar During (he trek to Kashmir Salim. The latter refused to see his son prince .vmained mprehend.ng vengeance from Akbar
undo
fins equal
number
to
the
years
Rulers of Little and confined to his own tent. their wits because Great Tibet frightened out of apprehension ol fearOf Akbar'* proximity and an ransom. ful raids sent him a large
Juh
night
ioiUrmal
Btsailant
who
Orlober
S>
P&9
XhT.-IOM
4h
i
ilicre
for 48 days.
4T
darma|\ Icticr of resignation. Todarmal went uid lived m retirement In Hirdwrar but was later
I
his wealth by Muslim priests of ihe Kaba. Finding life intolerable even there, he reluctantly returned.
retail"
Novembei
9,
1589
/
Todarmal died
in
Lahore.
Sheikh Mubarak, tether of IS 1/ J \hul Faizi the poet and Abut Fazal, the chronicler, died at the age of 88.
August
5,
Raja Bhagwandas who while pariKipaimg in TodarmaPt Caught strangury and ncrul suffered from vomiting and Hi sistCl was Akbar's wife Jodh Bai>
\.*M-mlur 14,
'
The poet Faizi died at October 5, 1393 Lahore suffering from dropsy, vomiting blood, breathing difficulty and swollen hands and feet.
\
Akbar launched an invasion against Sindh and Sibi (north-east of Quetta ln Kandab large chunk of terriBaluchistan) und captured a
v
Hakim Humara, superinOctober JO. 1595 the tendent of Akbar's kitchen, reckoned among died, nine eminent people of Akbar's. court,
April
visit
1597
tory.
Akbar
set
out
so
strained
even
of Grissa.
conquest
1592.
in
on
revolt against
call prince dare not during this trip that the A severe famine raged in the vale his father.
'
lie
Akbar's
upjnestfi
ic
principality
of Kashmir from May homes The their compelling people to ftce ruled by LaWuni Hindu state of Cooch Behar Narayan was ravaged and subdued.
November
1597
May
3,
159?
nearby
ruler,
Raghava De\
harass-
was
similarly
Akbar
to
out on
local
his
second
ed and subdued.
to
Kashmir
reached
quell
revolt.
The
be
in
November
ihe
o,
15%
stay
rebel
Yadgar's head
he
was
presented to
7,
Akhn
Punjab Akbar
to
left
the
Kashmir
capital.
Akbar
attention
the
subjugation oftheDcecau
reached
25 days.
Snnagar on Oct.
doms.
Prince Murad died 2' 1599 excessive drinking and of coma because of state Daulataabout 20 kos from drugging, at Dihbadi,
May
while in a
Akbar's foster brother Vln \nf Koka Med from the court ostensibly to visit There he was robbed of a large part of
ks of he Poonia
I
ri
vcr
'
Akbar
49
scnt
1595 Of
wan notorious
fi
1
1
for
18
making broads
officers.
he
siege
JlOnOUl of ihc
' i
of his
In the
!f ie
Decean.
t
The
Jesuit prieart
Francis Jerome
^hmednagat by A k bar's forces, which began on December 18. 1595 under Shah baz Khan, the commander of Akbar \ forces, the people or
Mim
in
iheir property
at
was
looted,
1
htm by
he
Mugals plundered
Pat tan.
neighbouring town
>wn re ijgi
pressurize
Agra ostenSeptember 16. 1599 : Akbar left reality to an hunting expedition but in prince Damyal to find time from his
life
was negotiated on February 23, 15%. Berai had to be ceded lo the Mugals in return for recognition to Bahadur as the feudatory ruler of Ahmednagar. The exasperated
Mungi
treaty
people of Ahmednagar plundered Mogul baggage when they began withdrawal on March 20, 1596.
lewd
to
vigorous
on a
11
flying
days.
Singh of the Jaipur royal family who was Bengal died about to lead .in expedition against this time due to excesshe drinking and melancholia
Jag.il
now
over
31
was
beCBi
>ftlic life
Mogul
court.
February 1600
treachery.
open revolt, From the age of -0 onwards he developed an over-increasing hatred lot Ins father Akbar. On July 8. 158'? when Akbar suffered from a severe colic he moaned in a state of delirium thai he suspected his son Jchapgil to have He also susadministered souk poison tfl him. pected Hakim Hu mam (reputed lo be one of the letted the nine jewels of Akbar's court) lo have
in
My
intrigue.
1600
Chand
was
Bibi the
Muslim queen
death
poisoning.
On May
16,
1597 while
staying,
in
Ahmednagar
done
to
through
August
Rajouri (a pari of Kashmir) Jehangifs body-guard had fought a skirmish with M>me of Afcbai To (roups commanded by Khwajaei Faleultah assuage Jehungir lest he become more dangerous Fateultal ttbar ordered and uncontrollable
Early tongue to be cm udered him to lead an
In
19.
1600
Ahmednager
Burhanul
fort
and
cii\
we
aptured.
Two
\
earlier attempts, in
1586 and
flopped.
nagar
of
Chand
Bibi)
1598
when Akbar
lo
expedition
furun
50
refused point-blank, to. rrmnsoxanla) Mangif advantage of Akba r ho end of 1599 laking *t Deccan Salim < Jehangir) marches absence in Hie
51
Akbar
set
to
subdue
Agra and then to Allahabad rcpidlv from Aimer independent ruler. tvherthescl liimsclf upas an Abu! Fazal was ambushed August v. 1602 and murdered at Jehamnrs instigation, about 35 miles from G waiter between he villages of Sara Burki and Anlri,
to
:
inrn back
rebellious
son
mother's
illness.
Akbar's mother August 29, 1604 Makani died at the age or 77,
Ma nam
nemher
9,
1604
February
Gulbadan Begum
1603 died
Akbar 's
fathers
sister
in her
82nd year.
Agra on the pretext of paying a condolence His companion Raja Basil of Mau and visit. Pathankot was made a scapegoat and was pUl
her
But the Raja escaped to his princiLater Jchangir too was put under house pality. arrest and spanked,
under arrest
Prince
Prince Daniyal who refused repeated to return to Agra from the Deccan despite emperor Akbar died, of excessive
March
II,
1605
summons from
Septerilbei
ment.
<>4
A.D>
An
1605
Akbar
fell
ill
in the
Bit
Singh Dto. the chief of Orchha who had organized the ambush againsi Ahul Fazal. AkbaA
effectively repulsed.
palace at Sikaiulru,
vhe
is
stated
though
Akbar died at m In it the October 15, 1605 months 4S years, age of 63 after having n tgfl and three son and 3 days. He bad rtw died. Two daughters. Two of hifi sons had (Khanam Sultan) md ShukrunI
daughters: Shah/ad
stepped exasperated that he ordered the man to be thrown the par,,,- ,-i Agra fori and dashed to
when
he
third, Aram mssu Begum had been married, The Begum died a spinster during Jehangir** rule.
pieces.
such a sadist that he had a news toyed nKvc, a page castrared and a domestic servant beaten death
i|
Wjj
AKBAR
Ail of
VICIOUS
ENVIRONMENT
prodding win. igfc and the law or evident Thi tottered myth of Akbar's greatness and nobility is one such. Obviously a Muslim Akbat has been artificially boosted as jjreal and noble ruler to provide a
i
I
svhicli
crumb*
the nHgtitew
11
.-
even down And so were his descendants vicion Aurangzeb and others grandson to his Steal Akbar himself and h.sconiemp,n,. downrh; As we shall see m were links m that chain. n^ chapters the tyranny and torture
that Akbar and treachery and horror limits. generals practised knew no
the
Attn*
to
[s
the
name of
the
often hailed
m world
side
succeeding
and
his
and brought up in an illiterate and was further fouled h.irbarou?, atmosphere which drink by inordinate womanizing and by extreme and drug addiction. Akbar could not have been And ir the paragon of virtue that he is made of. heat all were to be a freak virtuoso his sons, grandsons and great grandsons would not have been the degenerate sadists that they turned out to
Bom
from Tamerlain. and on the maternal side from Chengiz Khan two of the world's greatest marauders who made the earrfr quail under their feet. Justice J. M. Shelat observes Akbar'* "grandfather Babur was the eldest son of Umar Sheikh, the king of Fargana, a small principality on the eastern border of Persi Umar Sheikh's fathei was Abu Said, a great grandson of Timur. The first wife of Umar Sheikh and the mother of Babur. Qutlug Nigar JChanum was the second daughter or Yunas Khan, a direct descendant of Chagtai Knm. the second son or the great Mongol Chengiz Khun.
1
i
be.
This
ib
sheer logic.
logic
And
full
the
conclusions
we
in
ch through
account*,
if
find
reign.
corroboration
Ak bar's
Akbar's grandfather Babur was dreaded like a man-eater and people used to llee in terror in his bsequern chapter of It will be shown in a wake. this book that Akbar himself was rated by his
contemporaries as no better than
prowl, and people
lied at
been
i
under
alien
Tor over a
1
thousand years,
iditti n to
write
the
lit
communal or
political
expediency,
Shelat
says-
"Babur took
garrison
to
under
Govtrnraenl has become so patronage ongly entrenched that writing an unvarnished straightforward account of India's past is considered a sacrilege, It j&, therefore, that Indian
entire
t.
Rtinratiyi
ounda
in
54
the sword
jnd
them
t1
,di,nni:
III
,s
'Bahur's *ani!unrd.bcst rhe cnemv terror m Ibrahim (Lodt)'s forces e towards Delhi) ihc former's |Hi t sword" .. Then he quotes Babur: 0 rhe
.
I
I
^e
when we came io Agra. All away iti terror. Neither the inhabitants had run for our horses was t grain for ourselves nor corn be had, The villagers, out of hostility and hatred for robbery us had taken to thieving and highway B\ the labours of several years. ..by deadly slang]),
ihe hot season
fcr.
Ba b " r Nkmo rs ^ntain many confe* 'V " r j of he barbarism that he Kions
practised.
,KwextT,ci,:"^Vctook
falter The battle against the
re
are
towers
of heads of the
Tod
writes
11
that
defeating
Rana Sanga
at
Fathchpur
battle between Hangti)as had been brought in alive, andam'naret was erected of their heads "> (At Hangu too my troops) cut off a hundred or 200 heads ol refractory Afghans. Here was erected a minaret of heads." The Sanger (fortification or
.
ordered to be struck off Thiv was mv first battle Orders were given for beheading such of them \fghans who surrendered in the
Kobai
find
il
Sikrl
triumphal pyramids were raised of the heads of the slain, and on a hillock which overlooked the Id of battle, a tower of skulls was erected; and
the conqueror
title
of Ghazi."
account of Asaf Khan's banquet quoted by Vincent Smith says" "Intemperance was the
'
was taken. A general massacre A pile of heads was formed m the Bannu ensued. coimiiv. Such persons (of my urray}as had not repaired to their posts had their noses slit." The nemy troops provoked us to tight... A minaret of skulls was erected of these Afghan " The expedition of Bajour being thus terminated to my
the Kivi
tribe),
' 1
for
the
1
erect
I
ofa pillar f >kull mi a rising ground, * sent Ihe army under the command of Hindu Beg to
plunder Panjkora.
Before they
fled. "
1
On
reached
Panjkora
own confession Babur was also a sodoFrom all accounts, therefore, Babur, the
his
ihe
inhabitants
had
the
inhabitants
of
by
Memoir
PB5
k,
ol
r;i
related
Shclut't
tank.
ibid.
*
F*gt
*
John Lcyden and William Erskloe and annotated and revised Sir Lucas King, two vols.. Humphrey Milford. Oxford
University Presi
B
London.
1921
1
10. ibid
P P
1*.
IK. Vol.
9
\2. 15.
P.
10, p 12.
16.
P*^
24.
' '
t.
AnoaU
-J.
nd
"
,
'>
p
i
P 239
p. 85.
Vol
P.
II. p.
38.
**
3.
149.
56
^w
.
'
;;i; e
were put to the sword, th cir who mto cap llV|lJ Children were earned Plundered" Ibrahim Ud?
resisted
r
57
pUi>
I,A,-re
repulsed
and
Lahore baz* r
fir*
dislike
my people
and
the
men
Humayun Will opium h Smith Vinoenl highwayman and extortion! quotes Humayun'a faithful servant Jauhar to my king thai when Akbar was born "The discrowned being in extreme poverty, was puzzled how to celebrate (the occasion), The king hen ordered
slave to the
1
il
'
of
and soldiers of the connThe th men. Afterwards abided and (led from my only in Delhi and Agra the m e?cmvhere except obey," When I refused to submit or
habftants
to
(Jauhar io bring the articles given in trust to hifC on winch I (Jauhar) went and brought 20Q and a Shahrtikhts (silver coins), a silver bracelet, pod of musk. The two former he ordered me to back 10 the owners from whom they had been
give
taken..."
birth
II
came
All hc was the hot season from terror The villagers, out Inhabitants had fled to us, had taken to rebellion. of hostility and hatred The roads became impassthieving and robbery. 30 Kasimi who had proceeded at this time able. Bavaria had cut off and with a Hgbt force towards 21 Mulla Turk Ah away several heads
Agra,
it
Akbar his father Humayun had at commuted a dacoity and robbed somebody of Happy silver bracelet least 2 50 silver coins and that his robbc that he had got a son and fearing Humayun may entail a curse on the infant. restored to their ordered the robbed ai tides to be
of pnnce
;
brought
was instructed to see that everything orders done to plunder and ruin Mewat. Similar proceed to were given to Maghfur Diwan to and ravage and desolate some of the bordering remoter districts, ruining the country and carrying
off the inhabitants into captivity."
possible was
owners.
rulers in India As was common among Muslim with his Humavun was engaged m deadly combat
own
father s throne. brothers to grab bis deceased Humayun captured his After repeated battles when the alter he subjected elder brother Kamran
Coming down
father
the
line
we
perhaps even more cruel and degenerate than Babur because while Rabur had to sweat and toil and shed his own blood for plunder
Humayun was
Vincent Smith says* to brutal torture. to hanl .hud been obliged pressed >o
-Kamran..,
di.gu.se
and ravage, his son Humayun was kingdom, and unearned richer
Vincent Smith
observes-*:
IK.
heir to a vast
a
S
23.
Buffiec
to
blind
hint
The
and mos
narrative
felt
detailed account
is left
by Jauhar.
His
"Humayun was
19.
ges
P
the
im pression
dm
Humayun
ibid.
little
3
20,
P. 151.
m
Akbar
P P
246.
279.
P. 247,
It of Vlnceol
SmiUVs book,
22. P. 9.
ibe Great
Mogul,
58
fa
culled
hfi
brother**
rtifferings...One
,r, he
tling
on
(Kami**)
and
fl
knees,
(He)
wa8
contents.
horsebnc*
was thrust mto .1.1 of the leni .Some (lemon) mice and sail was piu lt After some time he was put o n His family was not molested by
lancet
from hjm, and being extremely huri, sent him ome letters containin
reprehension/
Humayun was
thiii
io
tyrannical
and overbearing
Humayun
Thai
cruelty
he imposed a humiliating rite to be observed by all (hose over whom he ruled The chronicler
when he subjected
id
own
mercy that he did no molest his brother's wives shows that Humayun used in molest all women he could lay his hands
the
reference
to the small
Badayuni notes:- 'When he ( Humayun > arrived ai Agra he imposed upon the populace a new selfinvented form of salutation, and wished ihem to kiss the ground {before him),"
Vincent Smith
stave of the
asserts-'
thai
"Humayun was
a
30
on throughout his
life.
actually
desisted
Emperor Babur himself appraising his eldest wn Humayun (the father of Akbar, as a potential murderer of his brothers) beseeched- htm on June if he became 27, 1529, not to murder his brothers
king.
opium habit." Mr. Shelat observes and til that in Agra "Kamran suddenly took suspected that he had been poisoned b> Babur's m After spending wives at Humayun's instanci about a year in Badakshan Humayun showed suddenly characteristic laxity towards duty and returned to India without the permission of his
father, deserting his post.
Displeased at
his jagir in
Lhe con-
duct
Babur
l
sent
him
to
Sumbhal *
in
After
28
lie
capture
573. Vol.
1,
of
Champa ner
Gujerat
by
berserk helped
by
F
Miiiititkli.ibul
Tawuriklt
Abdul
I
immense wealth and a phalanx of hoodlums is testiBabur fied to by Babur himself in his Memoirs, Humayun had repaired to Delhi and there opened several of the houses which contained treasure md taken possession by force of the
QwHi
i ,
ibu
Muluk
ii
IgmAlFertl
ihc
(tonkins
primed
Press,
m
i
Aiintic
Of Bengal.
Cilcuu.t. Bupnsl
Minion
9.
Akbu
2nd
edition,
revised
Greut Mogul, by Vinccnl A. Smith. Indian repnni 1958, S. Chnnd &. Co.,
il.c
H
26
b
P.
f.
20
ibid.
30
India,
'
32,
BhTtiyi
Vfdyi
231, Crescent in
1966,
II,
b>
S.R. Sharuui,
Hind
Bhuwftfl, 1964,
31
i
Bombay.
Ltd.,
Bombay- 1.
20, ibid
17.
P J15, Vol.
Babur't
Meinour ibm
32
P. 24, ibid.
61
. !
nng.uHl indolence as he
H
on
i
did
umeniv! occasions
\khai brother Humayun
profligate
sadtsl
iacoity
circuin
in
itai
the
In
the
was and an
from
kchcrou s
apparent
incorrigible
is
\i u
torturer
On Ins return 10 business was Public drive B of opiumwhen the Moguls entered the fort penalty o n huimrlRumy Khan inflicted barbarous Humayun acquiesced. The ihc garrison in which
,
Humayun came to >cc hi-> brother (I lindali. In Hindal\ harem Humayun saw Mamida Dost who was Banu. daughter of VI ir Baba HmdaPs religion!* guide. Humayun was ihen 33 Humayun while llamida Banu was hardly 14.
Sou gilt her hand. The girl herself was opposed to marrying Humayun. Hindal also opposed the Humayun 1541, match. At last in September married her giving two lacs of rupees in dowry-' Baba Do&t\ Humayun purchased Obviously daughter by threats and bribing him with somebody's stolen money.
of Akbar's ancestors Khan from his rather Humayun upward to Chengiz barbarians. and Tamerlaia were the mosl cruel WK AaKlJlQ* sadists and drink and drug-addict-. too were equally
hands of no
but
less
Rumy
was poisoned by jealous chiefs.** Jn Gaur Humayun unaccountably shut himself up for a
Having noted
thai
all
harem and abandoned 3" himself to every kind of indulgence and luxury. The reasons for the dissatisfaction amongst the igainst Humayun were obvious. By 1538 the character of Humayun. his indolence, his excessive addiction to opium and his slothful ways had heme notorious ..Finding two of his brothers iHindal and Kamrani ready to stab him in the Humayun decided to cut his wa> back (from
considerable time in his
5C
that
i
all
let
.'US,
li
may
b<
.
noble
lineage,
being first-rate
was argued thai Akbar himself barbarous 'me freak though born in a his nd that he could not help expectedto sadism no, could he be
be
*&
en
Bengal) to Agra
."'
Thirty-three year-old
Humayun
taking
14-year-
was a virtual rape of a irl. Humayun then was a desperate outlaw mi and fugitive, expelled from India and living
nida
as a wife
33 34 35
3fc
Banu
anv moderating influence argument Even accepting this for . cruelt> son phenomenal. Mr. Shelat says?
on
s
11
Lang*
rt**^
use
hj*^ Akbar
sake
Sta
llictctl
p.
U,
AJtbw,
ibid.
P, 27. Ihid
l>
37. 3S.
"p.
30,
7.
'bid
1H, Ibid
P,
359
ibid.
P. 29, ibid
*3
ration
CTl
oma*
'II
lervanl
with
whom
hi,
love. greai
nu noble hjs SOn md u^ic been keen on murdering tan* would not have attempts 10 murder Bm Jehangil made several to one such cuheT Akbar. Referring H.J
Urttti
been
vn
Smiih
s
-i
"A
early as
1591.
when
eldest
from stomach-ache
that his
he
-n K
expressed
suspicion
This episode Jehangir's villainy as of Akbar's is much of iT his times ns the most hated person of
(Jebnngir)
in
poisoning his
father
Mr.
wanted to capture and kill Akbar. Smith records-*": (In view of Jehangir's Vkb-ir relumed to Agra probably early
>' rSalim while
in
rebellion
their
sought
:he support
Abul hli a lance and promptly decapitated, Salim His head was sent to Allahabad, where re. Lh unholy joy and treated it with shame.It... The elder prince, when safely estabhed with his court at Allahabad, far removed himself parental supervision, abandoned out restraint to his favourite vices, consuming
don
against
*'
animuniwas Fazal
or
39
Mogul".
64
army n tne himself -< the rime ofd C ar . p * Durine- May 1580 to May 1598 Akbar K d tore alienated from Salmi, and ihc seed become
asked
to
royal
f>5
capital
n in the prince's mind., The of rebellion was became of sexual older he grew the more fond he d olher youthful follies, indulgence, of drill* had in June 1596 \1 though he had a large harem he
punishment for ordinary offences. One day drunkenness he had a news-vwiter, who ,n a fit of seemed to have reported the prince's indulgence ,n excessive drink, to Akbar, horribly flayed alive He castrated a page, and had a in his presence, " domestic servant beaten to death
fallen
violent 1\
li
in
love
with
Zainkhan
Koka's
daughter,
early love
nun
Mihirunnisa (future Nurjahan) and 60 When he was foiarkali wen- not without substance. the Rana of Mewar lent with the expedition against
for
from self-indulgence, wine-drinking and bad company (Salim) spent much time in Ajmer, Taking advantage of Akbar's absence Salim decided on n rebellion, He marched rapidly from Ajmer
ards Agra, confiscating more than a crore 51 nh of cash :md effects of Shahbazkhan Kambu. On return to Allahabad Salim had relapsed into
of narrow-
mindedness
in (his wife)
Mumtaz."
"The
Jesuits
were
bitterly
of drink and self-indulgence. Surrounded by unworthy companions he imbibed He had Tor years been excessive love of flattery, he carried them familiar with these vice?, but
.*!d
habit
before persecuted by Shahjahan, Only a short lime who was a relentless her death Mumtaz Mahal, Shahjahan enemy of the Christians, had instigated settlement in Hoogly." to attack the Portuguese
to excess to
He became
extent
that
addicted to wine at
it
all
hours
such
ceased
So he began taking opium m a the age of H and at this He started drinkti of period he look sometimes as many as 21) cups Undei the double intoxidouble ilcd spin! he sometimes inflicted cation o! id upturn
1
i
Many Another historical work records" the monks and seen times did Shahjahan invite Mobommadans (but when they priests to become greatly overtures) Shahjahan was
repudiated his
51
px The
Mainudditi Ahmad.
and
Its
&
be T,j
,041
Revlef JTid
&
lu Designer*,
Pp.
The
19th Century
&
After.
Mom
V,U
-
" llCd
49
i<
53.
mill
the Archaeological
51
,, 157
in
be
u'nst
and then and then ordered ihc priests ncd the next iU\\ by the tori u re then u / the worst out Jaws, that of being trampu
brought 400 Christian prisoner* mate Bad female, young and old. with the idoh of tht warship to the presence of the fahh-dcfending He ordered that the principle* emperor.
B nd
Kambu
kecne slates* "'Shahjahan surpassed all th. Mogul emperors in autocratic pride and was Mi lirvt of hem l safeguard he h rone by murdering " According to Roe all possible rivals, who knew Shahjahan personally, his nature was u . n bending and mingled with extreme pride, and contempt of all."
4
I
Muhammadan
of
the
religion be
they be called
upon
to adopt
the faith but the majority in perversity and wellness rejected the proposal. These were distributed
among
the amirs
who were
Shahja ban's
ertfi*
(
own
official
court
chronicle
Such of their idols as were the of the Prophets were thrown into the
rest
had been hrought to the notice of His M q\ HKit during the late reign many idol temples had been begun, but remained unfinished m Bauaras, the great stronghold of infidelity, The infidels were now desirous of completing them. His Majesty, the defender of faith, gave orders that at Einaras and throughout all his dominions in ever> ce. all temples hat had been begun should be cast down. It was now reported from the province of Allahabad thai 76 temples had been destroyed in ihe district of Banaras."
'It
;.
were broken to pieces." Like Jehangir's Shahjahan's whole reign is full of the most cruel dealings. Shahja ban's son Aurangzeb who succeeded htm as emperor is a byword for ext-
Jumna, the
In
connection with the conquest of Daulaiabad slated in the same chronicle" "Kasim Khan
ECeene'l
|
Handbook for Visitors to Agra Si tr Handbgok of Hindustan rewritten and brought up-to-date by E A Duncan)
ll
Neighbour!.,
reme fanaticism, cruelty and treachery. Aurangzeb died a bare 261 years ago (in 1707 A.D.). If he could be extremely cruel and barbarous how much more cruel and barbarous would his great grand father Akbar have been So, no matter how many generations above or below Akbar we probe we find them a long line of barbarians, Akbar was but a link in that chain He was not the least Had he been different from others of his lineage. noble his descendants at least should have been good, noble, well-behaved and universally loved and respected individuals. This is ^heer logic. One who has not read accounts of the reign of Akbar but has heard of the cruelty of hts ancestors and
!
55
P. 155. ibid.
?y.
at
Ihc Badihuhnamn, by
Laden
57,
own
cruelties
and
P 46
ibid
:-m
torbnrii
;
we
:
shall
see
what the
dar(J
*"
* JS
w
nle
|l(l
wpnaw power, been r wielding would not have Ins contemporaries bee* In fact ijw mmir hemrus crimes
been ier\
** Akb*
^
i
did not make even die diflercncc to the pattern or standard* :diae\al behaviour. Had Akbar been grevi knd
posterity
would
ki
liven, jn
luivc
realit)
"
ik
change
w-Thc mother of Chungiz Khan, the a i f Gujerai, at this time (1573) preferred a rCT un 10 Akbar that Joojhar Khan Hub?
.
vho fled toAbul Mali, a senior courtier** wards Kabul wrote to Mah Ghck (a lady frAkbar's o%n foster brother's royal family; reca
(father of ing earlier friendly tigs with Huraayun Akbar), She welcomed him and gave her daughter
d that durinz or Srnce even hu great grandson after bis reign. rangzeb was the very embodiment of exuehy sheer logic should tell u\ that Akbar far from being virtuou* must ha%e been a deeply bated person worthy to be the great grandfather igzeb and cert more barbarous than the latter because Akbar was Auraugzeb* senior by 100 years in an age woes cruelty and brutality lost er a ong nd edge ste-4 . tber
life
.
noticed a
et
1
period.
In the next cbaptc
x
p
bafl
i
narrate Akbar
Fakhrunnisa
mother-in-law
killed her
in
his
and
prove
an obstacle
'
his
way he
himself
with
dagger
him-
out by
"Akbar's
self
by
inflicting
fiendish
omen and
children."
above should suffice to convince the reader that the whole environment before, after or during Akbar's reign reeked *
The
instances quoted
58. P. 147.
in
Absurd and dlogkal dogmas like Akbar's fancied nobility base been embedded in writers and teachers Indian hi -i to avoid making use iuousry have beer e law of evidence from consMera of logic a of political expediency m a mulenrum of ahen Through long babit the legal and logical role.
'
faculties
of scholars
if
of
Hi*tor> of the
Ri*
of
tommadaji ?ov&
rh*
orifiail
traditional school, b
India
till it
I
Pcismr
1!,
.hamnud
b> S.
Hen into such duuse that told that logic and the law
Brttfs.
Street.
published
Dc
bitlr
Cak
touchstones of evidence murf be used as supreme iocuments >f dogmas o .-si the records, chronicles, inscriptions and aidueoJogtcal finds.
59.
P U.
P. 18
60.
Vmm
book, ibid
frflT.COM
Chapirr IV
71
"Akbar would have laughed at the r the miseries remorse fell by Ashok caused by
observes
3
I
AKBAR'S BARBARITIES
In
his
and would have utterly the conquest of Killing* condemned his great predecessor's decision to
all
abstain from
no
his
a\
wasAkbflf
less
cruel
than
|j
How
sickening
the
tale
whole of Akbar's
of
cruelty,
ancestors, descendants or
crafty,
contemporaries.
treacherous he wielded
torture
anything
scheming and
those
whom
he disliked,
and treachery,
may
be
jure and the unlimited power that over a vast region qualifies him to be considered one of the foremost tyrants and sadists in world
history, leave aside India's alone.
noted
"Generations of martial races (The Rajputs or Kshatriyas) were cut off by his sword, and lustres rolled away ere his conquests
asserts
1
Col
Tod
were
J]
sufficiently
confirmed.
Alia
(Allauddm) and other instrument* of destruction, and with every just claim: and like these he constructed a Mumbar
j Ipit
Siiahbuddin,
The above observation makes it clear that the consummate villainy of emperor Shahjahan (Akbar's grandson) and of emperor Aurangzeb (Akbar's
great grandson) were not
a precious heritage
their
or platform of Islamite
altarl
Komi from th
Sadism was
consistent
trait itself
Communa lists
or those seeking
academic or
manifested
throughout
last
his
life
from early
other patronage under alien regimes in India have tended to mention Akbar, in and out of contexi. atcompaiablc in nobility of character and grealof heart with the ancient Indian king Ashok.
i
moments.
On November
mere
stripling
5,
less
1556
of
than
years of age he
slashed
the
neck of
his
Debunking
this
view
Vincent
Smith
justifiabi
brought
before
him
unconscious
Vincent Smith
Vol
bv
describing
,
incident
the
tW*c
50-51
Vincent
kccw
-'
S
L*ne, Lopdua
P. 20, ibid.
72
******
7.1
EKX"
^d Mdcaar.
^thfcd Wo A
p ha b ** and
After defeating Baz, Bahadur the sultan Malwa at Sangrur near Dcvvas in Central India. Peer Ku s generals Adham Khan and disgraced themselves and their Mohammad sovereign (Akbar) by disgusting cruelties, of which
I
m
2t
ad to
on the neck with his Akbar smote Herau plunged their swords The bystanders also Hemu's head was sent to i-caing bleeding corpse. exposed and his trunk was gibbeted
be
Badayuni was a horrified witness. They had the brought before them and troop after troop capn of them put to death, so that their blood flowed
river
jests,
upon river. Peer Mohammad cracked brutal and when remonstrance was offered replied *in
of Delhi. The official story, that one of the gate? sentiment of unwillingness to strike a magnanimous already half-dead compelled helpless prisoner his guardian (Ben ram \kbar to refuse to obey
n
s
one single night all ihese captives have been taken, what can be done with them/ Even Sayyids and learned Sheikhs who came out to meet him with Korans in their hands were slain and burnt/
After the battle
for a
instructions
to
strike
semi-conscious
of courth Ins last observation of Smith under time flatterers have from time to
invention
was recalled lime appointed governor of Malwa and Peer Mohammad was appointed in his place/ conferring such an important trust on a man
"In
so unworthy
history by varnishing their patrons' beastly deed*, needs to be carefully no Led by alt students of mediaeval Muslim chronicles.
falsified
Akbar committed a grievous error, peer Mohammad attacked Burhanpur and Bijagadh,
a
general,
massacre at the latter he practised to the fortress. As Badayuni observes, utmost the code of Chengiz Khan, massacring or
perpetrating
south from
straight
enslavinc
all
"marched
opened
its
gates to
Akbar, who
the inhabitants of Burhanpur and and destroying many towns and villages
Narmada
laier
fort
(river)."
made
Agra also passed into his possession, In accordance with the ghastly custom mc$, a tower was built with the heads of Immense treasures were taken with the famil lemu whose aged father was executed/'
his entry
state.
ordered to
be
thrown
and dashed to pieces called Alga Khan. Refer r for murdering a courtier Khan was thrown this Smith says* "Adham
over the parapet of Agra
ing lo
6,
mem
5. p, 29. .bid.
u
w*lk>M
fct'in
to
''
ly ha,f Bc ne *?.
IS
H'lH^r.g him up
killed
icuimiMs adds that(Akbr)wai highly delighted with this sport. The other historians cell utihat
Hi.
dashed out. The horrid hi* toam Uhani khan hi "" being dashed oui fc produced in one of the Akbarnama South Kensington/'
I
numbers onriuially engaged were two or three hundred oft one tide and SOU on the other,
with
the
that
reinforcements the
total
came
to
about a UQOQ
ihc sight'.
The author of the Tabaqnt agrees with Ahul Fa/at that 'the emperor greatly enjoyed
It
VVae*
hkbu
eight
in
l'
a Snst
tJu
villages
in
Etah
district
like
Akbar
(Sakit
sport.'"
extraordinary
"i
winch
occurred
at
while
royal
camp was
This incident throws a lurid light on Akbai tastes and motives. A- I fanatic Muslim it gave him great pleasure to see that two faction* of the
hated Hindus slaughtered one another That he derived immense pleasure from two groups of men stabbing and stoning one another only speaks tot Akbar's very sadist mind
(hat people of his time used to regard Akbar's approach with the same terror is thai of a man-eater
divided
into two
of the
latter
aeKurshad
place
on the prowl,
of the
Puris,
tlie
who were
tim-
ed from collecting
ranted
pilgrims* alms.
(They
swords,
from the two crowded Hindu pilgrim centres, Banaras and Prayag [Allahabad getting deserted on Akbar's visit there. Vincent Smith says 11 "Akbar then marched to Prayttg and
is
clear
permission
riiL-
to
decide the
issue by
people
fight
began
with
were discarded
hese again for stones.
re
>re
for
were rash enough to close their gates/' Obviously people who are generally eager to see royalt> and pay homage would run have barricaded doors or
run
away
after
locking
the
help the
panicked
from
^n*
I
The reinforcements enabled the he Kur-, mio headlong llight The ued and a number of 'th<
to annihilation!.
10
wake wherever
in India
The
chronicler
P. SH.ibid.
*L
76
\u (who "JJ5
77
,.i.
Akbirj waa tortured for r v ground, e-,^ 5$sivc Jays on Hie execution day tie was trussed up in a wooden frame llnt The etephaw. placed before one of the elephants caught lijm in his irunk and squeezed him and flung him from one side \o he other. As a clear
j
I
d a general mussacrc.
<ii/"'i"
whicft
death ol
i
;uli d
in
'*
ihv
In
November
;n
was not given the elephant IbulFszat idates this horrid word of censure."
Ahfjicdubad the fugitive king* Muzjiflat Shan v. brought in. Certain found hiding in a cornfield imp followers having Insolently plundered his effects, Akbar sel an example of stern justice b> ordering tht offenderaiabe ir.tmpled to death bv
i
i
elephants."
mass immolation by fire preferred N Rajput women and infants to escape rape, humiliation and molestation by Akbar's army men
The
terrible
working of Akbar's illitemet rate mind is offered by the punishment he This courtier called Ham-2aban. ,.iii too senior
An
courtier
had been
in
revolt
at
Sural
in
Cujerat
after
of Chitior fori, testifies to the brutality that was practised during Akbar's reign, \ incent Smith observes" "The Jauhar sacrifice
the capture
He"
word
tongue (word)
In
barbarously punished
completed before the final capture was on a large The fires were kindled in three distinct scale places. Nine queens, five princesses, their daughters
as well as
Pv
two
infant
sons,
and
to
alt
the
chieftains'
be away on their estates perished either in the flames or in the assault. During the course of the following morning when Akbar made lus entry 8,000 Rajputs
families
who happened
not
'""Husain Kuli Khan (Khan with his prisoners, The Julian) waited on Akbar had been sewn up eves of Masud Husam Mirza drawn up before The other 300 prisoners were hogs and doc, Akbar with the skins of asses, Some of them were over their face*
1573
A.D
drawn
executed
with
various
is
vowed to death sold their lives as dearly as possible and perished to a man. Akbar exasperated by the obstinate resistance offered to his arms treated the garrison and town with merciless severity. The 8,000
strong Rajput garrison having been zealously helped during the siege by 4u.in.ni peasants, the emperor
12.
1
Akbar sanctioning
inherited
from his practised did not Tatar ancestors. The severities which soon the Mirza trouble,
he
finally
In
Gujeiat"
P. 5b. ibid
16.
I*
H2
ibid
I"
p,
3,
P.HibM.
78
accordance with the September I. Pyramid was byf,, Jmc custom of [hc rimcs amore than :, O 0Q rebels, ln with the head* of the
157*.
In
^
1*
79
royal couch
'
Enraged at the sighl he ordered hinv to be thrown from the tnwt-r, and he was dashed into a thousand pieces"
number"
Afghan leaders ki|| c<1 **Thc heads of Ihc and forwarded to Daud were thrown into a boat Bengal, Bihar and Orissa) lihe Afchan ruler of awaited him o n warn him of the fate which
to
""Sheikh Abdun Nabi the laic Sadar and his opponent Makhdumul Mulk were sent into exile
under the pretext of pilgrimage to Mecca. Both were allowed to return. Makhdumul Mulk died
at
Ahmedabad
in
1582
leaving
all
great
riches
March
was fought
with
Daud's forces at Tukaroi....Munim Khan follow fashion of the times massacred ing the barbarous were sufficiently num. his prisoners, whose heads erous to furnish eight sky-high minarets/'
'"Another battle against 12 near July Thursday.
prisoner
*
confiscated
and His
were
torture
and
Two
years later
in
Abdun
pursuance
fought on
Daud
for
overcome with
thirst
water.
and brought it to him- To behead him they look two chops at his
They
:k
filled his
""Special cases of severity to individuals fin Bihar and Bengal) increased the ill-feeling, and is said that the officials added fuel to the fire it by their greed for money'
any scruple about ordering the private, informal execution or assassination of opponents who could not be executed publicly"
****Akbar never
felt
without success .They stuffed his head with straw and anointed it with perfumes, and gave II
met Akbar at village Birar and cast down Daud's head in the Daud's headless trunk was gibbeted at courtyard. Tanda/'
in
The
latter
'"Notwithstanding
general tolerance
the
fine
phrases
about
81
In
or about
retire
1603
his
A. D.
in
which occupy so large a space in the writings of Abu Fazl and the sayings of Akbar, many acts of fierce intolerance were committed.. In the years 1581-82 a large number of Sheikhs
I
used to
rest
to
room
emerge
could
to
first
not find
any
of his
apparently those who resisted innovaand ex* tion, were exiled, mostly to Kandahar, changed lor horses, presumably being enslaved*
and
fakirs,
came near the throne and couch he saw a hapless lamplighter coiled up like
he
a snake,
P. f
When
young handsome Hindu painter named Yashwant (mis spelled by Muslim chroniclers as
in a careless
death-like
19.
|>
22.
P.
JO, ibid
23.
t,
132. ibid.
. IN*
K ibi*
24.
P. 135, ibid
23
P. 159. ibid.
21.
p.
H7,
ibid.
80
at
DHiv
iboed
himscli
I
u>
death,
from
melancholia Akbar's conn recking with sodomy, doping, drug*, drinking and prostitution.
becat^
the
foul
almospheu 2
Vincent Smith mentions but two epi ,,,,1, Akbar acted with groat tyranny and cruelty
i
in
,v hj
ch
yet every
one of Akbar's most senior Raja her-in-law, and general also stabbed cout himself in dfogus* because he found life in Akbar's humiliating, degrading and court intolerable, The official explanation is that he and vicious DaswandJi stabbed themselves in fits of insanity
Bi
nc shoul bt "li improbable thai Smith add ,,,.,,. his(Ak when shown, often was die clemency, "' policy rat Iter then by sentiment
sj
-led
by
All such
acts
in
protest
against
1
'insane.
therefore,
the
Smith says28 : "He (Akbar) was truly as the 1 Jesuit author calls him 'the terror ofthe East, and certain extent bj more he had been spoiled to It is possible he than four decades of autocraey was feared rather than loved. The dread of him
i
face value.
even at an earlier
himself free
feelings
fell
Smith says 20 "Wheeler asserts that Akbar kept a poisoner in pay" whose duty it was to poison people at Akbar's orders. ..The sentences on convicts were of the appalling kind. The modes of execution included.. .impalement, trampling hanging and elephants, crucifixion, beheading, (flaying) without Babur had ordered Otto
Vincent
I
to
flout
and
insult the
of his subjects.
At the
personal ascendancy was established so firmly thai he could venture to do what he pleased. He used
the liberty to
do some outrageous
things-*
scruple
ing
As minor
penalties mutilation
and whipp*
ordered of great severity were common);, records of proceedings civil or criminal were kept. Persons acting as judges thought fit to follow Koranic rules. Akbar encouraged trial by ordeal.
"Tfie horrid punishment of mutilation which js prescribed by the Koran, was used freely. Neither Akbar nor Abul Fazal had any regard for the The judicial formalities of oaths and witnesses. Faujdar was expected to reduce rebels, always
order to enforce
The horrors of an execution ground are realistically depicted in one of the contemporary illustrations to the Akbarnama at South Kensington".
showed severity in his treatment of the garrison of Chittor and in the tortures ire ofthe Mintas." Though inflicted on the fol
"(Akbar)
lb. P. 250,
Tod
me
pecutiai
illiterate
instance
of
coercion
He
P.
251. ibid
II
28,
P. 256,
29.
27...
Ibid
On
**"
Ki
t, ofi
\khar
h ead
command
,nd
,
S3
.^
'_
of
.
mc mandate
Bui
when
th ej
Rajpat. Akbai'sorder w therefor, The galling to the proud Rajput jorty Vkbar himself not wanting to lost .,, j
brflve
|M
L
,
parttetiluj
one
.the Mad- in *, of manhood, they were rep, t0 ten*. Tta flnd contumely. SraSof^howasoneofAkbarsgcncah and,
^
i
<
,on
the
outrage upon wi expression barbers Was accompanied departed princess, the memory of the
the royal eai
thai
the
opportunity of humiliating the pride of the R occasion to \m those who we -vu yjed this shed their beards and mou him. to sen ienl to their heads The Rajputs who as and shave off orthodox Hindus would otherwise have willingly shaven off couriered it particularly humiliating shed their hair in homage to one who had
I
to
their
to
har
forgetting
ihut
his
vassal's
sh< aid
gallant
services
mmanded
fo
Rao Bhoj
camp was
thro
into
wild
and would soon have presented a of hi odshed had not the emperor, repenting of liis folly, repaired to the
"
have
and massacring others was regarded Lime and diversion by a bereaved Akbar. Could there exist a more sinister kind of sadism u Prince Murad The chronicler Fenshta notes Mir/a Falling dangerously ill (May 1599) was buried The corpse was afterwards removed at Shapoor. to Agra, and laid by the side of Humayuu, the
\
prince's grandfather.
The
The Rajputs
n> fl
a*
of his son increased his desire for conquering the Deccan, as a means of diverting his mind.'
for
such of their
women who
had
An account of
perpetrated
31.
India,
till
mend
^' u
'
their lives a*
sha
their
tl,cir
deienues in Muslim haremi re. deeply resented having to beards and moustache, which were
of manly
on
\kbar
fort is
P
of
Hi
'
Malionwdsin Power bl
anginal
I
cherished symbols
io
the year
valour,
foi
Italian
had
i
lafoni Stn
*
fallen
the statu
volumes.
Published
J9-A
ffluunbasu
Calcutta i.
nwried
in the traditional
ok
style
and custom
to-a
InddentaSlythU point*
ti
ihi
h
,jn
'
Snm
bv u. Col. d> ,
W
ol
'
,roved
,Q
>i
V lnm\
''
f
boo*
titled
Sonic
j*
Blunder
oul
Indian
Anuqmiic*
ol Rjjiislnafl>
'
Uuii
vxt, ibid.
wlmi
is
pointed
the
mausoleum of Hu
Delhi
an aneleai
Hhdu
polo*
84 85
K
1
5r & >
8 ,,
strcct
Ji*N
mcir
The numb,
threads
killed
tiered
rt
alone weighed
fi
fc
7<t
of
see rs
each'
A wounded
"In the campaign against (he rebels in Gutaat -lhe heads or Mohammad Hus un and Ikhtiyai were sent to be hung and displayed on -the gates of Agra and Rilehpur. Following the custom of the Timurids, Akbar had a pyramid made of the heads of the rebels who had perished that day."
"It would not be unreasonable to think that he two Rajput generals (Bhagwanoas and ManSingh deputed hy Akbar to assist Shahbaz Khan
I
[\ iUll
S^TtJicGDvindshyam
alias
Kumbha*!^
3a
Zlk wm
'
trampled to death b) ikbar s 0Wn A ^ irl from Sf0DO fig,nm RttJ >u v
th
fori
.
re
about 40.0(H) peasant, inside The order for genera] lllg SCI rM withdrawn umtl about 30,000 cif
i
against
Rana Pratap) were abruptly dismissed by him because they showed their opposition to the
methods of barbarity
and
brutality
Shahbaz
pro-
to
till,
though
hoj
the struggle
was
Neither the
|
i] tem s
of the
invaders.
When
everything
The weird
fear that
is
Akbar
inspired in
all
those
inci-
U
pilgrimage
a
ar started
on February
This
is
2s, 1568
on
subservient to him
well
illustrated
by the
fled
Ajmer."
g
like the
proverbial
bberTeJIi
the robber
with
300
prisoners
from Lahore, Pchlwan Gul Guz. Ins keeper, committed suicide through fear of the emperor's anger"
lie says? dent narrated by Badayuni. the very Lime of the accession. Abul Mali
'When
at
luring
Ins
battle
with
Ibrahim
Mirza
Punjab,
Kusain
rcsl
were sewed
skins
were hr ought
in
cow
the second
to
day
the
built
the
few of
these
P.
141. ibid.
1
35
36.
77, ibid.
Khan arrived from Multan presented Ibrahim** head. The punishment! o he rebels were barbaric and cruel.
da;
Qadir IK Muntbkhtbul raaaiik*, bj Abui oriiina! Ibn Muluk Shall alias A Dadayum tmailflM from the printed for " Persian and ulucd b\ George S.A. Ranking,
P. 4.
Vol
Asiatic
1838.
Society
or
Bengal,
Baptist
Mission
I'r
itetjun,
J-M
I'p
SlicJi
ubli
lied b)
Bhnraiip
37.
Bi
I2H36,
mi
bay, 1964.
v. io, ibid-
gi
yham Khan
On
soiier.
thcnTpiit 10
troop after troop of bdbre lhcmi and blood flowed r.ver dent)., so that ihcir
Peer
was not content unless he pi ictisud ^mos' the code of Chengfc Rhan jng and mwkmg prisoners ufali u.c mhahu.-mts of Bnrhanpni and Asheergadh and then crosstnu the rfver Narmada he raised the conflict lo the verv heavens and utterly destroyed many towns and Mid sue pi everything vill il'c clean and cleat KhandeNh
Bifid
ur,onri>crand
his fcce said in
Mohammad
with
a smile on
fm
ri .1
has
N and
I
uncle Khwaja Muazzara murdered his own wife Akbar ""first having had him mauled with kicks and sticks, and then gave him several duckings, and packed him off to
Gsvalior (where he died),"'
*
Aktar'a
maternal
(When
conveyed to liim
replied
4
my
abhorrance)
all
Peer
Mohammad
ln
In
the
year 971
A.
these captives Jiavc oeen taken, what is to be done n? And the same night these plundering marauder ing slowed away their Mohammadan capme*;. cons js ting of the wives of Shaikhs and Savvids. and learned men, and nobles, in their bov J saddte-bags brought them to Ujjain. And the Sayyids and Sheikhs of that place came
Miiv;
Muqim of
Isfahan
with
Mcer
Yaqub of Kashmir put to death on the charge The two (had) brought to court the being Shias. daughter of Husaiit Khan a<* a sort of present
This
is
shall
him with their Qtirans in their hands, arnmad put them all to death and
Brat llicm
Quit Khan came from the Punjab and brought with him Masud Husain Mirza with
' Husam
Adham Khan
Peer
to
sent the
whole account
** those
Mohammad, who,
and
after
Khan went
absolute
led
ii
and a number of other prisoners of the followers of the Mirza to Path pur. They numbered nearly 300 and he brought them prisoner* before the emperor with the skins of asses hog* and dogs drawn over their faces. Some of them
eyes blindfolded
***-
homage
the
'o
the
emperor
head of
Ji
J
l
125,
IW
I'
163
Arid
9*
tfm
I
,
"M,Ji.m
Riisaio
ir
wliich
lie
death
c
,
!H
ihers.
rtoi
hc
xir eN v,>,
One ma
gft
rhe chrnSS
'
vkh.u mcvl to he
whence,
^^
A
p
.
.
hose
unfortunate moihere.
ftuni
town and lemp1 c In or re savagely attacked and captured fe V( ^ through their zeal a nd Uibar'samn hiexcessiw hatred of Jtfotatr) filled their shoes wm, ,.u wo j i,i slaughtered cows and men) and sp i a j H on ile doors and walls of the temple
state,
J
-AtthMim, fabo*^
H, 980
when
Ihe
H-
[)0r
j
l:
he heard everything that wai said I,, >l- " r to verify the circumstances of this case an "" mis case Iirr order was issued that several suckling infants dcr
of lh
s
t..
of
(|i
in ,
r'i
iubiTc
is
waj of murdering
illustrated by
unwanted people
Mtii/yiii
Mulk
that
.ind
Mulla
Mohammad
Mil-disciplined nurses were to be placed over them refrain from giving Litem an) instruc|,u were to
,
Yazdi.
tion
in
speaking-
To
carry out
this order
about
put into
to
were taken from their mother placed in r or a consideration in money, and were which got the name of Dumb 8J3 empty house
twenty sucklings
House"'
oul
another order thai they be done away with. So they put them in a ho 1 and when they were in deep water, ordered
It
GwalioT,
erw a rd>
fie
sent
After
rh'_-\
all
turned
dumb
In
world
to
[lowed
the
iMors to
swamp the
boat... After
some days
Qazi
Tall
on Their ears"'.
Many
of them soon
take the cake
died, ddd^
foi
Badayuni
Akbar should
piece
invent*
the
[
WulJas against
whom
he
had was
'JMCfoa
|
nihilatfbn,Haji Ibrahim
of cruelty which perhaps no ever thought oilier monarch in the world may have or or could have executed with such immaculate
ingihis rare
Ranthamhhnr.
Strangled)
satiate
There
in
diet]
I
The} found
cloth.'*
h
Wi
sent into
his
curio
\kbar
ml
<*
fuqn.
Bhakkar
(in
Smd)
together
with
1 '
oih
infants
'I" pherc bodied." obviously from dewrt. ^nger. being left high and dr> In a sandy
fi
4*
[ '
MS,
bid
*$
I*
29().
ibiJ
40
mmhwofSheiicIi* and
'"
^^ Lgcd
c
*&\5*# ***
for
"' f
^ mLllu,r
faqta Wcre
-
91
whir*
horses.'
Obvlou^
bvinusly a euphemism for starvina thev These examples eliou thai Akbar caih
AkK,t
,|,an
mC
?
i'l
Jru
i 1
nioMmiJmsm
evclu"!
men
llC ulSllK*-*-
in ,M
rally
Xn^ as a mail u d
nounic
,
The Harrtu:
f^who
lo
rated
nil
religion*
0r
lccls
Sheikhs
'
by another similar e* ,hc cnl P emr cami "^ tf-About thi* timc known as llahii. They had fa
|fhisTr: ,
had no scruple* m toning ever a man to a mob of hooligans to he killed He ased rim.method to b .-, about the
Sheikh Abclun
A. H.) and
the face.
Akbar
death
of
Faihpur
(in
"2S ^r^mtnland
similar
those
the
of
th,
laws
*
Hi s
the
made
year
use of
0imli|
whether they repented of*. they were set to Bhakkar A. his command merchants to 4iul wee given to
,
SZ
lljr
Past
of
Islam.
9^
The
him
emperor unable to
in
restrain his p
returned the
Then (on the plea thai he had not sum orRs. 7,000 loaned to lum for
struck
the
Mecca) he was handed over as a prisoner to Raja Todarmal and for some lime like
pilgrimage to
MdQandahara,
people by filing
'clearing
houses'
unwanted
them as
slaves.
a defaulting tax-gatherer, they imprisoned him the counting house of the orifice, and one night mnh strangled him/*
il
In
grandson of Khwuja Mui""Sheikh because when he nuddin he banished to Bhakkar do obeisance to the returned from Mecca he didn't prescribed manner.-. .The grands
Bmta
courtier Haji Ibrahim ofSirhind was similarly stripped of all power and wealth and sent io
Ranthambhor
death.
fort,
obviously to
be
tortured
to
emperor
Sheikhs
he
ii
in
the
of Sheikh
o!
grea Adhan who were some or the fomiliei lannpur, with their wives and
Akbar banished
Dcccan
part
Quzi
la la
Multam
to
the
that
thinking
Ajmci and gave them a hvinj ,-,. nc) ol them died and some were The w*rds "fixed provision' poverty/'
icnl
,i
to
fixed
pr*
thinkimj
was
noi
fulfilled
^eeause
shelter
lie
Dcccani
Muslim
have rewarded
I
Muslims
i
hostile CO
Akbar whom
Ibid
they hated.
Ml]
'.
ibid
3t)
321. bid
51
52
SS.
ihfd
n
92
hi
the outside
world
We shall see
j
foj
in
fl
Imw
(chapter
thai
1
AkharY
1 ,
.,d
neai relation*.
Parental
home
lou
cornmunaJ Integration and harmony wq^ mji outrageous kidnappings brought about Tin- most publicized .imong niis wi: the one in which Akbar these pseudo-marriages was lifted BharmaTs daughter with the force of u\. Thai on this occasion he was noi
proceeding groom should
man-lifter
Is
fatberSto P
and Cliristiai t T-r"* Shrivastava says **" a tothl8 Dl notable hmdu fan claimed a few houses thai had
.,ke
them over to
lUH,
^-hat Cr
10111
as
happy,
like
bin
^^mZZV^
Xavier succeeded
I
b,.
5 %
4
'
rr '
proved
footnoti
T1
D' AshirbadilaJ Shrivastava's book saying "The marriage did not take place at Deosa as Vincenl p op fe of Deosa and othei Smith asserts, places on Ak bar's route fled away on his approach."
^^
1
o"u
of PinheJro.'
^ ^ZJt S?
!,
1
mamed
"^
btok
Hindu women kidnapped and shut up in his harem may be judged the fact that the daughter of Raja Bhurmal of Amber Jaipur was allowed by him only once, as small mercy, to visit her lather's hou Dr.
Akbar's cruelty towards the
i
Shrivastava
observes:
'
queen, the
a
01
Amber
princess,
pay
of kidnappmg chl dren, and oi killing young men. An attempt was also made to poison the fathers through the coitussion of a domestic servant On the X'mas day of K.iH) PiJtheico was able to report the baptism of 39 people, One of the men converted wu Polada (may be Prahladj, a physician belonging to a resfl, s .
accused of eatmg
human
.he church
^
were
i
Io
[Actable
Brahmin
famijj
"
visit
to her parents at
Amber
present
mourning ceremony for her brother Bhup.ii was unusual courtes That means that the women in Akbar's harem were treated as though
the
life-convicts
kept
in
close confinement.
person's nature can often b< feed up try his tastes, Akbar derived immense pleasure and relaxation in gory fights between men and lu Monserratc narrates how when Akbar invited the
J,i
biting
anybodj
Jesuit fathers
" Plied
i.i.ii
to
, ,
see
1 1 1
a
i
gladiatorial
.i
(
contest,
ii
they
M,.-,
..
in
L.mph
r,
wasabsotti-
ttie
Great, b)
A@;irwa1
f'r
Ashlrbadl
(PJ
Li*l
''
>vu*u,
Strive
Ul
& Co
publhbctn.
107, ibid.
"Common
iJ
W.P
14).
,1,
94
wu
^
m
i
95
him
,,
,n
ne
jj x
Akbar s so-called pro grc s. produced a> evidence ol abolish that custom. s in wanting u> This
a nriSfcpieseniatioii u anted to drag the
dnrti
on some occasions n lhfi ntmg Hindu widows from burni*. dcad hwbands of flu
lerfetcncc
ehed
on an upon the
to
no
inflated ba R of
river.
Al^^^e ? J "?
,
ox hil
J Und UB "
th
'
an
JJ*
is
middle
,
of
...
^Pn^
cries,
harem.
torn
Far Groin wanting to abolish the Sat cu s Akbar treated it a> a gala spectacle at which
and trying to move the king to mercv \ he was earned past the royal pavilion, the king gave order, tor htm to be rescued from
the river
JS
,
-and
cony,
'lo
entered in the inventor.es as royal property, expos! ed lor sale in all the bazars and finally
as a slave.
summoned
to see an
custom of Sari). They went in ^nce of what was to take place but when they and out, die) plainly indicated by their saddened feces how cruel and savage they felt that crime to Finally Rudolf publicly reprimanded the Ki
of
this
<
made money in the bargain by trading him as a stave, and earning some money for his treasury
Monserrate narrates how 3 *pn emerging from the Gaybar {Khybar) pass and reaching the plain the king had several villages near the coas burnt, because their inhabitants had refused him
grain
by one of his friends pieces of gold, which were for 80 paid into thc royal treasury". So besides punishing an erring Officer mercilessly the usurious Akbar also
He was bought
auctioned
hi*;
presence
there
that
he
for
revolting
crime,
and
explicit
far
and supplies on
the
Akbar treated
it
as consi-
derable Fun.
Once an
officer
commanded by Akbar
to
find
pounced upon in ihe narrow confines of the mountain pass or its retreat be cut off when it
wanted to return to India.
out a iuitabic place where the Indus could be fordturned saying there was no suitable spot "he king a<kcd him il he lad gone to the place
he Icarm he had not gone that far, thc kln orated him to be seized, dragged to the
-
rated.
When
to
Monserrate found that w "princes sentenced imprisonment are sent to the jail at Goateris
l
i
156, ibid
21
1,
ib.u
111
I*
ibid.
90
Chapter
vhcre
,;
thej
r ot
a\va v
%btc
'foi
*?**
^Tvcn
SSSti
IMMORALITY
...Tim
latier official
i
<f"<
isequi. the king whh and bd in the palace of pumslunent such as lcathei fitted with sharp spikes Lhjtf bow-strings .lock of wood used or pound.
I
chains,
pieces his Lthcmoifiials'sWesor erasnmg which arc tied a number of snd scourges in dull with sharp bronze nails, (This 'mall balls studded one called by apon must. I think, be the Jau Various kinds of scorpion). ancient! tlu tbt manacles, handcuffs and other irons are
.
to
Contemporary Muslim and European records prove that Akbar had an inordinate lust for women. In fact one of the chief motives of h wars of aggression against various rulers was to
appropriate their harems.
saries
If the
defeated
adver*
were Muslims Akbar appropriated their teeming harems. If they were Hindus he compelled them under pain of cruel reprisals to surrender their sisters and daughters or other females.
Besides that Akbar had various other modes of acquiring comely women for his harem namely through obliging visitors or generals by way of gratification for the emperors pleasure or as a sop
to his anger, by direct interference with or trespass
into the marital privacy of his subjects at his
will
huns up, n one or the great palace gateways, " which is guarded In the chief executioner
Quite ahead of their
value of mobile exhibits
in India
times
in
realizing the
used to
rig
and mangled, stuffed bodies to terrorize their sub's into" submission. Akbar was no exception. chief It Beg was looked upon by Akbar as the igato liv'hrain Khan's rebellion. Wall Beg
died of over
and
wounds received
be cut
in battle
(Akbar) ordered
all
by swooping on Hindu women about to go Sati (i.e. burn themselves on the pyre of then deceased husbands) and carrying them off to his harem, and also by capturing en masse the
pleasure;
head
off,
women of vanquished
troops.
lot
Hmdusthan (for display) When it was bro* to Elawa Bahadur Khan killed the loot soldiers
ji
thai carried
h
cd
of these helpless be at the beck and call of the emperor's lecherous pleasure when even the 'imperial consorts selected to accompany
their lord
Am-i-Akburi,
b)
he out? id J Periian by M. BUwhmann. ood edition, BaUiotbeca InUica icrles published by H">ji Sialic Souei. ,,r uengul.
i
Uom
up
in
were carried by she-elephants and shut To them life meant only decorated
'
~T
P.
267.
Vincent
Snurh'-
Akbar
the
Great
Mogul
ibid.
98
99
olil
dumb.
N&MMfa
*0
his
life
matter of
wn
in the
Referring
Smith say* mission under Aquavit in 1582 proves, beyond that at that time.. Akbar possibility of doubt drank hard. The good father had habitually boldly dared to reprove the emperor sharply for
Akbar's inordinate obsession for more and more always different women is best illustrated by and
his
conduct after his general Ad ham Khan had defeated Uaz Bahadur, the debaucherous Muslim
jVfalwa. at
ruler of
women. Akbar instead his licentious relations, with of resenting the priest's audacity, blu shingly excused himself."
addiction from
Jesuit father
sion.
Sangrur near Dewas in Central India. Akbar was informed in his capital Agra that Adham Khan was retaining with him all the women of Baz Bahadur's harem. Nineteen -yearold
Since
all his
Akbar
inherited
his drink
Akbar incensed
at
the
thought
his
1
that
the
forefathers the
in
could
make no dent
.women who should have been in after all usurped by his general
April 27. 1561
Maham Anaga
the
of Akbar's
harem and
son)
mother of Adham
Smith narrates a murderous attack on Akbar provoked by his wanting to abduct other people's 1564," says Smith "Early in January wives -Akbar moved to Delhi. On the llth he was
.
miscreant
returning from a
visit
to the
Nizamuddin
shrine
when
man
which injured Akbar in the shoulder. The assailant was a slave (i.e. a Hindu) named Fulad. Akbar seems to have discouraged attempts io ascertain Fulad "s accomplices. He was then engaged in a scheme for marrying certain ladies belonging to Delhi families, and had compelled one sheikh to divorce his wife in his favour. The attempted assassination put an end to these discreditable proceedings, and probably was prompted by the resentment at the royal invasion of the honour of families. Akbar throughdischarged
an arrow
Akbar*s departure), His submission was accepted only when his nmthcr (Maham Anaga who quickly followed the emperor) came. (But. the villain that he was) he secretly stole two special beauties. (Akbar delayed his return to Agra until
her son (about
two damsels were also surrendered). Maham perceived that if these two women were introduced would be to His Majesty her son's treachery revealed. She, therefore, caused the two innocent
those
ones to be put to death (saying that the "dead tell no tales) The Khedive (Akbar) overlooked it and regarded the done as not done. Abul Fazal who
records
atrocious deed was not ashamed to praise the wisdom and perspicocity rf the guilty
that
lavish
praise
that
Abul
2.
P. hi, ibid
P. 47, ibid.
i 100
101
by Mi mans lurcm women thai M ah , m aary of the Amiga controlled. uir to nn em P |f e at th a young Akbar, arm) ol ruffians 14, having a targe
being
in-,,,,,.
'
2Swe
1*2,1 often
lsW
on
Ibis
woman
the
made
fccherou
can only be
to
their
ranks,
We
i fluence
0I
women
women
Dealing
with
craving
for
icndei
plundered wealth and a harem increasing everyday, was bound to be a bv leaps and bounds And SO he was. Smith says person kj or repeating thai Akbar Abut Fazal never tires behind a veil " if early years remained
md
barbarians at
his
command,
possessor
o|
hnmens
Badayuni Majesty's intention of connecting himself that His (sic) with the nobles of Delhi was by marriage
place (Mathura)
first
says
was
at that
broached and
into the
qawwats and
for
sent
harems
the
daughters of the
conditions.
Akbar remained almost during his youthful years of the harem women. wholly in the arms end taps with women In the rest or the time that he spent
his lift
daring his
And
Abdul
of the
Wasj's
was
wonderfully
beautiful
and
One day
the eyes
was only
stightly less.
his
After
stripping
guardian
and
minister
Behram Khan f 11 power, and ultimately murderentirety by strumpets. ing hun Akbai was governed Akbai shook off the tutelage oi Smith notes Behram khan only to bi Eng himself under the influence of the monstrous regiment or unscrupulous
emperor felt upon her. It Is a law of the Mogul emperors thai iT the emperor cast Ins eyes is bound iiJi desire on any woman, the husband to divorce her and the virtuous (sic) lady entered This passage makes it clear the imperial harem/ that Akbar subjected all women in his realm to
a
his
close scrutiny either personally or through his henchmen, who were under otders to subject these
omen
potent
u.l
to
close
personal
physical
check as
women.
ment
interest
He was subject
worsi
to the
petticoat
govern-
of the
in
kind
the
business
whetstone* f. r -Xklw'slittt. One can well ima'gine the horror of a situation when tnightj officials of a despot, bacfc d up with fierce-looking,
srmed-to-the
innermost
teeth
towed
Mnham Amiga
of
this
control.
She
barbarians
enter
the
dark,
Hie wli
a
li
house curtained-oft recesses of even with the specific objed of carrying off the beai
age
pimp atw
diSoi
toofanj
v.
and
an;
emperor
sexual gratification.
r|. ,,,
v.,,i
II
..,
bursi
5.
I
i
harem
ibid.
beauties
mukhtta
'*
'
k:i
"
m^
Qiitlu BiidtiN.im.
1'.
Ibftl
31. ibid
Pp
25,
zi>.
10
in.
with fir. or acid to burnt themselves and unattract.ve to the ro heir face* ugly - -?a agcntu n^ may have bribed the royal agenfc abductors* abductors, many escape perma% gratification gratificat ion to esc; pe rma . iifh ad hoc sexual h *; ; tfc# emperor's gilded capfrt rmnemr's Gilded cages and detention in the
Manv WOm*n
or
their ciders
were bound
we
;;,t
^^
^.^
would - my own have taken no woman from **,j wwn kingdom llUVC .-g(l0 mn *
I
-Had
been w, Sc
earlier
wrael-o. fornv .object, :irc , mc me ,n c 1 sanciimnniAH. Such sanctimonious _.j in ren. children.
I'
T
<
me
place
may have been ir v U reemmc harem; many __ ... - r . r.i stripped teeming mm."-. ..-. it-*. limit. _i.. whether their form and physical nude to ascertain of an emperor who could drag allure was worth) harem with the force of h any WOimMJ to his m a vast empiic This was yet another 11S a terror and people used reason vUiy Akbar was People dreaded him not only to flee in his wake. wealth, not only his T orturc for his plunder of their but the lifting or then and maiming their persons sisters or women-folk whether wives, mothers,
daughters.
---- 8 m, vv v u 1| 3 of b aCCOlims written by genunexmg chroniclers reign rtto should not L.* n /4tvink lilt: the reader in a f* n ~ n ~. . in n correct hoodwink appraisal r A k bar's role in history.
and
1
hypocr..,-
l^"'"
Ws
.
in vogue in Akbar's reign for offer as gratification to Akbai himself is illustrated by Officers, courtiers, or
The
free traffic in
women
that
was
"In this yea r (A.H. 971) the emperor had Mirza Muqim of Isfahan together Hr Yaqub of Kashmir put to death on a with
Badayuni.
charge of being Shiaha. The two (had) brought to court the daughter of Hu&ain Khan as a sort of This indicates that anybody could a present,'
He
says;"
Contemporary records also indicate that Akbar used his "large stock of female beauties serais, whether confined to his harem, prisons or
not
anybody's daughter, sister or wife reign and gift her away or detain her
lift
in
Akbar's
in his
own
only
for
his
own
gratification
but
also to
house.
them exchange them with others or bestow Smith says* gratification on visitors or courtiers.
"Grimson's statement that Akbar had confined his other himself to one wife, and distributed
consorts
wrested from their men folk by mass raids on localities or towns or after vanquishing a hostile force in battle were mercilessly handled as sexual cargo and then dumped in town to eke out
a living
Women
among
the courtiers
is
firmed
from other sources, had promised to do so or even asserted thai he he made the sacrifice, but it does not follow that the exact actually kept such a promise or told Vol, III. p. 398 quotes Ain-i-Akbari nth/'
P
as prostitutes.
helpless
It
number of these
women
to
0.
defy
P. 128,
U$,
Vincent
Smftll
Akbai
the
Grcul Mosul/'
n BsdtyimiYchniifclft
10,
P 3U.il
B deputy and a secretary f0r pointed a keeper, and who wished to Zir quarter SO that anyone people or take them to his hou^
Z|M
105
numbers of women wreMcd from defeated foes were subjected to rap, and prostitution is men.
the
imperial
office*
any of them tha he pleased. Tate connection with to lake dancing permit any man But he did not at night without conforming mrls to his house anyone wished to conditions. But if
-ZamKhanKoka
been appointed to punish
the Afghans of Swat and Bajur, and to extirpate JaUal h the Roth oat, killed many of them and tptured the wlvc? and family il Jaltalah and his
,
ho
have a
virgin,
if
the petitioner
petition
was a
well
known
deputy
brother
Waliftdat
Ali
with
their
relatives
and
sent
courtier, he sen! a
[through) the
under assumed debauchery led to many acts of drunkenness and And however many were brought o
so.
permission from court. Nevertheless nd obtained carried or, rules all the libertines in spite Of the
14,0
and
i
these prison ci a
j
who can
take account!"
Itwa
tht
drafts
names, and
hese
affair*
were despatched
to
Akbafs court
used
for
hounded, who
tvere
free
among
the vicious
lo
of delinquents would punishment another troop departpast the inspector of thai strut arrogantly prostitutes And a number of well known ment him, and inquired called privately before
Jcbar)
bloodshed.
Aktuir's
court,
and
occasional
The
wretched condition ol these women used as prey by sex-wolves would beggar description. They were subjected to uninhibited molestation, starvaapartments* intion or undei -nourishment, filthy slavery and imprisonment in suits, menial duties
solitary celts of the
tip
(from them)
to a
great
brothel
Muslim
kings
of their noses
i
of
this
main stipulations in treaties such of UN* en vanquished foes was to surrender " men as Akbar or his officials wanted. By host Akbar had introduced a whole method' into n the daughters of eminent Hinu Rajahs
One of
forced
ous habits, that he once intendlo the baz ir gossip of the time
ed to
distribute
his
-< Akbar) was unable to give up his polygamand no importance need be attached
the
wives
among
...
il,,.
r<immentarv. of
Fill
harem"
instance of
1)
how day-in-and-day-out
Mil turd
f :n,
ibid.
107
106
ween
\\
Die
ad no
apparent contradiction
Monscrrate Males- -In addition to this quarrel there was another regarding a ship captured by Tile Mongols basely sent epic's the PorlugiK
fattm. All conquered cd the whole realm as In found sufficiently attractive OT wrttted women W were transferred for being pan of
mpereir
i i
the
of
iKia-m.
This
constantly
swelling
stock
sexual gratification he used for his own he wanted to favour. well as of those whom two statements that Akbar litThis recoi
women
under Jacobus Lopczius Coutigi, > lying at the mouth of the Taphtus fcpti) river ihej suddenly attacked out of an ambush laid at night Nine sailors were captured, dragged in triumph to Surat, cruelly treated and on the next day executed for
1
used to distribute women that were at his his wives (namely the mctcv in the harem with whom he may or may not
polygamous as
well
as he
had refused to become Mu^lmans even though promised riches, honours and beautiful and noble wives. The Mongols regarded this as a
they
very generous
the
offer.
brought 10
his courtiers. Such have' actually cohabited) to make even a whit of a distribution did not to Akbar's over-married status because
King
at
r-aiiepuraio
(Fatehpur
Sikri).
Akbar
had
pretended
he
had
never
heard
of what
happened,"
promised to neo-converts wen Hindu women enslaved and kept invariably prostitution for and rape. The reserve in were rounded up after every battle or raid on peaceful Hindu localities. The word 'noble* is used
difference
Ij,
slock
The
'wives*
overcrowding.
Alluding to their frequent discussions about with the relative merits of Christianity and Islam, on serrate states how one of his Akbar's courtiers
those
women
only because
they
colleagt
that
their
'
"Rudoir
cast
in their
teeth
the
fact
were lo be used as bait for neo^converts. Usually Hindu women are invariably described in
as
precious prophet in one passage (which quoted) permitted the practice of unnatural and
whores,
strumpets,
slaves
sodomy).
When
this fact
was
discovered, the
Musalmans reddened
with
Non-molestation of the women of captured or vanquished foes was an act of special grace, big
ahum*
Despite Akbar's overtly professed friendliness 10 wards the Portuguese his generals often swooped
mercy and a rare exception. This is illustrated in the campaign undertaken to suppress the revolt of Masum Farankhudi. He was forced to leave his
15.
upon the
14.
latter.
Referring to one
such
incident
P. 167, ibid.
P. 60. tbid.
if.'
4
.*
SSVwibo
Ucbar
the "fam.lv
pararoly this
Ayodhya. Akbafi Khan occupied th. for. and lhe not to moles, mercifully ordered him
in
the Tort of
And
which Akhar intervened suspiciously similai to the one mentioned c jl it-Raia Bhagwandas's cousin Jamratl sent on dui eastern provinces, rode hard -j, lh the
Another
instance
in
earlier chapter h-ve alreadv noted in an to stop the custom of that Akbar fur from wanting Hindu widows burning themselves
Wc
and died near Chausa from the effects of the heat and over-exertion. His v. daughtei of Udai Singh imade preparations 10 o Satil- Akbar rode to the Spot... and stopped
urgent orders,
-,
pyre,
treated
those
mourn-
and
grand occasions as gala performances courtiers his Muslim spectacles to regale himself, in which he is foreigner!;. The few instances
to
!
and
The relatives were granted tlieir lives and mcr The exact location and date oft imprisoned. incident are not stated. Abul Fazal's narrative as usual is lacking in clearness and precision/"
1
1>.
said
widow
have interfered ware to take away the us own harem, We quote two instances:
""The daughter of Rai Raisingh was wedded to Bir Bhadra* the son of Raja Ramchandra of Pinna. When Ramchandra died Akbar sent his
son to
the
Discerning students of history must not take such garbled versons at their face value specially when Abul FazaJ is universally dubbed to be a They must examine and shameless flatterer"
analyse
rule
them as
detectives
do.
This
is
precious
When
ncaring
Bhadru fell from the palanquin and died. His widou declared her intention to be This, therefore, is not a Sati. Akbar intervened," a mere abduction of a Salt but seems to be accompanied by a pre-med Rated murder. Bir Bhadra having been ut Akbar's court Akbar must have seen his wife and have had an eye on her The incident has many suspicious details. How should Bir Bhadra
capi.al
fall
methodology. Reconstructing of historical the above garbled and truncated version one finds thai J aim nil was in excellent health smoB He must have died soon deputed on a mission.
I;
after
ihe parted from his near unddejt be that That nid colleagues at court prcceed must have been given a fake order on a mission and was pounced upon and killed ss scon as he was defenceless and unaware,
Akbar was
the
obviously
kept
fully
inform-..
I
<f
Janquin before he reached his cap) d lUt all he fell from the palanquin through accident how did that L\\ from a few feel prove so
r
fatal
kill
from
Thai Akbar rode out immedevelopmenl diately in person to the exact spot shows that
JaimulJ died very close to Akbar's palace. indicates that AJcbai knew the exact spot
the
It
there?
Aihirbadi
because
M.Vol.
U1
Shliv:.vl,\.i
dilated
ibid.
I?
P- 347, Shctat'i
"Akbnr
the Grctl
Mogul", iW*
>
110
tit
****
j
tjH
fcprtpan
Akbar rode
A kbar"s
U ||
soldiers) followed
a*
usual."
there
nicfc
Line l.Tc.rv
cc curtain.
alive. Kaniuluvaii lister of Rani w omcn left and the daughter of the Raja i ti)
"The two
He
any detachment of
(daughter-in-law of The deceased warrior queen were sent lo Agra to enter Akbar's harem." Fanatic
Dunn
Purangad
any
myorpolkc nor could he entrust the task to him. And since the widow's officer under
i<,
relatives
Akbar
them
into
obviously resented this blatant abduction them and thrown said to have arrested The episode ends abruptly dungeons
Muslim authors add that though Ditrgawati'i son nir Narayan had been married to the daughter of the Raja of Purangadh yet the marriage wa* not This is obviously a bluff meant consummated.
lo insinuate thai lo his harem ont> was not so represented it was supposvirgins. If it ed to detract from a 'proud' Muslim monarch's reputation. The fanatic qazis, courtiers and Akbar
Akbar admitted
happened to the -how namely Akbar 01 hero of the stage-managed After all her relations who ihe bereaved widow accompanied her to the cremation ground had
there vnihoul
mentioning what
had
himself would, therefore, tell the obliging scribes to record that the apparently married woman was
to all intents
ofthewayby
Akbar send
being imthe
poor.
and purposes
a virtual virgin.
Naturally very' reluctantly unattended widow to poor Akbar had to give her shelter and protection Akbar's so-called prevenic) in his own harem.
tion of Sati ultimately reveals cases
of murder of
the
above two instances we can deduce Akbar's devious modus operandi of obtaining for
Akbar's court chronicler Abul Fazul known for his extreme nailery of his royal patron, tries lo glorify even Akbar's womanizing as a burdensome duty graciously and condescending!} undertaken 20 lo sci an example to the world. Abut Fazal says "His Majesty is a great friend of good order and
propriety
From
Ihe
business.
Through order
reality;
it
the
world
that
courtiers,
whom
and
u spiritual
With
scan
this
new
insight
students of
meaning.
For
this
reason,
the large
number of
may
women a
Durgawaii was killed white battling jauhffl with Akbar's invading forces a terrible iituary mass suicide by tire by Hindu women
After
I
vexatious question even for great statesmen furnished His Majesty with an opportunity to display his wisdom, and to rise from the low of worldly dependence to the eminence
t,
i
who considered
this
mode of death
preferable
to
15.
cruel molestation
and humiliation
at the
hands of
20.
ibid.
112
Berfeci
Iteedom
The
Imperial
palace
md
dd
w e hnd
ruins or
a
Akb Mr \
for
times
com
lU ites
,
of rooms.
i
MS
is
n typical
Akbv
thu
i
lust
women
,
m
,
winch
followed
he
an
equally
preposterous
L v,
n courtiers
prodtoioui
^ mth treountnes;amlsecurcUn
princes
,,
Zmv
Hmdu kingdom
raid, on were meant to abduct the prmce,, pious Hindu riders or his own
*orloV
Akbar
m Mr W1 ve or desire to be presented ifaj other Rrsi nutlfj wish and wait for a reply. Those eligible their are permitted lo enter the harem, Some women of rank obtain permission to remain there for a whole Notwithstanding the great number or month. women
faithful
^yjM
-Whenever Begamv
Badayum
und
-lmdu rulers rather women than have them nrefcrred to burn their Abu! Fazal's remark that imo Akbar* hands. fall brought about world Akbars kidnapping raids amounts to adding insult to unity and pence, be .s called a not for nothing that
massacre.
I
^f
guards,
fT*
dispense
with his
own
vigilance.,.."
Scrutinizing the above passage we would like what married woman would yearn to be to ask molested by Akbar? Could there be so many women,
:
all
wives of courtiers,
who would
io yearn to enter
pilot
Akbar's
harem, as to indefatigably
their
iniurv
It is
applications
shameless flatterer.*
Was
Abu! Fazaj says Describing Akbar's harem a laigc enclosure with fine His MajestJ has made
buildings mside, where he
axe dim,, iii/n 5.000
reposes.
Thougli there
women he has given to each He has also divided them separate apartment
sections,
harem a matter of such rare privilege for the wives of courtiers that they should consider it a rare honour to be away from their own husbands. homes and children for cohabitation with Akbar
The words "those (found)
eligible"
only
mean
into
duties
and keeps them attentive to the been Several chaste (Sic) women have
sufficiently attractive so
over pointed as darogah- and superintendents duties Edion, and one has been selected for cai
or a writer,
\hu!
Fteol'i
i
impelled to drag them to his own harem. uu for The phrase "obtain permission to rem im a whole month" means that Akbar ihed to detain his courtiers' wives (and of course daughters and
i
rtion
suite
that each
in
one ofta*
a large
in
en-
listers) if
at least
mom
mi
closure
II.
vm
li
vena
r
of roomslie.
need not
a
despicable
Nowhere
l Ji: '
month's
others'
limit
Is
mennigless.
wives
fbi
ibid.
from detaining
Ain
is,
Atn-j-Akbari, ibid.
114
The
last
115
faithful
guards
Akbar
remained
r
vigilant
only
mean*
;
that these
women
by force
obviously
Wteit
and detained under dire meir homo Such seemingly innocuous passages lldc threats. reveal tin.- most > avagc ,-iJstcr meaning Mid a Vc
|
sodomy, prostitution, drunken brawh and murderous assaults. That there should be a
f
regular
scale
jlourisfafaS
large
Sodomy was a
ovm family
'precious*
heritage of Akbar's
:,
\kbar also took great interest in maintaining brothels close to his palace, and found timcta
.tccounl of
v,f_i
:
and also
:im
id talk to them.
Akbar's grandfather Babur has, m given a lengthy description of his nis memoirs, sodomte infatuation for a male sweetheart while mother used to coax him out of his reluctance ,s
n
to
His Majesty (hasj established a wineshop counts nearthe palace. The prostitutes of he realm who had collected could scarcely be counted, so large was
I
go to
his
own
wife with
whom
ihcir
number,
(Their locality
was called
Shaiian-
on good terms His son Humayun. also had picked handsome lads always at hand. Akbar himself maintained a whole regiment of catamites near his palace as Abu I Fazal mentions.
Ii
puia or De viTs Ville), The dancing girls used to be taken home by courtiers. If any well known courtiers wanted to have a virgin they would first ha\e Hi* Nlnjirstys permission. In the same way boys prostituted themselves, and drunkenness and His Majesty >rance soon led to bloodshed. hiiroelf called some of the principal prostitutes and asked them who had deprived them of their
. -
time for
courtiers to have male sweethearts in their retinue. 14 "In the 12th About one such Abul Fazal says
year
was reported that Muzaffar loved a boy named Qutb. Akbar had the boy forcibly removed, whereupon MuzafTar assumed the garb of a fakir, was thus obliged and went into the forest. Akbar
it
virginity?**
In
to recall
" H
prostitutes"
many
women who
were
dragged
and prostitution after their husbands and brothers were killed in Muslim raids.
slavery
society Another instance reminiscent of Muslim Shah iwhoj was of mediaeval times is of* 'Adil handsome murdered in 988 A. H. by a young for an immoral eunuch whom he a- tempted to use
The above passage reveals the most civic life thai existed in Akbar's times.
p 276,
purpose.
Thekim
known
for his
mania
for
shocking It speak
He
Am
-Akban.
ibid.
I\ 374, ibid.
116
117
mnMMO***"*
of the
Statt
eunuch, torid^Bcdiir.waw^ slabbed by the elde, attempi of satisfy^ [li( the v. Tim nuhca.es that sclec
han^-u
This
is
new high
iK
in cruelty, lechery
^d
lortatt
A nd
to sav thal
N
ca^ntted catamite
raised
di,
WW
rule to **
and dug large tanks i* the hemht j)ms|0tl of tameless academic audacity .md fraudulent eon* is how ancient Hindu buildings coction. This h* ascribed to various Muslims by cheats and been
forgers
for the cutml or presented with women, wine and wealth superior*, along 'sodomy prevj*. number of such instances of v Aide scale may be quoted from
by Akbar
to
his
own
repression
their
style
of cruelty with
his
subjects
and parade
women
Tod
him
to
fool
this
exclusively.
institution
mentions yet another instance * was passionately Shah Qui' M.hram-i-Baharlu the name of Qabul iched to a dancing boy of the boy forcibly Khan and as the Emperor had as jogi went dressed removed. Shah Quli foreslv Bcbram traced him with mucn
,ia\
Qj1
mentions
by
unique
conceived
states:
27
Akbar s inventive genius. Tod "The Noroza or "New Year's Day*' is not
into
the
him back, when the boy was The emperor from goodwill towards htm. admitted him to his fcmal apartments. After the first time he had been allowed to enter the harem, he went home and had his testicles removed, Maharam means owq admitted to the harem. He died at Agra in luTO A.H. At Narnaul where he
chiefly lived
but a festival especially instituted which he gave the epithet by Akbar. and to on the 9th day Khusroz, a day of pleasure, held festival of each (No-roza). following the chief The Khusroz was chiefly marked by a
month
fair
court, attendheld within the precincts of the merchants wives exposed ed onlv by females. The ladies of manufactures of every clime and ihc
,he
the court
there
in
Maiesiv W also were the purchasers. His learns the disguise by which means
he
erected
many splendid
buildings
value of merchandise,
and dug
large tanks
ery
The above passage is a curious blend of chican* and fraud. No one would voluntarily castrate passage only indicates that Akbar
i
and hears whan the character of fce the state of the empire and officers of the government.' unha lowed pu P Fazal thus softens down the
of
T^TTlr
of this
ennot admit
that the
used to compulforily castrate those unfortunate males whom he chose tokeepa watch over his harem.
26, V
W, ibid.
Hmu.
68-74
H9
118
\\
hm
UNr
these ninth day Rajput honour Wa| tc markets in which fan brave Prithviraj makes bartered and to which the he composed and s illusion {in the poem that
posh*
on
Mam
nc
mixed
Bhakaofthefairof Rajasthan,
my
brother,
is
is
the moustache on ,h C y h p
sound "
sol
J*
Above
just a
is
have sent to rekindle Rana Pratap's fiagg. to Akbar's aggres. ing spirit of dogged resistance not a shadow of is onslaughts) There sive doubt that many of the noblest of the race (of
alleged to
of uninhibited
random sampling
enough
w ZL
in
JE
vnsi
barbaric
a
Rajputs) were dishonoured on the No-roza t and the chivalrous Prithviraj was only preserved from being of the number by the high courage and virtue
abandon backed with the brutal fore huge army of hoodlums rampaging over a
empire.
of his wife, a princess of Mewar and a daughter of the founder of the Suktawats. On one of these celebrations of the
ttie
Moguls
was simck with the beamy of the daughter of Mewar and lie singled her out from amidst the
united fair of
is
Hind
It
improbable that an ungenerous feeling united with that already impure, to despoil the Stadias of their honour through a princess of their house under the protection of the sovereign.
not
from the fair she found herself entangled amidst the labyrinth of apartments by which egress was purposely ordained, when Akbar
retiring
On
btood before her. But instead of acquiescence, she rcw a poinard from her corset and held it to his
breast, dictating
and making him repeal the oath enunciation of the infamy to Rae all her race.
princely
wife
bard had
either
Hh
wanted
121
incorrigible
stuping
nn d their elder brother was saved from the juime Tate by a strong constitution, not by vh\\n The biographies of the nobles recorded by Blochsurprising number of deaths tnann record due to intemperance. One of the most conspicuous victims of thai vice was Mirza Jani Beg of Sind. who drank himself to death in the Deccan soon after
jsnlt
crimes heavy with the burden today has to find an escape niltif up from da} This addiction was Akbar's in stupefaction.
of brutal
the
The entire aimos. brought up reeked with often in aIikIi McbUT was inu stupefying drugs, murderous plots
cimi>'
ancestral
hcrimge.
of Asirgarh. Another noble of high rank (Shahba? Khan, No. 57) used to drink a terrible mixture of wine, hemp and two forms of opium. Many other examples might be cited."
fall
Smith records- how when Akbar "had drunk more than was good for him he performed various
,,
r*plots
and womanizing.
pad
freaks.
At Agra he galloped
the
the
elephant
at
Smiti
i
quotes Terry's account of Asaf Khan's MHis sovereign (Akbar)* asis to saj had no scruples on the subject, and i,
'
'Hawai*,
across
Sural
sword.
He
heady
toddy.
As an
alternative at
period
more
during
adds "Intemthe greater part of his lire.'' Smith perance mis the besetting sin of the Ttmuroid
families
fatlu
used to take a spiced infusion of opium. He followed the practice of his family for many generations in consuming both strong drink and preparations of opium sometimes to various
(1510) he
excess."*
iantJcgani
roper.
Humayun
(Akhar's
her)
made
him
d
liimtclf
.elf
stupid with
permiiU'd
die practice
in
freaks
which
indulged while
ud
mi
influence of liquor
COJil
have been narrated rafy chronicles) The evil example set followed only too faithfully inccs and nobles. Akbar's two younger
jarlj
*Thc Jesuit testimony concern tog the experience of the first mission under Aquavtva in 1582 proves, beyond the possibility of doubt, that at that time, some nine years after the fall of Sural Akbar habitually drank hard. The good father had
s,
women,
Akbar
instead
audacity, blushingly
excused
wns
died
atchol?44, ibid.
3,
I
neenl Smith'*
P. 82. ibid.
1*3
If,
and even aoq^l t wMue the flesh The abstinence was r several d.
123
|
v
,
l0|
dom
Be went
ol
fasti
to such excess
ig
was lost merit g that the , di inebriation. Sometimes Akbar seci*. demerit of
to
shockingly drunk/'
Mansingh and squeezed him hard S MnzalTar had Co twist Akbar\ hand to rclcas, hold on Mansingh ! throat. Akbar must have b
,
,,j
hi
u
ed
forge!
Padre
in, long intervals <o elapse say something to Even if he did m lie the priest before Akbar about God. he had hardly begun beini* that he made too fell asleep, the reason use sometimes of arrack, an extremely heady
summoning
'-Although the uncritical pane ymts of Akbar fi make no mcnl ion of his drunken bouts, and his published sayings include phrases condemnatory of
excess in wine, it is certain that for many kepi up the family tradition and often
years he
drank
more
much
sometimes of post, a similar pre* paration of opium, diluted and modified by His bad example in various admixtures of spices. the matter of inebriety was followed only too
palm
inc.
and
Jchangir remarks My father whether in his cups or sober moments alway called me Shekhu Baba'. The phrase clearly implied that
the writer's father
in his
cups."
son*
Two
of them.
M urad
to
cunning Akbar's chronicler tries gloss over Akbar's failings. Abul Fazal says'
With
his usual
effects of their
intemperance, and Salim never freed himself from the vice altogether."
chronic
*A "queer story narrated by Abul Fazal (says) The talk there was (once) a select drinking party. lumed upon the disregard for life shown by the
heroes of Hindusthan. It was said that two Rajputs would run from opposite sides against the point of
a double-headed
Akbar "does not drink much, but pays much attention to (the Abdar Khanaj matters. Both at home and on travels he drinks Ganges water.** Probably Abul Fazal means that strong liquors
that
passing
into
down Akbar's
throat
became
transformed
sacred
cflTccts
Ganges water or that to offset the of drinks and dopes Akbar washed them
dow.i with
Ganga
by third parties 40 that the points would transfix both of the rivals and come out at their backs. (Hearing this) Akbar had the hilt of his sword fixed in the wall and announced that he would rush against it. P
spear,
held
Ganga water is meant only to hoodwink Akbar's Hindu subjects who formed a vast majority.
7 *
to take
wine,
i.e
the
latter
subras"
Mansiit-li kicked
his
down
hard
Ihe sword
and doing so
cut
and drinks) the dop J servants place before him the stands of fruit. quintessence of
*
sovereign's
P.
H2
ibid.
6.
P. 57,
t*.
Ml.ibia
by H. Blochmnnn,
P. 69, ibid.
124 125
idiot to all^ E.thcrAkbar should have been an before him when he asked his servants to taj fruits servant >h"u|d have vine and dope or the
been
given
commands
drugs.
compelhnc him
authority to override Akbafi and like slcrn governesses they must be or wine and to accept fruit in place
ihc
bow el-complain I; and as His Majesty had adopted Hoomayun. bis the habit Of eating opium, as had done before him, people became appre father naive on lus account
drunkard and a drugIf Ilk* Akbai he u backed by a ferocious ftddicJ barbarians who have the potential of army mowing down all opposition one may well in the menace he is 10 humanity at large. Akbar's reign was. therefore, one of the darkest periods of Indian history, when a targe pan of India was Mibjccl 10 his drunken despotism and mischief.
is
Abut Fazat'&code word for the dreaded liquors and drugs that his imperial master habitually consumed.
table
isthftt 'fruit' is
third alternative
which
is
the flatterer
who was
at
Akbar quenches his thirst ^kbars court, says' with po*f or wafer. When he has drunk immoderately
of
pi
si
he
sinks
back
stupified
and
shaking."'
him is illustrated by a contemporary chronicler Badayuni who says1 "His Majesty appointed Qa2t Abdus Sami as Qazi-ul-Quzat who used to play chess for His cup-draining a wafer, and to give great odds. was notorious!} a congenital habit, and in his sect
Akbar's preference for drunkards
like
Youth, wealth, power and intemperance Each singly ma> spell ruin Imagine the havoc when they all combine.
Akbar's reign well
illustrates the truth
of that
maxim.
briber)
as a duly
for the
moment."
observes:"
1
Chronicler Ferishi a
(1582
"Ai
this time
ill
ADl
P
the king
of a
P, 199, Monserraic'*
10.
P.
\u]
II
Mobam*
from
dan
Pr.vktr in Itidtu.
till
ihc year
D.
1612 "
translated
Fenian of Mahommed Kasim Ferishta. by John i&. puWiihcdhy S, Dcj S9-A SI1an.ba7.ar Street. Calcutta-*'
original
taeprintcd Calcutta, 19 i6
D.|
Chapter Vlf
lin
127
TUF SO C U FD
I
VRRIAGES WERE
way back from Mankot the royit elephants mpeded into ailing Behram Khan's tern. Tf w8 Akbar'J way of displaying his royal anger lichram Khan who got married to Salirna
the
<.
vi
VNTIBDACTIONS
its
turned marital adventures \kbar*s much described as lyrical symphonoften rhapsoditally icr-communal Harmon) and lofty essays in
blatant abductions. salesmanship were nothing but
an earlier chapter highhandedly bereft ho* Sheikh Abdul Wasi was History does of his attractive and alluring wife. was robbed trace of Abdul W a^i after he
\Ve have already noted in
i
territory) to Lahore. Mankot There* was systematically hounded. cr Behram Khan Many more times Akbar's elephants stampeded Probably Akbar's mto Bcliram Khan's tent have Behram Khan trampled to intention w death. Gradual l> stripped of all power Behram Khan was overthrown in open combat, exiled,
in
Jummu
*ay from
and murdered. Partisan contemporary accounts have often tried to show hat Behram Khan was murdered by an Afghan
chased
to
Paitan
find
his wife.
In ill
private
flatterers,
grudge
Such accounts,
by court
to indict
v
Even AkburS own guardian the elderly Behram Khan met with the >ame late because Akbarhad an was e>con bis wife Sahma Sultan Begum. This lady srUefs daughter. Depriving her Akbat at husband Behram Khan of all power and position wife court and later murdering him only to grab his Akbar's for his <wn harem was a heinous crime on ungrateful because it was It was also very part. Behram Khan * ho had chaperoned minor Akbar kbars career through a to his throne stcerii
'
were subservient to a wily and ferocious Akbar who wielded despotic power. That it was Akbar who caused Behram Khan's murder is apparent from the fact that Behram Khan tt hounded from the very day that he was engaged to Salirna Sultan, At the time of hi-, murder he was not alone but was accompanied by a large group of wife adherents. Soon after he was murdered his Salima whom Akbar had long coveted, was
Sultan,
speedily sent to
number of formidable
Dr. A.L. ShfivMSU
challenges.
\ys
l
car-old
Akbar\ harem along with her four rose to be son Abdur Rahim who later
Stripping
15 years old.
the highest loyal servant ofthc crown of all his power and then ot h.shfc: Mbars aiyofbis wife because of a 5-year-old
Khan
Khun.
.on for
">
Behram Khan's
legally
wedded
wile
Wa a ghastly crime.
P. 41. Vol.
I,
Akbar
I2fl
139
India*
have
:,lso
nccn stained
*>y
marriage W falsehood aboul it|, This marriage h Jaipur* Hindu royal brails a* a shining example of mcr _ as hc, M paraded mnHJii.il integration brought about by Akbii,
so-called
j
\Uur\
a bas c
Akbax's harem may be gleaned from Dr 1 Bharmal, the ruler SiKJvasiav's book
of Jaipur
to humiliating submission w a reduced by Sharcommander or Akbar's forces, through fuddn^ a repeated terror and horror raids on Bharmal's
principality-
statesmanship.
emphatic proof of how the oommunallsl and politician have falsified Indian tory to bolstei their own imaginary theories.
fhis
episode
is
ing
and
K hangar,
Rajsingh
incarcerated at
was
to
redeem those
three
Most
histories
ts
state
that
while
to
19-year-old
to
Akh homage
on
his
Ajmer
pay
at
Akbar's harem door. In ordinary circumstances even the nail of a Rajput damsel's
sacrificed
at
and white he was passing through Sambhar, an elderly brave and proud Rajput ruler Bharmal of Jaipur hurried thither and offered his This is an atrocious falsedaughter in man Even on the face of it it is absurd. Anyone hood.
Chisti,
say,
to
at that.
Dr.
chief
who knows
old
r
>
and tradition of the mediaeval Rajputs but does not know anything of history
the spirit
ui this version
eu
spurious.
Thai
a
lo
leading
member of
community who
preferred
burn their
their
women
in
sec
sought the intercession of and an That was the reason why. alliance with Akbar.'" soon after the Rajput damsel was surrendered the That was why the three princes were released. not transaction took place at a wayside place and
helpless condition
at
It
honour and chastity defiled by alien marauders should hasten to willingly and voluntarily surrender hi* daughter to Akbar, is a base calumm against the fair name of proud Rajasthan. The real story is very heart-rending. But it has been carci oppressed and its bits have been very bed-chamber swept under Akbar's
carpet
either. Bharmal's capital or at Akbar's capital was too shameful and heart-rending a surrender
Tor
Bharmal lo enact
in his
own bmneUW
tu in
the
own
n^7.63 of Dr. A. L.
swall
*^*SE
ol
tTlc
130
wns
tor
Bharmal
to
talcc
ft at
foi
;|
bcen a
,a
decision
It
ww
he
worse than
felt
death
three
nil
,!
Rajput.
But
he had no
Ins
alternative.
princes
sec the
whole of
or
i
Ins
realm
for
tfd
waste
with
similar
atrocities
Hli,
Kear|
Bharmal negotiated this surrendering his- n dca of foi seeming the of the three princes, through n release Muslim named Chagtai Khan. Had it been a wcddin Rajpul ruler would never emptoj a Muslim as The go-between.
i
An other due
that
B$
alK
iiil!
Soon
obtained
ravage
after
B harm a Is
directed
surrender
had been
Akbar
resistance
Akbar
the
bride"
the very nest da\ for Agra with sunendcred ?ir) euphemistically called the
left
therefore,
gross
Tliough
Thai
In
is
to
say
there
were no marriage
those days royal wedding rejoicings and feasts lasted (or months. Why did this one
festivities,
end
in
da:,1
1,
euphemistically described
as a
huge
and
refuse to be
doik ;y consisting of thousands of horses with gold saddles, elephants, jewellery and cash, was nothing
hoodwinked by
political concoctions.
but
.!
ransom.
also
mentioned that tin ofDcosaand the surrounding region had Thai proves that Akbar was fkd in A Khar's ival dreaded like a tiger on the prowl and was not
Dr. Shrivastava has
1
Near Ranlhumbhor
d
BharmaTs
sons, grandsons
to
Dr. Shrivastava who believes that the wedding (sic) of Akbar with Bhunnal's daughter was "celebrated in the most admirable manner" (p, 62 of his book) lakes a somersault and says in a footnote on page 1 13 "No mediaeval Hindu, howevei low in social status, liked U marriage with a Muslim. though of royal blood, as in Hindu eyes the mere touch of a Muslim was defilement or pollution,"
introduced
Akbar,
larly
While encamped
at
Mandavgadh Aklnn
simi-
-demanded
3. P. 11 3.
the
nut present
natural
DJ
was
at
but
Vol.
1,
the
it
ibid.
Had
132
133
\uimad Khan, ;vasl harem in September 1564.uid entered Akbar's not a marriage because is dcarij
,
ruler
of Khandesh.
sfl nvastava
significantly adding
mi
sent to Bikaner lo
R aja Bhagwand
l
royal
these
camp
It
may
Phis again
the
vm
brought and
equipped with the lassos or military detachments, used to drag the poor helpless princess to
called
His
SOB
was taken
into
Tat
to ride a horse
The brave Bidhichand ruler or Kangra alias Nagarkot when reduced to submission remitted,
besides other valuables, five
he did not
a
fulfil
dola to Akbar's harem and acknowledging Mugal 1 suzerainty.* A footnote quotes chronicler Badayuni that 'the Mugals riddled with arrows the golden umbrella over the image of Goddess Jwalamukhi, stew 200 black cows maintained by the temple for
worship, and filling their shoes with the slaughtered
away on
surrender
of
ravaging
or the entire realm at the hands Muslim armies, Had the ruler of
kalyanmal been really taken into service by Akbar as a mark of special favour, allowing him 10 return to Bikaner wouldn't have arisen The fact that he was "allowed** to return shows that he was forced lo buy his freedom by surrendering lit* brother's daughter and also throwing in a large
Bikaner.
I
of the temple with it," That despite such atrocities and having been made to pay a heavv ransom Bidhichand refused to surrender the women of his family shows how high the Rajputs held the ho uir of their women and how tow mean Akbar's behaviour was
the
floor
and
walls
T-om
In this case
it
is
clear that
in
collecting
he muht not have had a daughter of his own, at least one marriageable. Had he one he would
e
military
his
been forced to
surrender his
Akbar
own daughter
to
Rawal Pratap the ruler o\' Banswara and Ravvul Askaian of Dungarpur were persuaded to 'They wait on Akbar. " says 7 Dr. Shrivastuva.
"Jaisalmfr't (ruler)
his
'4
I
daughter
*.
in
marriage to
Akbar
Akbar"
says
Dr.
AJ*
k
7-
Pp 143
Pp. 21
144, ibid
J- 15,
Vol.
I,
Akbar
5.
Pp. 120-127,
155
Akbar 'married" the dau g lle The negotiations Hu- ivniMrpur ruler We ^ iducted bj Lon Karftn and Birbnr, who brounhr the ld> to ftfcbar** camp. when the latter was oi Fatehpm Sikrj return jourrus
became
his vushls.
j
I i
A kbar
Bjtder vtirretide
for
his*
not
then
women
to his
own harem
focs
lft
s ns
-
and other
bur ah,
of propo*.
relations
AJi
LlJIie
nw
-- -" wuruy
lie
i
is
a typical
example of how
e d the
va ncl ly Indian histories have been written Hie words persuaded to wait on Akbar" cleari* means thai hey w e re to iced a nd h umil jated th ro Ug
t
marriage of his daughter with Prince Salim was brought to Lahore and the tnarnan The lady e on January I, ]592." ,, lS performed
j.
complete their htimfliiition w is proved by the surrender of the Dungarpur jgluer. That U was no marriage is clear from the thai Lin: Karati and Bsrbar dragged the help, less girl firm the protective custody of her help], father and dumped her in Akkir's harem while he Falehpur Sikri. Dishonouring Rajput princesses and molesting them had become
si
, i 1
How
The above passage again shows that Little Tibet was threatened with total destruction by
ravage unless
l0
the ruler agreed to send his daughter prince SaJim's harem. Likewise on 10 -June 2fi
j586 in
performed
Bikaner
It
To
call
this
hypocrisy.
a prtn<
icnet
hi\
of Akbar's
insult
rule
and
life.
By
was 'held' in distant Lahore and not at Bikaner because the ruler of Bikaner was obviously ashamed daughter to an alien of having to surrender his
maraudar.
isic)
and humiliation has been dfied a* a magnanimous gesture of Akbar. Such partiality and blatant falsehoods are perhaps unparalleled elsewhere in world literature
eniclfam)
He dare
his
and
acade-
mic
text
books
Sheikh
Mil.
objected
to
to
Akbar'*
against
in
Mecca
On
bj
The chronicler Ferishta describes how the daughter of the Bijapur ruler was kidnapped for Akbar's son Daniyal. In 1600 A. D. n "Ibrahim Adil Shall of Bijapur sent an ambassador to conciliate Akbar and consented (sic) to give his daughter in marriage to his son Prince Daniyal Mirea A Mogul noble named Weer Jam dtiddin Husain
Anjoe,
did
nol
protest
of
Akbar invadim the privacy Milium femiUe He. har of Abdul Wasi!
r>t
I
was accordingly despatched to escort the wide from Bijapur In June 1604 Meer Jarnaluddin
9
111
P.
354, (bid.
I
ibid
ol
r'<'
231 132
u
[bill.
Pp 173-174, Vol
chronicle,, ibid.
it,
Brifigi" tmiwbUlofl
Ffemwi
iv;
137
u%ai Mu>ain
returned
villi
i
the
royal
down
ifc)
He
subjugation.
w as
uurtuib
(sic
In the latter case Rai Sfngh'f daughter brought to Hhaawandas's house in Lahore
S^ftfttam whett
SS
\
L
,
, , ,
lha
magnificence
ProIfi05
nuluddm Hfefl
***
M*
unwilling parents in distant Rajasthan from her then handed over to Jehangir. Bhagwaada**s aTl d family had since the days or his father Bhar-
On
April
8,
Dttnipl died
in
Burhanpur
ma
rolled
up and drowned
to
its
Rajput
pride
be
lifted
as
many women
liked.
as
t
his
successors
rulers
For thcm
to
sec
other
brother
Rajput
duress
abduction gin. but of the successful and therfore is not men* Her name did not matter Danival died within a few months of the
or another's
honed
poor hapless
girl *s
abduction.
given his daughter Bijapur ruler would not have of depraved drunkard sprawled on the brink
grave,
With that adopted son Mansingh were frequent agents for Akbar and his sons to abduct Rajput princesses. It was on one such occasion that Rai Raisingh's daughter was made over for Jehangir *s harem from Bhagwandas's Lahore home.
humiliated.
Mr. Shclat
prince
(sic)
of
Salim With
Hindu
princesses.
He
says 11
February 2, 1584 the marriage of Prince lithe daughter of Raja Bhagwandas was Salim In June Unrated at Lahore with crear pomp. 1586 the wedding of Rai Singh's daughter with
On
ii
S ilim
was celebrated
learned
at the
house of Bhagwandas."
has been mistaken to thinking that the celebrations were for the marriage Tii.it they were no marriages but abductions 5
The
author
Badayuni says 1 * **Salim in his 16th year married the daughter of Raja Bhagwandas. The Raja gave as his daughter's dowry several strings of horses and boys and girls of Abyssinia, India and Circassia, and all sorts of golden vessels iet with jewels, and jewels and utensils of gold, and vessels of silver and all sorts of stuffs, the quantity of which is beyond computation. And to each one of the Amirs, who were present, according to their station and rank, he gave Persian. Turkish and Arabian horses with golden saddles
'
apparent from the fact that the girl's name ifl not mentioned, and that ihc was brought to distattl The celebrations were to gloat over the Lahore.
12.
This description should serve as a sample of the lavish ransom that subdued Rajput rulers were required to surrender along with their beloved
daughters and sisters to alien invaders.
13-
To
describe
by Al
P,
352,
Vol,
ibid.
U Muntnkhabui
Txiwjrikh,
P. 19&,
WdMf.bj
I,
Shfllat ibid,
Itadayum.
138
ChdP!2J"t
it
as
dowry
is
to five wall
-
ho were drunkards, drug-addicts, masscrers t of Hiiidusand llindustrun Even the rod to themselves 10 be ultivery Rajputs who allowed mately subdued and humiliated did so after stiff resistance and burning of their women en masse
|i
L
i
OMH
EST*
fti
was only when their flagging spirits ho;[ seemed to wither awaj and wraps under unending and colossal Muslim atrocities that they decided to submit and purchase a semblance of peace at any
It
has been mistakenl) asserted or insmuat Indian historical text books that Akbar" s n average conquests were intended to wipe oat smaller
tt
j
cost.
Indian histories have no right to twist Tacts, warp the truth and give a wedding-wash to blatant
abductions, and thereby rub galling insult into the brave Rajputs by alien tries inflicted on the
invaders in wars of attrition.
which India was divided only to weld them into one strong, united, homogenou nation. Such an assertion prc-Supposes that Akbar was an Indian and that he was bubbling over with patriotic fervour and innate love fur the future of overwhelming majority of her India and the citizens, the Hindus. Both these assumptions being wron< the conclusion derived from them is also
principalities into
unwarranted.
The historian Histories must be impartial the must not assume the role of a politician or of
handmaid to twist truth or varnish to dastardly acts. The reader expects the historian withit properly investigate the truth and present
politician's
Akbar was not an Indian either in thought, mind, body or deed. He was an absolute alien, .in aggressor and an aggrandlzcr whose conquests were meant to ruthlessly mow down the Indian people
and their culture for self-glorification at the cost the people's lives, property and honour.
1 Vincent Smith rightly observes that was a foreigner in India. He had not a
i
own
Current
Indian
fulfil
generally
speaking,
do
not
"Akbar
drp*'f
fact* to their
audiences but the histories as truth a"*1 state only the truth, the whole ust lied m* nhmg but the truth. In the case of the so-ca nothing b plain marn of Akbar and his sons the marria]
J
their Administrators or politicians, may add hisio "-' homilies or footnotes when presenting
He was
his
father's
side).
He was
descended
through
Baburs mother, the daughter of Yunus Khan, Grand Khan of the Moguls, from Chagatui. second son of Cbingii Khan, the Mongol icourga
.
7TAkiw
the
Gtc*
Mo B
iJ
bj
vinnl
Snriih. ibid
MO
of Asia m rhc Persian"
B> descent,
alien
Ui
13th
century, .His
mother
was
Afefciwislhan
and
Abyssinia
heir father-lands
SJccaand Medina as
therefore,
Afcbui
was an absolute
then .ireued thai though not in Indian by descent Akbar was an Indian by Choice because and two of his ancestors and his descendants
is
and the ma jo' n f the Indians as their dire enemaThey ril> massacring of the Hindus and the ravagconsidered
,
their shrines
irlg
D r their
those who
BveT
nliH l e or
t
home. Many readers arc taken in and misled for the whole of then lives by such Had Akhar really merged his identity, cant. and religion with that of language, culture the majority of the Indians namely Hindus, he could certainly have been entitled to be deemed a
made
India
iheir
Could sported such ideal, md ideologies be regarded as Indians even though they had
India their
homes
as
their
pious duly
operating hereby perpetuate their depredations with greater closer quarters and as an incessant cas ,e from
It
home? Making India their horns base made mailers worse, They could
routine.
is
naturalized
religion
Indian.
If
retaining his
own
separate
length of residence in
a country which
for
is
the soul
and culture he would have devoted his life to the welfare of the Hindus he could still have been deemed deserving of gratitude. But Akbar's whole life was spent in humiliating, insulting, massacring and fleecing his subjects. As such he cannot be deemed to be even a naturalized or His mere physical residence in domiciled citizen. India is no criterion for identifying him as an Indian If a gang of dacoits successfully defies the residents of a village aud continues to plunder Ihem by using some village dwellings as their base of Hon can they be deemed to be residents of that village? If an intruder occupies two rooms of a house and kidnaps the housc*owncr*s daughters can he be deemed to be the son-in-law in residence of his victim-host ? Likewise India was an unwill|mg victim-host to Akbar and his descendants. Till the very end none of them ever considered India as their home or Hindus as their hrethcren They always regarded Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria,
of citizenship
the
but love
people and dedication to the service of both. Far from having any of these qualities Akbar was a menace to India and Indians from every aspect
and his death
only
by the people at large but by Akbar's own ion Jchangtr and by all his courtiers.
Since
that
it
is
no wonder
ruthless
he
cruelty
Vinceni
Smith says 2 "In reality a more aggressive king never existed. The ruling passion of Akbar was ambition. His whok- reign was dedicated to conquest... His
were aimed at destroying the independence of every slate,., The people of Gondwana were happier under Rani Durgawati than under Asif Conirar. opinions exKhan Akbar's general) pressed by Mallcson and Von Noer. Smith dismisses as "untrue" and "nonsense."
attack*
1 " <
2.
P. 251, ibid.
142
143
"Akbar
V luM
Tor
He longed
Raja
bis
ru j
Riinl
f
ii
'
Ml
is
particular
incident as supplying a
Rana
<Prat3pf.
who
is
(Akbar's self-appointed court chronicler) as deserving of chastisement by reason of hi* alleged arrodisobedience, gance, presumption, deceit, and His patriotism was his offence, dissimulai
had been obliged to lower hi* pride and rive daughter to the wealth) Gond Raja, far his inferior position. She proved worthy of in her erned her adopted country no ble ancestry and lV ,ih courage and capacity dome great things' as remark dint of far-seeing abilities. Abul Fazal
father
.
Mahoba, which had been one of the great" pow* India 500 yean ago. Her impoverished er5 of
Mnthnttsd to rule the kmsdom The princess of the famous Chandcl dvna*t,
campaign of 1576 was intended to destroy the Rana. and crush finally his pretensions to stand outside of the empire. The emperor desired the death of the Rana and the absorption of his The Rana while fully prepared to territory. sacrifice Jus life if necessary* was resolved that his blood should never be contaminated b> admixture tth that of the foreigner, and that his country should remain a land of free men. After much tribulation lie succeeded and Akbar failed.'
e
(She fought battles) with Baz Bahadur and Mianas, and was always victorious. She had 20.000 good cavalry with her in battles and LOGO famous elephants.
fell
treasures of the Rajas of those countries She was a good shot with gun into her hands.
The
and arrow, and continually went a-hunting and shot animals of the chase with her gun. It her custom that when she heard that u tiger had
governor of Kara and the eastern provinces, having subdued the Raja of Raima in Bundclkhami was directed by Akbar to
af
|l),
Rbun
Gondwana
The count rj
appearance, she did not drink water till She earned out many useful she had shot him. public works in different parts of the kingdom and van the hearts of her people. Her name deserved is still remembered and revered. Akbar's attack on a princess ol' a character so noble was mere aggression, wholly unprovoked and devoid of all justification other than the lust of conquest and
his
I
made
564) governed by a gallant lady Ram Durgawati. who 15 years previously had become
was then nn
regent
Tor
plunder.
rs,
Bevcridge
is
quite
right
when she
declares that
attained
Akbar was a strong and >tout annexationist before whose sun the modest star of Lord Dalhnusie pales. Having men and money he went to work and took trad after tract' (A. S. Beverid
"
3.
1,
p. vu").
Pp
1Q64J, .hid
59.51, ibid
at
the remorse
144
14?
fettty
by Ihe con-
utterly condeof Kalinga, and would have mned his great predecessors decision to abstain from all further wars of aggression.*'
quest
intolertwcc of any limitations on hn despotism may be Scen fo his lfcachcrmji om overthrow of his own loyal guardian Behram
Ak bar's
Smith dismisses as "sentimental rubbish" Count %on Noefi belief that Akbar's conquests were intended to achieve the greal goal of welding Smith adds 6 the lesser suites into a great empire -Akbar's annexations were the result of ordinary kingly ambition supported by adequate power. The attack, devoid of moral justification, on the excellent government of Rani Durgawati was made on the principle which determined the subsequent annexations of Kashmir, Ahmednagar and other kingdoms. Akbar felt no scruples about initiating
a war, and once he had begun a quarrel he hit hard and without mercy, His proceedings were much the same as those of other able, ambitious and
He even went to the extent of having murdered. To add insult to jKiirani Khan brim usurped Behram Khan's wife and made Behram 1C young child subservient to himself, |tlian*s
K han.
Baz Bahadur, the ruler of Malwa, was subdued to serve as an ordinary subaltern and forced m Akbar's armies.
Rani Durgawati's kingdom was overrun. She committed suicide on the battlefield, while her jister and daughter-in-law were dragged to Akbar's
harem.
his
dogged
resis-
tance to
"
ruthless kings
Akbar's entire reign is a horror drama of his barbaric hordes haunting, chasing and hacking down one principality after another to ^lake his iMrst for despotic power over as large a portion
of the earth a* possible
Akbar's repeated attacks and who kept the flag of Hindudom flying in the face of relentless Muslim onslaughts was many-a-time reduced to
for
desperation
lust
just
because Akbar's
to abject
submission
was unquenchable.
Immediately after his general, Sharfuddin had completed his assignment of compelling Bharmal
the ruler of the Jaipur
his
The
mass
massacres,
plunder,
rape,
arson,
ravage,
(Amber) kingdom
men
be
into slavery,
turned into
harem of the alien Muslim. Akbar put him on the ob to reduce Mcrta (in the former Jodhpur Stale) noihcr stronghold of Hindu freedom.
Kashmir Khandesh, Ahmednagar, Ashcergadh, Banswada, Dongarpur, leaner, Jodhpur. Jaisalmer, Sirohi, Kabul. Nagar'
F.Slibi
and Boondi.
146 147
and monetary hii Uctmrused to extract from subdued n in 1} be had from the terms of the chief; treaty Hftdft, chief of Boondj. .-<ncludcd with Rai Snrjtui This ruler was made to surrender fort Runthambhor coaxing and cajoling him into submission. He
An
indication
of the
sexual
c0 efl*
vanquished leaders to send their women to If the vanquished leaders harem. h)S were Mohammedans all their harem women had
If the
auto-
vanqui-
could therefore ask for some special exemptions, The chiefs of Boondi I. These terms were" -.ild be exempted from that custom degrading t 1 Rajput, of sending a dola to the royal harem.
i
was a Hindu, Akbar and his pedecessoi s lC(I made him surrender choice women ,nd successors family to the imperial Muslim harem. This of his was greatly resented by the Hindu chiefs because
E
Exemption from the Jiziya or poll tax. 3. The chiefs of Boondi should not be compelled to cross The vassals of Boondi should be the Attock, 4. exempted from sending their wives or female relatives to hold a stall in the Meena Bazar at the palace on the festival of Noroza. 5. They should have the privilege of entering the Diwan-tAm completely armed. 6. Their sacred edifices 7. should be respected They should never be placed under the command of a Hindu leader. Their horses should not be branded, with the imperial dagh. 9. They should be allowed to
2
a world of difference between the kind led and the Muslims led. While Muslim of life they used to be steeped in murder, massacre, life
there
was
and counterplots, opium and drugaddiction, drunken revelries and illiterate barbar* ism the Hindu chiefs used to lead a holy, clean,
treachery, plots
god-fearing
life.
Dola system was a marriage. It was far from that, It was a blatant usurpation and kidnapping under duress. That is why it was all completed within a day. The term Dola' though singular must
thai the
to
beat
the naqqaras or
kettle
Muslim
victor
make
10.
the pros-
on
entering the
presence,
Boondi
of
should be to the
capital.
Had as what
Analysing the above conditions is very revealfhc fizsl condition shows that Akbar used to
J82-3K3,
could dictate to the vanquished as to which women he would have for himself, his sons and courtiers. this heartIt would be a travesty of truth to call rending abduction anything akin to a holy marriage where a woman is graciously given and respectfully honour. received. She is given all protection and
She
allowances allowed freedom and sumptuous RH Hindu women taken to Muslim harems were,
is
Vol
Col,
ft,
Annuls
[bid
and Antiqaitic*
of
JUjuihnn
hd,
ever silenced in the curtained off recesses, were not v icc was for ever stilled. They
even
148
149
permitted
generally ever to
visit
their
parental
connections with i| lc erstwhile Hindu relatives. In a harem teeming i#ui conqured women they could hardly expect i meal much less toilet receive even a square Recently even in our own times facilities.
homes
or to retain any
the
of the late Nizam's harem women Their plight was so desperate thai came to fight they would not get even a thimbtcfull of oil for their hairdo which used to be infested with lice. n most cases they continued to be hated and looked
pitiable condition
|
ened that conditions acrced to h h. n agreed by the Muslin only to effect a subjugation. usuallj
Buondl ndi and the chieftain citizen, remained exempt for long from the Jiziya, Became it oftei e
It
sanctum of such exemption h c r. JU " W please the visitor and send him LnLlnJ P yC n,enl * the court. c d outside W|,c h
ihe
bothered.
^m^^^l h^S
TontT*'
Once
th
"S3
subjugation was accomplished the cond.t.ons wcr^ overboard and the vanquished all thrown soon*
upon with contempt by the other harem colleagues, by the Muslim sovereign and by his retinue Some* times they were also murdered and poisoned as happened in the case of Jehangir's wife Manbai the Even her own brothers' high Jaipur princess. position at Ak bar's court could be or no avail to
save her
ign's
life,
to
often
inerpreted
to
as
objection
leave
This
is
a misinter-
\1any-a time
to be gifted
women
away
in
the
severe*
harem used
to other
Muslim
couniers as vehicles for their amour as is evidenced by European accounts of Akbar's time. All talk, there h re, of Ak bar having forged marital relations
with Hindu
chieftains for a
lofty
puts no reson crossing the boundaries or the country, it positively encourages and demands conquests of its brave sons -the Kshatriyas. The Boondi chief's demand or exemption from being made to go beyond India's borders was to ensure that he did not become a pawn and a slave for Muslim
'-"iiqu,
-,i'.
Hindu
and laudable
in
distant
regions only
to
frengthei]
purpose
is
baseless.
We
shall
see
important Hindu personage coming to Akbar" court had to beg for remission of the In each case Akbar is stated to have Jiriya tax ostensibly ordered a magnanimous exemption. But They his orders were not meant to be carried out. were meant, even if the few recorded Instances of
*
domain and stranglehold on Hndusthan. Moreover, a Hindu chieftain did not want to lose his life io enhance Muslim prowess, in a distant land. Even if he expected to come back alive hc was not sure that on return his women, children and other relatives would be safe. Ma ha bat Khan
their
though a Muslim convert found that while he was fighting in Kabul for tehangir his wives and children were summarily lumed out of their residence because aceommodnerstwhile
an
Rajput
3M
156
151
had to be found for Prince Parwez, Afnjjj of such highhandedness and abduction and pili a e a Hindu chieftain was averse to leaving his family and serving in a distant place for a Muslim. [ going to distant Muslim countries with Muslim armies he also ran the risk of being himself converted to Islam under duress and threats of For all such reasons Hindus disliked toriure. crossing the Indus as henchmen of Muslims.
(ion
*tid *
temples
q ues
in
which
first
Muslim tronn*
the
flush of vj c
J,
different
; ous
oryte re Tat
"2
The condition that Boondi chieftains be exempted from sending their women to the Meena Bazar proves that all courtiers and chieftains subservient to Akbar were compelled to send their most beaunful
wives,
daughters and
sisters
to
that
annual
their
where Akbar was free to play with chastity and womanly virtue.
festival
Muslim he most captured buildings, fcsired especially Hindu temples and shrines should automatically be Akbar could not allow lofty used as mosques. Hindu temples and mansions to be all converted into mosques when he needed them for other temAkbar was as fanatic a Muslim as poral use. He would never dream of converting Badayuni.
that
Hindu buildings being turned into mosques H, ^icd them for-other use. Historians have nSunderstood and misinterpreted this particular remark of Badayuni. As a fanatic
J^S
anf P"
any
erstwhile
serai
or
brothel.
Boondi chiefs be allowed to enter the royal palace fully armed indicates that Hindus were disarmed while en ten rig Muslim palace precincts. This entailed the risk of the Hindus being treacherously pounced upon and murdered or held prisoner or hostage and made to
The condition
that
The Boondi demand that their horses should not be branded with the royal mark shows that every citizen who owned a horse was made to have his horse branded with the imperial mark. This
was a very hateful
of war,
in
practice.
It
at
once reduced
In
In
Muslim
history
times
rule
who owned
branded
The
of
the
Boondi kingdom may not be desecrated clearly shows that during Akbar's limes Hindu religious shrines and temples used to be freely turned into mosques or Muslim serais or stables or brothel* V\hen Badayuni complains that Akbar turned mosques into stables or appointed Hindu doorkeepers he only means that the Hindu mansions
and forced to die fighting for the alien Muslim monarch This ancient Muslim practice was continued by Akbar with his own cial vigour and rigour. Thus branding a horse
amounted vistually to branding every man as a ''c of the court.
chiefs be
their
allowed to
to the
approach
152
their
royal
privjw
The
stipulation that
to be their capital
was
Boondi ought
to
uprooted from their ancient moorings where ih ev niainkd reSpCCl and allegiance from their own subjects, into totally strange surroundings where they would soon be reduced to total serfdom of and dependence on the Muslim sovereign*
If the
Books on mediaeval
Ramhambhor
treaty
is
thus
intelligently
They
analyzed it reveals the various ingenious ways in which even during Akbar's times all vanquished chiefs were in no time reduced to non-entities so that the Muslim monarch could make free use of
are either based on genuine misunderstanding or communal propaganda. They are all are motivated attempts to bypass the truth, and reveal a mentality
which does
Hindu women,
conquests
India into
were,
wealth
and
territory.
Akbar's
to
therefore,
not
meant
weld
everybody to his despotic rule, Vincent Smith's remark that* ''Akbar's annexations were the result of kingly ambition supported by adequate power" acumen, talent is apt and displays real historical
Without exception the reign of every Muslim ruler in India from Mohammad bin Kasim onwards until the end of Mogul rule in 1858 AD. had no
revenue administration as
such.
Theirs were
all
and
insight.
and kind at every stage, confiscations, acquisitions of all his property on the death of any noble even if he had heirs, and frequent military swoops for organized dacuity and plunder under imperial auspices.
bribes in cash
A revenue
pectable
Public
system to be valid, legal and respresupposes that the revenues are used for
:
provide essential services, to ensure security for the citizen, and to maintain peace and order. and It also presupposes that taxes
welfare
to
0In cr
levies are
Jttlaln
I. P.
51,
Akbar
Wfl ich
154
155
judical remedies
,,,
these
t
\|
in H
anyone is unjustly taxed, No ne eve* governed the extortions tj n dc r critet rule which pass for revenue administra
if
.1
2pmp
|f
Tl
Thai such
rulers used to do for o*n Kshatnya claims of ruler after Muslim thc
a
L-Xh|
n2 short distance, are absolutely baseless* descriptions plag.arized from what ind ?, They are
at
ncrlaiTi
having
built
serais
and roads
all *|
their
people
ruler
havL
resting
under Muslim
was
inevitable
established
serais,
charitable
considering
otherwise.
human
cause
nature.
i
he rulers
to
and
local
their
vcrablc
, .
I
the
deemed themselves Koran, They all |je looked upon Mecca and Medina as their poles. They hated the Indian people. They never called
i
true we should have found places were almost an unbroken series of such buildings on both sides of But there is not even one such. Even all highways. which earlier Hindu rulers had planted to the trees make highways shady and comfortable for thc traveller were uprooted for the invaders* need for
fuel,
homes and
boats, staffs,
They always referred to the local people with some invective like infidels, scoundrels, slaves, thieves, reptiles and robbers. When
them Hindus
this
was
their ordinary
outlook
is it
not
fit
plausible
and examiners in Indian media* cval history, therefore, do great disservice to the cause of truth, to the student community and to
Paper-setters
the lay
Hindus
to
be
only to be
the
so-called
reforms, public
welfare
schemes,
Another point worth considering is that in the accounts of Muslim reigns we find the sovereign ajwdvs engaged in incessant warfare against his n kith and kin, against rebellious generals and Hindus. This warfare involved the against the plunder and ravage of the local population by both tenders and at times several contenders as
Mohammad
better
if
Tughlak or JFerozshah.
instead
They would do
asked students to write about how Shivaji and Ran a Pratap ruled their kingdoms despite the ravage caused by incessant Muslim onslaughts; how they marshalled their resources and w n the love and respect of their people despite
'heir
happened in the case of Dara, Shuja, Aurang/ b and Murad fighting against one another. Such regimes could sustain themselves only by plunder.
Fauci
like
having
10
sacrifice
m lherland
people been constrained to ask their more and more in defence of the and during a millcnium of chaos
teachers rampage caused by alien invaders. History good aad scholars can ask such questions m
c
Shcr
Shah
or
nseience
rulers.
XAT.COM.
116
157
Akbar is supposed to be the best or the lot So if wc prove thai even his administration was based nothing but systematic plunder of his 00 subjects we shall have dealt a death blow to the notion that Muslim regimes in India had even a semblance of
an administration or about public welfare.
that
Men
fi'
and made use of some rude ailgU8w F emperor was unable to restrain his The oas<i*n
,thpur
|
ft!nl
yf J
him
settle
Heikh
Abdun
Na^nTe^
Rs
M^
they
were
struck
in the face.
Then
du
with a
concerned
make him
which the
his account
v^wto
7
of about
Muslim chronicler like Badayuni the pay of Akbar says' "The emperor (Akbari made Mulla Mujdi ofSirhind (formerly)
Even a who wa* in
fanatic
warrant-writer to Islim Shah, the Receiver-General of revenues And Samsher Khan he made Superra And these through tcndcnl of the Exchequer.
the vilencss
emperor had given him when he set off Mecca he was handed over as prisoner to for Raia Todarmat and for some time like a defaulting ias. gatherer, they imprisoned him in the counting house of the office, and one night a mob strangled
1'
000
him.
In990 A.M."
Path
"says
of their birth perpetrated all sorts of oppression and tyranny.. .and so annoyed the soldiery that they compelled Masum Khan to revolt "
In ihe above passage the word "revenues" h to be understood to mean the amounts extorted pretexts ih terror and torture under all sorts of or by regular military raids on the populace. Badayum also observes- "In this year (AH. 987) appointed in Qazi Ali of Baghdad who had been the adspite of Sheikh Abdun Nabi to look into and their ministration of Madad-i-Maash lands,
grants encroachment brought these holders of land and left court and cut off most of their lands
Ullah...came to ^ Fathpur. He was honoured post of Sadar whose only duty was with the erasure, in order that he might confiscate the lands of the poor."
A.H. Akbar 1 "issued a that every person from the highest " should bring him a present
In 991
fl
general
to
order
the lowest
Akbar "gave
orders
let
that the
not be
bro-
which
their grants,
subsistence
allowances
pensions were described, 10 the Sadar for inspection and verification. For this fl
and
them precious
little,"
on Recounting how Abdun Nabi was arraigned which a false charge of withholding an amount
number of people from the extreme east of India to as far west as Bhakkar (on the Indus) came to court. Jf any of them had a powerful protector
large
3
R, 274, Vol
II,
Bad)uni*4 chronicle.
332, ibid,
2.
Pp 2B2-W.
ibid
c '
IS
one of the Amirs or near friends of His Ma' be could manage to get his affair settled, but i ut2/' had to bnbe Sayyad Abdur Rasul. the Sbeft^.1 ' head man or make presents to his chamberfe? door keepers and sweepers in order to get 7J2 anket oat of the mire. nless, however, j|? recommendations or had recourse hid strong t bribery, the> ere utterl) mined. Many of the
.
|a find jritO
doth^n*
with tne exception cf thoie ^^^diatciy from the crown. *aj held by the j,gir. and as ihey were wicked and
b^
whole
\mn%
(land grant holders; without obtaining their object died from the heat caused by the crowding
Amahs
of multitudes. Though a report of this came i the ears of His Majesty, no one dared to take these unfortunate people before the emperor."
All the parganas of the country whether drr or irrigated, whether in towns or hills, in deserts and jungles, by rivers, reservoirs or wells ware ail to
Urge sums on their stores ar.d *orkjfeopi j amassed wealth, they had no leave to look after the troops or take interest m the people. In joine cases cf emergency they came themselves wan tod |ul attend* son* of their sh he of war but of really useful soldiers there were jcene
rebdSeus
^d
spent
none-" Carefully analysed the above passafe reveals mat the much vaunted revenue system invented
ai
would produce one crore Tankas was to be divided off and placed under
upon
of
the
of a Todarmal for his overlord Akbar. was a most ruthless machinery for extracting last farthing from the people at the peril cf floggings and torturous death, requiring them to fell their wives and childem. This is what is lauded in Indian histories as a wonderful revenue administthe stooge
*
charge of an officer to be called Krori. Security was taken from each one of these officers A great
portion of the country was laid waste through the rapacity of the Kroris, the wives and children
ration
of Todarmal. and
is
sought to be rapturously
students,
scholars
and
of the subjects were sold and scattered abroad and everything was thrown into confusion. But the Kroris were brought to account by Raja Todarmal. and many good men died from
knowledge of history is required to debunk the claim that it was a wonderfully public welfare-oriented scheme. Had it been so it would
have been adopted by a free India jmmediatery after loreover an British rule lapsed- This is sheer r t alien monarch gulping one Hindu kingdom ar
another by waging ruthless wars was not itching to usher magnanimous administration. Indian
No
whicn were administered, and from the tortures of the rack and pincers. So many died from the protracted confinement in the prisons
of the revenue authorities, that there was no need of the executioner or swordsman, and no one cared
i
d. en
historv that is
colleges being taught in schools and makes India and other parts of the world, thus
all logic
I
nonsense of
bsurditie.
It
also
benumbs
the thinking
Power of readers of
192
160
m
j
The BslC hieli handedness of this si n stcr scheme w&a that all land in the domain of Akba r
whether fallow, litigated, mifrrlgated, desert, fertile mountainous, eroded, ravine or occupied by | a stream, river or lake was divided into standard pieces of uniform acre-age, This itself was atrocious
I.
4
On tvP cs to devise a system of extortion which of that P compel the cultivator to part with at least
lUj 2
^
RS
|
crore
limit of cruelty.
To pan
realize
crore per year the cultivator would have Us. 2 at least Rs. B crore from his holding.
of such a division was the assumption that each of those areas must yield h, he crown one crore rupees revenue. Whether it actually yielded that much even to the cultivator
To add
to the gall
could Whether he
JJfount
is
doubtful-
or owner
Akbar
one crore rupees for the crown had to maintain a band of plot the Krori mulct two crorcs from the odiums vv ho could
In extorting
citizenry-
he
made
at leasi
of the
lo
In the alternative the barbarous soldiery crown was put at the disposal of the lCrori
produce that much whatever the quality of land and through famine or drought was another very sinister assumption.
To
expect him to
help
The
sinister
characteristic
was
that
the
The
that
third sinister
aspect
of the
scheme was
middle-men extortionists called Kroris (because they were supposed to procure for the crown a crore rupees each as revenue) had been appolned to tap that much amount from the public tit any cost. This completely shut off the peasantry from the crown. The latter was not concerned with the state of the land or Us crop, The administration extracted one crore rupees as revenue from every Krori.
Naturally the Krori must extract at least Rs. 2 crore to be able to pay one crore to the crown under all
eventualities
hi*
screwed out of a tormented amount once fixed was severity which broke up homes public with extreme to death or by being and families either by torture
scattered for sale as slaves.
A more demonaic
where
in
system couldn't
exist any-
the
world.
hoisted as
an ideal
Todarmal was deeply hated for setting up this himself to be an imperial stooge, and of ground ana devilish system based on every inch wonder thereevery person in the domain. It is no
fore that
and
to
there
is
at least
one attempt
to assassinate
wages. Thus what was ostensibly one crore rupees revenue turned out to be in actual practice a levy of at least two crore rupees per annum. One
own
him,
on record
When
Promptly despatched
can well imagine this burden when it is realized that even the one crore revenue yield per plot of
|fi2
163
lAt
impt^itiurt. rodannal was presented a sword bv u hen Todarmal brought with him a clean Akbar balance sheeJ of Hie accounts of Gujerat"* Siu>
nnd impoverished by vincc had beef) ravaged , vv Muslim irfflte contending- to overpov^ tartaric the extreme cruelty of t| lc each other, underlines
so
much
praise
on the
revr.n...
of ihc
imperial
atartling
Jayimi.
sheet
wn was reimbursed
to the last
Such atrocious regimes could obviously be sustained only by liberally parcelling out the plundered
money to
rule,
the
barbarians extracting
it
lest
they
disappointed cmriier and exasperated fanatic He be fairly described in those terms but bis statements of fact, when they can be checked from other sources, seem to be usually correct/
a
think, to disregard his testimony this matter as being merely the malicious invention of
possible
I
' Badayuni had hi, personal grlc Akbar and Todarmal, and was embittered by the most rancorous bigotry, it i s not
** w
my
Under Muslim
the
Vincent Smith
is
slightly
it
mistaken
was
the
in
all
economy,
leaving
calling
resulted in so
that
much
it
cruelty.
b
The
said that at least on one occasion" when he asked his treasurer to produce Rs. 8 the latter couldn't produce even
is
J
signal
extract
was very purpose was to the utmost from the populace at any cost,
success because
its
fact
which
it
that paltry
sum.
Dr. Shrivastava observes K
*
'After his
attributes
the
as usual virtue to the reform, Badayuni, on other hand, gives on account quite different
momen-
"Abul Fazaj
much
hadur and
to
Khan
Uzbeks, Junc9, 1567, when BaZamart had been captured and put
and presumably nearer the truth than Abul Fail's courtly phrases I fear n s mic Juu t lc ncw system of revenue d ministration must be regarded as a grievous failure resulting m shocking oppre* ssion of the helpless peasantry and cruel punishment of the ocal oppressors, The ordinary histories
,
,
death under elephant's feet) Akbar paid a visit to Allahabad and thence went to Banaras, which was plundered as the people of the city had the audacity
to
close
their
gates against
the
emperor.
From
he went to Jaunpur and thence to Kara Wanikpur weeding out principal partisans of the Uzbeks."
Bonaras
8.
ibid.
" ,olt
10.
We
.
"
Vincent
Smith**
"Akoai
the Grcjt
Q ad
have seen earlier that the people of Deosa other town? in Rajusthan had fled in Akbar's
Pp. 108-10, Akbar, the Great,
ibjd.
ll '
voU.
ibid.
IM
Banaras Now we sec wake. Allahabad) also barricading themselves again* enough to indicate that whe Akbar** advent This is r. went his barbaric hordes spread ever Akbar
terror
:*<
that residents of
^
lc
vv|]ich
this boot> Asaf Khan presented to only a small part and of a 1000 king elephants he took he sent only 300
Of all
the king,
In
indifferent animals
jewels."'
raping
lines,
women,
Hindu
sJi.
burning buildings and plundering the populalion, Why else will the people barricade or flee their homes. The populace usually goes out of its way t pay homage to even common place or slightly tyran-
what way did Akbar's aggressive attacks on and Muslim kingdoms differ from Hindu ordinary
dacoities except in their gigantic
scale
backed by
People are generally prone come royally and consider it a great honour.
nical sovereigns.
to wetIf
then
Akbar
it is
enough indication that far from being a noble monarch and a great man Akbar was one of the worst tyrants of history. Even if there had been no other evidence in history about Akbar" s tyranny except the two sentences noting how people took to flight or shut themselves up in their homes trembling in terror, that is enough proof of his being the world's most cruel monarch. wonder It is a
in
itself
is
f
While gangs of dacoits swoop homes Abkar's terror-force swooped on ordinary The treasures he plundered on rich kingdoms. throughout his life from the citizenry in general and from rich kings, queens and the aristocracy, makes the Arabian Nights treasures in tales like 'Alibaba
imperial
might
and
mushrooms should sprout wild in India in the name of profound histories or treatises ironically praising a sadist Akbar sky high
pity thai literary
as though he
was an archangel
After killing Durgawati in battle 1 * 4 *Asaf Khan (Akbar's general in the aggression against Rani
Durgawati; proceeded to Chouragadh. and took it by storm. The Rani's son was trodden to death Independently of the jewels, the images of gold and silver and other valuables, no fewer than a 100 jars of gold coin s also fell into the hands of the con12
Pp 133-144
vol
It,
167
Chapter
IpV md
ial
fJ0 d
a- When
qualities
we
on the people whom he conquered and governed, and seek to decide whether or not they
,
of (Akbar's)
style
or prosperous under his rule than were happier under that cf many other despots. . . it is not even an outline sketch. The record cas y to draw
hardly hear anything definite in the histories about the common people Information about the or their mode of life,
fc
painfully
defective.
We
aggressive wars, interminable revolts, plunder cam. paigns conducted by Akbar himself on his own
mass conversions, extortions under duress, massacres, corruption and briber)', woman-lifting, dacoity and robbery on highways, desecration of Hindu shrines and murders galore even in the environs of Akbar's court.
subjects,
working of the revenue administration, a matter all important to the Indian peasant is almost wholly lacking, and the record of the state of education, agriculture and commerce is extremeactual
ly
meagre."
In
'The whole
administrato
view of his remarks mentioned above we wonder on what grounds did Vincent Smith title tf Akbar, the Great Mogul'". On what his book as
grounds does he use the adjective
'great*?
provision
numerous
military
forces,
and
the
maintenance of imperfect public order in a rough and ready fashion under the sanction of ferocious punishments inflicted arbitrarily by local despots,
The
ordinary use included impalement, trampling h\ elephants, beheading, amputaBui tion of the right hand and severe flogging. here was no effective law to hinder the infliction of ma Tud forms of punishment accord." ing loth price of the official
penalties
in
i
As Smith aptly notes there is no record to show that Akbar's rule was public-welfare-oriented. Had his rule been really enlightened as is superhave been immense ficially claimed there would
evidence.
'"The
I
history of India
ilie
the
ibid,
Muhammedart
hoodother hand it is our view that v-nked by the hullabaloo of Akbar's presumed flatterers, 'greatness* raised bv a long line of court -mmunalists and history-writers even oiscernmg merely to a 2*kW like confine themselves
On
the
Smith
P 277. Akbar
279. .bid
great
Mogul,
P. 280,
it
. .
169
o-Btffve
assert. on
thai
thm
is
no evidence
m!
frol .,
that the
*UwN
lo
that effect, But what COT [om of evidence to evidence that Abkar's about the overwhelming
murderous and plunderwas a sadistic, torturous, This evidence would not have some regime? escaped the notice of history writers and teachers
.id
impossible to doubt thai n practice onr.ose imposts and cesses continued to ny be as Oldham drily remarks fleeted, and ,n a note not all, of these taxes were subsequently most, if The assessment unquestionably was reV ivcd.' ases of hardship must have severe been ^ .* numerous.
But
it
is
a state of hypnotic
The
fanatic
is
Akbar's rule
at
*"The whole framework of the government was military. A local governor was not bound by am rules of either substantive law or procedure
While in Muslim lands the sovereign look as little of the farm produce in India Akbar as a 10th
extorted a third
part.
He was sworn
to
reduce
Hindus to destitution as a fanatic Muslim. *The horrid punishment of mutilation, which prescribed by the Koran , was used freely.
. .
He was
his
the
much
as he
the
pleased within
subjects
is
Ordinarily
had
Neither
to
regard for
.
of the treatment which their local rulers thought fit to give them. The officers who did not much embezzle were few."
make the
best
the judicial
The Faujdar
troops
was expected to reduce rebels, always whenever necessary to use his numerous, and
against
recalcitrant
villagers
in
order to
" s Abul Fazal admits that 'throughout the whole extent of Hindusthan, where at all times so many enlightened monarchs have reigned onesixth of the produce was exacted; in the Turkish empire, Iran and Turan-a fifth, a sixth and 10th
respectively/
enforce
payment of government
dues.
prone to swear by Abul Fazal-s Ain-i-Akbari to eulogise Akbar's reign as very enlightened. Vincent Smith rightly cautions
Historians are often
such
Uie
T
gullible
writers
is
and teachers of
tissue
history that
But
Akbar asked
for one-third
i.e.
Ain-i-Akbari
of
lies.
He
observes
Fazal seems to think that the abolition of a host of miscellaneous cesses and imposts justified the doubling of the government share of the proI
Abu
4.
5,
^d escription
5
"A reader glancing hastily at the Ain-i-Akbari or Institutes of Akbar*, and seeing the elaborate statistical tables might suppose (that the) work contains ample material for an economic history
of the country under
his
master.
P 276,
-
ibid,
hf
170
171
wW
time to do what he pleased. monarch in of his a position lay under no obligation to have ch a
(Book
ii,
Ain
for instance,
is di,
shed a new light on schools, and can a bright lustre over Muslim schools. The curriculum recommended obviously has no relation No school in India or elsewhere has the fact
to
words intimating that with a fe* perfunctory the should be taught reading and writing. boys baseless assertion is dosed by the
. ,
m ,,* d
that
Nolhing required maintain any particular number of ^c autocrat to or to have a council of am particular ^n.sters LaUr m lhere.S Me) officers numbered formTheir appointment, retention, about 160*'.
council
. -
*>f
ministers at
all.
promotion and dismissal depended solely on the will of the sovereign. The emperor arbitrary himself as the heir of all his subjects and yarded
ruthlessly
The ever attempted to work such a programme desired to lay another morsel of author simply shrine flattery at the altar of Akbar's
Historians would do well to heed those wise words. The Ain-i-Akbar from beginning to end, The whole chronicle imaginative account. is an
seized
the entire
property of
every
deceased official
start
whose family had to make a freih ." contingent on the goodwill of the emperor
systematic assessment of the empire and Todarmal are given so much for which Akbar primanh intended to increase the credii was
imperial
The
was manufactured by the flatterer of an Abul Fazal at his desk as the wrote it from day to day.
revenue Akbar was a hard-headed man of business, not a sentimental philanthropist, and his
quisition
whole policy
He
quotes no authorities
and
was directed principally to the acof power and riches. All the arrangebranding,
etc.
all self-contradictory
and confusing.
were devised
*The
against
rebellion
the impious
or
latitudinsrifin
king were
the
one purpose namely, the enhancement of power, glory and riches of the crown. We do
the
not
know anything
substantial about
the actual
both operations being extremely dangerous to attempt, A really strong king could defy Koranic law as far as he thought fit. Akbar did so in greater or lev- degree throughout most
or assassination,
effect
common
people.
Certainly
not
of his reign, and earned his defiance to The utmost Hii lengths during the last 23 years of his life. action endangered his throne i. 15** J but when he
from 1595 to
The
enormous hoards
cr
he
was able
for the
rest
'die in
9-
ibid
172
175
did
their
k..
cs *
^ cfC
thfll
w*l! must be dearly undcrsiood that the octg vcuiion of he imperial orders was extreme?*
I
upon (a proper) footing ." Badayuni add* great economy, unknown before, w
pt
l, effected
expenditure.
|n
imperfect from first to last, all sorts of evasion^ and frauds being continually practised with can. Akbar was well aware that stderable success he must wink at a good deal of attempted deception"
T hc
"new* revenue
hoax
since
^ne of the contemporary writers mention what While Dr. Shrivastva bewails of were. the thcy lapse of contemporary writers "unfortunate*
1
it
is
Smith's observation above is fully justified, it however, needs a little amplification. Akbar was ruthless enough not to wink where his own interests
in
that he himself gullibly believes most unfortunate If rules are said to have been such a hoax.
were involved His 'winking' at the non-compliance of some orders was a sheer make-believe. As the supreme pontiff of a cruel and wicked system there was a tacit understanding between Akbar
framed but court historians arc silent as to what were the conclusion is clear that no rules (n ey On the other hand the reference to were made.
would pass certain for mere window-dressing, to throw like a ing dry crumb at the Hindus but that those were not meant to be carried out.
and
his
henchmen
thai he
orders
temptorders
economies proves that the new system enforced by Aitimad Khan was to tighten the the eunuch of an and extortion noose of repression, oppression round thc necks of subjects and at the same time introduce the greatest thrift where the question
of
rewarding
or compensating
anyone
for
his
services arose.
That
those
fancied
regulations
were
new
(crown lands, exalting him to the title of Aitimad Khan. The emperor sanctioned new rules for the collection of revenues which were enforced sometime in September 1562. Unfortun ndy no indication is given by any contemporary writers regard-
methods of imperial robbery leading to the impoverishment of the helpless subjects is borne out He says w -Akbar by a footnote by Blochmann. Atgah after the death of Shamsuddin Mohammad Khan, his foster father, commenced to look into
matters of finance,
and
Abul Fazal contents were himself by saying thai *the revenues which o the foundation of sovereignty and the basis the dominion, and the source of military strength,
ing these
new regulations.
Khan ment a den of thieves, he appointed Uimad the lo remodel the finances. In 1565, he conveyed Khandesh daughter of Miran Mubarak, king of
(1535-1566)
to
Akbar's
harem-
When
tn
1578
10 P. 265, ibid
I
]
^^Sgjg
hid.
P 102.
ibid
174
173
Akbar'v presence
Khan
desired
WM
and outstanding
This
the
]
had been allowed to entef the harem he home and had hi* testes removed. ",! * s one admitted to the harem.
he
m*W
as u appears
wfeft
much harshne
life.
Ctl
In
same yea r
^
i.
J^iI010A.R
sd
]3rg e
he erected
tanks.
many
Alt,
When we
called
find
that
each
one of Akbar's
so-
were sought to be murdered (since Todarmal loo was sought to be murdered) the cruelty and repression of their levies and the torturous nature of their extortions m^ In the case of Itimad Khan well be imagined. what could one expect from a mere eunuch who roped id royal princesses for Akbar's harem as though the> were cattle for the slaughter house Todarmal too carried out similar functions. So these so-called revenue ministers turn out to be When they could procurers oi women for Akbar. stoop so low as to be imperial panders what kind of revenue regulation* can one expect from them!
revenue-administrators
Akbar's court reeked with such eunuchs and sodomites who were given despotic
helpless
authority over
subjects.
It
m ust
mishaved and therefore was compelled by Akbar to have his lesiicles removed. Who would otherwise volunteer testicles removed especially if to have his he is as lecherous as Shah Quli. The reader may also
have
note the building bluff.
could a mean," cringing, indigent eunuch build splendid buildings and This graphically illustrates dig wells in Narnaul! Jiow earlier Hindu buildings and wells have been
How
An
idea
whom
of what kind of men or rather eunuchs used to be in Akbar's confidance is graphiHe says cally described by Abul Fazal himself.
An
instance
-Shah Quli Mahram-Baliaralu was passionately attached to a dancing boy of the name Qabul Khan, and as the emperor had the boy forcibly removed, Shah Quli dressed as a Jogi went into the forests Bchrum traced him with much trouble and brought him back where the boy was restored to himThe emperor from goodwill towards him, admitAfter the firs ted hmi to his female apartments.
1J
Akbar carried on his disreputable administration may be had from another instance noted by Abul Faz.il. He tells us " -Ismail Quli Khan brother of Khan Jahan kepi 1200 women and was so jealous that whenever be went to court, he put
J
his seal
over the strings attached to their night drawers. Resenting this and other annoyances they made a conspiracy and poisoned him/'
Describing the stabbing of Itimad Khan. AbuJ
Fazal says
14, ,5
"Maqsud
Ali
who
killed liitnad
Khan
P.
388, ibid.
1J.
P-
387, ibid
15.
P, 473, ibid.
m
is
71
slid to
nave ocen mi no
in
one
eye.
w^
Put
vplamcd to litmad his miserable condition" h* master retorted by saying 'someone sho
urine' in his blind eyes, (Infuriated by this remark) Maqsud stabbed him on the spot. Accord
and to promote the glory of protection hlanij the and to show contempt io ;,.*. viiu,m pi to lake rettpon, fate rclifc h. [rue S ,r rd CrS US hl l0dcSpi5clheni t ,o t r 'out of 1 hand while they arc says (Sur.9.29) sap To treat the Hindu ow li d low'.
.
~- G
"duced
'^
he was stabbed by Maqsud \XThe filthy lanuuace gelling up from the bed." that Akbar's courtiers used and the despicable circumstances of their death throw a lurid light 0n the tyranny, torture and moral degradation that formed the foundation of Akbar's rule. It is also significant that no one took any notice of even How else can the different courtiers* murders. versions of Itimad Khan's death in his own house It hardly mattered or in the court, be explained. to anybody if such mean men were murdered.
another account
In fact all
rdinp in
contemptuously duly, because they are the greatest religions encenc 9 Mustafa (Mohammad) because Mustafa, jjes of the killing and plundering of Hindus, regarding making slaves of them, has ordered (that) an d must either accept Islam or be killed, or be they and their property must be slaves, made
"
plundered.
Royal Muslim practice of admitting men to ow n harems only after castration or rendering seems lo have been widely them impotent
practised, since
of
Abul Fazal
describing Itimad
l7
Khan
rejoiced
at the
progem and
his subordinates.
to
enter the
harem.
Ills said
he
used to
eat
himself
the
status of
1
Hindus under
Muslim
rule.
"When
impotent/*
There are
passage. If the
many
sultan
contradictions
trusted
in
tax, they
with
all
and submission. And if the collector wishes to spit into their mouths, they should open their mouths without the slightest fear of contamiIn this nation so that the collector may do so. state (with their mouths wide open) they should stand before the collector. The object of such
humiliation and
spitting
into
their
mouths
is
to
Itimad of his allowed him into the harem, the question have arisen. rendering himself impotent should not with If the intention was that he should consort of the some harem beauties as a special favour it B monarch, impotencv was a disqualification, some supwas u question or appointing him for charge cm ervisory duties, who would put a man
prove the
16.
obedience
of infidel
subjects
under
P. 247, ibid.
XhT.COM
m
only p. that he safely jippoimed. This Muslim used to castrate or of henvise cmascu| sovereigns
to be chosen to In this respect too superintend the harem. Akbar better than other Muslim sovereigns. was no
individuals
it
|
<r
XI
whose misfortune
was
at
dentally
it
may
also be noted
how adverse
ncj>
AKBAR'S MILITARY
Like his civil administration Akbar's military a loose band of barbaric hooligans who to0 was sed to be collected in teeming swarms at the beat
inferences
emerge from fraudulent, flattering Muslim chroni* clcs t which try to twist the truth in favour of
base patrons and to the detrement of the
individual.
In the
their
wronged
Akbar's court A bill Fazal lists Jagannath, son of Raja Bihara Mull of Jiapur, as the 69th grandee, adding that lSi *he was an hostage in the hands of Sharfuddin (grandee, No. P).*' We have already seen earlier that Bihara
list
of grandees at
drum and
later let
by their commanders when an attack was imminent on an adversary, The generals and their
troopers
perpetrated
horrid
barbarities
and
sent
Mull agreed to surrender the virtue and chastity of his daughter gulping his Rajput pride because
heads of dreaded decapitated opponents as veritable bouquets for Akbar's delight, or the slaughtered heads and bodies used to be piled up in tall towers
for
namely Raj Singh, Jagannath and Khan ear had been held hostage by A k bar's General Sharfuddin on paid of torturous death, at Sambhar, unless Bihara Mull agreed to humble himself by surrendering his daughter for the royal harem and in addition pay a huge ransom. This shameful transaction has been unashamedly described by all historians as a rare honour that Akbar did by condescending to marry a Hindu princess out
three
princes
the
delight
and
Thus in addition to Akbar's revenue officials loose bands of army stragglers, deserters, part time
employees, rebels, imposters, pseudo-fakirs, cheats,
dacoits,
public,
desecrating
their
shrines,
looting
their
wealth,
tticm to
of lofty motives of communal integration, friendship, amity, understanding, etc. etc. It need not be added, therefore, thatAkbar's other marriages too,
Vincent
ganization
were blatant abductions. All the above details should convince the reader that Akbar's was one of the most atrocious _gnd chaotic rule in world history.
girls,
of
his
army would
P.i21,Ain-i.Akhari
ibid.
Jjjn^m against the better kinds of European troops. JSjcverjiis officers ventured to attack the PorL Pp. 265-66. he Great Mogul, Ibid
Akbar
I
COM
ISO
181
tuguese settlements th cy failed disastrously. Al dcr the Great wouk J have mad. short C orl Akbar's mightiest host If Akbar had the r
_
^
]
.#
>
"2
tune 10 encounter lhc Marathu light horse ft possible that he might net have fared much better than his great grandson did. Akbar's
mtlitarv
mj s 0r
ruled
,
,
r aim RHna
{thereui
P ralap)i
in
"
flighting
applied
administration
Failure,"
had
in
it
the
seeds
of decay and
-
Smith quotes Akbar to say thai a monarch shvuld be ever intent on conquest.* That being Akbar's stofi an it is no wonder that by hook or crook he humbkd everybody on whom he could
1
Nakib Khan (Nakib Khan) made objections, L, first he and 5 ,iS" Hindu (i.e. Mansmgh) had not been the leader l(il army. I should myseir have been the first to of this masked permission to join It l' represented an audience with Akbar) that [ getting had a (cm desire to lake part in a holy war ^ji strong (i. e. I have the ton massacre of Hindus). v , n presurnp:
mybw
The army's slogan was to kill any Hindu even if he was fighting on Akbar's side, because a Hindu The chrokilled was considered a gain for Islam. nicler Badayuni who was himself a soldier in Akbar's arm> which battled with Rana Pratap in the famous field of Haldighat. reveals this when he asked the commander Asaf Khan-ll (he I says"-.
from A safKJi an- 1 who fought against Rani Durgawaiij a& to how to distinguish foe from friend when the Rajputs on our side had got mixed up with the Rajputs in the enemy's army and was assured in reply thai could do no wrong even if because on whichever side they 1 shot anywhere may be killed it will be a gain to Islam."
is
dye these black mustachios and through loyalty to Your Majesty's beard in blood person... and when I put out my hand towards the touch in order to kiss his foot, he withdrew it; but out of the audience chamber lie jus! as I was going
im
to
desire
to
called
me
back,
and
filling
me with a
sum of 50
me
farewell...
different
'"War was declared because Rana Kika had refused to send his royal elephnat to Akbar as a mark cf submission."
This atrocious
demand of Akbar
his
wanting Rana
just
to
nothing
surrender
elephant
for
except the
him,
By quoting
a
his
typifies
end of the wedge. If that had been conceded demands of a huge ransom, personal Prosuatjori and surrendering of the beauties of his
'he thin
thirsted for
the
fanty ""'Cm
^d
(jf
hjs
courIicr
blood of th
2.
Hindus.
Vol
AM.
P. 251, ibid
-^J^cnbinji
11.
5
'
how Rana
Pratap baitm-d
mid
3
4.
23"?,
p 235,
-
ibid.
Pp 23304,
ibid
183 18?
proph* Mohammad. Badayuni says* -'Kazi Khan (woundt in his thumbs being no longer able to hold his own recited the saying flight from overwhelming odds is one of the traditions of the prophet* and fbn
.
u s t heven in their cowardly Right Akbar's soldiers us*d to justify their action with reference to
ihittered the
tells
0]er
A ,krafi
vk!lill
R ana
PralBp
i
used
persons to be Ins rcci ultfng * %mt BmJ v factors to produce army contingents It t B Dr. Shnvaoavt dewibes notice.
,
n (Wn '
,
mo .
m ent'*
wed
his
men
compelled to maintain a fixed L, ple were number elephants etc. and bring horses* camels, them for 'f
[faction at fixed periods.
how
imagination.
And
the
generalship of
Mansingh the meaning of this fine line of Mulla Shiri became known : 'A Hindu * ields the sword of Islam ."
1
according to the the conquest ehtonfclcr Ferishta* Dcccan as a diversion being grieved on the tlf t he Petishta says dn of his son Murad Mirza.
Akbar was
sadist,
since
Akbar undertook
Badayuni describes how when he 7 "returned to Fatehpur Sikri with Rana Pratap's elephant the emperor was exceedingly pleased and putting forth his hand to a heap of Ashrafis presented me 96
Ashrafis/'
da ngeroush ill (May The corpse was 1599) was buried at Shapoor. ufterwards removed to Agra, and laid by the side
-Prince
falling
rf
Murad Mirza
Humayun, the
prince's grandfather.
The King's
grief for
for
his
son
Badayuni's account
training,
gees to
indicate that no
or drill was needed in Akbar's time to join his army. All and sundry Muslims
discipline
It
revealing
in
two
respects.
into
his
by taking part in the massacre of Hindus* and such Hindus as were ready to abet that slaughter could merrily pull out their own bows and arrows, spears and swords
hatchets and staffs and sally out for unbridled rampage, as easily as a woodcutter slinging an axe on his shoulder goes out to the forest to hack wood.
who
which sought to
Ins
itic
drown
Dr. Shrivaviava notes that the 7 "Mugal army blundered Dungarpur territory when its Sisodia
*. 7,
exposes the hoax or the so-called rTutnayun tomb in Delhi If according ta Ferishta Humayun lies buried in Agra and his grandson Murad is buried the c alongside, his fancied tomb "> Delhi intended to keep a Hindu
is
fake just
Nation
*
falling into
the
'V 177-78,
ibid.
145.
Akbar
the Git
ai,
Vol
I.
ibid.
'
irishu'i qhroawB.
QfiWWQf.
T84
T85
of deiecrating a tomb similar faftana oJ a fake grave in BhujiaicH ^ " iit.ir Pradesh has been brought to jjg nt Ac"' titled fa** tff % *sN in which the
Hindis
pathetic
fear
dnenl
,
individuals
respoi
.,,.,,
Mr
Biharilal Shnsiri
points
I
out
how
v?rft
contingent! whenever rar , Jgndeeimwrn used o as,,^^, L, pf underlines and thus it was
svs ,em
m^L J Wa ^
curried
Io
tomb of
Ghuzni
Salar
Masud
is
in
Bhainch,
th c fan <7'
rt
Hind
a|lh
P,
temple called Baladitya. Salar Mahraud runni ! n away from the field of battle pursued bv king Suheidc climbed a tree where he was surprised
and
moment's
notice.
If
anyone
theemperor's order he wastortnrcd to death were sold as staves or taken hostage an( kin
|
Sometime later when that region came under Muslim occupation the Baladitya Hindu shrine was desecrated by burying some Muslims in it and
killed.
was confiscated. Under duress, therefore individual was ultimately coerced into Lch joining army and present himself for military duty ihc
prope/l)
,
renaming
it
equipping himself
many
a time,
at his
own
cosi.
Father Monserrate, a Jesuit priest who was ai Akbar's court from March 4, 1580 to April 1582 Hindu administration with contrasts Muslim
administration
Monserrate says 13
5/ino
directly
There are 45,000 cavalry. elephants and many thousand infantry, paid
saying 11
"Brachmanae
(Brahmins
ihcsc
from the royal treasun. In addition to there are troops whose command is inherited
ie Hindus) govern liberally through a senate and council of the common people; but the Musalmans have no council or senators, every tiling being
chief officers from father to son, like an hereditary estate: these troops consisting of cavalry,
by
their
Infantry
their the
are paid by
will
of the
governor
commanding
revenues
1
The roads were infested on all sides -by robbers. Musalmans are easily induced to put Christians (and Hindus of course) to death/'
Monserrate
iclts
provinces which they hold from the king government of such (conquered) territories is vested
11
H'.ibles
on condition
some
stated
tribute to
us
how Akbar
buted in their turn cities, the king grams each noble a district large enough to enable him it^ maintain due state and dignity to
IV 7
<,i
the
Hindi weekly
ari^PP
support
JJtc
19t>H,
i
S:uv<k>hlk
properly his share of the military forces..... the cities and lands in the empire belong ti
as
comma
1*6. ibsd.
Pp 80-90,
ibid
w
der-in-eh.cf. \et
pes
nd Officers to
whom
their
y
an hen
i
This fact suprn cau*e \mi opportunity for conspiracy 4 Miitf and nnnnrlunitv Irir rnh M
ry allegiance.
**** *
,
used w Akbar
to
treason *
mi
and
ir
making
l,iC
mem
d
sell
^
orture
their
lbeit
W|Vci
arm:?* sustained themselves by plunderis which they traversed. Such plunder ing the vusht in from da\-to-da> and the loot w cheap price to the soldiery. The Comments-
Al
rt^wawa)
T
k
idl
how
B**
terrcrize
ndu
to
them to
levies).
frontier
us notes
an
8,
pc
small-
began to advance on Febru> 1581 (in the campaign agatnsi Mirza n Inn few days the army seemed remarkably $1
l,
|
The army
However, it increased so rapidly that It extended over n seemed to hide the earth. readtfa of a mile and half covering the fields th. id filling the woods with a crowding multitude The priest iMonserrate who was with the armyi tonished (because he was unaware that it was procured under duress by open plunder to be
it
\kbar was an ag foresight and carefulness wa teen in the king's the which he sent heralds to announce to the M-ay in inhabitants of the country (in such a waj thai aewa
V?
announcement may be carried far and '.vie po one would be harmed or ieported who did rms. that, if they would bring supplies not take up he camp they should be made to pay no imposts,
be
i .
but
if
should
they
be free to sell as they liked... But that uld be heawlv disobeyed him the
All of
sold to Akbar's hordes at a price by the cheapness of the grain amongst so great a multitude, especially
i
punished.
hi*
them
,
terrified
as
they were
prices
huge army
there
were no high
in a hostile
and no
nsidenng the
number of
skill
elephants.
and
bcl of provisions
en
country."
chosen king himself. For he despatched agent> cities and for their diligence, to the neighbouring provisions from ti instructions to bniri m towr
all sides
Monserrate's testimony proves how Akbar's army collected the merchants under dire litre
al ludicrous made them pari with their -uch res U can well be imagined that circumstances goods could even be freely looted. lew transactions which did take place at cheap Thu& e\ :s were mere and sheer exceptions. -\khar Jhile the army we. d in a campaign 'l People were also forced paj its own wa
'
and he tmded up
Rett
all
fctiuyj
who
brought
and other mi
cheap rates .m impost* and taxes
ell at
|
^
b
>
the
air
?r
7740.
ibid.
** mvade nciohbourim'
their
ona.
Those forced to
turn
188
ISO
which I hey passed, from sheer ocoessny u> sa| ihcir needs, now that they were torn from th homes, families, native moorings, their culn religion end friends. They were thus turned SS \wust eiimin.jls overnight from the peaceful, aw abiding and god-fearing citizens they had bee only a day before.
-
^Jves
^troopiortekelritet-., of emergency. ,h cv with some of slaves and' .|H!ilS e .v " fUie war; but danistotlu --:, really use teIl f' there were none...The Amirs
L
look
.iter
In
cases
Nr
^efS
leir
own
^"
ts
and
m 0Untcd
PU(
L,t
itllCnda|)K
soldiers'
of Akbar's rekm one often comes across terms like Do Hazari and Pach Hazari, They never meant that the persons concerned commanded it many troops. The terms conferred, on the individuals so honoured, a certain status allowing him
In accounts
m jequuw
'
,|
clothes....Whcn a new emergency dr mustered as many borrowed* soldier* as w Hence while the income and .- ire d
vApL-nauurc expenditure
dust
fe||
ie
Mansabaar remained
tn
status
quo
into
the platter of the helpless soldier so he was no longer fit for anything.*'
much
so
and a
ranks.
right
to
stand
in
rows
also
there be
than
assigned
to
those
The
status
was
accompanied with land grants suitable to the rank. which made the recipients virtual sovereigns in Blcchmann cautions he areas allotted to them. 15 *"A commander of 5,000 was not the reader that necessarily at the head of a contingent of 5,000... Contingents of Mansabdars, which formed the greater part of the army, were mustered at stated times and paid from the general or local treasuries Akbar had much trouble with these musters as faudulent practices were quite common."
i
1
above of the utter misery of the life of the common man during Akbar's rule, whether he was
a soldier
or a civilian.
Shetat rightly observes that17 'Notwithstanding the several striking conquests that Akbar
Justice
achieved, the
be called
any means
efficient."
method* of total war that they adopted. Among Hindu* when one king invaded the other's domain tliev did not harm flu
to the ruthless
oupuiace.
ided
was due
chaos and tvrannv at such musters says " "The whole country was with tie exception of Khalisa (cmwn) lands wickeu held by the Amirs as jagir: and as they were
Badayuni
referring
to
the
utter
race
to
too
and
The Muslim invader had an altogether different and savage tpproach, Muslim armies used to be on the ramthe
open combat.
store and rebellious, and spent large sums on their had n and workshops, and amassed wealth, they
Pp. 251-352, Am-t-Akb.ui. ibid.
t0.
''
Thus
llc
|
!^
P.
V|
WO. Vo
If,
ibid.
,7,
i.
Sliclul,
iWd
191
190
and
force
hv
W
"
readily is ro
Zm
^niil duties, acting thousands BBd "^acrc multitudes, convert them 10 fight for h\m nco-co.ncrs force
or bringing provi^
why
P
s
"
The Hindu garrison wait, earrison with supplies. walls or fortress found that the Sue inside the city outside, who constituted people in the entire region had been converted to Islam, their very kith and kin property was looted, their homesteads
all their
Muslim imader* while ai the who would help the Hindu same nme leaving none
the ted flic tank* of
own
erstwhile
the B urbons neither learnt anytnii Hindus like enemies nor forgot any of their orthodox n their Far from converting any of the alien practices. invaders the Hindus in their orthodoxy Wouldn't
,,
pU
own
forcibly
Hinduism.
more
on
bitter
and they
swore to wreak
vengeance
factors led
women and
converted into mosques. ped and their shrines were upon to Thus even before the soldier was called nothing left to fight for. fight he found that there wa>
Ifany
spirit
al
Muslimseflhe
to the subjugation of Hiniusthan by the And yet ii must be recorded to the glory
was
still
left
in
him
Hindus, their fighting spirit, their morale, and their bravery that in spite of such heavy odds and self-imposed handicaps they waged a tight against
wove after
This feat
practically
no one
left
wave-of invasions
unparalleled
in
for i.ooo
Id
long
years.
provisions. That starved him In into a desperate last ditch stand or surrender. addition the enemy's ranks swelled out of all pro-
who would
him
is
win
histor
All other
portions through military service forced on multiwas these ruthless It tudes of nco-converts.
which led to the inroad of Muslim invaders Readers of Indian history who into Hmdusthan. do not ponder on this often wonder what made mighty Hindu rulers and their devoted armies knueklc under the undisciplined hordes of the alien Muslims. Given these methods of total war any adiog force could bring its victims to submi*
iods
from Africa to Indonesia which came under the rampant and rampaging Muslim sword were reduced to complete submission and conversion while Hinduism did flourish after its millemum of Iravatl and trial, in the form o\' the resurgent
regions Rajput,
forces.
History has, therefore, a lesson thai in tinu the side which resiles from retaliating til for
i
m.
Had
the
Hindus
for
retaliated
with
for
hke
eve
measures
tooth
tooth
and
eye
Chapter
MI
aed
m
Fort at
Agra
TAXES
h would be wrong
.mv
fixed
Hindu lownship of Fatehpur Sikri (which was not bu.it by Akbar) he used to impose JJ B levies on the subjects. Thus |Jl(loru ,l
Unt
to
imagine
tliat
Akbar
Subjects
the poor
ha
system oJ taxation namely specific levies This holds good Tor the specific times em ire r-lonc Musi tin rule in India, DO Even if a semblance of any such they were there was lost l maze and haze of additional and arbitrary
ad
iidWP* d
lilOlwi'l".
(irpe d |irp ed
wome ".
their shrines
j ay in
hoc extor lions made ai will by officials or importers and impersonators under dire threats. Even the usual levies would more often than not be increased considerably
official at
iounts extorted
be exactly commensurate of the repair work. The under pretext of carrying out
usurped Hindu townships and buildings were usually much in excess of the most liberal
repairs to
the
of the
concerned.
get
ment
It is
themselves exonerated partly or wholly i'u ini- the partisan officials or by appealing to their sense of Islamic fraternity, that loss was made good by higher extortions from Hindus. At limc^ even a wily or cringing Hindu could also avoid
coutd
io-called
tax-system
must be
studied,
First
and
foremost
Eversince Muslim
soil
from
about
whole or part by humouror bribing the sax-collector. Hut such instances re vcrj rare and at times they entailed consider* lo of property and honour to the Hindu subject inasmuch as lie had even to bribe the officials by providing Jhem with some hapless
in
'
the
lite
beginning of the 8th century they imposed ern Hindus living in the territories under then
a
control
heavy
levy
extracted with
much
on the
doctrine
that
since
the
sovereign
was
Muslim his
those
All
men
hmn may
Utile
to
for their
ban nrm
by the
11
When
have
short
i
these
Though the
as
taxation
It
lotesalc
plunder.
also on
die
record
hat
hei
er
Akbar wanted
lo
repair
^ious hecaase u was based on an ironical pan the * TJie Hindu, were supposed to pay (sic) wnicn " ro gh their nose foi the 'protection'
air
l
heavy tax foi the sustenance of a hosi to to faarjglchold. This lax was considered
mm
bfl
vtT>'
fifiT.'
i.
a Muslim sovereign 'graciously' (sic) provided f them lest he exercise Ins religious prerogative massacre them en masse. But actually he
I
m
.
1
V
|
HOW
'proic
Was a
10
fiction.
all
alon*
.
. ,
passage needs closer Thc above examination - '*""niung ^rds -issued orders confirming abolition WO,MO of - clearly mean that he original order, ivll jf anv dead letter and the Jiya continued to a be Had a decree ocen really issued ted.
subjected
torture,
humiliations,
ma
|fl
the
Jiziya
it
kidnapping of their women and children burning and breaking up of their homes, a H ri wholesale plunder. To add insult to injury thev were made to pay for being allowed just to live" to be mulcted.
described by both of Ak bar's chroniclers Badayuni and Abul Fazal as having been magnanimously abolished by Akbar because of his fancied greater tolerance of Hindus. European writers and other evidence indicate that Akbar continued to extract the Jiziya with
lev)
is
Akbar never ordered the abolition of the Mentions to the contrary in Muslim jkiya. be dismissed as mere fulsome chronicles must and window-dressing to project the fancied
Ll
cn ;
that
abolfeh-
have
j
Battery
This obnoxious
magnanimity of Akbar towards the Hindus who formed a vast majority of his subjects. Had Akbar decree Hirvijay Sun would not really passed that have been given any 'confirmation/' Even after
'
that
''confirmation"
was given
it
couldn't have
stopped
the extraction
traditional severity
and
rigour.
imaginary original
the
have already noticed earlier that in tin treaty of Ranthambhor Rai Surjan the Hindu ruler of Bundt fell the need to ask for exemption from
the Jtziya as a special concession
the
Jiziya
We
other Jain
monk
who
and favour.
not
Had
have
confirming
been
it.
abolished
he would
the abolition of thc Jiziya and also an animal-slaughter- ban'' thrown in for good measure.
mentioned
Dr.
Hirvijaya
Srivastava
describing
at
the
Jain
monk
issued
Sun's stay
7 r 1583 for
two
The hypocrisy and dishonesty of these socalled abolitions and bans should be immediately apparent to the reader from the above pnssage.
years)
notes that 1
"Akbar
orders confirming
|nd abolition oftheJi/i the pilgrims' lax both for the Hindus and Jain> in
the
Kathiawar. When (anoihci Jain divine; Shanii (came lo court j in 587, Akfau granted him a farman, again confirming the abolition of the Jiziya and prohibiting animal liaughw
Gujtrat
and
Akbar passed any such orders they wci ^vcr meant to be carried out. They were only a intended Jrt!y make-believe, an empty formality * gullible to swallow and to send the distraught ^apparently happy at the deceptively persuasive to find to m* J8ntinim
^en
if
ltV
'
o( Ml
""Win on return to
that
Akbar
>
2'5,
-ur
the
Grem.
ibid.
97
196
tnteeti
It
seriously
bv any
didn't
make Ule
wave of destruction of tcrrrplc* bc a as pari was destn yed by Ferozeshah lh CvCT l " peaC* ful ,imes a ruler like hl'Hrun Lodi in a spurt of frenzied rclig'tositv
idaf
S
observes* "In theory Justice J.M. doc* not recognr/c anoa Islamic jurisprudence
'^,d
ftn8
desecrate
salve
h<$
of LlW Slate. The Muslim g*vc such subjects a qualified jurists, therefore. certain disabilities and fines for Status bv imposing
Muslim as
citizen
'
In India the beme suffered fuel thai the m problem was accentuated by the
to
exist
in the state..
Muslim population formed an overwhelming majoSince it was impossible to destroy such a rity.
a great many temples atChanden *Hir desecrated 29 Mir Bagi destroyed a famous temple at
\ 5 28 his orders and built a mosque Avodhya under
its
rt3e at
Sambal into
stamp duty to the Hindus Hindu Beg converted a mosque. Sheikh Zain. his
in
class
subjected
place (Sri
Ram Sharmas
9).
Religious Policies of
the
Mogul Emperors/* P
-Sher Shah's
in ihe whims of the Mvllu laws of which ^omc of the Mullns applied the blasphemy is illustrated by the case of Bodhan a Brahmin of Kaithan, who was beheaded during the assertion that reign of Sikandar Lcdi for a mere The Jiliya Hinduism and Islam weie both real
and
partly
due
to a desire to
\ temple
exunt m by him into a mosque is still mosque. His treaJodhpur known as Shcr Shahi was explained as underchery towards Puranmal His successor infidel taken to exterminate an under the complei Islam Shah brought the state
converted
was
heavy tax, The next was the pilgrim impost Since even the village fans were taxed, this Though the seems to have been almost universal fre payment of these taxes w; s intended to ensure freedom exercise of religion to non-Muslins the was nonetheless, limited to private worship d to build new temple* Hindus were not a]
B
tax
commander
at
Bcnaras
mosque."
.lima,
tax
or tlu-
by remarking
the
in
mention
of the abolition
at
of the
Ji/ya
and
uu.
P%im
d'seiplc
mJM
"When jT~5
Bin* an,
fresh
territory
was conquered,
Shelat.
there
s
W
,|m5
> !,ja
AM
I.M
Baan*
obeyed/ 1
120-21.
Biimhufc. 196?
'V
Akbar
T98
199
ing
Smiil1 '* remark thai "they were never Tully carried our' not justified. The orders remained un
make-believe and were never intended to be "** plied With according to a tacit understand between Akbar and Ms official! Secondly
implemented
WewouJdliko t- amplify Smith's undcrsia a of Ibc aisc. The sso-i orders were "^
I
formed
my P>
advantageous to them inasmuch as they could pari ol the actual rather lhan
Xr
ant,cipaied
The
al1
local revenue
officers
le
greedy
and corrupt
in
their totality.
BjtBCtinS
iier
.
the other taxes Smith notes 1 that "Abu] Fazal is rather obscure in his description, because he seems to say that 'a tenth of the total of ten years was fixed as the annual assessment/ and
About
sorts of unauthorized imposts from the Their corruption found its roots the
which prevailed throughout pernicious custom, period of ottering costly presents to >gU
l
I
the
the
and the higher officers, who in their turn took presents from their subordinate staff... Bribery still
ruler
then to state that as regards the last five years of the period above-named the superior crops were
flourished
on
a large scale."
fi
in
"At
Akbar
year was taken as the standard, the assessment must have been severe.*' The reader must not,
any credence in Muslim chronicles. Their statements were intended to be mere court flattery, dnd before they are accepted at their face value they should be subjected to the closest scrutherefore, place
Usually their assertions themselves contain enough contradictions and vague, tortuous, anomalous statements w hich should shatter their claims
tiny.
r
promulgated an ordinance according to which everyone who was presented at court had to contribute according to his circumstances, as many duns or rupees or mohurs (gold coins) as he was This again was an atrocious levy. old in years." approaching It effectively discouraged anyone from the sovereign with complaints of torture, tyranny or extortion. Because such a visit entailed paying another tax for a royal audience. Even after such a call a that the visitor could expect, if Akbar was in
'II
good
Mr. Shelal obscrses 5 "The upper strata of Uic administration was on the Turko-Persian model." (That shows how it was alien "The peasants
i
mood,
at best,
was
to
with
were generally antipathic to the collector mainly because they derived no benefit from the si
i
after, order of the exemption sought When, therefore. **fch no official took seriously Aklwnai Dr Shrivastava quotes Abui Fazul's *as IH, pp. 4*0-94 and 533-34) that the levy
deceptive
the
police
had to be
per*
'
on wells, reservoirs,
b
6"
Pp. 135.36.
rbid.
J.
P 31S-I7, Akbar. by
Shelal. ibid-
^rmgai
PP
gardens and oil help for the benefit of the public, we cannot ofwritew WW the pathetic guHibiluv
serais,
J54-57,
Akbar
?f.|
200
rl
thus
Badavuni s>
even for such works Akbar called for special addition to the usual extortions. in How lflxes a monarch spend anything on public could such The above statement also exposes
welfare.
in the dfotffci
how
Hind and 10 others." This is a typical piece showing how Muslim chroniclers bedecked lie cruel regimes of their patrons with the frills of enlightened Hindu
t
has been led to historian Akbar constructed Agra Fort. Badayuni believe thai states that the utmost that Akbar did was
clearly
to
after gullible
historian
who had themIt was the Hindu monarchs rule. metals and treasure setves weighed against precious distribute that to the Brahmins and the indigent. How could a Muslim sovereign who extracted the Jiziya to allow the Hindus just to exist, ever commit he sacrilege of distributing to them a largesse. All that is to be understood, from the above custom,
i
and \ U ia fort
if
any*
pitching too,
in
our view
false.
What
fort
Akbur sought
usurious tax
pretext
repairs to
the
is
that this
was
levy.
Far from
giving
anything to the Hindus Akbar expected them to contribute treasure equal to his weight at This treasure was obviously least twice a year.
appropriated
to
Badayuni specifically states" "At this time (983 ATL) Sheikh Abdun Nabi and Makhdum-ulMulk were ordered to examine and decide the amount
of tax to
be
levied
on
lie to
the
royal
treasury.
Another
made no
discrimination
conclusion from Badayuni's vague statement, could be that at least twice a year Akbar had himself
wetgl cd
against the
Hindus.
passing
taxes
nil
gold, then in silver, then in precious things lie gems). One may well imagine how much he earned at least twice a year by this
first in
other
issue
specific
orders
"in
or
laxity directions" to see that there was no doubt about the extractions to be obtained from
strata gem,
all severity.
Agra was conceived, and its citadel which had before been of bricks, he had buill of hewn stone and he ordered a tax of lltfce
P. 85,
I*
son or daughter of tbfi common off.ee to be married until they had gone to the tfU* chief of police, and been seen by his BgCf
" ,0
No
people
;md
'li,
corrcc
k '
74, ibid.
cora-]
202
XIU
B
vcstigated.
In
this
swq
all
host
of profits
surpassing
of
those
in
office,
especially
certain
,!|
GREED
of his very large domain, arbitrary and levies and wholesale plunder, curious Akbar's greed for money led him to phenomenal
,
officers
and
effete
KJianhngs
and
other
vil
oppressors."
S pitc
marriage ta\. Bui besides the money pan of it, which itself was a great burden on the populace, the manner of extraction of exposed Ak bar's Hindu subjects to illimitable indignity, dishonour, humiliation and immorality. The reference to the determination of age of the parties to the marriage could mean a nude medical
a
\\
This was
other
ingenious
modes of
various
collecting money.
selling as slaves
recounts
taken after a battle or raid Bidayuni that around 989 A. H -the emperor
l
captured a sect
'disciples'.
examination and appraisal by profane and corrupt It could also have led to the abduction officials.
of handsome girls and boys for prostitution or Obtaining permission for a marriage sodomy.
of Sheikhs, who called themselves His Majesty asked them whether they
repented
of their vanities.
At
his
command
1
they
were sent to
to
Bhakkar and Q and a liar and vveregi merchants lo exchange for Turkish colts,*
Akbar also earned money by
confiscation of
from a corrupt and lecherous administration obviously meant heavily bribing them with perhaps women for prostitution and wealth and costly
presents,
the
property o[
his
deceased
subjects.
Badayuni
A
shows
by pointing out thai- -Makhdum-uU Mulk died at Ahmedahad and in the year 99Q Qazi Ah was scot from Falhpur to ascertain what proper*
illustrates it
1
any excuse was good enough for him lo mulct his subjects. These included repairs to fortifications, marriage tax, Jiziya, pilgrim lax, UtXi court-audience tax. weigh ing-the-sovereign wholesale confiscations of all property of any ject dying, military campaign-tax, and open plunder. This too does not speak of any greatnett m Akbar. On the other hand it only confirm* that he was one of the most tyrannical monarch* in world history.
he
1
had
Several boxes full of ingots of gold discovered in his sepulchre where he had
left.
wd
''
litem
to
be buried as corpses.
And
the
u|ll
which lay open to the eves of the world was as none but the creator could ascertain. All ingots of gold were placed in the public
h| s
^umjjv
poverty
"
sons
fell
l(lcr
** of distress
at
'*
-08, Vol.
,bid.
II,
Bwtoyunfi
chronicle, ibid.
V 321,
C v crv
nplli?
bring
and laid by the side of her husband pvhlim -he-hail outlived by 48 year
|,e
'
lurn R prevail
5^'j
i
to
the
to
notion that
lofty
m,
99 Sheikh Ibrahim Chisti <bn thi ChJsti) died at Fathpur. A sum of Sheikh Saliffi of Retort- of ready money together with elephants and horses and other chattels were appropriated
In
SJlimi used
build
X
lfri
other
by
and the remainder became the ponton of his enemies who were his sons and hfe And since he was noted and notorious for igcnts. and vice was accursed "base of disposition and vile Sheikh,"
the imperial treasury
i
died were buried in usurped those Hindu The deceased left , Visions and temples) her a large treasure and a will directing that j| house ,|dbc divvied among her male descendants.
who
t(1mbs
;,
ml
Mtbarwas too fond or money to withstand the of her wealth, the whole or tempting annexation appropriated without regard to The terms which he the will (Footnote, Du Jarric, iii. \\w
i
"Shahbaz Khan Kambu kept in confinement for three years had paid a fine (ransom) of seven lacs of rupees, was set free and appointed to manage the affairs of Mahva and be vakil to Mn/.i
fi
'*He
retentive
of
Shahrukh.*'
Though an emperor possessing fabulous treasure and the power to ask for anything' " Akbar himself was a nader and did not disdain to earn
com men
ial
Thus a
governor.
prisoner could
And
profit/
""He
and custom
death, kings
tlic
also
derives
much
nors
in
come
to the king,
on
their
owners'
tion
sum
in
advance,
usual
in
addition he
presenis
expected
tribute,
the
costly
Akbar did not spare even his own mother's property from confiscation. Smith notes "Akbar S mother only 15 years older than him died on or about August 29. 1604. Her body was taken to
11
tlie
and chieftains whose treasure great levies exacted, and gifts received from inhabitants of the newly subdued districts in
or his dominions.
as to
every part
to
These
in
gifts
and
levies
so large
ruin outright
many of
Trading on
to
his
new
Subjects.
He also engages
and thus increases
hi lOtfjj
account
3. 4.
5.
his wealth
no small
?p
3J2-2-, ibid
P. 381
bid.
P.
I'
252,
ibid.
6.
the Great
Mugul,
ibid
9-
COM
:oh
dt
profit.
i '
ZO
r
,
gerly
exploits
every
sourc>
Moreover he
in
I
illows
changers
business
his
empuv
%******".
-
r '-
IIlkl
the royal
treasuries ifies)
nn brings
u lc
arc pmcj ilver or copper accord Jng to their rank. Th it comes aboul thai those who are paid in one tvn orcein need to change some of it into another Such means of increasing wealth may be thouehi sc (bu! nothing was loo base for Akbar) There
is h
great profit
The government
ki
officers
J ^ed
1[iirTl
Dv by oronerrv of every property rt r ration deccajj through compulsory prcsems d (> everybody coming to court, by havfoX *f f bullion,
..:nn
of oi
me the
booth''
.
against
jewellery and
gcm^l
may be
knowledge 01 that of his c. Jalaluddin Akbar) is sparing and tenacious of his wealth and has thus become the richest oriental
Icing's
through various usurious levies extras flogging and torture?, by robbing valuable l6d by dead and wounded on battlefields, the through plunder or vast regions and crowded outright locaconquests of rich and through lilies, prosperous adonis, through heavy ransoms and in
year, rice a
I;
reparations
jiid
and
money
and
He
Each sack holds aboui 4000 copper coins (Footnote The Fathers of the third mission record that once they found the king busy counting
3Gfcft.
As a result of such extortions and a parsimoncollected a large hoard. 10 ious nature Akbar had \i Akbars death in 1605 the cash in Agra fort
exceeded
have
20,000,000 pounds
sterling,
J
It
can hardly
a large
different
values
600 A.
some
150 plates-full
of bags. (Counting money) is his chief distraction everyday when he has retired. When the money has been counted and put in bags he has it put among
treasures which arc very great/*
According to Monserrate,
Jesuit, therefore,
the
contemporary
Akbar
king Midas, in the avaricious pleasure he used to derive from playing with and counting and recounting
bis
treasure
in
the
his
Akbar accumulated
sell10.
p 2 ^,
-
Akbar
209
Chapter
XW
**$
l4lf0
-r
among
intend,.,.
his grandee"-
, l
? HOW*-*? imperious
many
commands,
has
'
-dtf Itt
verc his
slaves/
no'-s Monserrate,
as though ih *
s.'Zcladinus
(Akbar)
broad
shoulders
jepewhat
!
bandy
The editors introduction to Monscn n, l4 2n the long line oflndian Commcniarius states sovereigns the lowering personalities of Ashoka and Akbar (because of his dread Maud high above the TJu\ iiu> be compared, and with profit, re Akbar** greed for conquest and glory and hiv La. of sincerity form a marked contrast to Ashoka's paternal rule, genuine self-control and spiritual ambition. A k bar's war*, were those of a true descendant of Tirnur. and had all the gruesome
|
complexion. He carries his towards the right shoulder, His forebent hea d broad and open, his eyes so bright and head is they seem like a sea shimmering in the Hashing that His eyelashes are very long. His eyesunlight. ows are not strongly marked. His nose is
nd
light-brown
br
straight
nostrils
the left
and small, though not insignificant. His are widely open as if in derision. Between nostril and the upper lip there is a mole.
his
He shaves
that
beard
like
associations which
Turkish youth who has not manhood. He does not cut his hair
of a
a
attained
(He
wears)
The old notion that Akbar was a near approximation to Plato's philosopher king has been elicited by modern researches. His character with its mixture o\ ambition and cunning has now been laid bare. He has been rightly compared to a pike in a pond preying upon his weaker neighbour* He was so close and self-contained with twists of words and deeds, so divergent one from the other, and at most tiroes so contradictory, thai even by
turban
into
which he
there.
gathers up his
hair.
He
too
though
received
ihin
any injury
His body
is
is
Mite
nor
too stout.
He
somewhat or a moros
remarkable people around love of keeping great crowds of about hat lu "* n his sight ; and thus it comes of men* court with multitude,
disposition.
He
is
specially
is
always thronged
**
wlom
1||l!
type,
though
especially
to
find
a clue
to Hi*
he
commands
4
come from
ibid
"l*jtZ '"ur
.
Akbn
habits, for
unable to give up hJ
J
i
I-
Pp790-92 Commentariui.
Pp. 196-200. ibid.
it>
l|ic
>;at.-:om
m
When he
and
211
|
0W*
goes outside his palace, u j. ., followed to these nt*hu< " "n.i, b} nobles and* aiJ^mti The, have to goon
'
^
,
Ite
ST?**
JgL*
,
m*mmi
as the knees and his boot, y a* cover hi, completely. Ife wears gold ornaments **** P and jewellery. He is fond of carrying a fd and dagger. He fa never without always surrounded even within his private!
1^^ |^ S^
ma
,
into to** ** BRfcMi viceroy of Arabia Felix, Jj*^ *, so ungraciously that Jjg cloud of smoke. For the chief
However he
1
manner to that which countrymen and subordinate, "Low* marked courtesy es with
.
-vetf
different
V*U
!
cl "*
an dfck,
*^
put in irons and banished for a long tt aS his attendants made horc while g0O d
ambassador
p.^
lheif
escape
secretly... Zeladinus
JS.
mg
'His table
of more These arc hall covered and wrapped in linen clothes, which are tied up and sealed by the cook, for fear of poison.
by youths to the door ofthc dining hall, other servants marching ahead and master of the household following. Here they are taken over by eunuchs, who hand them to the
carried
nobles who one of them believes himself to be re,hat each garded not only as a contemptihle creature but as lowest and meanest of mankind. For the very
wards the
instance these
nobles,
if
they commit
offences, are
punished
rest
more
severely
and
of the
meanest
degree.'*
*
They
are
"He
is
wait on the royal table. He is accustomed to dine in private, except on the occasions of a public banquet. He rarely drinks wine but quenches his thrist by 'post' or water.
serving grls
who
and counsellors. They are devoted to him and are very wise and reliable. They are always with him and arc admitted to the innermost parts
allowed
privilege not
has drunk immoderately of 'post* he sinks back stupefied and shaking. He dines alone
When
he
That
Akbar allowed
on an ordinary couch, which is tth silken rugs and cushions stuffed with down of some foreign plants."
reclining
3
covered
the
fine
'nnermost
'N'ty
n Akbar's nature.
He
safet)
and
3.
212
213
and harem. His faith in Hindus s also a left. handed compliment to thai community whicl when compelled to submit to any tyrant tl *^ 1 treachery and torture still remained
i
fycn Badayuni,
, nr ,
niHhfifl
subjugator out of a sheer BOd*fearinn comu us nature and an innate stupidity offov Ml "' serving even a cruet and misbehavine u
its
*.
? mJP
Statesiy**
cnemi ?W a.m.Krsofso.d.e.swercno,"^.^
e od luck overca
all
Akbar did not tak;e Muslims into confident * except when Hindu localities were to be raided jJd
because he could not trust them \vjthh, harem, with his palace treasure and with his own person
looted,
.'
u ^pu
n5
,
iAkin to his habitual control over a natamiw temper was the artfulness with Solent wt jic h he ,' to conceal h.s thoughts arid real wont
p Urp08
says Bartolt, 'gave anybody the chance Hc never/ rightly his innermost understand scntimenti ot t0 what fauh or rcl -ions lie held by, know
w
Dr, Shrivastav writes "-Akbar was a truant child, and did not sit down to read and write. So
but
his
own
interests.
he remained illiterate all his life. Akbar himself admits that one need not be ashamed of being unlettered. He says 'the prophets were all illiterate.
Believers should, therefore, retain one of their sons in that condition." This remark of Akbar is
characteristic of his illiterate stupidity.
7
one party or the other with the to he used to himself, humouring each hope of gaining him words, and protesting that he had no de with fair
feed
other
out
object with his doubts than to seek and And by the guidance of their wise answers the simple
truth
this
then
And
in all business
"Akbar was
strange
compound
of reason
and superstition ... It is too much to affirm that Akbar was always above board in the matter of state-craft and in his dealings with his rivals and enemies He was moreover sensitive to a point of honour in his relations with those Indian rulers, who declined to render him personal homage or
Dr. Shrivastav 's weakness of fancying goodness even in sheer evil makes l record only a i" hin all evidence and
was the characteristic of king Akbar ipparentl\ free from rnystcr} and guile, bi and candid as could be imagined but in
so
man
Iwiuesi reality
closed
twists of woids
and
and deed so divergent one from the other, much most times so contradictory that even by
seeking
ilius
it
to his though
person comparing
made
could with what he was yesterday, observ no resemblance, and even an attentive
nim today
Jtor
rebuke about A
I
i.
ictcr.
|
knew
:.
intercourse with
the
last
day
j[*j ibul.
\m
f,
Ibid.
""~PM94-20O.
9 P.
hadaafnae.
7.
I
;
-I I,
ibid.
XftT.COM
214
k!KWn OriMst.- That admirably wom ofrcfonol AkK,r\ peculiar mind hStaTffl cal Mudcm
i
torinous
on so
to
io
JTL*
ich
TREACHERY
Thc frank appraisal of Akbar's C aracipr , honest writers quoted m the last ch a 17. borne out by _ his dealings throughout iHv h His slaiecrau was crafty and treachery n. rcic w weapon Akbar used as frequently as any
]i
Si
eeedftigs
r P o| llJCa
,
mt
.
other ht
his
armoury
u Akbar*s Smith notes that policy with regard the Portuguese was tortuous and perfidious. At
1
to
the
thc missionaries were approaching his court in response to the friendly invital|pn addressed to the viceroy he had organized an
very
moment when
European
never allowed imperial ships to proceed Gulbadan Begum had to to Mecca without a pass. buy the pass ceding village Bulsarto the Portuguese
in
After her return she directed that it be retaken. "A party of young men was attacked and They were nine Portuguese were taken prisoner.
1575.
brought
to
for
refusing to
stauze.
Perayra
b
V
Their
stout-hearted
leader
Duarte
bu t
de Lacerda deserves to be commemorated Siin name. Their heads were sent to Fatehpur Akbar pretended not to see them,"
The above passage has many Went of history. Firstly it show. M N women had the same combination
fc 145.
*^**
W otm
Akbar
ib&
216
217
Then
ir
Dfesque
vfefous natures.
that
Akbar was
niav
J
*
Ud
kHfs
hii
as fanatic a
and
"hichis believed to have been completed J 1585 existed even in early 1580 wh ihe first es '' Mission had arrived. They saw us lowers and pel from | distance. This should awaken the ret earchcr to the realization that Fatehpur Sikri is an ancjem Hindu township. What Akbar did was merely to transfer his seat of
[hat during bis reign too torturing and people who refused ro be converted emtim.
T|lW
wE? K
.
"
Akb
lhc
r^
1
'
J^
,
century Asirgarh was reckoned of the world. The su mmi lenders t about 60 acres in extent, was space
I6lh
11 < Sth Burhanpur). f
ob^^w "by
is
"bout
12 mile,
o?^ * a amolv L \
ln
Two
government
to
of allowing those buildings to be wasted on Sheikh Salim Chisii and his band of fakirs.
instead
it
Smith again notes 2 -The fathers were disgusted at the clear evidence of the duplicity of Akbar, who pretended a desire for the friendship of the king of Spain, to whom Portugal was then subject,
while actually ordering hostilities against the Portuguese. Their Jesuit superiors had sent urgent letters requiring the missionaries to return.. .The missionaries themselves were eager to go, being
purpose are on record. The official historians aver that the surrender of Asirgarh was to an outbreak of deadly pestilence. due The based on unpublished letters Jesuit version, of who was in attendance on Akbar, Jerome Xavier,
his
ultimate v
that possession of the fortress was gained by wholesale bribery of the officers of the garrison,
states
Miran Bahadur, the king. WW lured into Akbar*s camp and made prisoner by an act of shameful perfidy. The tale of alleged fatal Akbar pestilence... seems to be mostly invention.
and
that
earlier
did
iioi
facts
disdain to
tise
the
weapons
of subterfuge
Smith observes3 that "Prince (Murad). a drunken scamp, was filled with overweening pride and arrogance (when commanding a Mogul army along with Khan Khana Abdur Rahim). Badayum in his accustomed ill-natured way observes ihnt
31. 1600
Pp
196-204.
Akbar
H W ^s
i
the opposition and took up his abode in Palace of old rulers. (This should alert historian Fatehpur t,la Tar from building any structures at 8 Ajmcr and other places Akbar occp^
without
Peaces of earlier
Hindu
lulersj.
On
April 9
200,000 men.
The
218
219
resolved *o rely on those arts or intrigue **A Hi which he excelled. gUi,c He, therefore
Miran Bahadur to come out for Vn taring on his own royal head thai the would be allowed to return
'
iJl
in
peace
accordingly
came
Tk
^
,
ng
''"
.The free speech of Xavier .rrit such a degree.i3n to says with rage, and gave order. >*"! foamed the fathers from the imperial on of instant return to Goa. ||idr
colleagues, therefore,
f
gj "*N
b*
he
**"*
CCand
hil
As Miran Bahadur
' andwasadvancing... a Mogul officer caunhr l by the head and threw him'down perform complete prostration (Sijda)^a ceremn cerc *y on which Akbar laid much stress,"
dK*,^
motioni!*
**
withdrew
XavLr and
But <J,ti,
some friends they did not quit the Akbar to have cooled tater found
W7
advicc (and
down)/-
frrc^tt
fix.
Jn
spite of \
there
surrendering.
at
Time was
h in t0 Send ordcr * '" writing to th. fort s garrison rn r toe to surrender When he refused he was detamed by force. When the K fnS Abyssinian commandant heard the news he sent
'"
b3r
"^
elder son,
sm r ? precious bcL* L
in
was no
active
reigning
Allahabad as an
reblir
independent
'He was thus forced to use his only remainj weapon -bribery. The capitulation
took
effect
on
January
17,
1601
nearly
101
months
When Akbar
command""
after the
father (the
was wtllmg
to
then saying that he might never behold the face of a king so faithless, taking a scarf in his hand and addressing the garrison asking them to defend the place strangled himself
siege continued. Akbar asked Xavier to arrange for getting some Portuguese engines of war. Xavier refused on the pretext of its being un-Christian.
surrender,
the gates of Asirgarh were opened the population was found to be like that of a city, and the
When
commander
The
were so numerous that there was a continuous throng of people coming out for a week Some of them had suffered from weakness of sight and paralysis of the lower extremities. "The assertion of Abul Fazal that 25,000 persons perished a P^ilence is now seen to be an undoubted lie If. story of the deadly pestilence i$ an invention fended to conceal the discreditable means adop-
inhabitants
M
*
reason was that the Portuguese had only a short period before concluded a treaty with
rite real
^r
by
Jn
Akbar
India.
to
gam
possession of the
1
greatest
There were also some Portuguese ulficcrs in the garrison who had advised Miran Bahadur against believing in Akbar's pledge.
Miran Bahadur.
^rposely
cr
a s
,
stories
give a
the fa*
represented
of the
.
commandants
would be
son
is
uicide
|d e
and other
it
w hich
tedious
220
221
\verc
Crtt LOnfi
nei|
^expedition
to task.
Bhagw^
'
The student of Indian history would be c on the safe side if he presumes all eases or ,i]\ !!]\ Q suicide as murders in Mogul history. Jehansr wife was murdered in cold blood by Akbar
.
2*
ily
'** * ^Po*" pi a
**
,
Son-
Jehangir in collusion, Daswandh he young Huidu died a suspicious death, painter also Rajput courtiers whose wives Akbar coveted were murdered. Bertram Khan was murdered. Such instances could be multiplied
I
BlK,,wandasfeelin 8Br :: v of his pledged word for Yu Louse himself The ty stabbed
^r^
LlJ
^ liUh
im
J"^ expedit^y^
r
'
Yaqab assumed the title prepared to defend his Email and count
U p his father a s lost
oa-
on
June
28,
1586
^
ak
f
of k J
Smith notes that "even in an Asiatic country in the year 1600 perfidy such as Akbar practised was Abu Fazal and Faizi... felt to be discreditable,
I
Qasim Khan's forces entered the caZ Kashmir, Snnagar and read the proctamZ' f name. "Qasim Khan's policy in Akbar's
October
6,
rossion
and
a
reprisals
kept
the
alive for
Sirhandi agree
in
guerrilla
to
On many
crafty
among the
succeeded
1589.
of
Khan
in July
state."
He was
custody.
Later he
was
Even an ardent admirer of Akbar, Dr. Shrivastav is constrained to admit of Akbar's perfidy Akbar had sent an expediin subduing Kashmir. &hagwanda$.j under against Kashmir tion
Bhagwandas made peace with Yusuf Khan of Kashmir on February 22, 1586. The conditions under were: I. The ruler would deliver the land nm the saffron crop, the duty on shawls and the acknowledge to the imperial treasury and would temW Akbar's suzerainty, and 2. That he would
Yusuf Khan was released liter Kashmir was annexed. Yusuf was made a mansabdar of 500 and was given a jagir in Bihar. He fought in Orissa (for Akbar) under Mansingh The Kashmir episode leaves a bad taste, and is a blot on Akbar's character. He disregarded the plighted word of a favourite general. The petty
granted a jagir in Bihar.
iagir
granted
to
derogatory
to
one
who had
hecn a sovereign of a
flourishing
state/'
On the promise charge of his principality Khan <_ safe conduct Bhagwandas took Yusuf But Akoar court arriving there on March 28, 586.
in
1
Another instance of Akbar's readier? concerns the Hindu kingdom of Bhatha (modern R< "^ramajit, a boy of tendet age who w*
i
4.
5-
J,
Akbar
ibe Greit,
m*m
iaa
r
223
grandson of the ate Raja Ranichandra ro allegiance to Akbar. PUdi Consequently ^d an army under Rut Tipurdas m IS9 was depute? a
in-
ilionS
tfcf
ruler^v^T'm
or
(When
the
^iilst
ycars
,M
-
J*.
nlfsh
to h failure
f.
to
Bandhu and Laran of life and restoration of the stated a safe conduct back to Bandhu. The wTrkn urally expected that they would (then) be
to
great noble
came
AkbarW,
^ f RamchSJ*
***
RajasthLTv
is
decline mZ*^ h by
n
fi^ ^
7jt
iT-
L^
T?"' fa
mam possession
of the
first
must be
would be restored
ev^W^CS
the
fort.
p But Akbir
8 d a period of incessant activity of! *' with only small intervals ipaigns of peace he won the imU dexienously cooperation (sic) of the Rajput rulers #port in
|isri(lJtc
paying
a st
to
young
volume,"
ruler
The
The Mugals who had occupied the country cut off supplies which caused some distress to the besieged Moreover, Tipurdas seemed to have been able to corrupt some members of the garrison, for Abul Fazal writes that liberality was made the key for delivering up the fort,' The siege lasted for eight months and 20 days. For want of supplies the fort capitulated on July 8, 1597. The fort was evacuated
and a great deal of plunder was obtained.
not
restored
to
It
was
Raja Vikramajit, In April 1601 Duryodhan, another grandson of the late Ranichandra, was recognized as Raja, and the fort of Bandhu was made over to him. Bhartichand was appointed the Raja's guardian."
*"U
and
in
6.
is
too
much
in
to
affirm
that
Akbar was
statecraft
the
matter of
dealings
with
his rivals
and enemies.
Pp. Sli-Kibid.
^the reader
.
will
not
t :i
j|
Ul
-the
HYPOCRISY
Despite some, imaginary sanctimonious sayingi of Akbar recorded by flatterers like Abul Fazaj
Jj
Ration
,cdby^> ^
nd
mat
*
lpon
he
pleased. id pi
a 0Vt ,v.th
invari-
md
Mu.saJnian and entered Musalman. the ; -ould he taken hy f she sh< nrw restored loher family." and
"* ',JW Mu I! *I
Akbar "stopped
without ever reaching the point of definitely becoming a Zoroastrian. He acted in the same way with regard to Hinduism, Jainism and Christianity,
Smith rightlj, points out the mutual inor the scvei regulation* tt d consistency to wish to emphasis been issued by Akbar have
While
i
lhat
no such
regulations were
ever proclaimed.
He
went
so far
in
each
religion
that different
beguile
like
Abul Fin]
i
miskid
Ihe public,
flattery
hum*
ur
lie
-About
alarmed at
nme
ing
pious
Had
they been
reilly
adopted a policy of calculated hypocrisy. When on his way back from Ajmer he caused a lofty tent to be furnished as a
travelling
five
innovations,
Akbar
promulgated \kktr himself, his sons, and courtiers should have been the first to be deproed of the
A A
little later
further.
Mir Abu Turab had returned from Mecca bringing with him a stone supposed to bear
an impression of the prophet's foot. Akbar knowing well that the thing was not genuine went c* in person to meet if
*.
cedaj
Hindu women that were being ndcdupto be dumped in the Though Akbar possessed innumerabie Hindu girts hk harem he had a lecherous eye on Raaj ^rgawaii, Since she died fighting. MAai iily only mih her a** to mu
hundreds of
c=
'
frughter~iii-Iaw.
harem.
Aktw Uk
awa)
H.igr
aa*
P. 130. ibid.
Adham Kb"
326
common Muslim
227
soldiVrv used t
m
,
...
Mncmonioui humbu*
of
'
ICVc
p5
S 5ftS* Jf.^^-i a
^^
which he had washed big fc,i Acc <"* Badayuni this dirty and humilm w Privily was specially reserved by Ak could stoop so low an illu ,;, L,have forced worse indignhiw on h* y
40
in
iccts.
^f* ***** ^T m W
h
cn .
. rj
tl
t^r*
*
f
S
,
^ory a.vakes
and pathetic.
Jehangtr and a h ' Shab, , of other the most horrid and heinou massacre, torture and rape are all fSL**? credned u Itn having mercifuHv cons ruetedr^' " serais, rest houses, alms houses shadv i J ks booths and the like Ii is nme every reader and
^ S&T*
scholar
Mkbar was not influenced merely curiosity and religious sent dledu al irn
(Jesuit)
Vent
,l
coun
favour.
to
his
Hl
W as a
politician
Itways
cherished
the
hope of
hc
*h c
destroving
S'oS^ ?
To
Portuguese dominion (but) the rebellion of the death of the younger eldest son and prince! He openly avowed put a slop to all his ambitions
his
Jr
to rhis realization.
such sanct.raon.ous hypocrisy in the face of over" wftelmine incriminating evidence would he puerile F
rT^h
Smith quotes Xavier, a Jesuit priest at Akbars court, thaL AJcbar used to pose as a prophet 'wishing it to be understood thai he works miracles through healing the sick by means of the water in which he washes his feet. (Foolnote Badayuni record* that if other than Hindus came and wished to become disciples at arty sacrifice His Majesty reproved or punished them.V This testimony by a Jesuit visitor and a Muslim counici clearly pruve* ih.it Akbar's tyrrany over the Hindus included pouring down their throats
'
One of the sayings of Akbar fabricated by his chroniclers is ""were it not for the lhiui=.ht ofiht difficulty of sustenance. would prohibit men from eating meat. The reason why do not together abandon it myself is that many others might willingly forego it likewise and be thus cast wo despondency/ 1
I
I
apparent.
r '
"'Akbar's actions at times gave substantial mnds for the reproach thnthewasno 10 be regarded as a God on earth (FootflCM
p
I
\
-
'90. ibid.
\\ 1*0. jluj.
2tt, fold.
P 255, ibrd.
tfft
il.nt.rvr.
I.n/h
mured
if
to
write
ITOnSl
'
proMraiion
to
thee
!
ra
\kbnr and
page
'
ha d
lost
faith
*rf
the
g-
hU^^***
proeec;;:;:;-^
ih at
hi,
MtoZ*fri
^
true.
Htm
the
JtrfShuhbo. M,an
ut| C s
1ne
,-,i..r."
to
only one.
the
tbsohite,
the Perfect
Man
became Here
jst
commonly applied
to the emperor."'
Dr.
Shnvastava admits
jusi to
is
B.idawmi. a fanatic
with Akbar
b> idolizing
Muslim
trip to
Ajmer was
A kh
hoodwink
notes"
with re,
fiivou r
,,
lC(y
lc d
This
only partly
vwu'
Had
!S*
t
Bon
died
Muslims into the belief n! himself was a devout Muslim he need k QO faraway Ajmer. In his capital hive gone to
to lull ranatic
itself
within
six
mom
could have visited some other shrine or recited His real motive was Koran five times a day.
he
ihe
Akbar
a prophet,
'"Friday*
tried
a
ail
along to project
himself as
perfect
himself "On
faith in or respect
i,
M
i
June 26. 15 9 te [polluted the pulpit m the grand Jami Mosque of Faiehpur Sikri and Akbar recited Khmba... According to Badayuni stammered and trembled while reading it and had ed descend the pulpit. It was believed to be by some that the emperor was inspired by an ulterior motive" which was to impose himself on subjects as emperor, prophet and God hishelpl
all
A bars
ruthless
trips
to
Ajmer
against
re
campaigns
Rajaslhan
the gallant
Hindu kings of
inspiring
of Rana Pratap. Ever since Akbar decided to discontinue his atrocious, all destroying inroads into Raiasthan he ceased going to
leadership
Ajmer,
pedition
What
or
I
,
is
usu;
|ii
i
liy
i i
described a*
hunting ex-
w as nothing but
a run
proved to be
shrine at
Ajmer
Muslims swoop on Hindu areas unannounced, Such ruses ire always spi vssive wars. The reader should, therefore. "i' Ucbart tllhcr believing any more
nable
he
10
11
Shnvastava
who had
carlkr stated
ttaJ
P
P
r
266, lluiljniim'
ibid
24',,,
ll
elflj,
IbM
^ijselfAkbar had
lost faith in
Wan
celebrate
r
ibid.
SRJtt^Qn
13
MS,
P. 323,
ftp
T.
COW
230
23|
holdmc a banquet. \i a p I3jrh.il Tell from his horse. Akbar went Raja and graciously relieved him hy his
Jdul
Pltf
hv
*^
t
I
^ )K
hcSh rine of Sheikh Moinuddinchk,r A mi]Q cry then was Ya Muin^l J ||s Jmcr. H', Kl-wja." When , ., * thenj |ie
ing."
'
nK*%
once
or
i
twice
From
the
above passage
it
is
"" powers were another irksome so.ir Ins mth) (>rannies on his subjects \v e h already seen how he compelled Hindus
, ,
Aktw
dcar y
"
spiritual
to
he used to blow hliquor-smelling and dope-laden foul breath other peoples' drinking water or face. The* Ln ictim dared not remonstrate lest he be seiuT* the gallows and his women be molested' He therefore meekly put up with Akbar's filthy antics and feigned to derive great benefit from it Tha satisfied Akbar's vanity. I this
<
ttfcSh-watcr,
Similarly
1Z
deadly game the name of Moinidd in r^l 1 use d as a convenient decoj l0 is hide 7u" motive of his move out of the capital to djiS Uft Ajmer in Rajasthan.
f this
Aj mot RujpuU. not spintual solace H| * objcC twas through death and destruction Be " but dealing on hi ft"* 8 *
merely
nn ,0n
t
wobvim,. VlOUj,
i
80
t0
the
TT
ih*
ii
hoax
practised
on
that he
his
hapless
victims
cake
among
Akbar
takes the
sometimes said that Akbafs conduct matters of religious belief and in worship was guided by political expediency.- This is a clear admission of Akbafs rank hypocrisy. We only wish that it be brought to the fore not "somebut always in talking or writing limes" about
is
H1
all
Muslim
rulers' malpractices.
Akbar.
Birba had to suffer the added humiliation of havmg Akbars fou] breath blown on his injured
face.
Poor
at
them or
TTi.s literally
,a
amounted
to
adding
insult to injury.
had breathed.
He would
miracles,
have people
his feet.
believe
"Akbar was
^ performs
and
vassals
healing the
sick
with the
so that none dared lift his head too high. pleased to accept their
presents though
w ater with
He
was
which he washes
Many young
Women pay
,ha *
J[.
often with
vows
to
him
pretended
not to see
they
may have
children.
And
if
to
Until 1579
otlce
visits.
come to pass they bring him offerings, as to lf "ta, whtoh though they may be of little worth. * rc willingly received and highly valued by him
\l "'
lhm Bs
twice
(3.
14.
f>.
506.
61,
Akbur
P- 504, rbid
-Payne,
Akbar and
the Great. V
Hie
I '
u
'
^uKcd
P8e 5JI.
Akbar
lb,J
33
23*
court have oft c ,' misunderstood and therefore creduloutlj represented dealing* at Ubat \ court. To get at the real import of heir notfogs one has i< under
Europoun
visitors
to
Akbar\
atari
ft d ha
]ijs
,
been
common
>
practice
fci
* f0r
nm
rm%
stand
All these the contemporary atmosphere. Western practically no knowledge of the Motors had court language and, therefore, had to depend on super. rkial DbsetvatioQS or motivated Muffs ud brainwashing by sycophant Muslim courtiers. We know
to the tyrant ;nen to rush itn their children at his feet in a h;a .! , ay bitl lo B|ld TO fkft K:ar , so that he may call a halt
o****?
to
?*
the gi
committed by his barbaric, greedy , Iul lewd horde Those who could escape rape, plunder and maaic"
p; fled in
terror to seek
some
relief
from Ak
from experience
tacts
thai a foreign
visitor circles
whose
con-
are restricted
^
to
cabinet
goes back
of his royal hosts. Those who ect the opportunity to know the people and listen to their talcs of misery would paint a dif-
and
the praises
That scene of multitudes thronging hit-own in abject subjection sobbing, day and night wailing
artd
pathetically imploring
the
voverign to have
Thus. European visitors to Ak bar's court laboured under a double disadvantage namely oflanguage and contacis. Hence readers of their memoirs must be extra cautious in properly interferent picture.
mercy on them and their darling children bid at his feel in complete surrender and humiliating submission
of
Jesuits ignorant
people's yentu
lug to
from Akbar.
gratified
Ak>
It
We.
the
bliss
Akbar used
satisfied his
vanity.
The
to be surroun*
women and
over
children.
But
spiritual
themselves
or
to
be
such masses of mortals to make or mar their He felt greatly elated fortunes exhilarated him. *hen thronging crowds looked up to him in pathetic submission as the one and only
and arbiter
of
their
destiny.
The crowd around Akbar was always of a mixed sort. The throng included courtiers body
guards, menial servants, cringing scribes, prisoners.
Akbar would then 'graciouly" break into his untie drink hi. of 'comforting' them by asking them to warn filthy wash-water or foul- breath -blown
European or Indian visitors, si.me mere idle and thc common men, women and children.
These
la
gazers
.(-mentioned
common
people didn
solace
bill
The descriptions of an Akbar or a Wing in the palace-window at >unsel Q jnd ^plicated by crowds of tag"
Jcftu
come
to
Akbar
relief
lr
^
'
to
be understood
, this light
W nea
temporal
from
A kbar's
tyra mi ical
and whim-
234
XVII
[
he
light
i
properly understood
.
lh
domes
.11
have
!h
all failed
to era
this aspect
FAMINES
Interminable revolts,
reprisals,
reprisals
*****
life
^
i
na
JS"*" m u JZ
,h
r
India.
shattered
Homes battered and Uicir family life reduced to a shambles the citizenry had to run for its life Those who escaped massacre had to remain m hiding
forests
to
and mountainous
in
frequent famines.
Akbar's
no excep-
His tenure too was marked by some of the tion. most horrid famines in human history giving a he to claims that Akbar's was a benevolent rule. His
regime
sultan
being as atrocious as
or
that
it
of any oiler
Bad shah,
if
not mote,
was bound
to
result in
severe famines,
in -the
famines of
capital (Delhi) was devastated and the mortality was enormous. The historian Badayuni
be
with his
their
own eyes witnessed the fact that men own kind, and the appearance of famished
scarcely
.
was so hideous thai one could was look upon them The whole country to ^sert. ad no husbandsmati remained
sufferers
.
till
ground.
richest
wl
generally
reputed to
severely
Ore* M<l*
<;.,.
:^7
in
f5?3-74.
ition,
P.Milemt
ilic
IS
usual
follow
so dull
inhabitants, rich an
the country
AhuJ
0nc may well imagine i he il?***; action of revenue by the Muslim admin ,*'
vagueness
qt Mf,
*
i
with
characteristic
records that
In
1583*84,
as
prices
were high
account
sul
li'
of the dryness ol the year, the means a nee of many people came to :ni J
CJ
iii.
brave the gemma, tore* beast* than tortured to pieces by human h r or a .. A t the time or famine and cTistr
get
ess
omen,
Chapter IXX1V, p. 625) to give any details or even to mention which provinces were affected. If we may judge from the slovenly way in which he treats the tremendous calamity of 1595-98 we may infer that
famine of 1583-84 was serious. It does not seem 10 be mentioned or even alluded to by other
the
chroniclers.
to were allowed
touch of irony in Badayunft above. While Akbar. it vee, gracio Observation allowed his subjects to sell their children for |y of famines, children used to be food in tunes almost everyday m the chaoi that kidnapped
There
is
reigned in those days. Citiz< as were also compelled surrender or sell their children for paying Akbnr's
to
1595 and lasted three or four years until 1598 equalled in its horrors the one which had occurred in the accession year, d excelled the visitation by reason of its longer
in
revenue.
Such children passing through the mill of wdonn abject slavery and menial duties including Islam, ultimately ended up by being converted to
Hinduism That automatically estranged them from
duration.
Abul
Fazal, as already
observed,
slurs
mad
feel like
para-Arabs
over the calamity by using vague words designed to neea the severity of the distress and to save the credit of the imperial government. (Footnote
I
para-Turks
rule in
He
in
in
the accession
year
Mustitn So, famine or no famine, undci for sale India children were a commodity respite i- chattel either to obtain food or
pw
d
when Akbar
mental revenue.
Un
this
year
(981
A*
>*
^heitwasi..C,ujcrutapcncr.ilptil
a dearness
of grain
to
*uch an
w n
in
his
autobiography
in
Si"
and
i-
that
his
IICS
tramkti
'
^'hkWit B*
.
m,
dud
189,
B^av.m.'^lK-uJcJ^
m
nniun*
less
239
iwaiijoM
and number,
hour
people died."
g*
|;oU
tdnt
?* * <^ ***
to
''
h( he
but
A student of Miislrrn chronicles must remember that iln> general Iv mention famines, pestilences or tyrnmn and torture only when such calamities afloci and afflict a substantial lection of Muslims
themselves,
From
* b ve*
As
for instance
Badaytmi condemns
for the
atrocities
justice
earlier
and
Jl
ilTu^ m
-
A k bar's
General Peer
Mohammed
be committed,
not
and ulamas
talismans
clers
-
holdini'
-
cum
helmets.
To
Muslim
chroni;i
was afflicted. To them the Hindus were of no consequence at all because Muslim rule Hindus were expendable
J^ZR Iw
pt0
v
wiZ
nly
Hindu men. women and children were natural fodder for fanaticsm to feed on, that is why almost invariably they use he words dancing girls' and "prostitutes" for Hindu women and 'slaves kafirs. thieves, robbers, dacojis and infidels as ipnymous wilh Hindu males. Even though Muslim chronicles had a lOOO-ycar-chain succession in Hindustan, a Hindu majority country* as a rule they seem to be unaware of live Hindu. They show a marked preference for the biltetst invectives uttered with fanatic emphasis when referring to
I
The implication of the Jisziya tax was precisely Hindus were suffered to live, if at all, and
they lived
thai
-
even
they were to be ruled by Muslim* and were to sweat and toil and slave for Muslims.
Gnjera!
in
the
prey to
frightful
famine.
Hindus.
"when
was
test
making successful
was, in 1574-75,
in
Describing another horrid pestilence, in Gaud tpital or Bengal), Badayuni notes "various diseases attacked the constitutions of the Amirs, everyday hosts upon hosts of people having played out their existence bade farewell to one
another and
the throes of a dreadful famine and epidemic the like of which had nut been seen or heard in living memory. Both lasted for five to six months, The famine was not cm but wn bV drought or the failure of seasonal rains, due to prolonged wars and
destruction wrought bv
it
hundred even
UCh a PUS, lh; the dead, und
!*
ndual
threw
mem
^l^breakdown
5-
of administrative
I
Every
Pp 169-171. Akhar
lie
Great.
24
and he economic system. The historian Mohammed H.nif Qandahan rightly observes hal the- plat eue d famine conned not only on account of u lc ntamination of water and air but also because of the misrule and oppression by the Afghans, Aby . s The epidemic which was sinians and Mirzas. most the plague, preceded the famine. probably The larniiv was widespread and covered (he whole of and a large number of inhabitants left the Gujerat, The mortality was so high that on an province. average 100 cart-loads of dead bodies were taken out for burial in the city of Ahmcdabad alnne, and was impossible to find them graves or grave it clothes The severity was equally felt in the towns and districts of Broach. Patan and Baroda, and in fact in the whole of Gujerat. TJte price of jowar
i
(
>
being
partisan
2** ^ "***
1
'
hey
dynasty
^"^ni
proved
equally
cruel and
no basis to choose
a nd the firm belief that the surest shared way q f islamic heaven was by destroying ing H
,Jtre d
for
a few as bette
^1^ r"
* ,lf
2?2
fadi
to profess Islam.
in
thedescrmif
100
Gujerat famine cited above, is that of Muslim corpses alone had cartloads
of the
to be
taken out of
Ahmedabad
everyday
the
number of
maund. Horses and other miiTLils had to he led on tree barks. There is nothing on record to show that government undertook an\ rehef measures, Abu] Faza the court historian, silent on the calamity. Had Akbar ordered any nd of relief he must not have missed the upporturose
to
six
rupees a
he
Muslims may have formed only one percent of population. Moreover the Muslims were the
If
rulers.
cartloads of
day the loss to the downtrodden and dc* cply hated Hindu community may well be imagined.
casualties
of corpses a day
were obviously
the
Shrivastava
has
hit
fact
When he observes
that
apparent from
that
mation.
about by natural causes but by Muslim and misrule. But we would like to add that
'gned to this particular famine reign applies equally to all famines a rn.llcn.um of Muslim rcgrmci in India,
i
u*
during during
during Akbar's reign almost f India famine suffered from a terrible rr <>m east to west but also from north to
That
*PParent
every part
not on ?
from
the
in
report
that
Hanif Qandnhari is en m blaming the famine on the misdeeds of ;hanv Abys inians and Mirzas alone. In this he
The
histi rian
Mohammad
Juror's stay
^nejMhc
*
-
there
to
November
p 40g, Akbar
24:
243
|ass
jmips
became very dw and Imshandsmen had Jon their hearths and homes. Jerome \.
4
of hc
VI,
i
indigent
w as cm
-
of
itci
thai
mothers
Jesuit
left
their children
u lc w
powson,
i
tially
falsi
tu The
iv<|), '
" '
nat hat
(Elliot
Yemeni
for
iodic.
I he
missionaries
opportunity
to his
JC
&
,an "
Urc
Abul
morsel nfnauery
About
the
Gujemt
J
Fazal far more strongly than the less million* The mortality ntlim
appalling.
Ucr^Lt
oflVn
famine
Vinccm
from
Smiti
Fcnshta, whose
the
observes that "Gujerat (fess liable to famine than most parts of India suffered severely
bn'i
considered
history,
well
X mm ^t
The
famine and
pestilence
.
(I
accordingly
m\ months Prices rose to an extreme height Horses and cows were reduced to feeding on
barks (Tabakai-i-Akbari. Elliot p. 384)."
&
ignored by Elphinstonc, If a minor had not happened to write the few lines historian quoted above, even the bare fact that such a calamity occurred
reports of
1
Dowson. Vol V
would not be on
record..
Jesuit
Around 15%
suffered
Hie
terrible
whole of Northern
famine/'
says
597 note that in that year Lahore suffered from a great pestilence which gave the fathers ihc
India
from
Smith,
opportunity
and
"which lasted continuously for three or four years beginning in 595-96. A contemporary historian records a kind of plague also added to the horrors of this period, and depopulated whole houses and
J
many
infants
who had
M
been abandoned
(Footnote,
Maclagan,
Fully
p, 7l)*
endorsing Smith's
observation
above
ernes,
say nothing of hamlets and villages. In iibcquencc of the dearth of grain and the necessities of ravenous hunger, men ate their own kind.
to
chronicler about the utter unreliability of Muslim Fazal menwe would like to add that when Abul
lions the
and roads were blocked up with dead bodies., and no assistance would be render, 01 their removal (footnote: Nurul Hakk, p. 193). Abul Fazal characteristically glosses over the calamity in language which gives no notion whatevei
streets
I
1 i
he
some poor
Muslims,
have been billeted ith or made a AU> on some well-to-do courtiers whom
to
M"2
if
at all.
punish or impoverish-
of the severit>
their
of the situation.
Abul Fazafsay*
and
er the imperial orders, the necessitous received daily assista nce to every their
JJ^ ; ^^^^[J^dersV
is ".
About
dy
very
died cai
for
satisfaction,
ibid
7*.
P. 93,
-^.^
revert covert
nu* "
, ,
Pp. 19:
MbiU
chroniclers.
KAT.COM.
Ctmpu-r
Witt
245
have already proved erlions of flatterers like Ahul fl8S Fall ouL Akbar having abolished ihTl ob
We
lhc
P',0 i
d8
{
^'
FANATICISM
Akbar was born a Muslim, he Muslim and died a Muslim and a
at lhai-
"h
lived
as
run of histories he is painted as having been anything from a devout Hindu, to an agnostic liberal or a generous synthesizer of the best principles of all religions, Like every other aspect Akbar's Islamic fanaticism too has been whitewashed. Such an image of
And
yet in the
common
fanatic one
contradicted by tacts Individual " |S afteT^V Jain monk Hirvijaya Sur. 1lkc the and l!**"?^ " Sh to ask for special exemption. ? I
suffer
mdu '
11
And
granted
ser jowly.
**
cow-slaughter.
Cow-slanghtef
continued unabated as
rule.
A number of
Akbar was
Hiot
deliberately fostered
l r
under Muslim
rule
GOO-year-Song history of unrelieved and sickening atrocities at least one Muslim monarch should be presentable to posterity. Since Muslim rule lasted for 253 long ye;
after
so that in an unbroken
pointed out
assertions
Akbarnama and
seriously.
Jchangtrnama are
that
to
be taken
Akbar
that assiduously
have a written firman indicating hat Akbar ban cow slaughter should first examine whether
such root in the public mind that Akbar came to be unquestiomngly accepted as a broadminded ruler who was very liberal and tolerant in matters
document they possess is genuine or a forgery. Secondly they would also find that Akbar's makebelieve
deception.
Like lhc
in
exemptions from Jiziya agreed to on.Htaijajfl orders Suri's or Surjun Singh's entreaties lucse
were a
to be counterfeit dared not air their views under the delusion that such falsehoods if left undisturb-
dead
tetter,
ed lead to
voice
communal harmony,
not be heard
Vincent
Jesuits
al
may
or would be denounced
presented
to
Akbir
the
public
We
'"returned to
have overwhelming evidence to prove that Akbar wail no tesf fanatic an Islamite than any other Mublim ruler in India. There is nothing to choose amogust them. They were alt fiercely fanatic.
Ut that
"
it
** them at a much later ctate was no use or no long* "j"*"* or of & * his liberalism
,
of
247
246
Smith
.
lives to
that
rl
filter P
mS
I
last
died as
had SilVl formal profession of his ct VMUcl Boelh0 osscrts lI,Bl Akb ^r
phrases
been the
he
is
p a med
i
Mu ?' m
,
'^^
Hid
he
J?
Hindu
allies
and
helpers,
,>^ m*
tew
about so large a space which occupy n general tolerance Fazal and the sayings of Akbar writings of Abul
j
Notwithstanding the
the
main
acts
o\'
fierce
despatched on December 10, 1580 rector of Goa says 'our ears by Aquaviva to the hear nothing but that hideous and heinous name
The persons invited io SnafE debates were confined ai l0 the firs, i M ^i"r four classes, namely Shaikhs. Sayyids, UuT.2 The House of Worship Amirs. was duto^ tEne* the use of Muslims only," for
. . -
*"A
letter
is
every-
Gulbadan Begam were extremely devout Muslims and hostile to all innovation. Accompanied by Salima Sultan Begum (widow of Behram Khan
sister
reaching the point of definitely becoming a Zoroastrian. He acted jd ihe same way with regard to Hinduism* Jainism and Christianity. He went so far in each religion
and wife to
of
Mecca
in
started
on a
pilgrimage
in
Surat by the Portuguese for about a year. Ultimateaway safely, performed the pilgrimage ly they got
people had
and landed safely in India early in 1582. Gulbadan Begum who wrote memoirs of considerable interest.
preserved
in
Christian."
one incomplete
We
the
in
an earlier chapter,
in
court chronicler
Badayuni that
the
battle
of Haldighal
Akbar's general were unanimous in shooting into the ranks of the Hindus of Akbar's own army on
the
""A large party of male pilgrims under sent charge of a leader (MirHaji) was also continued novel and costly arrangement was warned five or six years, and Akbar
io pilgrimage himself (but he yielded great dangers.. of his ministers because of the
the
the
Mg Uic very
2 3
i' 1*
ground that a Hindu killed on any side was gain to Islam This spun of murdering and massacr-
diuw
Uieii
vd).
6
7.
The emperor
Pp. 94-95, ibid.
issue d
/general
oflfcl
m.
I!*,
159, ibid.
P
'
125, Ibid.
i
9(.
ibid
hid.
8.
P. 96, ibid.
MS
anyone could go
treasury." i he
v\
240
Oil
pi er image at state
I
pM
lit I j.
of
M,oldmg
her*
religious
in
discussion
monarch or Hindxisthan himgo on pilgrimage to Mecca and gives self warns to anybody may go on the Islamic blanket order thai at state expense from money pilgrimage to Mecca usurious and discriminatory extracted by way of to send Muslim citizens to taxes from Hindus is he if not a fanatic Islamic territories what else
hen a Muslim
i
fencing him
tuFfS****
him
lhal
rdedhim
in preaching his
rcli ei0n
at t gre
serviceP. 57,
(Xaviefs
also
letter
Michigan,
Du Jarric.
a
^JJ A ^ ^ ^ $
,
Tfc
of Aug.
9n-i,T
PP
Muslim
have also quoted earlier that Akhar had provided Ahdun Nabi with Rs, 7,000 for his pilgrimage to Mecca.
We
sworn enemy of Hinduism he used to oblige Jesuit priest* by T acm w that |y making over to them forcibly seized Hindu temples for conversion into churches and mansions or Christian use. Thus mediaeval churches similar
in
Ak bar's
the
priests,
Kurs and the Puris at Thancshwar, to annihilate each other, and aiding the weaker side in that
deadly combat with his own fierce Muslim troopers so that ihey may see to it that none of them re-
Agra are Hindu buildings- Dr. Shrivast. IWi 'A notable Hindu family claimed a records
houses that
provide
converts,
to the fathers
to
married
Christian
mained
alive,
shows how
fiercely fanatic a
Muslim
Akbar was.
have already quoted references to Akbar's pilgrimages once or even twice a year to the lomb of the Muslim fakir Sheikh Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer, and his patronizing Sheikh Salim Chistii Had Akhar been inclined towards also a Muslim.
Xavicr succeeded in getting Akbar'! houses remained in the orders from Agra and the hostile Hindu possession of the Lahore mission. The
family suffered
tion
from
satisfac-
We
of Pinhciro (Maclagan, Pp.6|.|. "1 he ehurch being in;, dated Sept. 6, 1604 wrote
large
Xavicr
in his
no
and
"'
well
carried
out
note
his
how
Muslini
soW
to the
*+*gg*
J to*
I
Throughout Akbar's reign temples used to be razed to the ground or misappropriated as mosque* and cows used lo be slaughtered in them as happened in the battle foj Nagarkot exactly as under any
other Muslim ruler.
property
Q.
and make
Akbm
it
vet
or
"
Pp.
ibid.
10.
409 410.
Ihc
GM
p, 407, ibid.
250
251
o that he m with
may continue
to
pet
armaments
which he could
mow down
from
the Hindu.
tJ ,
Ju nml
marched
llS ,
/from
1*1 tu
'
r ampa
..,.
, pill
her with
iiu-
general
Rcuardinc the Nagarkot campaign Mr, SheJat ,,4 'A treaty was arrived at. The Mogul notC5 thai caused a mosque to be built over the gate
urDa,y,Kha,M n
tonV
,
way
throughout Muslim chrom has been used to mean cks the word "built** building for Muslim mpropriating a Hindu thai Hindu gateways used It is well known use music house on top. So the mosque to |,nve a was nothing but u ihe Niicarkot palace gateway of at least a part of the ,he atrocious occupation Here
a:*
elsewhere
pictures of vulgar company. On Uimedabad he was once agl, ln a mdta n n At last relieved from the tyranny irping nobles Muhmud wielded tfo
,
lllfi
J^I
-injects'
aU) for the next nine years, ft began to ^religious zeal by persecuting Hindu
sceptre per
,',
how during 1.000-ycare of M usli ro rule Hindu shrine left without there is practically no mosque wholly or in conversion into a tomb or
That
is
This was a
common
practice,
Hindu was allowed to ride on horseback in was he allowed to enter a bazar withn y city nor patch of red on the back of a white garment on a red one or to weat en or n patch of white The Hindu festivals of Moti or one colour. piwali were banned and so also public worship and
flo
;
,ii
;i
the
existence of a Muriim mrt. This is proved by ihe Hindu shrines like nb at almost all important Lord Krishna, Vishwanaih. birthplace of
the palate died the place where Lord Krishna hdls, Somnatn, of Lord Rama, Palitana and Gintar many mosques and tomos.
home* did No Rajput or Kolt was allowed to move li fear. tout unless, like a criminal he was branded
privacy
if
in
temples.
Kashi
liisnrm.
Anybody found
at
without
to
this
humitomg
iBajl-
iwk
was
once
put
death.
Gujerat, 427)."
an d Ahmedabad's
is
are
Agra church And from the instance of the churches too clear that all mediaeval Christian and
isurpedt usurped
inip
'
Jt
humiltatina ,nv
on
Hindus,
that
it
prevailed
m
'
Gujera
other About Gujerat ruled over by notes during Akbar's time Mr. Shelal
11
IWjg
h1IA generosity and sense *J' *lheiao mention of widUion of he Hindus even aRei ***
inliiv,
I
would have
hailed
as prool
Ak
gj
;
te
Jg jffjff
.
Gujerat
ii
is
obvious
thai
Akbar
>
ru
rf
,,
'
J*e
I\
Pfl
any
difference
to
r iheir nv c
uti%
ibid.
"^ni
"wu the
12
low^X
,.
152
153
end of Muslim rule, in lgj^ whichever race, dynasty or nationality, and what, Hindus a period of errX)f his age. was to the
tury
\o
from
Mohammad
the
Akbar was so
vert not
ever
temple and elephants to hl am Badavimi tells uM that RanaP ra ,w leV *** Prasad which preyed to
lhe
C 7/**
Peer
"On" October
22, 1573
Akbar had
the cere-
llnKiiirhai battle
was named
tnutZ
captured |
mony of circumcision of the three princes performed Willi i!rcat eclat- -In far olTMcwar (in 1574) i Wo districts Mohan and Rampuni were renamed Istarnpur.
Akbar.
or sheikhs,
who
called
to set
up Muslim colonies
in the
but were
generally
indented similar
and
religious
(Shri
Ram
38-39.)'*
commands of Islam and for the fast Hi -i y them whether they repented of their vamti .i>ked At his command they were sent to Bhakkar and
Qandahar and were given to merchant in c\chnge This instance proves that colts," for Turkish Akbar was such a fanatic Muslim that he would not suffer any para- Islamic sect to exist
pilgrims with five lacs of rupees and 16,000 khilats to distribute among the residents of Hijaz (Abut
PaxaTi Akbaniama, Tr, Bevendge, III, 305*6. Even Badayuni admits that the emperor sent many
j
to
at
it
rich
presents
Turab
>ind
Itimadkhan
From
this evident
impossible to give credence to the accusation an of Badayuni and some others that Akbar was
apostate
they daimed Gujcrati brought a piece of rock which Akbar bore Mohammad "s root impression hi: receive it and commanded eight miles to a few st courtiers to carry it by turns,
this
Badayuni being a dissatisfied courtier and a Akbar's rabidly fanatic Muslim he couldn't tolerate he occasional highhandedness and the only way was could vent his spleen on a despot like Akbar. ludub him a Hindu. That was the highest abuse
that a lowly, subservient
it
to the city.
""The
point of
of all
aler
1,000 of the
Hijmcit^Bow^J
should
;^[
courtic
m HMusthn
14.
15.
16,
commemorated
P.243.VoniH^um-cBrom'c.lba.
P. 30t,
P.
like
Vol
It.
ibM
320, ibid
J.
M,
Shetot, ibid
17,
p. 327, ibid
255
354
and cause a
is
history
Muslim
rulers
to be written
indicative of
^ Kmadc
.
"i nl K-
U<*
the
Husayn Khan
^TLT
governor of
ft*
As
Badayuni says ] represented for Hindu Mood. (io Akbar) that I had a very strong desire to take massacring Hindus). i e. part in a hoh war to dye these black to lie presumption to desire moustachios and beard in (Hindu) blood (in the Rana Pratap war) through loyalty to Your Majesty's person' and when I put out my hand towards the couch in order to kiss his feet, he withdrew it, but was going out of the audience chamber he just as called me back and filling both his hands he presented me with a sum of 50 Ashrafis, and bid me
i
days)
Aryans
as 1[in aus
did
Z
thc
ordered
unbelievers to wear a pa ich (Tukra) shoulders, and thus got the nick name of near the Tukriyatpatcher):'
That patch was obviously to mark the Hindus so that even through inadvertance as pariahs
they
may not
get
humane
treatment.
Such div
crimination
under which the mere Hindu was than a dog or pig, was endemic seated, worse
throughout
Muslim
rule,
farewell/'
Manv
when out of
loyalty
1
on concocted
at
stories of
Akbar he expressed his yearning to dye his black Muslim moustachios in Hindu blood by massacring Hindus, Akbar far from expressing any disapprobation presented him a handful of gold coins shows how much premium Akbar put on
massacring Hindus. This should disprove the claim that Akbar unlike other Muslim rulers was well disposed towards the Hindus. Akbar like every other medieval Muslim courtier and ruler deeply hated the Hindus.
In
Akbar
best
had
sneaking suspicions
tional tutoring.
about the
validity
of tradi-
city
theauthenti-
.^J*
to
covertly
be very
Akbars lime
citizens
persecution of the
third-class
rtkMi mistaken,
Akbar aku
neither
^^
conv
methods.
18. P.
^^
1927edition. Calcutta,
254
,er
M*
Hindus were as openly despised, as conic tuously treated, humiliated and humbled and*?* cruelty treated under Akbar 's rule as under an! There was not the slight other Muslim's rule mi Akbar was one of the many links in a difference. chain of Muslim rule in India. That link was of t piece with the other links of the Muslim clu u which fettered Hindusthan,
MALPRACTICES
Akbafs
tyrannical,
faminc^clccn
dden, war-worn and corrupt regime ,* ri very cruel malpractices The* n some were
,*
w'
1
almost from Ihc beginning of ancient legacy Muslim lasted until Mogul power in Delhi ended. TU le and
No blame should
attach
to
hnc
Akbar
foi inventing
practices, is wugm to he ughl built those practices. generous, nsidcrate, n as an ideal, noble, gencrou considerate, mcrup tolerant monarch we wish to point ,ful and
c
that
at
malpractices of Muslim rule continued Akbar's "He neither their worst during n" * ral heir woi s*i uuimg
all
abolished
them nor
softened
their rigour.
One such
branding or all horses in the royal mark thev belonged, with all horses only usurpation of
automatically enslaved The possessor o [ * h horse.
servant
service
every
M* M>^ c(W
w
J Thw*art
^
of
farthing
con4 , U ered
in
return.
any
new
formed Hie basis of ll|,NlJ new territory. Thi- Vincent Smith Gujeral.
"Jg^ ^ mt
.7,
ii
D^ U rbaiK-
imJ i
*Kh
K6.
Akbar
the
G*
258
25&
ft
Todarmil, promulgated the branding regulation a regular system of branding horses.. .based ,, Allauddiii Khilji's and Sher Shah's practice,"
to 1K
The branding
even
practice
was
deeply
relented
m0I camels
to
They were
in
likewise
to
proportion
rule
tffiSl01 **
com?
,
COrrim
* fe had f^n**.
foir
ar> d
by Ak bar's own relations and wealthy courSmith remark* 3 "Mirza Aziz Koka, Akbar's tiers. favourite foster brother was so particularly hostile
(to the branding of horses) that to confine
the
same
their
When
******
rf
\
^'*
I 111 *
Akbar was
at
f
obliged
commander
him
to his
garden house
Agra,"
&r
r
and
rite
Todarmal. a Hindu, became Akbar s hot favouat court only because he permitted himself to be
ruthlessly enforce all of
Akbar's matpractices throughout the realm. Since it was a Hindu who was enforcing hose unconscionable practices on behalf of Akbar Hindus, who formed the vast majority of Akbar's subjects, found themselves between the devil and the deep sea.
a
I
stooge to
did not do well at the musters they were he degraded -The conditio of the soldiers to gi w because the Amirs put most of their worse
servants
and mounted attendants into soldiers' clothe* (and) brought them to the musters. But when they got
their jagirs
they gave leave to their mounted attendants, and when a new emergency arose they
mustered
required
as
many
'borrowed"
soldiers
as
were
and
The great Bengal revolt of 1580 was partly due to the resentment provoked by Akbar's insistence on the resumption of jagirs, the preparation of descriptive rolls, and the systematic branding of
horses
Hence
expenditure of (he Mansabdars remained in status soldier quo duM fell into the planer or the helpless
"
'Shahbaz Khan the Mir Buksh. introduced the custom and rule of Dagh-uMahail, which had been the rule oTsultan Allauddin Khilji and afterwards the law under Sher Shah. Ii was settled that every Amir should commence as a commander of 20 and be ready with his followers to mount guard, carry messages, etc., as had been
'
was no longer Rl fot l<W tea SBui from all sides there came a lot ol c ^enters people. weavers and cotton Cleaners, and greengrocers, both Hind,
so
much
so, that he
wpm
Mta
'
effl
Dak* 10
found
saddle
of the
I
imaginary
ho* <*
3.
P.
Ml
ibid,
P. 265,,
4.
Pp. 193-W.
tfudayum\ chronicle,
hey had to perform* !_ Many times it happened at &c emperor hnn^ii Ifl
^^^ ^ **^
iuJ
hc
i
J~^
vr;
JJ
d<
* fe
**
ibid.
COM
260
lha!
tlun
were weighed
in
their
clothes
inls
who
the
fleeced the
wilh
.
common man
rhe> werc f feci tied. 0Und thdr hands and three maurtds more or less, weigh from 21 10
m&
and
ln
were
all
hired
rowed an
ides,.. Lo
Sharif
of
Amul
-In
hii
questions."
The horror of the above atrocious practice maj well be imagined. Every man was reduced to serfdom. Each one became liable for mtJitan In addition he had to bring his own service. animals like horses and elephants and camels Each one was also supposed to progressively enslave more and more men to be turned into soldiers One who did not submit himself and scores of
others
*2*
S
fil.h
ay,
|0
01l
5ct
x* shown
Hindusthan
for
is
about
a
the
4****
is
licentiousness and no place one interfere* another's business so that everyone itfith tan do 1 Thus, according to Budavani lusi as he pleases-/
all
u Dcn
to
such
for
military
tutelage
to
ravage
Hindusthan
flogged, tortured
under Muslim rule the whole of Hindusthan, whether the Deccan region or Northern lndm. reduced to a place open for all licentiousness, and every Muslim could do just as he pleased.
himself,
It
and
to
was
as
rule
in
India
treat
all
paign
them.
is
saaie
practice
continued
.
in all
rigour and
t'urv
e\
persons aspiring to get some land and rank from Akbar had to resort to plunder of animals and kidnapping of the
animals for the royal musters the
defenceless
for
Akbar's re ig n
people
We
ha \ c already noted
then
a<
R.
and other
Fitch,
stock
being
produced
before
Akbar
This gave
theft,
other malpractices such as bribery, murders, massacres and torture This proves
rise to
that far
from being kind and noble Akbar was one "ft he most ruthless and rapacious monarch* known
f
^V^ i^ 'P^
%|l
" history.
five
slaves
Though
ai
umj
vlc
Thus Akbar happened to be at the apex of y tapacious system based on tiers of big and small
quw
Liitt
262
263
majority of slaves throughout Mu n slaves the as s m of Akbar, were India, including that in Hindu? stock, like animal stock" used to This human be for any menial or immoral duties at assigned nc his courtiers pleasure of the sovereign or
mk
Ajcbar also took as hostage, one ot m. defeated adversaria The of tr ns quired to prostrate themselves mabjee UubLt! ^ytimcthcy were ushered
^ *
,
.ntothe^fc
,
Referring
to
Nl ost
earliest
of these practices
invaders.
Badayum
says
Muslim
'The
h,
of these questions which the emperor asked in these days was(AJf. 983) "How many free-bom Women man legally marry by Nikah ? (i.e. Muslim) may a The lawyers answered that four was the limit fixed
by the prophet.
that in early
were
perfected,
with ruth,
the
rip
all
Akbar was
perfected
truly
the greatest
among
those
who
The emperor thereupon remarked youth lie had married any number of
both
free
cruel practices.
women
and
that
he pleased,
(i.e.
born
(i.e.
Muslim)
slaves
Hindu)/
between himself,
his guests
and
courtiers for
A
to
large
fakirs were
mostly to Qandahar, where they were exchanged for horses,.. The emperor captured a sect of Sheikhs... At Akbar's command they were sent to Bhakkar and Qandahar and were given to merchants to exchange for Turkish colts."
sent
other places,
Another
that
sinister practice
was Akbar's
insistence
vanquished adversaries send choice women from then entourage and families to Akbar** harem,
*
*
P. Ill, ibid.
308, ibid.
COM
ii
the
1GS
REVOLTS GALORE
Every
aspect
^
was so
peered
s
mm ^
parganaofB,^
plu
'
"^d
mthc
ome
the
Gurgaon m odern
>
?
R 8jpuil
***,
Shahba *
of
A k bar's
1
character
Khan
collector
tWk
fii!?
of Bauat
mate relations inson. Jehangir alias Sallm, and courtiers ins C The whole of his reign w revolted against him
revolting "that practicall)
l
II
is
him * lf
^Jt*f
and out to be
t of
marked by unending
wars.
revolts,
besides
interminable
the generoib.
he
,s
often
made
Vincent Smith remarks' "Akbar usually had a rebellion somewhere or the other on his hands and
the unrecorded outbreaks of disorder in the provjnmmarily dealt with by the faujdars. must
contentment should have prevailed during hh time, and on his death his subjects should
looked
hope,
m 2tl
-
it
upon
love
have
and
respect.
Instead
rumour
Akbar's death unleashed the pent up seething d content of the public. It was only Akbar s cruel
The vast empire Dr. Shrivastava notes thathardly ever enjoyed complete immunity from some
*
and ruthless
measures, which were the despair of ever>'body from princes to paupers, a hich prevented
them from overthrowing Akbar.
that
kind of disturbance" or
rebellion.
Some
chief or
They
all
wished
killed.
To
the
serious
reign
head
in
revolt
It
is
disturbance.
One
important example will suffice. In February 1590* while one dav riding a female elephant, which was
Hacked by a ferocious male companion, Akbar fell to the ground, received serious injury in the
wc reproduce below relevant passages from a cross section of historians who have written on AJctett Muj/wnv Vincent says 3 Khwaja
and became unconscious. Rumoi: ab^ui the seriousness of the injury and p< alh, w hich caused revolts in distant
face
P. 276,
2.
spread
bly
,
Suin>
''
**d
driver
3-
irts
of
*Hmnww
*Ju
to
hunti"
attacked,
arrested
**>
alone.
Akbar
He
thfl
Great Moaul,
ibid.
P. 3bl. ibid.
JSanjnCwalior
P. 49, ibid.
w^
.'..I-
2ft?
Mi issued
hunting'
is
,.
1
not to be
Muslin,
indicate lo
!cad
^"g
I,?
CT
*t
h ">"
ft*
value
is
Throughout
used not
all
hl a
Sj S
should
hi5W>
Muslim
i
"
rd huntinghut of
Hindus, and so mc
griien Mogul.
rebel*
^g
expedition
killed
everyday
^*^j^
to
"8|
their thm.
nf Pec,
Abdulla Khan Uzbek, successor Julv 1564 Malwa revolted Mohammad (governor) in
m me
iucrcd
Gujerat/
Mandu
pleasani
and
drove
-Just about this time (1572 end) it Ibrahim Mirza had murdered a person of that donamed Rustam Khan, and was mediiaiin? uomww iwwiii ixiiau, ana unction Lincuo" mediummisdeeds. Sural was the chief s cnicl further
*****
stronghold
T h,
prince of
life
at
Kabul had invaded the Punjab, Khan khutba in his name. Towards Zatnan recited the February (1567) Akbar arrived at Lahore
the end of but his brother had
Indus... Intelligence
interrupted bv the
news that
Mohammad Hakim
Akbar, then near Barodu, decided to Barodu. of the Mirzas. march against the enemy. When he came near he learned thai the enemy the fort of the Mahi
was holding Sarnal, a small town on the ol the east of Thasia. Baupu five miles to brother of Bhagwandas was slain* 24." Akbar returned to his camp on December
ide
ihc
already
retired
across the
Mirzas...
of
called
-Soon
rebellion
after
Akbar's
out
return
from Gujera
necessary to quit
broke
under
the
fatal*
the Punjab
May
1567
Akbar
rebellion
left
Mohammad
Ate
milriu
of
little
Khan
Zaman. The rebel chiefs given over to drunkenne** and debauchery had no sentries posted. In the battle which ensued Khan Zaman was killed brother Bahadur was taken prisoner and beheaded.. Several leaders were executed by beiil trampled to death by elephants. (The tight took place in a village of Allahabad district). An order
:
organized more than a loosely equipment been exhausted and the to It wai necessary, iherebie, Oa ' pedition from imperial funds. fca wto he was ready and rode out rhcbimkJ f
^
:.
covered
dtNluncc
ol
600
11
^cinbcr
151
prisoner.
**"
P. 53, ibid
P. 56.
.hi,!
Pp. 79-80;
ibid.
5.
8.
P. 185, ibid.
57.
ibid
:68
7m
was slain. The Mirza Wasdeca&i In accordant with the gruesome custom laicd" of vas built with the heads the toes, a pyramid f 2.CO0 in number. Shah rebels, more than the MirJ
Uhtiv.tru]
MMk
n Akbar
Burop-
intended
I
ii
to
is
M
'
to
ay
cc
iM[
awnv from
Deccan.
*****
|h-
added
The
influential
Muzaffar continued to giv c m,u, regions or Kathiawar an, wild <vhcn he is captured He suicide by slaving hi, emitted ,.,./
I
is
In April 1380 Muzaffar 580 January. Khan of Tanda was captured and killed with all sorts of Akbar dared not go in person to tortures.
in
1
quell
Hi,
started 0IV
n cph
By 1584 the rebellion had been generally suppressed. Rebel leaders were punished n diverse ways,".., Akbar never felt any scruple
the disturbances...
up as sultan on his own account, (but soon tin after the rebel's head was brought fei hkbtr'i
1
inspection)**
II
about ordering the private, informal execution or assassination of opponents who could not be exccuted publicly,"*
leader of the conspiracy at court was Shah Mansur the Finance Minister. Letters from him to Mohammad Hakim (Akbar's half brother
10
Asirgarh
for
marked
the
waning
of
\!
:lly
Hiscortquesi
tadbeenpi
His
cont in tunts
u"The
45 years.
In
rem
Jchaai
view of
(fi
RbcuV
to Agra
May
Ml
Pimo
itl
Sutim*< prolon
who
ruled
epared to
rebellion, prince
DantyalVd.
md
oili
tadd
while
v,
was
the
finally
im-
Wb
^ the
strength
of
On Februarys,
Sikri.
1581
L7^
y
B
C
w
-
r
1
en
solemnly k hanged."
im d their ammunition ai .hue hc* did Ins best to pcrsu-k them "l do lol j, c rhriNiian id
|
an
,>
l0
G<*
his
.'
atkmj?
rival
Iha
'
accredited
I".
to
147
i.,.'-
court
iri
AW*
Hc
J* ***, I
1
-
II
i
pp
P,
|
9,
Ibid
137. Aid.
g
Ibid
Ibid
pp.
207-m
'
'
"
270
27l
the
sign
of the
Po of Jesus and Mary.,. Throughout the ve 1*02 Salim continued to hold court a Allahah^H and to maintain royal state as king of the province which he had usurped. He emphasized his claim t* royalty by striking both gold and copper
traits
I
and round
his
cross.
cd
m
Z
Bahadur and Iskander to ravne parganas of Surharpur near Fai^aT,^ aman one of Akbar B generals,
wa
-,
JjJJ?
monev
specimens of which he had the impudence to send to He sent his adherent Dost Mohammad his father.
was dining this rebellion thai Hindu temples in Ayodhya red sftC Rama, were desecrated aJec^riS^ of Lord mcd *o mosques by the Muslims.
It
T*"
rebellion Sher
of Kabul as
his
Mohammad
envoy to negotiate with Akbar. Dost remained at Agra for six months, His
to
all
takmg
advantage
Mohammad
confusion
of
he
conditions were that Salim should be permitted visit his father at the head of 70,000 men, that
his grants to his officers
"The
rebellious
Mirzas
proceeded
to the
be confirmed, and
the country.
that his
adherents should not be regarded as rebels... On August 12, 1602 early in the morning Abul Fazal
"Mohammad Amin
officer, fore,
Diwan.
to death.
an
important
there-
to
make
the day's
ordered
be put
His
life
was
Singh,
the
Bundela
chieftain of
spared
Orchha, whom Salim had hired for the purpose. Abul Fazal was transfixed by a lance and promptly
decapitated.
the intercession of some courtiers But he was ordered to be beaten up and so he fled
on
His
head
was sent
officer,
tied
from
to Allahabad,
where Salim received it with unholy joy and treated with shameful insult. (Abul Fazal was murdered near Serai Barar, 10 or 12 miles from Narwar)"
Hindaun. his assignment, to Gujfi revolt on hearZaman again set up the standard of to Hakim was on the march ing that Mirza
Lahore.'"
w "lt
father's
is
desired
his
"-On August
hunting expedition
the
P{^* -M*J -
About the numerous rebellions during Akbar** reign Dr. Sh rivastava says ""Khan-i-Zaman deput15.
P.
234, ibid
"
IT,
P. 237, ibid
P. tOt,
Akbar
272
m
..it
I
Mi
***
trit.
Above
have failed
chronicles
irtcd
in
is
a dear
ion of
how
liisto
2
,
rebellious
MuSF
AVk **
,
asserts that
on a hunting expedition, and then n tions two objects which have nothing to do Hence \vc wish to caution animal hunting.
students of
ing*
Jh
'
was spared and yt was In* Khwaja Ahdu* Shahi<T ;; cll Saml s \Tirza free was rejected;"
,
^^M^ * y**
1L" I** ppcal *t
X
t<J
Jj
Muslim chronicles
thai the
A
inislic
be
had from the superficial men n ing of the word* They need a special key. For example, the term 'destroyed temples and built mosques* only means that Hindus were ousted from their temples and mansions and the same buildings were used as mosques and tombs. That is why all mediaeval mosques and tombs in India look like Hindu temples and mansions. Similarly a Muslim's
marriage with a Hindu woman must be understood to be a case of kidnapping and the word dowry
Akbar's harcrn Them disgusted with Akbar's got selves trcachermi deal" d revolted against him. It also shows an hu panders and ravagers were recommended even
for
SSn^
kp
leniency
fact is
by
Muslim
Tor
fakir, revolt
Another
lasted
pertinent
that Sharfuddin *s
for eleven
to book.
Hbraluni
and
the
*'
territory
completely subdued
us
in
BharmaFs
case.
when Akbar left Ahmcdabad (April 1573). Ikhtiyartdar ul-Mulk supported b* Raja Narayandas. or Rana Piatap) and the mmh ot (Fuiher-ui-la-A
!
After conquering Gujerat "Akbar resolved a nrpate the Mirzas w had seized a considerable part of Gujerat. When the siege of Sural vin progress Ibrahim Husam Mirza attempted to
t
Sher
Khan
Mohammad
m Husam Mim,
auladi
was
veiled
who turned
from
turned,
make a surprise attack on Agra...Mirza Sharfuddin Husam, a former governor of Nagour and Ajincr
iio
in
kidnapping
the Jaipur
Khar other things Vtuiaffar tk regulation of branding of Min. qucmly dismissed from the Prime
-Among
mw
honj^JJJp
Bharmal's daughter for the royal harem) and an inveterate rebel who had fled from the court in
ruler
**
25.
1
1*
143,
t>p
145-150.
151. ibid.
ibid.
Pp 137
ibid.
P.
i.
'.'
(Coka
had
Med
27S
to
maintain
immlvi ofcavalij in his services to bring l>a\c Ins horses branded. the muster and arrested and degraded! Altbaf. Ihcrefbre had him bceo m n e c \ pre ss on s a bo u 1 1 he re fo mis.
,
fixed
to fat,
lo
a* *?***'
*
lhc
f
\...k.i
I
>
\klMi%
foster
brother.
"
He
Vas
provinces
fjcfS Bt lhe
kl
!t
was
in progress and
some
apol< gteing
Shal bai
P ,iifn rime
inM
Fatehpur Sikri who were k rebels formed a plot the object of whlc h Akbar, proclaim Mirza Hakim
10 join the
rebels
tn Bengal,
JJ^g
as the
JL
***
w^
Z
despatch to Bihar and Bengal where the Mogul officers were in rebellion.'
1580 for
march a d
The plot leaked out. the conspirators were imprisoned and among them, Miraki, was pat to death. the chief
ss
"Raja Madhukar. elder brother of Bir Singh Dc\ Bnndela and ruler of Orchha was in rebellion. Akbar sent an army under Sadiq Khan to reduce him to submission. After a brave and stubborn resistance he submitted (in May 1577), He however revolted again and continued to give trouble till ht> death in 1592 A.D.
"Sheikh Abdun Nabi who had enjoyed great ascendant in Akbar "s mind for over 10 years fell into disfavour aboui the end of January 1578. At the end of 1578 Abdun Nabi, was dismissed and
.
(n
Bengal "the
Mirza
Hakim
khmba
Mirza Sharfuddin, an arch rebel and in his name. governor of Nagaur and \jmcr who was a former kept a captive in the fort of Tanda and had managed lo secure his release on April 19, 1581 was The real leaden were elected leader of the rebels. Masum Khan Kabuli and BaHa Khun
Khan
arrest
Turkoman was
deputed to
replaced as chief S idar by Sultan Khwaja returned from Mecca. Towards the end
who
had
will.
of 1579
Mohammad
emperor.
the
and bring to court MiitU Mtffc *ho Yazdi and Mir Mwazzul
against religion* disaffection speedily exceu
; c
1
exiled
to
Mecca
against his
in
were spreading
On
return
tt
hid in
1583 he died
suspicious
at
circumstances/
boat
coi
duej,d*
Akbar's behest.
near
"^\
news
P
28
19.
"Encouraged by
to
31
lhe
Hikilrt
invade
India.
ibid.
MasuiD Faiaai
30
Pp 26S-273.
p. 274,
.
32
33.
ibid
'bid-
p p 276-278
:<J
tali
Bahadur (son of
the
title
Md
,. 1S
r.>r
.
some time
In
secretly
entertained
Said
icditfou
,
opcnl)
unfurled
riw
the
Hap
ol
rebellion
tanpur.
ht the fort
campaign
his
Shaltbaz Khan occupied of Ayodhya Akhar mcrciHie city rhe next da) Ifce tbrt and Khan ithc royal comntanderi fully ordered shahbai not to molest the family and dependents of the
rebel."
to k him, in a us forced
wW med
Kh
**^ *,
^ ^
e T, fhut hj
nd *<U jmt
|h ,
fur a fexw
farmy,^*
td
acid conspicuous m,lu ar C J2**** miolcnt behaviour was '"* gU ilty of put unl' arrest in custody." n d kept
had rendered
The
fori
li was desc and a place sacred to the Hindus, crated in Ak bar's lime for the umpteenth lime by mediaeval mosques m Muslim invaders. All
WAftcr his success (against the Bengal rebel* Chan-i-Azam begged to be relieved nf Khanthe hisdi du rebellion of 1580-83 constituted a Thc
to
great danger
empire,
h wa t "a
is
Ayodhya arc ancient temples and mansions hallowed b\ the divine incarnation. Lord Rama.
Akbar's special
instruction
that the enemy**
w
and
to Bihar as
gencralty
those two
most of
the
women
should
not
be molested,
and
is
Banaras,
clear evidence
provinces of
Allahabad,
campaigns Akbar"- troopers had not only a licence but were specially encouraged to molest women of the rival side. The exception made m this case indicates lhat Akbar wanted some of Hie captured women for his own harem.
thai in all other
Awadh, and
ministers
modern Rohilkhand.
Some
of the
and topmost
Itis
"^Gujerati noble Aitimad Khan had thrown lot with the Gujerati rebels and was, therefore.
it
to
jail.
The
important province of
in 1583."
Gujerat
witnessed
''During he period
I
when Akbar
was proceedin
another rebeilion
" ao
The
"ia early in
the protec-
1582) hut
one
|
nighl
while
,h c
fr(mi
the
pa acc
j
1C
w as
1592 and once again rallied in under foe wild Afridi and Urkzai tribesmen rebellious standards On March II. Akbar frontier forces ob %ed to depute the Kabul and
l
assassinated."
n
34
291. ibid
P
P
315, ib.d
h'
129
'ii.
ibid
ibid.
[bid
Pp. 347-49.
,.M
279
I
and Asaf Khan respectively under Kasim Khan (o Raushaniya rising. Kaktani aud pui d^wn the
ler (hc rU
Mahmudzai
The
The
Jgyof
ing
rcduccd
r
lo
beloved
revolt
of
BJ , oppressed
Jalala held his
revolt
But
Wahadat AH
relation
own
tubal
^
vv|(h
flS
.ta^S** "
SLS"'
1
*mni.
a great
honour conferred on
T *"'
a
"
On
Raja Basu or
Mau
alias
Nurpur came and did homage. Although he had submitted to Akbar long before, yet when the royal army had suffered a reverse in the frontier region Accordingly an army he felt disposed to revolt.
was
sent against him.'
ii-During Mansingh's absence at Agra occurred in Bengal (Mansingh rebellion and undertook a prolonged in |599
routed
rmh
mm*
the
1
Afghans
in
lime the
an
come
and several other historians are wrong in stating that "Bharmal came and submitted to Akbar, Raja Ramchandra came and submitted. Raja Basu came and submitted", and so on. This
Dr. Shrivastava
end)/
*" Another
rebellion occurred
in
Bhatha
or
his
Baghelkhand.
capital
Ak bar's
gave an opportunity to
Akbar had
lustre which
(modern
43,,
Rewa) to
some
sent
irresistible
attraction
and unique
ruler
ruler after
Hindu
voluntarily
like
and
irresistibly
hurtling
towards Akbar.
It
moths
was
During Akbar's absence in the Deecan in 1600-1 Raja Basu of Mau in the Ban Di-ab of the Punjab, the Raja of Jummu, and some other
chiefs
All looked
upon him
and
disgust.
be voluntary behind a gruesome and ruthless campaign of cruel plunder, massacre, rape, arson and desecration of shrines. It is an insult to the bravery o\
to
it
insinuated
of the north western region revolted, The powerful contingents of troops had to be sent.
chiefs
of Lakhanpur.
in
Jasrota, Mankot.
Ramwrh
of u
*ud
JCobast
the
mountainous
in
tracts
imjtef
had
fought the MuiUm invaders for ,000 long years and ultima^ I) rendered them impotent, to insinuate thai iln-'V for submitted to Akbar out oftovc for him or just The mi st glaring instance is that of Bharmal
gallant
India's
Rajput
1
rulers
who
to Kashmir.
PP. 376-78.
4 2.
At
tins
time
U#* w
"
38|, ibid.
43
158, .hid
!K
i
local
rebc
and
to
th c
l111pLMl)r ,
ad
unsuccessfully
l|t
overawe
th
ar A kbor.
,
LIS
his
Thus throu E hom al! ^^i throughout /SjKj*^ Hd tt regarded a, public enemy N* ) >'<
^t
Verinaa
sons.
When
it
towce of tfceJhclum river, and several other Hindu shrines which doited Kashmir By a cruel irony ihe Kashmir archaeology depart! ment ascribes to Akbar the construction of the very buildings that he ravaged and razed to the p|j ni
temple near the
|,
crime to i ?? '* av 'lThe souls of the great malthaa"*? * kb * rormented and tortured must *
'
able
is
"
J^
ng
,
hil0 *"
be
fl
Un _
ZZ mm du
l t
,
*m h
mb
the
level
and reduced 10
their prevent
state
of gaping
ruins
i4
I
Akbars
and
fostei
brother
secretly
r
)
out for Diu under the pretext of making an attempt to capture it from the Portuguese (March 25. 1592), He
embarked on a ship with his wives, six sons and six daughters He was shamelessly fleeced by the priests in the lemple of Kaba in Mecca.*' Finding
unbearable he returned torn between and the deep sea.
|A*
the devil
Ahmadnagar people were so exasperated agamst the Mugal.s that they plundered some of
ing
the
retreat-
years oT Akbar*,
life
were tormented
tLn
r,
The
eldest of
"
Earlier
CHAPTER
2H3
\
rcferenc
uicle8
to
the
exisl ctlcc
;
Bt'll.DlMiS
cd
wnv cemurau aching back into many c.,._ _ \k ? Pyr What is more Fatehpur Sikr, ha, r "' *" 10 as the royal headqua,
r
,
^
and
til,. ikr,
,,/
have built u number offQft founded many towns. This and palaces and is a hoax played on B gullible world by a big
Akbar
is
said to
At
t
the
l
outset
C
!;
wc w '*h
to
lC
succc
^? l
TJ^^
Any
township
of
m akc
{
it
dear
th*.
qe
Wr"
Siir
of Muslim chroniclers as the one projeciko a cruel and Fanatic Akbar as n noble and libera]
ssion
as unl;
Sikri.
Fathpur or
indicate
chapter that all those palaces. Forts and townships are of ancient Hjndu origin. The) existed centuries before Akbar was even born, and were merely occupied by him as the heir to Ba bur's acquisitions India.
It
ruler.
will
be proved
in
this
the
the hillock
bedecked with beautiful Hindu redsione palaces! the focal point and the dominating feature forms
A clear
are
indication that
is
all
synonymous
1
Fatehpur Sikri
Twenty three miles to the southwest of Agra is a township called Fatehpur Sikri. The ancient
Yahya Bin Ahmad in his Tarikh-iMubarak Shahi He says that "by order of the Sultan the family and
dependents (of
Mohammad
who
Hindu
Muslims
capital
SIKRI when
Khan
fort)
ruler of Bayana,
captured
by
the
was renamed Fathpur/ And Fathpur' means only a 'captured town" it was
It
it.
the
and
sent to
since*
November
the
1426
called
'Fatehpur SIKRI.
around
plain
The
a
walls
very
large
a
and
ImU-ek,
On
the hillock
there
redsione gateways and a majestic palace complex, They are purely in the Hindu, Rajput style,
magnificent
B
1
these
and
iheu
Before Muslim occupation of an independent principality *l* B as its fortune garters according J
the origin
FaiehgwrSifcri
^ J
""
palace conn
into
Mogul
Akbar,
ruler
India.
tT^Vol
tv, Eilioi
k 0o*m
284
Testifying to this!J Cot Htaiht histoid says- "(Rana San Todd, a > tcd hisioiten,
Singh) came
to the
jW
g
,
..\nntii.-i
reference in
Mewar
Jlrn
,h
1405
which
is
151
throne
vcatK^'W
Ke
v
p ateW
in
Rim ol the higfocsj Eipht> thousand horse, seven rank, nine Raos and 104 chieftains, bearing
of Rawal and Rawut with 500 elephants folio wed him into the field (against the Mogul invade, The princes of Marwar and Amber did Baburi him homage, and the Raos of Gwalior, Ajmer
titles
509 A. b
; sls
defeated and
lied,
the
feH upon him and tse l He uUl not escape se,U to Fatehpur/'
woundcd^l^ *
1
Kh *
* kllW^'SftS
TCs
S||BW1
Mahm.iid.
SIKRI, Raisen, Kalpee, Chanderi, Bnondi, Gagrown Rampura and Aboo served him as tributaries.
.
lo scare potential l, rebels n, indicates, therefore, thai the towering gateway f Fatehpur Sikri, known as Buland D arw
aza existed
ung on gateways
*?+
1
Th
ncanceof
The above passage makes it clear that during the time of Ak bar's grandfather, Babur the Fatehpur Sikri principality j> ruled over by a Rao
even 151
sending
pur
Sikri
places, lo Fateh-
royal residence
who owed allegiance lo Rana Sangramsingh of Mewar. The redstone palace complex which modern visitors are made to
I
Rajput chieftain)
generations before Akbar, having been conquered by Muslim invaders from the Rajputs who were
the creators
and builders of
believe
the
Akbar's creation,
complex there
is stated that At mother place than (the rounder of the Sayyad dynasty)
it
'Khizr
Tracing the origin of Rajputs of the Sikarwal clan Col. Todd says8 -'They have their name from the town of Sikn (Futtdipoui which was formerly an independent principality Sikarwal Rajputs
* 1 '
remain
cd in
Falhpur and did not *. u> Ktan Sayvad ascended the throne
This
prior
Delhi
in
is
Kto
i
May
ol
reference to
to
Fatehpur Sikn
accession.
\\
whose origins reach into the hoary immemorial past They did not originate in
the post-Akbar period since the Rao or Sikri had fought against Akbar's U grandfather Babur.
Akbar's
palatial
is
clear
had
buildings
-^ Mw KM ***** m "
Since
that
r
should, therefore, he dear that the Sikarwal Rajputs the redstone palace complex in Fatehpur =>i*ri several centuries before Akbar.
Akbar.
Babur the
the palaces at
grandfather of
iLhar A r
-
Fatehpw
Sikn, aW'"
13
Mtbtf't coronation
J
and
yw
^k ^ xm
*'i
lesiifies lo
d r
Vo1,
'
Annals
fl
nd Anliuuitics of Rajastoan*
4.
5
P
l
-JO,
Vol. IV Elliot
ADo*
44, ibid
Cf:l#K-35
28?
hiriti.
f sl
persons; and ; employed on my SIKRI. Bayana. Dhulpur, Gwalior and Koel Agra. ">ycd on my works 49 he re were employ sl0
1 '
1
evcry(la
frfon
taking
for a
camp,
it
the
** S **
1
o"When
any
(i-e.
was
is
Abdul
five
curlers'*.
kanwaha
the admisin
which
precautions he advanced
Aziz's h
W lhow
l
Agra,
fCb'el
Gwalior and
Rana Sanga's Hindu pagans armv? march forward. When thc V ,TnL the 8
sooner
**
were several palaces a II equally magnificent. This clearly means that the red stone palace complex at
Hindu
building occu*
than a body of 4000-5000 o once pushed on and fell u pon him.' ai On first charge a number of very Abdul
learned
we re
the
Babur
ing
conquered
Sikri
defeat-
Aziz's men taken prisoner and carried off the field t detached Mohmnerd Jang Jang to cover then (The enemy) had reduced Abdul their retreat.
.
Aziz
to great
straits."
Fatehpur
that
his
decisive
is
clear
from
the
above passage
that
the
away
at
Kanwaha alias Kanua. The engagemcni Kanwaha was between he advance columns of
at
I
Rana Sanga and Babur. A large reservoir of water several miles in circumference used to exist outside the elephant gateway of Fatchpur Sikri. That reservoir supplied water to the Faiehpur Sikri township and the large herd of elephants maintained by the pre- luslim Rajput rulers in Fatehpur Sikri. Babur observes 7 "There being a
large tank
engagement fougnt at Kanwaha alias Kanua was not between the main bodies of Babul's and Rana Sanga's armies but between small detachments of both and that Babur's Muslim detachment was
Students of Indian history fore, been grossly misled by their which assert that Rana Sanga was
routed.
have, theretext
books
at
defeated
it 11
w aha.
It
on our left. encamped there to have benefit of the water "It occurred to me. situated as was. of all places in the neighbour| I
'
3, T u ,ik .i-Bataan. Vol. IV. Elliot and Do*<M26B. Vnl. IV, Elliot Oowion. ibid. zbj, ibid.
authors of Ncre academicians who have nertftf P ^ar^nor have made any study of At
9
-
believed that mediaeval *ere fought in open fields or baie plains, meowa a gross error in the understanding of history. This error has crept into bee because those books have
is
commonly
battles
^^feS
?. 267, ibid.
*
289
in his
always been Mediaeval bottles have rough, walls and bastions. Even modern g massive An army Me fiw*M * cross tarricikh-s shdMol in an embank. encampmeni *> '1"^* up earthwork, bunkerj nH3U barricade, thrown The three decisive battles fought at Panipai eic. 1556 and 76 1 were fought there because in (524 the defenders had entrenched all the thiee cases
uaiwa
own
capital
mn
Like
the
engagement
at
was entrenched behind the ftanga fcitade. the final decisive and that of Babur was
Kanr
.
,
nL
**
J,
Sang a
inside
was
its
camping on
fci** Ib^^ *
pal.ee
walls
the
Fatehpur
S ***
J
beayily
fortified
township,
co" J
nea/th
and
citadel of
Pan
be
isolated
bastions,
still
We
his
fortifications
may
seen
testifying
to the
camp was
ihose three in important destruction wrought battles and innumerable raids and engagements 1000 year long Muslim invasions and during
revolts
close to Sikri and the reservoir. We another passage from his Memoirs
to *a ythal
""The
of a small hill
a
directed
infidels to be construc-
The battle of Kanwaha was no excepts On his march towards Fatehpur, Sikri which was then owned by Rani Sanga, lie had encamped at Kanwaha because there he had a palace and a fort. Such fortifications and royal residences existed Even after at every few miles during Rajput rule a millemum of destruction by Invading Muslim nes such palaces and citadels may ^ill he seen at Kanwaha, Fatehpur Sikri. Bharatpur. Bayanu.
Dhoipur, Agra, one another.
rectifying
ted".
l2
"When
Adil
reach-
Fatehpur Sikri they went to visit Sheikh Sulim one of the holy men of the age. This reference" again is of a time when Akbar was yet unborn.
ed
,3,4
The Mir
Bin
Thu Latin "in A- H. 971 (1563 AD.)" was only seven years after Akbar's accession and
Abdul
refers
Gwalior all
to
^t even
wothe
of a palace at Kanwaha Tud says "''Rami Sanga was of middle -' He was celebrated for energetic enterprise of which his capture of Muzalfar kin!
to the existence
1
""After
"
'1
this Sultan
Mahmud
P.
&Da**0D.
P. 483, ibid,
P. P.
1(1
PP
IbU
Antiquities of
294, ibid.
'*.
346
ibid.
290
291
w
a &c
-
Fatehpur Sikri two generatW .r h}; refers to who is supposed to have founded before Akbar
Fatehpur
Sikri.
Shfti the
Emperor Baburm
^g?d
Cfrcikli
^h
for
Sa1.ni
Chisti
Chis^ ^
m,
rQom
him-
"^ *>*
is- when Sher Shah marched from the capital arrived at Fatehpur Sikri he ordered of Aera. and army should march toeach division of the
that
mch
incensed
a
Sher Shah ruled from commenced iwo years born and it ended when Akbar before Akbar was Akbar was at that time was only three years old. yet Fatehpur Sikri existed in in Afghanistan and
order of battle/ gether his reign J540 to 1545* i.e.
in
the resolution
or
eL^
Pnv,n
&
**
$ J
while other says, that she discovered protector (Behram Khan's) design the to confine him. a plot she is stated to have
seals
;
n*
|y
(Maham A naga)
suggested to the
India,
"* Adil
k
his nobles,
a conversation between Behram Khan and the queen dowager. This, they say was which determined Akbar to quit Agra/' the cause
overheard,
in
to
Shah, son of Sher Shah). When he reached Fatehpur Sikri, Islam Shah came forth to meet him in the village of Singarpur." This reference to Fatehpur Sikri is of a time when
his
brother (Islam
Ferishta
reason
thus gives us a
clear
and cogent
Humayun had
not
returned
Innumerable such references to Fatehpur Sikri reach back inn the dim centuries before Akbar.
Agra being an ancient seat of government it was full of senior and powerful nobles who were privy to Bhcram Khan. Ai this He had fallen time Akbar was only an adolescent. Therefore out with his guardian Behram Khan.
Fatehpur
his he might be done to death by piqued guardian Akbar moved from Agra to
fearing that
The reason why Akbar left Agra for Fatehpur Sikri was his fear of being murdered. He, therefore,
fatehpur Sikri so
al adherents
traditional
that he
It
could be
sure
who
hi
thought
it
prudent
to
shift
his
capital
were
was
Fatehpur Sikri which had all those palaces built by the Rajputs before the advent of the Muslims" 1 India. T hose palaces had been the haunt oi
15 >*
t*
accounts would have us Akbar suddenly thought c( 'building "" Sikri and as suddenly leaving it.
'"
m
ew '
404, ibid,
.bid.
17-
P-481
P.
1
,21,
i*n
vol.
IL
***********
Brigs*, ibid-
CTOICM?.
193
292
Fatehpur Sikri from about 1562 t is the precise period in which This 1585 Akbar s sard to have buill Fatehpur Sikri.
reported to have Soon moved Fatehpur Sikn dnd his campa.gns began from to
thereafter he
is
and ended
al
the popular belief that Akha h S,hm Chist.s hermitage m *v* a canard pa mcd on offbyT'^b aS ed to credit Akbar with the "anted bui,
F^
T^
Wllh
lVei
liut e
cross examination.
Firstly
AkW*
Akbar's entourage consisted of live thousand harem women, a menagerie of ,000 wild animals
J
wh0
fl
and thousands
of
nobles, generals
and
lesser
to Fatehpur AH officials, Sikri at a moment** notice and live in a capital of which even the foundation had not been dug,
these could
not
move
m
to
is
worth
his
name and
J 1* * fe?
7
not
5 alt
undertake the deliveries of others' nol w, vc shuns the world precisely to get recluse rid or Thirdly Sheikh Salim Chisti is , ,rries.
himseS
* such
'*' Akbar s earliest Hindu Mr. Shelat notes consort, the daughter of Bharmal of Ambar, who
k
running a maternity home. have He also not known to have been a specialist in
living
been
known
gynaecology
been
was
In
in the
family
way was
sent
to
Sikri
had
he
very.
Akbar*
November
daughter,
July
1570
Murad, Daniel a third son was On born at Ajmer on September 10, 572. September 23, 1570 Akbar again visited Ajmer halting at Sikri Tur 12 days on the way." The above passage makes it clear that Akbar had visited Sikri before 1570 and that all his principal
.
have been sent there for delivery. Monserrate and Badayuni, Fifthly according to quoted by us earlier, Salim Chisti was of an immoral character. Akbar himself being very shrewd, wily and immoral he wouldn*t venture to send his wives for delivery to a person whose
wives couldn't
moral character
was suspect
mentions
that
Mr.
marriages
Shelat
(sic)
afar Akbar's
Fatehpur Sikri at least from the beginning of 1569 A.D. According to traditional accounts Fatehpur Sikri was not even
wives had been staying
in
Kalyatimal with a relation of Rai Har f Bikaner and with the daughter of Rawl Rai Singh *> -Akbar again went to Sikri.
I
conceived by Akbar before 1569. Then could he and his wives visit there unless Fatehpur Sikri already possessed palatial buildings where emperor Akbar and his wives could >iay in royal comfort
\Z. IV.
didn't make frequent trips to F* h P"*EL on honeymoons with every new **!", pa^
P. 102.
!.
Cambridge Hlrtory of
Akhar, by J.M. Shelat.
llf, f
P.
m,
Akbr. by
J.
M. Shebw.
294
2!S
u On
r ur Sikri Gujcfflt)"
is
stinted from Fatch to Ajmei and then to tfiral Hiat shows that Akbar had
Julv 4.1572
Akhm
Sikri
between
1570 and
i^,
arching out of Fatehpur
me""ajj
5 ac
moved
Akbar
transacted
a^)read^nd droi
?tti
Fatehpur
Sikri
His armies
*of3Qtt,
and returned to Patch pur Sikri bet5": and 1585 or even earlier. According ween Fakhpur Sikri was built accounts to traditional 1570 and 1585. tf the capita] bj Akbar between
from
J
Akbar couldn't have entered P a ,^ and left it two months June J573 law?"'
bv
in
was being
there
built
how
is
it
thai
Akbar was
residing
precisely
Akbar is said to have Another absurdity is Tor good in 1585, Thereafter left Fatehpur Sikri That was in 1601 only he went there only once. on a flying visit. Akbar with his robust commonshrewd nature luxurious habits and disso lute ways wouldn't slay in an open field called Fatehpur Sikri. all dug up for building a new And he wouldn't be so idiotic as to leave capital. a brand new capita] for ever tn the very year in which it is said to have been completed.
sense. *
enough to house accommodation thm soldicrS| hundreds of generals, a big bodyguard, a harem of ra c e, a 5,000f menagerie of ,000 animals, and horses i and camels belonging to the cavalry.
_ 1
Sikrikl?^
Si* XtnT*
.
c]^
"-The
heads
of
Muhammad
Husain and
Ikhtiyar were sent to be hung and displayed an gates of Agra and Fatehpur. Following the the custom of Timuroids. Akbar had a pyramid made of the heads of the rebels who had perished
day in the
campaign
in Gujcrat
The mention of
pur Sikri,
gates or
Akbar entered the gales of Fatehpur after an eventful and triumphant e*pediSheikh Salim Chisti and others came and tion,
June
3,
On
1573
ancient as those
or under
welcomed him."
of Fatehpur Sikri existed before June 1573 there must be equally grand mansion* to which those flatcs; led. .lurid in hose gate dates won't stand in*n Gales won
If
construction
bracketed
the
gates
>
void. before
21,
Thus s
Jum
both the gates and palaces existed IS73 tip canard that Akbar built batchif
,b,U,
Haldiglut '""Badayuni carried the news of the fctau against Rana Pratap to Fatehpur there aching there on June 25,1576." Hew
Pp. 138-40. ibid. 24 P. 370. Vol V.,
*5 >
P. 129 P- >2y,
&
D.
NiwrmKldi^^^
14*
Albar b>
J.
M.
Shcl.U, ibid.
P. lf>0 4
296
297
of the construction going on. m. no mention construction huge detachment, rhca.v been under cavalry couldn't move in and of infantry and
0U|
of Fatehpur
Dr.
SJteri
Dam^r^^f 0r T%m
2Zl
Sflrivastava relying
-'
on unverified Mu*|i m
been taken
ill
at
capital a
adds "A brief account of construction work ts given by Father Anthony the Mnnscrraie, who was an eye witness of the operaThe stones were brought ready-made, lions.
Shrivastava
on March 4 Mo A Th received at court. Abul Fazal and Hal*^ were asked to look to the comforts ,5" Al Ciilani
week
Narw ar
11?^^
'
later
*"%
pc*."
Lived
Here
in a
there
is
no men
Fatehpur
it
shape according to design and fixed up in their proper places and the city rose as if my magtc within a short space of time {Commentarius,
chiselled to
Bk^fi******
ar0Un !
fhoflhe
tc.live in
the
dug up earth and lime lying al! dust and din of thousands of
in
^SS^A
*[
pvitci
ambassadors
gullible piece
This
is
typically
betraying a
The
wrong understanding of what Monserrate has said. He has never said that he was an eye-witness of
the construction.
they
fact that
mansions*
and
much before
their arrival.
Let
lis
refer to
instead of
This Father Monserrate meticulously wrote his diary every night before retiring. It is that diary which has been published as his "Commentanus
(commentary)".
Portu-
and
he kept pressing the Portuguese rulers in Goa to send their representatives to his court in Fatehpur Sikri.
their religion
Accordingly **TJw
26,
P. 130, Vol. I,
first
Jesuit
Mission
left
Monserrate ^"Buildings erected by Zeladinus (Jalaluddin Akbar)in various parts of his dominions have been built with extraordinary speed. For instance he built a very lanje peristyle, surround* w ith colonnades, 200 ft. square m three mort
a nd
,n
some
ft.
drt*in circuit.with
Akbar
s
.
rooms,
0.
Editor'*
ibid.
introduction,
j.
Monwnite,
Commentary Translated by I S.
the
of
Hjtj|J
private
Hoyl**
1'
2y
>
Pp,
200201 The
.
Cummcottflui.
'
^
299
298
channel^
noise
Her* he himself bathe* u himselJ being deafened by order to prevent thc with which stones arc of the tool*
six
months,
The host
tradition
in
shaped
had every, elsewhere, in accordance with thing fashioned the building and then brought to the exact pla and fastened together. Th spot, and there titled
i
he
would reply .. unnu,- M He would never children. acknowJS* ar< * children, in the presence ,he * be hi8 of hk^if A flatterer who can or king. stL* !** **"*
parentage of his
the unabashed
and
own
cribc
gave close attention to all this, and were reminded of what is said to have happened at the building of the temple in Jerusalem, when no iron trumenl of the builders were heard. They saw
priests
the
> a*-
lhc
creation.
**w<n\
Since
1556 A.D.
Mo^?^****
dismayed l0
Akbar
w.
was
have been
true without
thc
inter-
Fatehpur
slightest
1J*T
vention of a miracle."
of recent
trace
This
rius
is all
that
is
mentioned
(sic)
in the
Commcnta-
of any debris, scaffolding workmen. The absence of all these was explained away by another bluff namely that since Akbar didn't want the dust and din of the construction
the
Monserrate who kept a daily diary does not testify to any building activity. He mentions buildings in Akbar's dominion which he believed to have been all built by Akbar from the bluffs conveyed to him by Muslim courtiers and flatterers.
first
must
be noted
that
work, the stones were cut and dressed requirements in far away quarries and
to specific
just
piled
silently
after that
absurdity
is
swallowed
pulleys
remained
the question of
We may
visualize a gullible
haul
Monserrate
arriv-
and scaffolding and hammers and chisels to >us up, hoist and join stone slabs Bl
it
ornate interiors and towering gateways. He asks the courtiers who built all those ? According to the cringing Urdu and Persian tradition of Muslim
ail to Monserrate ultimately ascribes magic of the kind which his religious gulWlgf associated with the creation of Uw chief temple
heights
in
Jerusalem.
everything including one's own continuing existent is credited If t* to the sovereign. mperor visiting a courtier's house was introduced to children he would ask whose children were iRv
brum-
court.
many more
absurdity wjudi
Akbar's fancied
authorship of
>:h
T.C^^H
300
!61
how many
Questions such s who selected and surveyed who desgined long did it take th c lc The mc ? bow township who planned the builds lavout of the years did the palace complex take
'
^inihcp.lccm^ int
stand
(5)
hillock
^di
pcralc
,
rt1to
3!
4 ltch
to
the
?
thousands of
The hundreds
the Buland
of gr a v cs
did
Akbar have
i
inside
and the funds while engaged n his own guardian Behrani bitter warfare against Khan and innumerable Rajput chiefs, rebel courand imposters ? and after ail tfcfs, Muslim rulers Fatehpur Sikrf an entirely Hindu this how is structure? remain unanswered.
There
is
in
palace
( 6)
complex two
Fatehpur
Gatewaj
^^ste
AkS
-'
1h
Muslim, ,mi
generations before
*
n
Sikri has a gai c flanked h, w elephants with their trunks slone arching This design is exclusively mis ocsign
the historical
J^,
Hmd
Z^l
the
need a whole
to shreds.
palace,
myth
content ourselves merely by summarizing the prominent points to call off the bluff of Akbar's authorship of Fatehpure Sikri.
shall
(1)
Here we
of the Maharajah palace in Udaipurand the gateway of the City Palace in Kotah Elephant statues are found flanking the royal gate or the Red Fort in Delhi. Similarly
in
it is
on record
that ele-
Fort
No
design-drawings and
blueprints
or
names of designers and workmen are on record for laying out the township and erecting its magnificent buildings.
Agra. They were removed by iconoclastic Muslim invaders and occupiers. We have already proved in our book titled 'Some Blunders of Indian Historical Research* that the Red Forts in Delhi
and Agra are of pre*Muslim Hindu
(7)
ling
origin.
Fatehpur Sikri was constructed by Akbar why does that name recur in histories af pre-Akbar
(2) If
There
is
fat.
Hindu
times
0)
Badayuni, a courtier of
Akbar
clearly
says
with stone brackets to hold lamps, Elephant Gate. Such lamp posts may still temples all over India infront of goddess lamp post in Fatehpur Sikri is tu a cd away as Akbar's memorial
^W^^gj
to
or
elephant.
One
wonder,
Jjj W
otiimh?.
302
103
in
if
wished to be
And considering ?! hv a HmuIh lamp post. of jooo wild Afcbur kepi a menagerie an iJ ? should have had similar memorial columni ?
commemior
cd
ufi
[;
every hyena, bear, wolf, cheetah, tiger, Hon, ass. elephant, camel and pig around all
buildings ascribed
J) Akbart final ., rrn mFal jcessitaicd because the large iieccs jC BTOi arge rc ri
"^^
^
c
.
to
Akbar.
towns a
also
S
i
It
must
Ur re**^**** L ^ >ri ^muwc of water t^X h for mA the October 1h I583andw burst m '"wniw
]
r ^au mc
in
em
remembered that Muslims are image-breakers not image-makers and Akbar was as fanatic Muslim as any other.
(8)
h!
*
drv
Babar's
McL
a
'*
,hc
,W 8cnc "
Clfcllmn
a reservoir
had
have
Hindu mythological scenes: Swastik peacocks and palm trees have been etched on ih
inner walls of the red
in
all
those involved in that shoddy const IT*** fact the lake burst precisely
because the
h^
Falehpur Sikn.
with
stone
disfigured
(9)
Muslim
and
tinkering.
Muslims did not possess the know-how to the captured Hindu reservoir. Having been darT ged during Babar's assault and in
skirmishes the lake
nance.
subsequent
mainte-
There arc tanks in Fatchpur Sikri still known by their Hindu, Sanskrit names such as Anup Talao (peerless tank) and Karpur Talao (camphor tank). Camphor is a sacred requirement
for
burst
it
from want
continued
of
The
fact
that
lo sustain the
Muslim usurpers from 1526 to 1583 despite war damage and lack of maintenance is a compliment
tu its
Hindu idol-worship.
Hindu engineering
competence.
Had Akbar constructed Fatehpur Sikri he wouldn have permitted the huge Buland Gate Quadrangle to be turned ,nto a Muslim graveyard. " PPJ; ned l0 be a graveyard because Muslims
t
Concocted descriptions of Akbar having buili a mosque- and a house of worship and other buildings are all anomalous and contradictor).
(14)
(15)
Visitors like
that
Babar's assault against Rana Sanga two generations before Akbar. "
tioned
Sikri
even
that
in
Akbar's
is
lifetime
Fatehpur
was
in ruins
This
been a-building froJil^ 1585 h0W did Akbar I** there precisely during u that period
Sikri
F *! hc P ur
had
tooe u proves
Sikri
Akbar
Xf
taken
storm.
(16)
precjsdy
in
1585
year
There
is
gg ^^
104
SOS
Vidya Bhawan.
n\'i
*nai
it
>urtiers in
(l
0)
Smith
says**
in
..,
an d stayed
,rcrs.;
father that painting belonging to a period befo \khar"s birth emphatically and visually proves \\*
'
Lui
^ d^2*8
SjL L
]
**W
T **
A
of Fatehpur Sikn before Akbar. (17) The building of Fatehpur Sikri is said t have begun somewhere between 1564 and 1571 A ^ according to dilTerent versions. This Vagueness would not have been there if Fatehpur Sikri had We have at been really built by Akbar.
rstencc
least
redsone palaces, 'ccupied H tim e maintained any at n0 Two aen^f.^. Fatehpur decided to move from hen Akbar
,
l ** mmnm **
'
Salim
rT*
* "^
at
Agr
Sikri
for
security
reasons
to
F Qteh .
three
contemporary chroniclers namely Badayum Abul Fazal and Nizamuddin who were Akbar's
pomeni s notice was made possible only bccL* were grand, majestic palace, and th ere
already fence walls
mawive de
existing in
move
Fatehpur
courtiers.
differ
in their
accounts
all blufliing.
Since Sheikh Salim Chisti had already settled and had been guarding the premises against re-occupt ion
pied
Siltri
there
Akbar
is
understood
to
mean
Akbar did
programme
of building at Fatehpur Sikri until 1571, but this is not a fact, his buildings had actually been begun in
1569."
may be even earlier Akbar's queens had their Fatehpur Sikrfs palaces.
it
ChistiN building.
But
recalled that
deiivcriei in
(201
the
In a redstone-paved quadrangle
amidst
above observation it is apparent that Abul Fazal has used vague and devious language regarding Fatehpur Sikri and that subsequent historians like Smith are hard put to divine the real import or meaning of Abul Fazal, They, therefore, indulge in vague conjectures which are all wide off
the the mark.
(18) Sheikh Salim Chisti's
From
Fatehpur Sikri palace complex, infront of the Paiiclimahal is an ornate Astrologer VSeai. The
the
seal's
in
all
tophus
it.
figures
carved
in
An
(21)
official
as Ibrahim Fatehpuri.
pellation
He would
Hindus used to
so
ln
d^M"
m amcnt
knw
W***"
unless his
down
in
75,
Akb
the Great
Mogul,
ibid.
Akbar
ibid.
CClfK45<
)QU
309
Sikn has a dninvh 0Usc part of ail Hindu essential is an palaoej Muslims frown on music. temples.
(22) Falehpui' (2?)
nt"Maryam
^
ki-Kothj
"
W
mn
Sikri
Fatehpur S.kri has Ashva-Shnla. Ga H Shala. Ooshlra-Shala (i e. stables for horses Ju phants and camels). No Muslim palace had Vhe Se Hindu palaces do have it.
i
sides. * three
paintings
(24)
building of Fatehpur
centre
Panch
An
J
We
was a very popular Hindu game in mediaeval times. Muslims never played or play that game.
(25)
separate
therefore
book on
leave
it
require
Fatehpur
at that
Sikri
a| or, c
and proceed
to examine
Incidentally the
presents the
layout of
also
re-
equally fantastic claims of A k bar's authorihe other townships and buildings. hip of various
Hindu
architects used to
carve out
used in constructing buildings, in some part of ihe budding. In the Taj Mahal courtyard, it
is
the
on the dome which has been inscribed on the floor below as the basic scale used in the construction of the Taj Mahal. In the case of Fatehpur Sikri the design used to plan the township is that of the Chaupat
full
Keene's Handbook for Visitors to Agra andjlu Neighbourhood, gives a 2,000-year history of the Red Fort in Agra, and then quotes a rumour of
Akbar' s times
1565
that
Akbar
or
demolished
ihe fort
in
for
no
In
rime
reason
and
constructed
another.
game
board.
1566 Adhain Khan who murdered thrown down Aigah Khan, was punished by being
from
the
inside
evidence of the Jindu origin of Fatehpur Sikri. that it was a Hindu capital before Rana Sanga lost it to Babur. found ,n ihe figures of Lord Rama, the Hindu negation, and o( Hanuman, the Hindu hercuhan arnoror the Hindu epic Ramayana, found in
very important
piece of
royaUprtmcnts second storey of the per n^ Keene expresses a very the fort.
if
1565
how come
that
the fort
^dcniobkd
second storey.
*
Keene adds
An
^ZTkcW <***"
J09
308
fori
of the extern Under these circu ms years. cd wiihin ihrec ance : evacuating the Red Fort, its demolition Alder's debris, digging up removal ofihe heaps of of digging the new and foundation old foundation filling it up, ordering the after a new plan,
t
could
1101
ye dinlhe
palace
in
like V, grahr jjtfo Kings Juhviraj had l.ved earlier. That Muslim accounts claim that
Aj mr cu y
^ ^S^ *
; which
cities and built towns and forts n All this magie speed. flagic J of
si
^H m
*
,
required
ons
at
and lime for the superstructure and having the whole edifice decorated wjih and multicolour ornate plastei shining 0ra the space of 12 months smacks designs, all within
redstone, marble, bricks,
fl
|
earlier
Hindu
wh&fe ^ Akbar.
Similar
^
^
of Arabian Nights magic. Unfortunetly Indian History has been loaded with such fantastic myths without arousing anybody's suspicions.
Moinuddin Chisti
In
Tomb
Ajmer at the
is
fortress,
every
year to
commemorate
Ajmer
of Hindu Kings centuries before Akbar. It is a corrupt form of the Sanskrit term Ajaya-Meru (meaning the invincible Mount Mem). It derives its name from the fort Taragarh built on a mountain top. At its foot lies Ajmer city. In the city is an ancient palace now occupied by Government offices. It is this palace, tlte fort and the other remains surrounding fakir Moinuddin ChistPs tomb thai are credited
seat
tombs.
The
precincts of
clearly
a part of the fort's outer defences. A huge This was a pan stone archway leads to the shrine. stormed by Muilim Hindu citadal of the
invaders.
Chisti
After
capture
in
all
all
lived
amidst such
to
When
they died
they
were buried
their
dwelling
places,
applies equally
India.
to Akbar. But
the
They
'are
Hindu
temples misused
if
no ready before the advent of Muslims Ajmer had a long succession of powerful The ll: n du monarchslaces, tombs, fort, gateways and the other ruins nielli Hindu constructions stormed and
devastated
age of 19 to direct his aggressive operations Rajput rulers. He could not have gone and ^ ayed there had there been palace. Even
Muslim tombs.
Allahabad Fort
rhe fraudulent
*
in
Kv b>
Muslim
chronicles
na
^^ ^^
fl|||!
successive
Muslim
assaults,
Akbar
a muua.
310
311
,o
for instance "One Vincent Smith observes, of sacred place* of pilgrimage and known the most appear to have been Hindus a* Prayag does not
rtjficd.
modern town
but
Us
hyJ?'?
in
travelled
from
most of the way by river. Agra to the confluence, the fort in November. He began (he building of remarkably short lime, A n was completed in a modern Allahabad, grew up in the jzreat city. he
I
thc at least
mm^
it
two
natur^roau^ t****
inilu
Allahabad not only had an ancient fort fa, had towering nver fronts paved als0 with c steps rising tier upon tier and th eir bristling Wl n temples, as we still see in Banaras, Akbar had them all uprooted when he plundered Allahabad, been no Allahabad what did If there had Akbar And since Akbar plundered Allahabad plunder 7 clear that he did not found any city, A is ii plunderer never builds a city for the very people he The two are paradoxical. plunders
,,
TO
Allahabad fort is of immemorial antiquity built through and through in the Hindu style. Its inner royal apartments are all carved in the style of
So, far from building Allahabad city or itvfori Akbar invaded them and razed thc innumerable
magnificent temples and
stately nver fronts.
Hindu
like the
arc
Hindu
shrines
Historians have grossly erred in not subjecting close lOfuitu claims of authorship of buildings to
tree (the
Akshayawatj.
Had they
Towering inside the fortress is an Ashokan stone pillar which shows that the fori is at least of king Ashoka's time iff not of earlier origin.
Secondly, Allahabad being a pilgrimage it woukTnt be
thc arehtcct tried to investigate who him, when where are the drawings prepared by end. the construction start, when did it
m,
dtf
the fort
Hmdu
"d
Jvas e
"
hwm*
place
left
of Hindu
unfortified.
Hindu pillar inside^ *hy are m the Hindu style-trie hoax of AkWr * would not have passed **"&
statement that
ships
all
um
On
the opposite side of The fort across the Ganga an ancient township called Jhusi which dates back to the Ramayana. Similarly Allahabad aim
I*
Vkbar
in
is
>'
d "*
on
were raised
that
miraculous
nothing
shows
such
there
^Jmor(
yv
16],
Akbar
the Grcal
Mogul,
ibid.
"
of M8Slim ruk in India which constrained Sir H.M, history "^isan impudent' Elliot to remark that thai
and
interested fraud.
at
Nagarchain
Like oiher building hoaxes Akbar
to
is
supposed
township and named it have founded a If a lay visitor asks to be shown that Nagarchain. miracle township which, Akbar founded, pat comes the traditional historian's reply thai the township has vanished so thoroughly that there is not the
slightest trace
across the
of
it.
Muslim era in India abound For instance Humaytin is supposed is such bluffs. If you ask where it to ha\e built his own Delhi.
Histories of the
is
t*^
oft
i?
thai
knows when
it
was
begun
i
it
or
when
the answer
is
that
during
his
short
five-
was
spent or |j n
year tenure as sultan Sher Shah wiped out the new Delhi founded by his ousted rival Humayun. He
how and why it vanished. We alio brail even Akbar's own contemporaries like Badayani
confess
did
iheie
such
is
their
ignorance about
the township.
It
no
trace
left
ofHumayun's Delhi
In the
(which
same breath we are also told that Sher Shah during his nominal five-year reign not only wiped out
every trace
when
Hindu, Sanskrit name) was not built b> Akbar but was destroyed by him. Allahabad was not founded by Akbar. Fatchpur Sikri was not built by Akbar but its Hindu ornamentation xvni disfigured
a
important This then leads us to a very Mudii deduction namely that Akbar and other
by
him.
About Nagarchain Smith says " a *Executcd rapidly at the close of 1564, on return from Mandu.
Introduction to Elliot
g4
from building anything in out damaged, misused, mutilated cr dejWJ" magnificent Hindu palaces. Mfd* nnd reader
rulers far
M*wp*
rn
&
Mi
54 55,
urometer.
34
I'p
Akbar
ilic
Great Mogul,
Badayuni, perhaps
315
about Akbar's claim to *\ Nagmhain, Badayuni states 3 * , n t uundine B j (972 AH.) the building of the city of lsi **
took
place.
one of \h~ nobles, at the time of the composition of the Miiunu ordered me to compose some lines here insert without alteration. which It s wonders of the world, that of the traditional that city and edifice not a trace now is left, so that
chain
' I
On
?m
this
subject
founded
Nagarchain
recall a
^ *>* Z *& ^
i*
Hun
Here we
jlt
his
critical
study
footnote of Ihc
j*H M
i
" '
E|1
Muslim
illusion
chroniclers
had
the
fabricated
of
reality,
habf
to create
it> site is
become a
is
level plain.
,J
Manoharpur
Dr.
His is a very honest of Muslim history in India, and frank statement which seems to have escaped
Shrivastava
writes;
*"Whi!c
at
a**,
(old Jaipur)
Akbar
decided to restore an
his
from his pen in an angry mood when he must have been hurt by some orders from the court.
and on November
anSS
,
9,1577 h e
foundation with
architects
Bld
own
hands.
He ordered
secret
of how Akbarnama (i.e. the official history of Akbar's reign) happens to be a blatant concoction
and fabrication
and modulated according to the dictates coming from the court from time to time. This should open the eyes of j II students and scholars to the fact that all Muslim chronicles have been made to order to rehabilitate the vanity, and comfort the conscience ul alien monarch s spending lifetimes in (heir
I
manufactured
and engineers to build a fortress and other buildings and named the new cjt) Manoharpur after the name o[ Manohardas, wn of RaiLem Karan. Manoharnagar is 28 miles north-east of Jaipur, and is known as Manoharpur."
his
is
lypical
of
the
pathel
of writers of our
history text
boob
ind
The ciie
i
for
tic
less
drug-sodden
confesses
amour,
As
lie
for
Nagarchain
not
find
itself
Badayuni
Even h cursory examination of ihc onfin Manoharpur Mated above would reveal " w nolc story chauvinistic concern
of
iM
is
did
ginning
36.
to end.
Badayuni
P. 229,
Akbai
the Great,
ibid-
116
317
is
The thousands of decadent there existed Of c rime'when deserted bv people fleeing from roships extinct row what made Akbar choose on c Muslim atrocities
Jaipur aloue
..
wc ask we
ruler
Tor
restoration.
The secom
cutters
what architects he question centeniion that he possessed sess? It is our with him only an army of stonc none. He had who at Akbar's or his courtiers' bidding
inscribed
d ** Hindu township in tnc v a capital ? Were there not clse -s cnlh defunct towns all around Delhi Aera kri which were the haunts of avL*tL si
Akbar^
*
rc
Vc^
elipUr
*'
conclusion, therefore,
^rtTheohti,
is
Manoharpur
is
city
Th!^
fi!
Muslim
claims
on
earlier
Hindu
paid
for
^Otigh
-one
He may
ofhisrnanv'iS/
sycophant
buildings.
the
The
third question is
who
chm mcIm
must have been revival of the township? If incurred on the Akbar spent it what interest did he have and
huge
expenditure
which
take to resurrect
How whom
Abul Fazal records to the glory of 37 "His Majesty has made a large lord
with
fine
ov*r-
mclmurc
reposes.
occupation ?
buildings
inside,
where he
Though there
township had been de&erted which people were asked to populate the new buildings? If people residing elsewhere were persuaded to occupy the new city what
hire-purchase
basis? If the
are more than 5,000 women he \m given to each a separate apartment. He has also " We wonder where divided them into sections
consisting of
Had
were they offered ? Is there any corresponding exodus on record to justify the claim that people from some neighbouring township came and occupied the new town Akbar?
incentive
been government or any factory would have * happy to use it for staff quarters in tee
housing shortage.
the
We
have
unsuccessful
founded by
y^ domanto M
;
.rcd
Akbar named the new town as Manoharpur why called Manoharnagar ? If Akbar gave it a new name what was the name of the old defunct town ? >M &av;> it a new name he chose a it
i
aM
*
a
^J^JS F^^fi.
we may
co
and not some Persian or Arabic *mcc he had even converted an elephant's " nwnc im a Muslim name ? Why did Akbar name the townsh.p aftef the son of gome Hindu
.
m name
how
is
All that
o
Rtobfl'"
*
unuU-
Ain
15,
Aini Akbari
Vol.
m.
tion,
*IS
abducted women were herded up to h c beck and call of the emptor's amours.
lcs<
a(
Wicre Muslim
le
If
such C * be exposed
| ? |
to
Masters of historical methodology ha lav repeatedly emphasized that statements n chron* clcs. especially mediaeval Muslim chronicles.
j
Fcrozshah w ot a lhj conceded even taking a very ,. * bc at the most. spcm a K lhal be, ,ep * building damaged when Hindu it was even thai pa u * 0nnttl nl0Sl invariably ry sum was extracted fro* limes that
etofa, ,l
X&*m*
r
lhe
that
dcn
that
aw .
levying a lax Such for the repairs to Fatehpur Sikn ^adc Fort in Agra are on record though
subjects
by
T^ laSSS
ma iuu
and
fori
they
in
ra de as
sums spent on
Sikri.
building a new
new Fatehpur
ruler did
Akbar3*
has burdened
Indian
history
with
at least in India.
blaram falsehoods which through repetition and sheer passage of time have acquired the sanctity of
truth.
porary of Akbar,
Itfe
who
This examination
and practices at close quarters remarks *. .."the Musalmans whose nature is indeed that of barbathings (i.e. erecting rians take no interest in such and township* massive and ornate building*
and Their chronicles being scanty
full
unreliable
*nt
of old wives
tales...
However
Is
was
told
its
M'
mat
b00fcl "J th*
understood to mean that hc ravaged, plundered or destroyed it as Akbar did with the Hindu township of Nagarchain.
tribe from
38. This
tilled
hai
Some
Where Muslim chronicjs say that temples were destroyed and mosques were built what they ally mean h that Hindu temples were seized and pui to use as mosques (and tombs).
The Comment"
^^ ^^ft*. ^^
also
been
KBU p ded
Blundct*
moual p,^-
ol
of
320
m
For
their
it
been celebrated
thai
in
IS
nav J generations of European visitors been to In 1579 when on!) 53 years had elapsed India since Babur the first Mogul invader established
bluffing
Of a fmh DOUntr> to occupy. lefi encampments, invaded India and dho." This passage shows how
said
aeration
it
is clear
Mu
m uprooted Hindu ima^ and iho palaces and tcmpki* mansions m <^* * residences have been credited d them, through fraudulent
'
"
w "^ **
^
buill
juries
of
Mushm
mf* clahnsrSJ?^
h
occupatton.
^ZZ hml
|JJ
himself
in
1
India.
Muslim
tell
flatterers
at
Akhar's
Monserrate that two hundred years earlier another Mongol tribe had occupied Central India and built the massive and Hindu temples and mansions in magnificent Mandavgarh. The statements of European scholars which arethe result of mediaeval Musiim brainwashing must not. therefore, be accepted without a careful check-up and corroboration from other unimpeachable sources.
Monserrate adds **'the religious zeal of the Musalmans has destroyed all the idol temples which used to be very numerous. In place of
court had
he cheek to
buildings in India with a view to trace fair uu of relying on mere bluff and history instead bi UU4r
as
hitherto.
The
guide rules
mentioned above
provide the long lost key to a correct understanding mediaeval history which has been badly of India's tampered with, mutilated and fabricated all these
years.
Hindu temples, countless tombs and little shrines f wicked and worthless Musalmans have been reeled in which these men are worshipped with vain superstition as though they were saints (Footnote -The persons whose names stand out conspicuous in this business of destruction were Atlauddiii Khilji and also Malik Naib Kafur. Sikandar Lodi and Babui)."
:
>bd
123
CHAPTl R XXII
d f
orthodox
restr a , nt
at
^2?/^ *
Ht
ind
irled
by flinging defiance
WN-E-ILAHI
interpreted
in
g
Literally
rod's
iw followed his
^v
as
io
T^
^n52*s
wwc^*"
,
the
1
term
Din-c*1iahj
Thus,
flaunted
turns
on a
be
closer
analysis,
This term has been much abused, misunderstood and misused in accounts Akbar's reign. In most Indian hist ones ii is lustily boosted as a wonderful religion invented by Akbar by blending the golden characteristics of all religions known to him and it is added for good measure lliat it was inspired by compassionate concern for ihc temporal happiness and spiritual bliss of his subjects, [f we goto the root of all such fantastic praise heaped on an imaginary system hc find that it is much ado about nothing.
own
Wnt
religion
or system.
Akbar's wonderful
H
hi
rcli lon
anti-reli^> n or a defence or ill curbs on his licentious and religious autocratic This is exactly what a contemporary behaviour.
out
Jesuit,
Monserrate has
recorded from
pcrwnal
observation of Ak bar's court. A disappointed and disgusted Monserrate justly complained "'wemay
justly
suspect
that
Zeladinus
(Jalaluddin Akbar)
been led to summon the Christian pntsr* not curiosity and too by any divine prompting but by or perlapi ardent an interest in hearing new things, of ma desire to attempt the destruction
had
by a
souls, in
Jesuit
The term Din-c-Ilaht arose out of a constant acrimonious tussle and war of nerves between a
fiercely
some novel
egotistic
Akbar
and a
fiercely
fanatic
priesthood
Btanas
notions.
consisting
of qa/is. maulvia
hoped that the worrfup of converted from a wicked life to God, (Rudolfus) was delivered unscatn*
priest)
fed
on archaic
and antediluvian
As
art
alt-powerful despot
Akbar wouldn't
any restrictions placed on or any objections *cdat Ins autocratic behaviour. Correspondingly
.He was
murdered
in
fa*^J W iarof
r(
^ age on July
Monserrate
15, .583/*
ST"
Muslim priesthood was plagued by Akbai -'s 1 '" roads imo t,lt Privacy of their married abduct Uieir wives and sisters to his own 11 compelling them to take spirituous """ Bdolhc "defying drugs; and to np1undcrort .fiscal ion will.
-'
: '
.M>n* is right in
crt ,ik souls.
,n
laMh *Dr>*
.
fof ibe
f
J*l was a
dcMr..^:-
in diabolical system
n
.
^ruetbn of human
and
Ovation.
2. r.
'
of
tMrJwaltbH
324
325
There are
shrines,
specific
tif
ascertain
itt
cn
whether
jfcfch
its
system is a religion.
temples, mosques or prayer hulls. Di. e Every religion has ;, pricsu Ilahr had none such. Imve. hood, which Pin-e-IIahi did no) Every prayers which also Din-c-Ilahj religion has some
.
<)XVn
chri stian
ausalman and
CV e n +. docl J* hc attributed no
He
^**
vZlf
Toll
that he
wail
^**d w*
ofc^
i
**Z
did
not have.
Akbar used
^ their
to
flout
.iboiit the creation of y explanation steal lc philosophy for attaining salvation universe and a Dm-c-ilahi had nothing of ,r its own concepi.
he
**
b,
subservient to
religious
have therefore, blundered m Historians asserting thai Din-c-lluhi was a religion, withoui
these.
au
the
*'
ijii
subjects
applying any
tests.
Commentarius says that A footnote devotion to Akbar was the main tenet of Din-eThis is absolutely true. As observed earlier llahi.
to
the
mercy of a cruel despot lite weapon they had to strike Akbar within th, fanatic wrath, was to dub and condemn firm w and an apostate. In those days of religion, renegade
XiSKj
Akbar was a fiercely egotistic egoist whose vanity made him desire that every human being bow down to him as sovereign, plenipotentiary, prophet
and divinity
all
orthodoxy
a
the
priesthood
religious
could
threaten
monarch
in
with
sanctions
But
Akbar's wile
resulting
Akbar's flouting the authority of- the Muilas is often paraded as proof that he was not a fanatic Muslim. This is not true. Firs) and foremost
and fuming.
In
order
to
cut
pui
them in place
Islamic
Akbar
1 used to skip
custom*)
Akbar was an
he regarded as God and prophet. But the hard core of his heart was always that of a fanatic Muslim, wholly
egotist
to
who wanted
prayers
at
the
time
appointed
Monserrate Muslim and nothing but Muslim. cautions us against misunderstanding Akbar'* over! moves or protestations. Monserrale -notes (Akbar) went on in the samerati am (praising th c Pope and asking the Portuguese pnest to kiss the Pope's feet (when the Jesuit went to Buropa oil Akbar's embassy; m proxy for him and bring sonic
Mohammad, and did not observe the monuYi ft* ml* called Ramadan. He frequently made jokes expense of Mohammad, especially at his
out of doors without shoes. acc unt of his licentiousness. All
,hr si
this
"?*ny
Musalmans and
Mansur)."
64-65.
i
especially
&*
^aJi
I'p.
he
Com men
an us,
ctoiph?.
327
The above
description
of Akbrii oi
akmt
reviling
prophet Mohammad, recorded by Monserrate tvc if has to be properly understood pi .(v true. Bui
Ported
fury.
^"*
i
crra
W^^
supZTL
ii
ho fr
lt
_
1
running down Mohammad, Akbar wished him. o prophet and God by all his self to he regarded lis This does nol mean thai he had shctl subjects
in
u
;
.|,iuir-i:'.'"
n, r
th
P^puiju
f
vvhcreT*
any
of his
111
itei
ate
to
Islamic fanaticism.
Akbar used
was
the
his
keep
lie
maul vis
guessing by
This
destroyed aindcl temples which used to very In place of Hindu lumcrous. temple counties tom bs and little shrines of wicked and
I
fear that
mode of making lie maul vis cower in the Akbar may at any time renounce Islam. If
fate
Vjusalmans have been erected m which with vain superstition arc worshipped
they
worthy
men
those
were saints/'
This
as though
should
convince
what the a
would he.
historians that
all
been
converted or tortured- to death. In ludu that such a threat should be kept hanging perpetually over their heads &o that they may not
either forcibly
raise
>us
mosques
in
Indy
It
and
mansions
to believe
in
the
objections to
Akbar's despotic
sophistry that Muslim invaders aimed at u fusion of Hindu and Muslim styles in the buildings ihcy
erected.
It ts
and licentious behaviour he used lo often parade a As part of this faked love for other religions. ategem he used to have priests of other religions
It surround him. This served a double purpbsi being the in his vanity and egoism satisfied
wrong,
and out Hindu architecture of Fatehpur Sikn. fancy for Hindu a*, having been born of Akbar's Firstly Akbar has been proved lo be architecture. Muslim other mediaeval as fanatic as any
out
central
figure
admired by
throng of people
Sccondlv. as
times all
-ly
belonging
to
it
many
the
faiths
and
his
regions,
at
and
bay
in
Akbar
be rut
secondly
or
in
kept
Muslim
pari
maul vis
disfigured.
in
context whei
first Jesuit
leash.
As
of
make-believe.
i-
thai
1580
when
fathers
the
mission
ar
i
Monserrate records, that when the Jesuit priests m> to the palace precincts "Akbar (went their quarters, and) prostrated himself on l*JJ
i
and
est
the
delight
perceived from
upon
of
the
great
ground
in
V nd
B
f*^ U*
appearance
5 P. 26,
the
en
ihc Commciitwriu*.
W*
6
I
'
ommcniariuft, ibid,
P. 27, ibid*
328
329
Fatchpiu Sikri was a grand inhabited city even When lhal is so Muslim accounts before nSO, auhpur Sikri was completed by 1583-85 saying veil after completion concoction* .11 irc how it take tor about two hundred many years woutd
I I
,
sWC ar
temporal and spihtUtl *' ***<and adherence to Akhan. vieitce fa and of course it ceased l**u fl0 to 'f t0 say. Akbar...The whole ,hc cath of
alt
ichc^Clh^
Faith
thousand people to occupy the city and hold regulis stated to have had ? ar bazars as Fatehpur Sikri
7 "wliai ever pertains to Monserrate states digressions from the direct course o( my narrative have gathered primarily from King Zclaluddin
ridiculous vanity, a mc of autocracy The Divine imr cstramed Unument of Akbafs folly, notllf
rn^Z^t,
J^
1
i
(
right in dubbing the Din-e-Uaht at . political religion arising out sham of AkbaVi vanity and monstrous autocracy. ridiculous
Smith
is
Akbar
As
a vain egoist
that he lived in
conquered
by
it
that Akbar's pretended 'religion' essentially in the assertion of his personal consisted supremacy over things spiritual as welt as things
is
The truth
his
Babur
He
misrepresented
temporal (He assumed primacy of the faith by means of the infallibility decree),"
10 Bartoli
Mtttlim
his mis*
Monserrate exclaims that if it was so constructed it must have been raised overnight as though by divine magic with material fashioned in distant quarries
sionary bretheren that Akbar, summoning a general proclaim council "sent a distinguished old man to
in all
quarters...
and
silently piled
fi
and
fixed in place.
out
the
Mogul empire
to
four degrees of
in
"The number of adherents of the Divine Faith. Akbar's political sham religion, was never consideBlochmann has collected from Abul Fazal rable. and Badayuni the names of 18 prominent members. Raja Birbdl being the only Hindu in the list.. .The
devotion
His
radii*
religion.
The above four requirements mud, boc picture of what Akbar, was. He wanted everyone *~
honour, property and
;
give
ui *
^
,,..
*Jf
organism
cannot well have survived the murder he Abul Fa*al (because according to Badayuni to was an areh flatterer who mobilized people
7.
.
religion
Akbar's mercy and oi was renouncing the authority nd P ropw qazis. Surrender] us life *
9.
disposal.
*?*
gul, i*"*
"^^
^^
aod
Momciuic\
I
i
introduction to the
ComnicnUrius
Vincent Smiih.
P. 153,
tfM60i Akbar
Akbar
the Great
ibid
10.
Pp. 152-154,
ibid.
531
MIS
w
Ml ,
if
increase
SST^ib
ivnuind
any.
from
lifting wonici,
his
courtkn'
or gOCSte* harems.
11
was
tMit
few abject
flatterers
alone,
Allauddin
**
conditions of despotic kowtow to those humiliating Thi> was no religion but a ganging up autocracy. aggrandizement. r personal
With a view to make 11 "at the end of June 1579, dispowerless Akbar. placed the regulai preacher at the so-called chief mosque in Faichpuri Sikri. In order to emphasize
the Islamic priesthood
,
fhe
sec,
to
Allah
failed
himself
be
Moh^^
Allauadin both
leaden.
spiritual
Tha
sadist
were,
namely cruel
failed
They
to inspire any
tpiri-
them.
Their
restrained licentiousness.
disposition of spiritual leader of the nation, to which he laid claim, (he) availed himself of certain
alleged ancient precedents
A
are
is
typical
histories
and
The use of the ambiguous phrase Allahu Akbar gave colour to the most extreme criticism... Even Abul Fazal admits thai the innovation aroused much uneasy feeling .At times he
khuiba himself.
allowed himself to fancy that in his own person he had bridged the gulf between the finite and the
based on wishful thinking and unverified hearsay ta "Akbar showed equal the following passage
:
attention
to
religious
men
of
all
creed* and
id scholars, saints.and
Mata*
and skilful flatterers Abul Fazal. Faizj and the rest were only too willing to lull In. mind with such notions, and he after the manner of kings swallowed flattery with pleasure."
Infinite
His learned
edicts
^ ^* To
extant royal
erl
n^m
nU
i-J^
'
e
f
jreat:
term "Allahu Akbar" means "Allah U But it also connotes that "Akbar himself
lP
Hindu temples in many wmi must have been made tollo granbdeeds hi nately most of the :ely
12.
other pari*
^ ^^ m
Ucd
I*
Pp.
238-239,
Vol.
'
II
125129,
ibid
Shrlvasuwa.
Or:l-M5
.132
*.
time. tunc
m ncgloc.
, ear
of
*%!* *>'".,
to
The assumption that Akbar treated all religions on a par is wrong. Throughout this book Wc have
quoted many contemporaries and many events proving that Akbar was a fanatic Muslim and a
If his equal regard for all religions cruel tyrant sought to be defended on the ground that he is always used to have at his court monks from
tf
ou
S
,..
i
.
3
*" h '
.
bul
^m n <t**"+*
*..
Ie **ittii
palace he
extortion,
|
; or ld
;llld
of usury,
ponderous swoops,
n
ii
various creeds like Christianity, Zoroast nanism and Jainism. we have already pointed out that Akbar
:
dangerous travel-modes * ai *! second visit to the emperor. pay a Evwff? were undertaken there , u-visil (T *anoZf an audience would be granted, or thai" emperor was in good heahh w *^ .
md
mi^ ^ J*
u
|n
if. md
**hi
J
^
all
all
frau-
ingratiated by having
own person surrounded by men from different faiths and regions, looking up to him for protection and favour Their presence was also meant ot be a constant threat to the Muslim maul vis that if
they ever ventured to assert
rity
I
to be Very often Akbar difficulties a second visit did all these same game of empty assurances used
used
<
,,,.
^
rf
the
I
materi
to
over again.
There was
a tacit undersi...
thai
Im onk
ere not
m
ever
heir
religious autho-
be
executed.
The
visitors
themselves,
thai
i
would embrace some other religion and then wreak vengeance on them. The gambit of moving bishops of other faiths like pawns into his ambii was a part of Akbar's
over the emperor he
nefarious political game.
and inscrW preserved or paraded those orders them on shrines so that the} mayicwi
to
proton
and (ft*
"
Moreover, it has been shown by us that Akbar's decrees insofar as they professed to give generous donations or protection to people or
of other faiths, were all sham and make believe. They were never intended to be carried out. That is why we find priest after priest coming and over and over again begging for abolition of the discriminatory Jiziya tax, and protection from Muslim atrocities, Akbar had no scruples in
shrines
once
beiafl
taken in by those
their
mm
mere show
value.
.
Soon
adds
after
asset tins
..,,.
thai
p.
wl Akbar twd *
^^
"-Akbur
every
*&**
!
i***"
ry of prophet Mohammad
13.
244, ibid
m
remained a fanatic Muslim. Had he n heen so he would have equally meticulously Q^ served and celebrated the birthdays of Lords Rami and Krishna, revered by the Hindus who formed a vast majority of Akbar*s hapless subjects. On the contrary Akbar is known to have paid at
that he
least
ftie
thai ^cr^. KClar. (By that decree scCl1 |ar. .JJ bar Akbar was authorized to
n
'
idca of subordination to j
superficial
homage
to
Christ
and
never
idols.
prostrated
provided that it wa 8 lhai *a oJ law Quran.. 1 h, vcrsc of the Quran.. The decree n! vcl se Akbar wide powers a ad on and m H ,t make him a mujtahid, dld
<-
mini.. p r(y n
'hlt)ii, '"I
^coT
i
'l
^V
^
to
1 1
.
,
Hind
COn, <"'"%ii
1 1
expediency.
He wanted
to
supreme head rthc Musi ^buF.l admit, that the two 1 great dissatisfaction and unrest
in its o
,,
l"
;
",
diitg
mU ch
less the
*
Amission
,
'
he desired
is
clear
continuous supply of their superior armament for his aggressive campaigns and he sought exit and
entry facilities, specially for the
at
ha .
fitnoi
Mecca n
the
pontifical
just
pilgrimage
do
the
west
coast
ports
which
what
Portuguese
unhampered,
unquestioned or unobjectcxcfusiu-ly
controlled.
He
continued to think
to
terms
all
i
(Akbar mounted the pulpit in the grand Jami Mosque of Fatehpur Sikri and recited Khutba (proclamation). According to Badayuni Akbar stammered and trembled while reading it and had to be helped descend the
pulpit.
M **On
of he
I
Koran and
Therefore
talk
of bis trying
religions or
all religions
sdf-contradic-
bunkum.
lfi,
He
tml)
Birbai ***
as
remaining pan
(hat
the
emperor was inspired by some ulterior motive.., Within two months of the reading of the Khutba Akbar took the bold slep of declaring himself to
be the chief interpreter and arbiter of the Shar or Muslim law This was done through a doeumeni
called
came a disciple. So serious a historian and asserts that by means of bribery ** more or less prominent converts (Cambridge History of India. * IW meam willing ^id
thai if discipleship
1^
Mahzar, to which he secured the signatures of the prominent ulema of his court... Badayuni
correctly
observes he
I'P
was not
I,
inclined
to brook
and place it at the ep* pbcc the \ ll[Kn. emperor would then make hn hm an on his head and give
hand,
fl|(
^ ^
|
!k
240-244, Vol.
Akbar
the
Grem,
ibid
15.
J-
vl sl shW
331
..
re
cneraved
i
';
hu Vkhar-
r;
Ulfl
cause
Uic
they
nfolk
nmted Akb.^
Din-c-Jluli. vra
<
U^ofderwliosc^rpose
rion for
its
m^
does not prove* founder of anj new proves that he was t he ra ther decency. p human
'
^^ {***
CS adW
be
y
-.**
:,
author
"
**U|
Ida,
demanded
,ot
the learned author. The \\c fully agree with initiation proves that Din-c-tlahi verv Mie* f subjection to Akbar's person and
total
must be remembered that iil. even himself. Had inverted h, rZ!?**' ' * ion he would have declared rclig
[t
adherence 10
it
Mansirgn's
t,
remark too
revealing-
He s&w
very clearly
loyalty sans reliAkbar demanded only personal sans scruples which all his n. sans morals and courtiers and others conceded to him in
oges,
everybody else, to be the first religion, and that he was no longer to He would in that cist , Muslim.
',
***
r<
tit
and
that of
his
vim
2S!
chilZ
it
I''
the
MusUiaeldgyS
beta
measure even without his ostensibly asking for of the dread of Akbar's vengeance. it because renouAkbar further desired them to swear by it. nce their fear, if any. of Muslim priests outlawing any of his immoral practices, and holding him m
fti]|
With Akbar's
pretensions to sainthood
&.
ft
ed
thousands had he
even as
all
he
were
divinity
threatened millions
faiih.
view
of what we have
scholars,
One who
flouts
an existing religion
if
is
not
that
authors,
students,
teacbea
Teiiib
anothei
religion
Take
conform to mother's or grandmother's orthodox rules on the specious plea that as a modern' he did not believe in antiquated notions of religion, and that
he instance of a son
who
refuses to
of history would stop making a in fe " uc of Din-e-Ilahi as a religion, and see Mobs was a system (a* colours namelv thai
examiners
it it
and
to
tc
>
en
j
Atwr
he had
That callous disregard for the religious susceptibilities of the elders by 8 thoughtless youth amounts to the uprooting of U
his
own
religion.
^ of
h
one's
life,
property
^ ^X% **
our
this
<
does not
in
the
lcast
Nor can
all
an>
it
^^
amuunt to the founding of a new religion. the same anal <>y we may say that Akbar's haughty berejection oft! authority of fanatic maulvis
wd
around and
led to
several
CWM.
339
Chapter
.07//
,
AbulFaizi
3.
Todarmal
u
hir)n r
n0t
of arts, literature and able men. Am such we are lotd that his court was adorned among others by nine men who were veritable gems whose lustre shed additional glory on Akbar's benevolent (sic)
reign.
had any memorial * N of them raj^T, bT Akbar, and none of them ha\ C v h. oecn Huottd * posterity. emulated by
,lrT|
m*
***
Abul Fazal Ailami was the so He was horn near Agra d" Mubarak. and was ambushed and 1551
all
The evidence on record proves that they were worthless panders, stooges, flatterers and oppor*
Crown Prince J changes orders on Aueuu 9 11 1602 while proceeding from Suraj 12, Burkivill^ to Antri six miles away,
Z^S *
Sbnkh
tunists
who
to
Akbar's
autocratic despotism
science or scruples.
jncesirr Sheikh
In the
he outset
appraisal
!
f the
wonhlessnessof his ministers. He says *'It was grace of Allah that 1 found no capable minister,
From
would have considered that my measures had been devised by him/* Since Abul Fazal, himself one of Akbar's ministers and classified as a gpm\ has recorded Akbar's none-iotcomplimenlary appraisal of his ministers there should be no doubt that they were all lack-lustre
otherwise people
l
Sheikh Khiz. an itinerant Mir moved 10 (father Nagor near Ajmcr. There Sheikh M> of Abul Fazal) was born. Soon after hi
and other member* of the family perished in famine. Sheikh Mubarak in hn soul reached Ahmcdabad and stayed there for
faiher
Km
"***
Later he
moved
to
village
DOS
'^ing shelter with a fakir, a Sunni btil 10 hc Shi, sect. Reports of his beuv
mi W"*"**
The nine individuals often classified as special class gems (sic) of Akbar"s court are: I. Abul Fazal
1
conveyed to Akbar.
The
Sheikh
bittr
Mn*
Afcbjrg &
1
tod
Un*l.
Akbar the Great Mogul, ibid. ?. Kl. Akjwr. 1(b trl 387. vi tu Abul Fail's Am-i-A 1 fey H. S Jarrci
'
^ Abul m murdered
**h
Mubarak convinced
left his
that
lugiu
34)
340
Towards
shelter with Salim Chisti. The younger fled to seek le was introduced A hul Fazal. to of the two was brother FaizL elder in 1574 by his
I
the end of i te
died.
Ab *
H*g
footfci
**The
jeftaogir
courtiers
Akhar
were against
Akbar, make any impression on failed to in 1574 A. D. his fate since he was Akbar. Abul Fazal cursed opportunity to be near sure thai once he go! an Akbar he could worm his way into Akbar' s heart. Expressing his keen disappointment at being spurned by Akbar Abul Fazal records in the Akbarnama
fir*t
introduced
to
visit
|eiU
AbuTpa^ ^m
An
vk-i
house he "foniT^! * r lcr copying commentaries on then * bui follow him at once, he l0ok ^Sihem hei ?, mpeT0 '. an d showing the copies Jehangir
entering the
1
'
L?*M**
excel
> t
**
a,
'^^
/
m
almost became The pride of learning had selfish and conceited. made my brain drunk with the idea of seclusion. The advice of my father with difficulty kept me back from outbreaks of folly. I was sick of the This shows how Abul learned of my own land Fazal hankered for a life of luxury and royal patros
first assist
me
Fazal teaches
me
,ii
f
Abul
*hai he
This incident perhaps convinced aw. Fazal was the right man Abul
to be
where
Machiavellism
was
dowt^
Akbar
Lt
**
nage
at court.
of 159: A, D.
(i. e,
"When Abul
to a status of a
Agra Akbar was busily engaged with his preparations for the conquest of Bihar and Bengal. Abul Fazal attended court immediately on the emperor's return to Fat eh pur Sikri where Akbar happened
to notice
footmen).
He now
belonged
amirs (Umra-i
Kibar)
at court.
His father died at Lahore on Sunday, oer4, 1593 at the age of 90.
Septem*
him
first in
the Jami
Mosque."
also
Two
elder
brother
5. 1595.J
About Abul Fazai's innate knack for flattery which ingratiated him with emperor Akbar Bloehrnann notes
in
died, at the
In the
age of 50 (October
reign
Fazal wa*
the
preface
to
"Abul Fazal has far too often European authors of flattery and even of wilful concealment of facts damaging to the reputation
of his master."
Preface, AiiM.Akbari,
BJoclunitn.il
Se nt
on active service
not
ha <i
a
^ therefore
managed
matters very
sen!
well
Uic
Fazal was
with to return
^excessive drinking caused tlie<mr*ro *n amved ^Y. On the day thai Abul ?w\
3-
if
Vol.
Ill,
translated
by H.
Preface, ibid.
XftTjCera
542
343
rather 4
r
fc 1r
"
prejudice
"tcrcd
into
5Rj*n
dom
of
A hmednagar.
jehangir by some insinuating almost barred from approach uu'*' ft, plotted Abul Fail's Jehangir mJe'
AVh?
ZTl
ttfi
insl
UI
Hindu
" 1Cr
Akbar's reign Abul Fazal Inlhc j7ih vcar of mtcnt to send him against prince ,* ret tiled mtJl in revolt and , Jehangir who was then
,
Abul Fazal had all lire vs that a man Muslim court could have, M c is fiunoui
It
is
ahnu(
for
fiq
his
gluttom
*ct
Deo Bundcla to ambush Abul Fazal and slay tamos he passed through the Bundela's Orchha
Singh
principality.
he wnitfl
up a* emperor in Allahabad. Hearcamp in u Abul Faial had started from Ins asked Bir 10 counter hi* revolt, Jehangir
him^cll
consumed was away from Akbar; ai. the >upreme commander of the Mogul army in t'nc Dcccan "his tabic luxury
exceeded
all belief.
said
In an immense
daily served"'
tent
one thou-
TO
a foster brother
kepi
anil
two
otj
upon from
tree.
brothers
so
far js
born uf conaihmes
is
by
ho
futiier
sides while
received
a spear
Abul 12 wounds and was finally transfixed with His head was severed from the body and
Fazal lay
in
under a
Fazal
known.
forwarded to Jehangir
great glee flung
Allahabad,
Jehangir with
*%*
ver
I
heap or filth. That was p-.rhaps deserved divine punishment for a mouth which had sung undeserved praises of a degenerate A) bar and burdened history with heaps of shameU
in
*"?*22f?m
n4y
I
on
&S^ert ^ <%"&,.<
"
-.in
,h<
less
falsehood*.
.oh-n,
held Abul Fazal in great dread. ^'winjMhat he held Akbar's confidence Abul art lued to brQwbeaUehangJT and tick him off J AkUffi presence in the supercilious maimer
Jehangir
welWuher
P^'M^m"
,
*' now. *
rm**rvtag.
oj**
Wf
P.
-""
',...
,,.,iu
"ap**'"*"*-
Conscious
his
of Abul
laithk-.,.^" "
1
11
""-,, ,,;:
1
.,
Batterer
4
K-'"
X ''
Hc4 ^n
With
(he
^^
Memoirs
he
clirollk,c
Ibid.
Bnaiyn*'
344
143
Thus most European authors, Jehniiifr and Badayuni arc unarm nous in certifying that Abul Fazal wjv a shameless rattcrcr. h
of
on.
I
at
is
therefore That
Akbar^
***.
of
^ **
*
here are
many
things
thai
who used
compose poems in Ubar\ praise Fazal hit upon the idea of singfng the cm ptror's praises jnjprose. Gradually and unwittingly he found himself writing
highly
These conside r.t.ons made Abut f niorc or a confirmed flatterer 25 ith cway day at court Abul Fwa| passing maiuied * matching at his ex p erl fulsomc fa nc,cs wMia* lhc changing moods mc nis of Akbar. The resulting Aktanni
'
Hindu
"term
imaginative
court.
Ak bar's
The
therefore, not a truthful account of Akh. but a vs ishful concoction. All those who
-r
--^
effectively
rccable
who could present his cruel and crafty deeds man shroud of fabricated glory to hood-
care
wink the people at court and the general public, suffered Abul Fazal to continue his literary ficuon. Thus both Akbar and Abul Fazal
colluded
in
fabricating
fraudulent
as
fabric
of
or
Akbars
reign,
now known
order that his cuj>hy and strategic assignment may never end Abul azal kepi mflafu) expanding the chronicle into an iiuci m in iibk account of tents and shamianas, bazar rates, market g
I
TJ
Akbamama
Ain-i-Akbari
undertaking this labour of love Fazal assured lor himself a cosy and easy job at court with all luxuries from kitchen delicacies to the proximity of a teeming harem at the royal court, thrown in for good measure. This occupation was
In
rumours, religious discussions, Dick concocted sayings, accounts of Toms, * ** Harrys at court and everything d*
couti
or
conceived. Like Penelope's ** he or a wauled the account to end until It is therefore that lie neve. quoJ and his statist.es about
revenue and
vague.
'.j I
also a
good excuse
for
him
to
shun
all field
assign-
bazar
rates arc
*^*
ec
^ ^Vl^
M
ments where intrigues, incessant warfare, privations and usics made life precarious.
ric*
court writing the empror's panegyalso ensured for him a strategic position from
at
Staying
not tninj
1
,r
tit
undine Rlochmnnn's opinion lo rhc contra ihc author of the Akbarnama and Am-i-Afch was a consummate and shameless flatterer. Almost
,
347
SI
- ^ bu|
F
i
considered detrimental to Akbar's renown ire suppressed, glossed over, or occasionally even falsified Kb books are one-sided panel gyrfci Aotil Fazal availed himself of i nc liberty allowed h\ hijon in his relatioriswith
rs
-Abul Fazal displays unbh, running down Bchranj (to Kha ...and even lavishes
unsiinicd
He had
..
women He had
Mohammad,
^ J!
l!
*lko(
'
Pi r
-
--r
Mohammad
Bighara of Gnjerrat
Persian
and Kashmiri wives, in addition to a lads or Jn honourable house He says the cxira contorts were occasions of great joy him An Vol HI. page 449... He had a good conceit of himself as appears from the concluding paragraphs or the autobiography, found in Ain
"
married Hindu
Sultan (Footnote: He
same Abul
Fazal
led ,
Hindu women
U. tamed
mba/Bahadw
=1*?
son
Adham Khan
snook
all
sought
iit
to appr.
..^
enraged
cocking a
Akbar.
An
Aihw
journeyed
Vol
01, 417-451)
way from Agra to Central India to the entire haremofBaz Bahadur for Mimdf secure His general Adham Khun Surprised by tkcmptr
the
The reader may well assess the character of an Abul Fazal who was a glutton and a 'shameless flatterer* and who wielded unlimited power in an at it. ,tc seething vs ith intrigue, and who smacks
li
;
unexpected
the
visit
surrendered
all the
women en
Alt-
two cho ice beaut ies mentioned iib en bar was informed of it he ordered tbatAdhai be brought to book. Maham Anag
in
academic
much of
had
flattering
accounts of Akl
lips
in
nostalgic delight
recalling his
lecherous rexclries
with a
at
wide
those two
women
murdered
in
cold
least,
own
assortment according to
of
his
Mushm
,11 fame and mean status, when Abul Fazal mentions a lady of an house he means a Muslim woman. ers wh... he implies, were rtol of an honourable were abducted and kidnapped Hindu women ding lo tin: jargon and terminology of
confession, were of
'Urse
front
Aktw
by pleading
women concerned
but
been
retained
bv
him
had
not ashamed
to praise
mew"1
Abu.
'
chronicle
A*gn
in
P
,M
*
7
Gred
'
8ft,
ihid.
348
149
They deserved his meed because, knowing as we do Abut nazal's Licentious weakness f0r was but natural for him to be supplied women, with a wide assortment and variety of abducted Ak bar's ever-growing harem sweet-hearts from pool, by Those two women and other so-called v, nurses who managed the women-herd.
vfftU&'
it
i
Notwithstanding the fine iHris general tolerance which occupy *<** 4** writings of Ahul Fazal "gipi*
*
the
Akbar committed
t
mat
and
acts
tht
T**
of
Buc
f, C r
ce
Hmrjy
crimes of Pj r Mohammad and laments "so loyal, able and gallant a man underwent such a fate* {namely, was drown*
bul
8 * *A
the
WW?*
spiritual
ed)."
his
in the
uttfuif
s2nd
of
m
the
commentan
barbarity (of
attracting
Um
the
attcnti.
,^
road to
hii
emperor.
Having once
he
entered on
care
la
Mohammad
advancement
took good
bob
days by being trussed up in a wooden frame to be tossed and flung by an elephant) without a word
at court became so
marked
the
of censure,"
""'At Shahbad,
Jonathan."
and Ambala, on a Shah Mansur (Akbar's Finance Minister) was solemnly hanged (on a charge of treason), Abul Fazal suppresses the informal ion that he was entrusted with the unpleasant duty of execution which is known only from Monserrate." Tins adds a new dimension and a rare 'lustre' (sic) to Abul
Fazal's
versatile genius
Koran proved
to be Abul Fa/ulS
thai
Akbar's heart
Altai
"Ahu]
able to
Faial's prose
style,
as read
hi
'"
*
icjJ
for he
has
been
earlier
described as a womanizer, flatterer and glutton, and now he turns out to be even a hangman. He was truly a minister since lie ministered to every
Even .hough Indian author, > arc not m, oulspken as bm* 8* "uMims Lire io uc Muslims arc to be aPP'^, ., lh
*i
f
^
,,,,
Dr. Sitrivastavrt
demand
nf Akbar.
He was
ready to play
any part
and
fttt
its is
si/c. si/e.
|(
wjfl
hi
a^Jj
k
h0-
P. 42. ibid.
9.
P. 58. ibid.
10.
Pp. 1J7-M2,
''
tones
'-
come
p.
maid.
**
)'
151
J 50
Abul Fajal ;md apparent from Di. is Hctitfoua Vkbarnamn "Akbar t| lc aMava\s preface to his book S states "Abu| Fazal's Tltf teamed author Great.' Akbinn;]ma must alwajrs remain the most valuable source (compared 10 other accounts) of Akbart life and times 85 its author had made use state records and other dceumertta including
ni
for Shrtvastavtt's reverence
, , ,
isi
^ence
J^ atem^ trilT^St
mr
colleag^"
c
beingan executioner of
,
Hindu
mJd^^Jr
hardly
the
man who
statements
would
'^
Abul f
Tht
!
7*
*
;
which included \erbaiim everyic aide roemoires, and which was did thing that Akbar said 01
basing his
a
o n court docao
Tru , h wheit
meticulous
regard for
by writers who were These records and aide employed on this duty mcmuii s have unfortunate!) perished, but Abul was, without any Fa / ifs work remains as
rccnrdiJ
there
mid
hen
W|
^
felt
We. therefore
find
Smith's apnrai
Smith
ii
(Vincent Smith) was Injihly distrustful of Ahul Fazal whom he unjust h accused of deliberate perversion of facts smd even of forgery."
diminuirik
ns
interpolation;
Perhaps even Vinccai more accurate. propei vords which tould the want oi
exjutsihii
perfidy
rr;
Igony on reading Abul Final's academic lhat goes by the name of -Ubarnama.
Despite
Dr.
Shrivastava's rexercritulswc
Is
D
verbatim
that
Shrivastava
is
rcrds of
all
constrained to
intamed
should
be
in
Akbar's time.
\bul Fazal's itvle is samewhal iJwohd hi* patron and vitiated by his fulsome flattery of whom he considered a superman.
word
ll>
ical
an eye-opener.
as
maint.iins
thai
those
plea
records
as
the
ttshouldbeevide.it to anyone
*d
thai
specious
winch
n
billed
Nagarchaui
the
H>
thin his
*ttg
own
lifetime
leave not
even the
by circuitous
the
flurry
is
**
ofluiw
of iis locaiion. Similar is the case wnh tic Agra which Sikandar Lodi. and the
trace
%oud
believed
it
with
it
Secondly,
unjust to Abul
to be
a sup;
lmlt
atA
Akbar
'
no t hereafter
pm
pathetic
faith
^a superman.
'4.
|>
uorrec
>
p 4c.b-409
353
J52
vengeful despot, and as a shrewd m ol lie world Abut Fazal took core to remain " That was the only i.du vide of Akbur. tin
Ukir
i
;*s
.1
<
NV[l
he could
live
^Z *>i*
ux
Akbar had no dearth of flatterers he hardly mis^d hazal when the latter was murdered
Since
Dr. Shnvasiava remarks "Akbar did noi consider lum tAbul Fazal) indispensable did not always accept his nd vice, and more than by forbidding him Otice punished him publich
nip to this
Sled
Spies
^ >
;
M^
,
ttf
Ic hi
5.
^.j
1|S
l*^**
3 ^
*.
I
**
.
Himh
,rby
-^'PP^dmthecaseor^Xj
ishadioremaincontem^hhunprcC
grave nu'unds. The> were noi as lucky a^ts of Akbar, Jehangir, Muminz Begum
1 0
court.
over
unpretentious tomb was erected Abul Fazal's) body" Even that triangular
small
brick
and lime was not commissioned by Akbar but by some local VTuslims. Even thai was completely Ignored as is apparent from the fact that only about 40 years back some archaeoloai depart men t fliciafs tried lo locate Abul Fazal's tomb guided b\ vague historical descriptions ol the amnuscade. They came across a cluster of tombs all around since in the ,000-y car- long Hindu resistance to Muslim onslaughts there are dusters of tombs found all over the country. The archaeology officials bv an academic fiat arbitrarily identified one among several clusters of tombs as lie which should include Abul Fazal's tomb The that one was half a fool or one foot taller than the others in that cluster of graves clinched the sue with hem Thai grave has since then been stamped in archaeological records as Abul FazalX and official machinery was set into motion CO maintain that grave. A small room was then built
i
1
i
mound of
Jgyun
iii
gel lofty
Hindu
When Jehangir
crn y
to
exposed Abul
latter
Akbar the
done
is
ostensibly
fawned on
-Thii
Hbul Fazal.
|S
fcchihat u
Salim,
for
probably
the
tortan
s,'
uas restored
This
favour
within a fa*
betvi
proof of
Fazal.
the collusion
Akbar and
iluu
A luil
Abul Fa/ul
was
Dr
pliiced
and unjustified.
the elder brother of Akbun court K reckoned as another gem of he have been a pJtt though I said to
(2)
Abul Faizi
Abul Fazal
quoted or included in
I
any respect^
,,,, ,,,
0II
September
WW*
'
j^
turn
.
We
thus
sit
how Akbar
hardly cared
his
mark the
where one of
much
even to vaunted
in
TTT46I.
AkburllicGre.it-
ibid
'
*
355
of nr mil
in
the
books of European
\mir
He an<J honoured with a poet laureate. reckoned as two noteworthy KhusnJ are
among Muslims
to
(n ay |C
vcn
wn poets
man of Image
himself,
Indta^utcr
K*
tta,.
even
fl
properly and meticulously darrw mu*t however he believed. Ftuzi was at investigated before being
times deputed as
an envoj
In 1592
lie
visited
the
died
at
\yra.
lias
inasmuch as the eonqt^t f the heZ and minds of millions of men and women effected by the poet was an achievement infinite!) nu, rc lasting and important than any or all of lie vi ries gained in war by the monarch. He does not ever U> have been brought to the notice of appear emperor or Abu) Fazal, Tulsittai either the
t
Vmcent Smith
cticmuse
scant
10
respect for
Faizi's
He observes "The versifiers, or tailed poets fat At bars court J were extremely Abu Fazal tells us. that although
I
fortune or educaBntlimn.
p.nei
^TO
in his
infancy to
in
live or to
an
unlucky hour.
continually
thousands are at court," tn fact it is these fawning leisineishanginft around for filthy lucre who have 'aken for series and chroniclers by comemJesuits. It is no wonder, therefore, that nn
ncyl
did
not
care
for
them,
should be Fate or providence willed thai the child who gave picked up by a wandering mendicant,
found of Muslim
him sustenance as well as instruction Fazal dary love of Rama.jAbul the extracts from the writings of have read in their English rift*
single sentiment
aim
What
worth
is
found
is
J***-
^. tto**
a pile f panegyric
little
M
,
in the
legen-
fl
#m **
*g
>
Abul
a)
i"
KfcjE^
ofmtt?
,.'
FaiZK the -lung Fazal considered to Most of the authors Jf^ uoholjfp^" tlic service of the
1
}k
viany - n
title
...
Fa,/t
sinatn
^ T
.
of poor.
hm composes he ,lh ^i
Muslim
I
h better
aorta
i-m claim
far
.;..
'f has.
i
hvC
S,d
_u
all
acrostics
of any ranv
"ie
,"
kr Proof of
Mogul,
their pcrvc.
the fanatic
XiSBssZ'*
j
svords into
__
of shapes-
P J*
92 ail
lAkbar,h
^^
ibid
3S7
J56
constructing cunningly devised chronograms, and such like trivialities.. .Blochmann held lhal a fIrr Amir Khusro of Delhi, Muhammedau India has seen no greater poet than Faizi .Admit ling the
justice
'
^^l
Wtt0
^?Sii ^
T
P'QVc*}
^y+fc
^kht
sur-
it)
can only say that of Blochmann's verdict, the other 'poets' of Muhammaden India must be
I
y-a-time
Mansingh
Hind
and
selve*
have with substance in it sufficient to written anything All, nearly all of stand the ordeal of translation. them -"arc disgraced by the filth mess to which
allusion has been
WQTth
very
little.
to
|0
made
"
|p
brought such daushwc .^ rffial them. them. I* 1 ** ihr u&h In 1567 to Akbar. TodarmJat was dcpw subdue the impostor Sikondar f Shah SiiT in the Ayodhya region. He achi^/ and the subsequent m% that camroiZ! ? ***** Like Abul Fazal TodarrTal him.
'
ToTlV^'
Smith has thus very effectively and competently pricked the bleated bubble of fantastic claims about the literary merit of not only Faizi but of all Muslim authorIn a 1,000 year* long rule in an atmosphere surcharged with cooperative conjoint chauvinistic flattery mediaeval Muslim chronicles, poetry, treatises and translations of Hindu works, have been boosted as rare gems of Muslim scholarship. Smith effectively scotches
Vincent
these claims
rarely
in
That was the surest Akbaryavour. In 1^76 when Akbar Gujerat he deputed Todarmal to see that cnJ\ money was extracted from the Gujeratis to
perfect
ail
factotum.
T^
seiiic
eo
claims,
pay for
all
expenses of Akbar'saggrw.
*>
sion
treasury.
u
Todarmal
job
that
an impoverished
to
stalked by
an
unprecedented
famine.
Akbar's
chronicler!
pointing out
thai
the chronicles
the
were
bound
boost Todarmal's
financial latent
any truth worth the name and poetry rarely embodies any noble sentiment, imagery or melody. Readers who care for real history and nut communal fantasy must therefore carefully examine all claims of mediaeval Muslim be thai imperial pressure propaganda It could he expertise in astronomy and Sanskrit, geometry
contain
i
Inch
poor, downtrodden,
ui
defenceless
WMain
% modern
Llud 'ng
fr,
authors
lyrical
in
rapture
TodanoaTi
si
*ardry in the
same
old imperial
rain.
Vti
S tith,
and geography claimed in the name of authors like Al Biruni and Badayuni ne gross exaggerations of art age of rampant illiteracy. H (3) Todarmal was a Rajput Kshauiya.
tf
and Todarmal are given so *** Charily intended to increase the impend
> ^r
an independent
Arrf*
wa*
firat
employed on a
minor
post
to
KC*P
m
358
,
not u sentimental philanthropist, and his whole policy was directed principally to the acquisition or power and
AkKtrwis a hard-headed
man of
Khatri
business,
a urinal in
,ncc
Bt
hatred
cutdown
tk
,,nd
'art
MI the arrangements about jagira, branding (of horses) do* were devised for the one purpose namely, ihc enhancement of the power, glory, and
ties
richesofthe crown. We do nol l"o\\ in substantial about the actual effect of Im administrative measures on the welfare and happiness of ihe common people Certainly they did not prevent the occurrence of one of the most terrible famines on record which desolated Northern India late in A Knit the revenue the reign, from 1595 to 1598.' system devised by Todarmal which is praised sky high in average Indian histories, Badayuni a con-
to which Todarmal fhc lengths favour w.th the Muslims may r h^tll from Lt that in Hindusthan where fact ma]o r ||y population was Hindu, rfthc etnona accounts used to be 1||]m main(a tfpaous languages it was Todarmal who tir
,!,'
,J^ m
and^
all
govenment
in
thenceforth be written
.c
",
an
forced his co-religionists io learn the court ianeJ b & of their rulers."
temporary
chronicler
notes that 18
the
usurious
Dig
Blochmann quotes Badayuni about Akbarh passed "orders that the common people
the
should
exactions were squeezed and 5TCW0d out of the pOiT subject^ with such ferocity that the wives and were sold (as tiidren of the raiyats (peasantry)
slaves* and scattered abroad, and everything was thrown into confusion. But the KronS middle men) were brought to account by Raja Todarmal, and man) good men died from flu sevue beatings which were administered, und from the tortures I So many died from Ua the rack and pincers. reveproctracted confinement bl the prisons of the the nue authorities that there was no need of
|
people were
ITcun
Hindusthan
Justifying
Persian.
the
abolition
ci
\i
Di
Shrisvastava observes 31 that obviously Arabic could not be a language of the people of India*"
Hut
he forgets that
Persian too
is
equally alien
to
India.
Despite
executions t oi
r
to find
wi
1lfl
Todarmai's toeing
io his
credit
his
the Muslim
line
ii
bc
said
that he remained
life.
and
distress,
"nch
He
W
*""''
children.
It
is
&
no wonder then
odtfitth
**
ibid.
1,
OM
so
3ft
|
fully
deM
*
<
,n ope""md
sister sis'cr
|slam
for
Once when
Punjab he folllld l0 of worship missing v Hnkand pamphcmalit .doHand p alMht obvi4lUS y it was a subtle imposing upon an orthodox
^
nfl
* C ^l,l.canipa..n
J chanqrJr
L
*
Akha r
at
**"*>*
Mansingh was
born
Akbar when
his
,
.
Zto
oT
Of
A&^KB
Pratap an d
wi.I,
f
*+
liiuj.
had
three days in a state of and water for his devotions. for having missed "JLttl tormem himself to the he had to reconcile Urtimaid
cross
swords
battle
Z "*
l
B^LZ^
governor
,
J"*"*
Hmb
Mansingh commanded
ihcdnirfctsalo^thernduL
ntredloss.
Later he was sent to restore order in Kabul Hn uncle Bhagwandas dhgtmed wjih the readier), debauchery and fanaticism at the Muslim court
i
pin-pricks and affronts Disgusted bv such insults, and lived in Banaras a harried T darmal resigned He did not however tod Hard war hut was recalled
live Hi.
went mad,
according to AbuJ
Fazal, and
bier
stabbed himself At
Mansingh
Muil
for
of 54, on November
succeeded U the title of Raja On his subordinates complaining against turn pandering
to their fanaticism
lie
*ai
recalled from
(4)
ruler
the region,
two immediate ancestors nsmgh forgetting his proud Rajput tradition wielded the swoid of Islam" and allowed women of his family to be lifted at will by alien Muslim
Bharmal.
rulcTi
'"
,nVa C f
hnc ft Hindu
"
|
far
hi
and nobility
bated
h,
Pi
India.
deepp.
Rana
Muslim OvWlwJ
ipuri
for
tIK
ump.ccm
*emio Rana
i
ibode to negotiaic
behalf
Akbur
ii
Rana of
indomitwrested
iodine with Mansingh, a Muslim "*. as he wiled him. Alter Mansingh's deparhe had the esiU, at the meeting place dug up*
W
"
,
:1< ,
bury
i-
'<
,
nh ,. Jf
^dand.hc
dis-
Man*"*'
=d frutn the
contagion of slavery.
Mansiflf
362
Manbai
his wife
sister
Man-
sham^' ^^,
15
ch had plotted to prevent Jchangir from corning to lite throne and proclaimed Jehangir's son Khtisru. emperor aftei Akbar'* death.
the
templc
y*Cj
"
^^M4^
rc
"
of
'
Mecca, with
down.
at
-He
of Islam Mansingh was deeply hated by Akbar. Once during a drunken brawl Akbar had tried to The lauer was saved because throttle Mansingh.
disillusioned in the
Ahmcd.1*.
6.
after
fortune.
<J I>5^
I!'
of some other courtiers then of the 1605 Akbar wanted to poison present. In Mansingh by administering him some poison pills. Unluckily for him however Akbars perfidy boomcranged on himself. He had prepared two doses of pills looking alike. One contained poison while the other was a harmless dummy. Through
intervention
of
Behram
Abdul RahimlCh an
Kha,,
Rah.nrs fatl,,-, kl,," Akbar's instance though Beh tL Akbar's faithful and murder of Behram Khan the
,
m Behram
l
ur-year
T*
Kb*
**
^
then
^ *
inc
oversight he swallowed
the poison
pills
himself
Rahim was
his
niily
brought
to Akbar's
while singh
passing on
in
all
the
innocuous ones
ine
result
to
Manthat
mother Salima
to
W *,;
dfc,
confidence,
was
play
wife
Akbar. Unm.
uf
Akbar died while Mansingh survived. Disgusted with the lecherous and treacherous atmosphere at the Muslim court Mansinglis son Jagat Singh and a number of other descendants drank themselves
to death,
5.
by
Akbar
life
and
wwc:
hi*
i
court
Abdur Rahn
Mirza
Aziz
rebelled
Kuka
brother.
He
ing the sorrow and tedium of hb life poems. He was born at Uhuie fa
by
'
wasili.it one
Akbar's despotic behaviour. Aziz Koka refused to have his hordes branded with the imperial mark. Apprehensive ol Akbar "i vengeance he left for on the pretext of capturing it |>nm il lv.rtugucse. But instead he set sail in 1593 foi Mecca iHfldj nh his many wives and a dozen sons and daughters to seek spiritual solace for his
Dm
enemies under the musk of All charge him with malic I" taaess. He lies buried
1
...
called
Humayun's tomb
345, Vol
111.
in
*a
f*.
2J.
P 360. Vol
164
L
Hindu king
,s
U was
to
when living. manfton The Hindu He lies buried in his own reside im two Shakti hakra (the esoteric design made up of seen adorning interlocked triangles) may snli be
which
he
m
ie ad
had occupied
BhW*its
*****
'!'
'
ruler
led
the
mansion
From
is
i;
I_
t
he sacred
with its dome, adorned Gwalior fori). U Fashion of the Hindu palace in the time thai called Nila Burj by Muslims from
blue Hindi,
tiles (in
the
(do
.dol in
il^JJ
\\
riddled with
shoes Id the ed
slaughtered^
Birbar
is
often
referred
to
as Birhal
in
popular parlance.
ent,
Birbar In eon* means the strength (or grit) of a warrior. name Birbar is temporary Muslim chronicles the 528 in a poor Brahmin used. He was born in As a original name was Maheshdas.
1
temple walls. Despite inch could not be foisted on the Birbar Nagaik^Z? " rone sop he is said to have been oflWerf .1 As a and a jagir at Katanju. But he was not
j|!
"
I
DeJ
* Z^ ^
S^Jg
pern*
w;
*8
Hi
to
enjoy even
that.
In
I53 he
I
i^
froniiw
l0
he
rebellion!
Ywufhi
n
northwest
family.
His
joined
the
entourage
of Raja
Ambar
(Jaipur),
When Akbar
rabid!)
that
"Birbal the
Birbar ascended the throne Bhagwandas presented used to style to Akbar. At that time Maheshdas He himself as Brahmakavi (poet of the universe).
the
infidels
in hell
mju
rdiihuiiot
the
many
misdeeds:'
Badayuni us
i*
rank rose from a mental position at court to the of a grandee because in him Akbar found a ready tool and a perfect factotum ready to execute any
Akbar* s Rahim, Maheshdas also used to relieve the agony In 1574 he was of his heart by composing poems.
job or
at
Light
*
fad
the
l *
Bhagwand^n
days
'"
.
Lahore within
,
five
man
command.
Like
Abdur
November 1589. Badayuni Pf "* .*.-! rt the w ** taenedtolheabodeofheMJ^ ^hastened lo <* abode ofhelM
it!
.,,
mS
to be foisted as
the
ruler
of Nagurkol
in
scorpions.
May God
was a
will
common
high-handed
practice
away a reigning Hindu dom tuh i& own puppei and set with imperial Muslim might, as a
have been so
*"'
^^,1, ^
^*
of
live
reign-
w the
first
b a. *.-* to arrive at
Vol. U.
jit***
m,
&**>*'
^
307
meticulous list ofall the Hindus whom he thought, a Muslim Allah consigned to the
Islamic heJJ.
to
make*
d pro
10
be
his "*
un( uiicioiiii;
j
1
fnnscn's music
quired
w
i,
the
profligacy "'
Some Cheap
stories of
Akbnr-Rirbal
and wnncism* current in India have been invented by some ingenious rfter ;uid added to from time time hy others, giving ihem a historical AkbavB.rhaf background. The real Birbar led a horrid precarious and deeply detested existence far removed from am humour tr poetry.
I
repartees
V"^* ^T
t
if
'fa
en
^w*ii
in
w,l * ,
'
pjtiowly
pari
when
abducted
lo
JS*
}^
'
of a huge ransom m men worna' j cavalry and footmen that Ramchand bi'!' der to buy peace from Akbar's nZt At Akbar's court Tansen C mcUt
:i
"
-;;
fanatic
Muslims
Tansen was born sometime m 1531-32 in a Brahmin family in Behat village 28 miles from
8
at court Utrustinghair^
their
own,
hisearly training in music in Gwahoi which had a tradition of high class Hindu mi Tansen has attained legendary fame as a wjcal musician par excellence, saint musician,
Gwaljor.
He received
mouth of Tansen opening to sing hh mclod may well be true. Shunned hy orthodox Hmdm
and dragged and addressed
style
as
Miy
Mtahm
rcprw
life lie
Haridas of Vrindavan, is also said to have imparted imiion in musk to Tansen. He took up service as a court musician with Raja Ramchandra of Bhatha (modern Rewa>. It was there thai he received the inlc of Tansen because of his mastery
in
Tansen has been willy nilly as a Muslim though till the eml of hu tnaincd a Hindu. He died in 1588
six years' forced
tin
I*
rorraent-
cd career of twenty
alien
monarch's
al
court
He lb bu near Mdiunm
singing
In
56
temple-tomb
entire area
the foot of
Gwl
that
kingdom Tansen was wrested away. Badayuni says, ** 'Tansingh did not wish to leave his royal Hindu patron. Finally (a fierce Muslim general) Jala) Khan Kurchi came, and brought him
to a sense of duty.*'
Hindu
centuries
o\
Muslim
Tansen is often flaunted as an example of Akbar's encouragement to music. But that is a bogus claim msen was already an accomplished musician before bting dragged to Akbar's court, in fact his expertise in music
I
M "
-mpk*
at
the foot of
Gwahor
fart too
*
of
Ml
no
Hakim H.m>um
'
i
1|M
'
25.
P. 14%, ibid.
HrV rrt n ifiichen Akbar's royal kitclic i* Uiva *he nine gems.
fMI
,
J^
but
till
Med
he
19
'rtf
in
'
^r^ch.ehJv coveted.
As kitchen Miperf*
the preparation of
supervise hid to
mm
Hakim
Akhar suspected "Hakim him is evidence enough BVe poisoned Wumam, M* everybody else hated
ihii
Ubar.
^
<
Chapter
XXIV
SCRIBES
hardly ever menThe very fact that Ifumam ie history is eloquent proof of j n nay standard
,
In looking for contemporary recordi Akbur's or for that matter of any Muilim'i in India one comes across two contradictory
about
reign
mu-
men ts.
while
uncance.
sheer invention
Writer after writer complaint that nn won records me available while k tho
it
is
confidently asserted
that
their
somehow
all
il
has
all
Both
understood
embroiled in a
miserable
-I
game of mutual
disgusted
all led
lives
with
We
have
ready quoted
undertakes
reign
State
tlicir
their dealings with liim :w the nine-gem story for from shedding any
<>n
Ifth century,
diligent student
notoriety
The biographer 8
different
deal w,ih
te Ufe
ef
is
so
matter lh
"f
'
have not
1*
a
Akbar'. r
compilation
"
lS-**^?2** MrtPJ
*" Tahh
lc
.
ft'^fflf*
P.
J e n
one
f *>">'?%
*,,<
sss*
I*
St
^
10
;:::-
"
,T1
Fiild,,
,.n>dc.J'
Akbar
*&
"
371
mmis.
tni
w&iB i**
nwsier
Poises
with.
the time.
^contmiWinj
hc cp^iks
to their fclfilmeot
But
H M.HIbotbyLt.Pritchard^dnX^
ted thai they were not more woittiy of bestowed upon them.'*
the
in, mIa , cd
ml
in
..
frequeni
parentheses difficult
unravel, and
decadence of
Gibbon justly remarks, BOtrfnj rn prose, as if poetry, and in poetrj to the vicious affectation and insipidity of prose.,, linking below the flatness
I
Apparently these modem writenof medtaevaj history have been misled by contemporar> itate-
Faial, and
<-
Euro*
Luge group of
have not
felt
hound
te,\t
examining the
Muslim scribes swarming around Akbar used to on its tiptoes 10 take down every word of whil
he said.
fectly
lie per-
So even
Akbar's reign
rians are
the
is
scanty
all
record
that else
exists
of
true
understood
in
the
proper conn
trash.
What
can be
expected of a regime
writers
r*
ilo
jitfatt
mistaken
in
is
come
d n
to us
of all
important
is
record
that
was
Akbar
ever kept.
^^^im J**** *
dm*
nor true
'^-^^n^
The lack of State papers dealing with the Akbar is not due to any failure of his to
I
**j^i& **
llC() ,
M iw***
dk fcmnun
ep a record of his sayings and doings. Each day ilc he *as giving public audience watchful standing below him committed to paper
and recorded
technologic'
Americacaim|'
of
their
u i^>>
S?53:h n99
JkJn^l!!!
or? and
t ?T thWl
Li " t,lc
*
***"
3
10
pjpe-
r**&d
*#
^ *&
svhe
ruled
!*.
JS3
M
'
VI. Elliot
urf Dowsoi,.
m
justify their existence
Sm
winded
letters thai
unknown, copious m stenography n% er kcpt k ttW so 1! that while unimportant, long, rd to believe alone of all court record have sur,,j
Even
if
uft%*
letters
record has wdusively and vived the rest ofthe The fact thai (he mvslcrjouslv disappeared. have come down to us constitute about
al
all
>ai ,ng al and reduce to * thai m above, it was im observed posslblc cable to reduce even a Traction ofit ****> of mechanical the absence means * "* *
, ,
,^y **
of
<*
be
Ik rest waj wag ever reduced to writing. done verbally. That most transactions should oral was necessitated by the very nature of the
I
?W>.
*5
kS ? *
Tkurd
ife tu-
ctetJings
at Muslim courtsnepotism,
It
was
all
medley of
bribery,
themes Jn
faithlessness,
corruption,
confusion,
plotting
counterplotting and cringing flattery. In such a of life there is no administration as such and there*
and way
no records. The few letters that have come down to us had to be written to coax and cajole or threaten and control recalcitrant tends or rebels and imposters located far away
fore there arc
nings at court which were mostly v cry dirty for any Despite all this, cringing scribes Ifo record. Fazal and Badayuni had to make a ihow of then being busily engaged in writing. After ill
,
ro
Therefore,
they
modern
historians
examine what they had written, How ihev written or whether they had written wiythmi There were no supervisors over than. all ?
1
at
have almost all the record 'f whatever was reduced to writing There was nothing more and. therefore, the question of its being destroyed does not arise.
were no responsible,
superintendents.
conscientious and
Like wayward
themselves
siudc^
useless scribbling to
make
the
what should one make pf confident assertions by contemporaries like Abul Fazal and Monserrate that meticulous records of all that transpired at court were assiduously maintained ? The explanation for the statements of contemporary Muslims is slightly different *B that fur Statements by Luropean visiles
It
to
their
and pens on parchment in lawning and feigning and deed of the sovereign .^
^ ^ app^^
*
,, |cJ
^J*^ * m ^^
^t^
f
down nothing,
like
Monserrate.
*J
Court employees
like
Abut Fazal
in
order to
did record
something
t^t
^n-
375
374
hardly drtUoyed
This
Jc
be expected
after
the
make-believe
tctuaU y
was
record
over.
makc
intelligible notes.
intelligent
or
isthc
reason
why we have on
only
dls "
CJ s
i
which
WM
wrrUcn
and
They
also
couldn't
be
expected
patch
to
ling which dj
J^
any-
*H
iu
secretaries write down all duly each day. These the king, all the measures rhe business transacted by They lake betakes and all the orders he issues
.
four
*Akbar 'appoints Monscrr.ite records that a body of scribes for 01 five secretaries out af
even by
Even
thing
if at
limes any
it
deprecatory
was not
sovereign's approval
or consent. If at
lo submit
a
ny idiot
ot a scribe ventured
written calumny
down what he
says with
such
speed
that
they
and preserve his words before they can fall to the ground and be lost. (Footnote They were called Waqiah Nawis or
appear carefully to catch
:
both
lie
and
to pieces
heavy odds
."
script writers)
Muslim while records being Kept during and roatfacre Regimes thr.vj.ig on murder 1 iid ia.
above observation being that of a third, disinterested party But tike all other evidence we insist that it should be properly anary&td. silted and understood.
attach great value to the
Firstly, t-ince
We
ravage
and
^^^J^SK ^
to
falf
plunder.
t J^^>
hanJ ,
.f^Jf Mo
^Lanently dh*d
What
personal
then
"**
_ rf
in
hc
O-
b>
adn
,,r
vlons
-p
b
f
Secondly, this pretension of being at the of Hii Majesty was also to ! the advantage venbe* because they got paid for it. Being sovereign and in
:
* "S
'
1 J
modes
court
**"',
il
he
*&l*
,,,
oZT.1l
who
dl,W
bis
confidence
inflated
,hem
,eis
o he
Se^X^
w hoic interests lopia and court J"* ***** * Koran and imr
iguc
r
* ^
they could
And
r:
,:
376
317
,um-pushns iiflml ever ..ally Se mo.io.is Of very pushing their peal Sorting anything or
ZSFvmmkm
SSSWS^oo. -round
^mmitnl
douMftil noting
I
We
out
fully
view
the emperor
muted
.opsyturvy.
before aspiring to g cl
T^^^
""
'
*t q d
hc
'
t0
understood in the statement needs to be properly When it was made relevant context of the times.
was made should be and wh) and by whom it often reveal that considered. Such analysis would nothing or sometheir statements either connote they ostensibly mean the very contrary of
UM
This
researchers
tow^;^in rait
\Jhu
Hc-un,
mediaeval
Muslim
rulers were
Similarly
pr^T^
'
'
,ft4
*-'
**
Kg
all
more
worthless.
n,,kci
may
we
then
be
despaired
all
.tut
m
mcfo
iiabto.
left
the
times
neonlm*
should
history?
lutely
give
up
recaiwrudui|
We
Most modern scholars place great reliance on Abul Fazal s Akbarnama even though they seem to be aware that he was a thoroughly unreliable
f
that there
no cause
Hamaningtt
as to be
Mufti?
or blanked
with
fabrtcn
crimim
murderat
importance to the fact that "Hhe Akbarnama was written by Abul Fazal in obedience to an imperial order and partly revised
reign they attach great
clever forgeries
crimes them*
Investigation
sum
doubt and
suspictom
iii,
p.
414)".
arc carefully
checked tfuri
iheii
*
*
,
P W
We
wisSi
to
strongly emphasize,
however,
Akbarnama was subject to Akbar's revision renders all the more worthless and dangerous with regard to any claims made in
it
inve^W
P^^
f
-d
perseverance
^
I
ipP*
*
ill
Akbar'v favour
What
is
the worth nf a
document authored by
and then censored
ibid
Mian
historical
4,
Aktar
the (iitai
Mogul, by V Smith,
r^ **** Wg*
378
olubrious
unfold
inv
*T
I .
^,ication
1
shunned*
te
^ ''
of criminal adjudication have been d legal academ ic naivete or help. d w|lh books have been fashioned
methods
379
One
tfo
T
ni
ficiai
I'JaW Uevendreamptthatmcdiaval
the very
writings. No d questionable seems to have been jejons attempt motatio,ls u wa ' ll lhdr <
^-nic.er.Foun^^; "^^
1
hebw
bc
*J
**rtd
bound
assert
*V
"* r"
!,t|1
*c
Juld mean
import.
*.
Abut
It 15
makes
we can
and
all
Faa.au M.n,,
ti
safely assume
io be
HE
inmH
,
%Z
sup-
tl,.-
themselves in first cautionmost writer* contradict the unreliability of reader against believing
ing the
.imon
that
f
we
must not
uirn* out
On
the contrarj
human
intelligence
I
Same
charge at
ilkustratc
same
demands
from
that
we would
victim
like to
When
on
his
a murderer plants
investigation.
forged
note
we make
valuable
We
fully
agr
with iiU
washers of Indian
use
of
forged
implicate
note
as
very
his
evidence
to
onlywuree^U^J^iwIfi.
sifting neaps
<-"
mode
mcrch
and
motive
because
we use
get
forgery
he doesn't
the right
to insist that w
intents .o be true.
"
relm
i
mm
rch
'
Contrarily the
very
resea-
piles of
l' M
M'
i
_
.Iihil'UH!
irn
we useu
k.
hary
*Uih/r'
"+?J1 2 /
drawing any conclusions' wond ucted along such guidelines rmg aCCL,rat m r r from the very dross-heap of
aue u * M * %
****
court*
9ft
cm
mer;
381
IflO
* to
pushing be avidly
their
ffiMh
P
iu
.ffrded
...thai
li
nothing worthwhile,
10 us were
'JS* 1 *
(>llcm <"*
,
pion,
m *mMm J own
i come down
lcisllrc
ii
from
.her
tlieir
K
ESS
altered
""fn^.
ed
altered,
^
^
nd pleasure
That IS to say that many a time Akbar then Abul Faial tells us supplemented, approved or examined, corrected, In Tact believe him. his writings we fully
of his
K 7S t^W
we conclude
the
emperor,
fancy
fe2| chronicler.
Badayuni has unwillingly let 04 mio ifc secret of Muslim chronicle-wririnp by revelling lhat when ihc AktanumM was being Kritlen courtier came and ordered him it retard iba* Akbar had founded a magnificcni IwMhfo called carried out Nagarchain. Poor Badayuni
v,r, i hit on reser imperial order but added d*rt ncro even the he had "ever come
mm
it
that all
censored
That
writing a
is
why we
Kamgar Khan
to oblige an
is
rightly regarded
aggrieved Shahjahan.
we
also find
like
confirmed
dope-addicts
Hibtil)
Akbar
ranting
in
** ** '* *"*"
^ H*
potion
mi
ded
mm
b;
f
*J
; :
<f^'\
We
would therefore,
The
roads, buildings,
tothtm B reaUp,
agiariscdHmduproperty
Sid W**
upon
P' <
*
1
m cd
381
382
\\-y below a tew
illustrative cxiracis
*
Hi
'
,Uv
tv in
t
a great friend
business
,K-
The
Gulal-bar
JJ
ot
grand
to drmi
;:-_
Hi*
""His
one
one
that
candlestick
Majesty's clothes becomingly fit pvtn> whether he be tall or ihort, (That Implfi
possessed miraculous power*
his ro bes
t
yard high.
His
l
Akbar
rt
jo
io
Majesty has
m pa
to
lines,
of 24 hours His Majesty cats before he is fully satisfied.' but once and leaven off abstemious when (\\c wonder what made him so of torturous extortion (' in lifetime
*i*li
or expanding to fit anybody. Thank God wr mules not told that His Majesty'! robes also fitted
the course
and
fcyenasj.
Aifenliun to both
(painting
nd
mttlUl
he spent
torn and
it
though,
(The,,
* ""HflT* M *
who
<h.
,
"His
(This
is
little
for
meat,
a typically
inane
sentence
which doesn't
the
mean
a thing),
H
nee
possess
hooks and
has such a
as trained
is
Majesty
knowledge of the
musicians
prjvllcy of
,
b *J
"'
l(|alf0 of
of music
'
ho was his
tutor and
abducted
c<"> 40 "
,,
Akbar find time to study music in the din of war drum* and the horrid shrieks of the millions who
were tortured. And if he was after all such an acomplished musician did he conduct any concerts or open anj imperial music schools?.)
Am
I.
5.
ill,
ibid
Aintt,
9
H,
II
\m Am
Ait,
IS. 19.
21
2*
If
,.
UN
,
Am
II
3M
;--
~*H
sk)
Mae>t>
*>*
Akbar
was
Balis (of a particular i match te frcd vftnout esq woW dare to fire. no or* bui H
He
so
Majesty
in
to
invented
through plunder camp: ai ovw therefore had enough of ihat metal lodiipUy an quantity anytime to anybody. Thus goes Abol Fuzal on and on merrily m an useadiag
al
certainly
an adep
,
lootiwE
__..
aid
unflas
His
strain
a- a saint, a catiie-hree
beyond
my po*er
to
drunkard, womanizer, nnssacrer, world cxcefH was. Hindu-hater and plunderer- *nica be really
nailery a p.tv ihat this fabric of a throng par *** bv sei eta! histonans as
aregmfed
is
-^Thc good habits of His Majesty are so thai | cannot adequately describe them "
=sty
gives satisfactory
answers to
the
three
^ *! volume, ftbc
in
VKbrnanu
the fullered* thai in <** s
,
X
^needed
rnedu-
aD 6uem
adttse
had cm
*di
the tares
w*rl!!? \F**"
ihis ionue and throwd the palace wished 'm> tongue would be
:
&m***"
*
"t
in
:^Sw a**"^
a*
N
;,.-
.&-
d
3*7
h
aroUnd
fact
M
frankness he and murderous
S,l
villagers
eagerly flock
dese
ibes
how
hrough-
fu
ignorance of thc
,w
Akb
Loci*
reign
that august
Muslim
Ifany hotel
what amcnit.es
is
it
sough
mire of these fraudulent vv chronicles we have pointed oul how *kbar turns be a man of every conceivable vice and
rtdtng Ihrougfc the
Uobenani
widejirable trait
of character.
From thisil may be realized how dangerous institutions after A It bar. to name air
!f<
a??** He S ays -His Majesty (Akbar) hat' . ti hui *' win e shop near the palace. The maui! hc mfm who had collected could
chronicler
KVtf* * n Mlf^yW
will have to
?***
large
wa
i?^
lathe
'
their
number.
If
fndj\ idual
projects
.ire
courtiers
wanted
Majesty
to have a
s
Ijfig
,
public
inspire
intended to be
memory-aids
to
permission,
um
*x
fly.
prostituted
themselves,
and
druntai.
Hi* Mijnij
what respect will posterity he inspired knowing the facts about Akbar?
In
led to bloodshed.
himself called
asked
some of thc
of
their virgin
Akbar's sordid career had remained not carefully shrouded but was
only
The calibre
taste
has the
time
even
presented
myriad r
i>
10 m,c lo'ml a
mW
it
.
hcCllUSC his
Part
^ndants
continued
litutes
and
anviola-
to inquire
ti
from each one of them, about the imagined. n of their virginity may well be
htimvet* wttnvened
p usa * e
and
repetition
whether the
mm&( *
of truth.
of
would
like or
-'^rir
"wfcaia
Afch, fa
f
to "*
I> ;'
r;
'
commufttriae
the
**
il
all
H_r ^^leaatath!J!
1
.
avc T C ,c,Kktl
tJmi?
,n
thc
,he the
* ?
,hc
,
noM hoi,t
of name of
king
and patronized
by Akbar
lu,IBfl1,
^ ^l*ve
k
"
hlk
'
Vincent
Hindu
poison
unwanted
are
persons.
Shou
W*
p ,0
named
"' hut role.
***'
Wc
hjiv
ZV m
a n ^ed after
^
o
lt
>
Such
f
the
onerous re.
of Akbar.
01
romlherame
h|
Chapter
nubijc
tcistjtution
XXV
has
to
be
named
Im4*
I,
Is
tJmTc*na
on finnariw
It
historical
** wd
thai
* I""**
commu-
AMARTOMBISAHWDUPALAO
Em
a secular garb, and passing wUsffl parading under expcdienc) ire not allowfarced needs erf political mishandle history. ed u> manhandle or
It is
also essential
accentuated
hated by
^EjKJt!
his burial
ail r,i.i
Vincent Smith
says
^f
in this
context that
we thought
it
essential
dead
gap
A knar's
history straight.
was made
Introduction to Popular
>\
India. 1894,
p.
&C.
Third Vol. ii, p 56, Dubois Hindu Manner*, etc. Jataka rjiaBtatioa ed. (Beauchamp), fi, p. 499 the Rouse and Cowell 1895, Vol. ii.
I
body was
would
bUnal
"
at
pftj* &bad-
&'
.
I..
perfiioetoD
>
wm
p
ai
tut
that
point
m thia'"g^' m* *****
P^nly
.^;
the
orAk(
toe*.*
even regarding
dicd
ihc
Fo.i...A^;.
s*
"rtrr
S3
.,,-~^
;.mi
391
hi Imtmpom
tiny detail
quoted by Vincent Smith nc utv authorises " *ii liter Furopean writers Thai shows died fa, the Red For, not based on u, mere rumour and myth lErth
SSSKS
thai
ASr
authentic source. In fact the Akbar* body was not brought out
was no fiiMfti * b rted body was removed by tffi" can be accepted only " f.t, 2 bis father Huma,, of
'
4
,
*****
'
S& u
'
"
ilnr
rnilu
I','
nf
a
Akbar 'i Akbar's burial add from Smith's observation hat Such secrecy, hurry and perwas also secret functoriness a possible only if Akbar is buried in Our conthe very mansion in which he lay ill. clusion! therefore, that Akbar died in the very sixi
clandestinely removed through anv gutebui was bears out Smith "s observation thai hole in the wall perfunctory. Wc burial was hurried and
ok^' T
fl
B:
f,c
*""
,-cedenUhecla^,^^^:;
taken out through i reason, is untenable
holt hi the will fc
1^
Even conceding
ihal
it
WW taken
to thiong to Sikni
.<
out thr
rami
i I
i\
w
amid
miles
storeyed
he
lies
Hindu usurped palace at Sikandra wheie buried is thus based on sound logic.
fact that his burial
away,
It
would have
ihcn nude
lomg
mid lengROl
thy procession.
be called
The
functory
makes n clear i cry spot where he lay dying. Since he h buried in Sikandra it is our contention that he died in
Sikandra.
There
at
all
fancied grave
empty.
This conclusion
lies
is
reinforced by the fa ci
tZ'Z
-
In
,;
(
WW in*
thi.
Akbar
palace.
there.
buried
in
a six-storeved
He happened
to die
when he
,hMar
cr report that *.
1w
">
lS^^ ^ ^f
Dc.
* IIP-" U*WP*
wrcd
iJw
^*"""!l VcrwtoMitiiu^
rcwrvai
Jl
he died in the Red Fori in Agra there was no reason why his body should have been removed t* breaking upen a wall instead of being
out through the forts main ca i e
Had
brcakmg
the
.tnd
on**""
,l
h toi
^ !'"" "
,uld
,'
carried
destroy
.....I;
the iw nL
.ndWi""
dead
,
"' "
1
The
through -
c^ri
that
Akbar s
mnoved from
the
fort,
unkm, WfI
.pecmllv
madc scqm
'"
^LZ uW
tlK
bock
ihrew.lK,,!
M
,
was
c>
'
"^
I '
,,
lb
*
NW.ll.
v>y
991
It
was
he
Thu<cven AUW*
people.
who
n amcd
UIUrN
ramifications
(li
i^^*^.
Ik,.!
fact
ili.il
Hin hi
Mi
To
cover up
the
ih
u.
,,*
who
hated
rn
Akbar
own
own
life
ma> himself have caused Akbar "s remain* to be burnt in the "hurried and perfunctory"
obsequies
1
lime Akl
in'-
ai
^.
am
n.
.| !:
jndia
his
site foi
burial
Jin|
*,
palatial lurnb
if
T^
ses that
Akbar
didn't he
Jul' u
:
tia
own
ju ^
Ak bar's
buiii
to-called
not
a six
tomb why
on as he
jump
Willi
into
is
MpoKi
Hindu palace consisting of hundreds rooim, a basement, and huge grounds enclosed by a baiilemented wall. The massive wall has lowering gates on all the four sides as was common with Hindu build int:
storeyed
(4)
even mi
re
and
grave and
buildn
anticipation of
htf^'
mere tomb which is haunted by fakirs, mendicants and other riff-raff would never have embellishments of gold, silver and gems. Tie wealth referred to forms part of the tradir
built
his
yddinTu^*;
within fi>
>""
thai building
because
before
Muslim
all
;:;:
as
,
usurpation that
thai wealth
<
5>
arc
w2b and
i^*
ted
***
ln *^ked-Lnang.es, <
^^Wncrth^chcenSikandm
had
it
lr
And
Htilii
yet
of his arrival,
but
within
thai
in
|,
peace.
Persian
uneducated Humaytm was an fK ,her an he must have learnt B it told that the desert-wastes of architecture in
lm
was he who
L.
Insfe^
''OnTueuW*
^f
\noi
ai^ p
ft*
somebod,
'J*
Jehangir claims
on foot to see
father.
If
1
upon my
foot
SindJndPcrsia.it a lime
in
when he wandered
eye-lashes oj my head
respecting m
y *
he made a vow
shrine of the
his
without any shelter over taiicred clothes head or a morsel of food in his stomach.
from Fathpur
to Ajmer'on
pta^*
ih
One wonders whether the Persians had set up any school ofaidaiectute m the desert for an uncouth, wandering Humayun to study at.
The canard
is
space of
ihori
di.tawe^
had obi
luii
it
I
that
Akbar
built his
formula
^ outiM
did
it
erected over
nnd h
FT)
ck- writing
In a
my
liking.
My
should be
so exquisitelhat the
in
While
us that*
at
Akbar
construction or his own tomb by Sikandra near Agra had been going on for
The
consequence of the
jean when death overtook him. Jehangir CSign andcha "Sed it. He completed fh? k.mb m i * 1613, , foe seventh year of his
LZteKhusruJwasob.i^^
Lahore.
at their
The
^,
Mfid
,
rW
discretion.
Tn
"
wtiaj fibricatioiL
fishy slips
which always
tl^vo^a
il
(
in
concert
^h^^^lF** ^
*A
fis^^wSiL ? * Wn *****
1
1
i,,
lr
down
Wh,ch
chronicler's
the
objection^
was
raised, with
313. f arl
"
IT,
Ichangir
was knowiuo
tir
k|
made of white
large
sliahtcsl slip
defiance
r
S|h
;
building
tionhavmgpumshed 1Cerr
claim
is
**. i*
i
*
| ,.,
ii>
STwporitti
Irak
ro
toes
I
me
and
In
4.<
annua
of
a hoax and a
Ulkt
nud
is
4
Another
fishy deUil
j,a_
whk]
,
order
claim* nJ
accomodate the contradictory Akbai and Jefumgir having built one and
maasoleuiti anothei disannini
iv is
eertain 'objectionable
nam
|
th'c*imc Sifcandi
naive canard
foisted
on
history
It
says
thai
lehansif
"hkm nulled cls nl pu tie OBjcctionabk compktc.y. ThcobjtdkiMte^ were obviously those of a Hindu ml!! ofhts having chiselled awa; awa> f his
h,,,
down,
*
In
*f)
me n
conveniently
forgotten
tlitM
Jehangir
Hindu
wheel
symbol^
Nu
__ - j n>hnn mauiokunHa m
IBtefkN
.1
ty* ^
"M
<*"*>*
he completed a
half- built
lomb.
his
triangles(Shakti-chakras)
to the
set
it
rcfctcnce
to
On
closer examination
of Jehahgir*s assertion
man who
changes
mu
<^a
Wl\
right.
J
work
his
vague
in
reference to the
toiildtttf
who
is
patently false
being
"completed*
three ot
in Indian
(
those days
quoting the
cost not
all
ainwqil
concedta
uged ft r even the slighte-a slip or disobedience who dared trifle with urn approved plan or Akbar's
'IwhW
is
The
H,
figure of expenditure
mausoleum
L\cn if there were any dare-devil architect idiotic enough to flout a cruel Jchangir's chosen building design what interest would he have in substituting thai design with one of his own fancy ?
After
all
M.
Elliot
his
^^Z .*g
*^
.l'.ii,.il
He
the architect
ct
uldn't be anotJiu
son
of
his
/Vkbar
Jehangtr's hatted
te^nse
own
design
the
J eh angir's
approved
*-"J ifW^ ^
tomb
obstinately
somebody did
<
construe!
lausofcum which ttogpred 1 u what punishtt did mete tie ut to the erring men, since
fe
1 H indu ,ownshiP The n* of the WM*"" f fonned the focal point, may still ,,, p,b he seen around Mtbirt chapter in Our object h rewriting has been to rebut In all such detail,
,
CM
tllHtu
G R A p
ii
y
lint
Indian
hit
a majoi Wsification.
to present
tl)
'Akbar\byJ
nolnin
bul
lnc
(2)
^HHhavun
Annals and volumes by
*
M Shetat. \W A D
bw
In
reign, death
rhtwpatty. Bambay.7
two
Antiquities orRajaat&arf
Lt-Col
James Tod,
RouM, >dc
We
extract
are afraid
we may
able
to
& Kcgan
homd
m
(4)
'Alcbai the
.
Gnat Mogul
ty
Vincent
>
Smith,
S,
reprint,
95
Vti
we have tried to piece together and expose the falsity of Akbar't usual image, and bring out a coherent and logical accew ir*s diabolical role from his cradle to
But so tar as possible
'Memoirs of
Jehirudtftn
Mohammad
8t
Buhur".
I
William Erskii
two
-
volumes,
gravr
University Press
far
v
ll
bv i
VD
'
How
have succeeded
it
is
for
the
(5)
t Crescent
t tn
readers to judge.
KftabLtd
Bombay-1.
S * K Sharing 1^ A D
*
Hirnl
eal
l^ A D
"
I
,
H' ,,ta1
,
hia '"'
'
ljS im
t;/'
.
'
SCW^r
rS?3S:
T
,0.
.CftHOartuiy*
After', a
monthly review
The
Tn
ol
c ,
cdom
Analogical
and
SodeiJ
tti
',,,
ERRATA
Page
25
30
idmc
Ue
Incorrect
Hindustan,
\
I
ouahed
Tanscii
tin-
ihulithcd
(hUSttTiiU
sen Ibe fanmut
TJic
i
Bad.shahnamn', by Mulkt
Abdul Hamid
a lion (Elliot
r
&
D.
Rise
till
n> of the
the year
musician wi
th
Pov^-r
red
in
India,
cndcred)
30
3!
16
Rlwrmol
Blurmul
npnal Persian of Mohammad knnm Ferishta, by John Brings, Vol. II, published by S Dey, 52-A Shambazar Street.
from the
lcutta-4 -Reprinted
1
Muslim
rule
1
Muslim
rule)
126
153
163
Heading
SO:CAL
D 504 ALLfcD
rn
1%6
A. D.)
Heading
15
PLUNDR
becasuc
PLINDER
bcciiuw
14.
'Ain*f-Akbari\ by
lated
lndica
170
178
IS
the paid
he
20
30
that
ii.:jI
197
abh
^
ommentanus of Father Monsermte, S. J on his journey to the court Akbar. translated fr< m Ik original Latin by J s Hoyland annoiaicd bv S, Banerjee, :,Humphrev Miiford, Oxfurd University
t
I
Die Commentary
225
24
8
.c
fan
228
ptcienvion*
pretentions
229
231
29
will'
I'
which
he he
Jizi
29 9
Press, (16)
London
Saivadeshik'
WW. puwwwd
238
April
14
:!
rijziyo
12
aroog"
28
dt
U
i
28
ilw
he
8
251
****._
to
404
403
aa
309.
320.331.
m247,29L 3W
''
:^^ll
6.,2. lT|
j |,
Hindu
* Alt'
Aifir Sin^li
Uhairaich
I
84,
1
AlUHtall
Mi
ia OR
1!
24d, V*
'
Bhakkar
34, 89, m,
2M
.
>
,
ZO*r,J*,
m
jrj
a2
m% " m
ttMl
.
'
7
-
l44 '
360.I
n
(
223,
Jfy
jj(N
**
Bhupul
I
32,
92,2
386.
Bidln Chiind
43,133
cic
)
-Lran
J?.
1W
23,73,173,307.
i91
'
Bijagadli (Beejagnrh
73, 86
AtphKlum
Auianpeb
A-rtJliya
BijapuT
135-6.
Mnfoegrultf)
40,
B*V*.W.1Sb
Birbar (Bubal,
339. 364
6.
>
IP!)
U&i
32,35,46,258.274,280,3^362,
Bir Singh
50,270.274.
344, 228, 255, 317, 328. 340.
35ft,
BLochmann
BsbaDmi
BabuMBabar) 53.6,58-9.80,115,120,139,197,
236. 284-7,
269-90, 300, 302-3, 305-6, 320, 391
Boetho
246
191
73,
Bourbons
Burhanpur
-7\
136, 217.
Baibytmi
137,
jl
188,
194,
200-1.
203,
chagli1 KJvud
j
261-22. 293,
356.
53,13'
59
304. 313-4
325,
328,
334,
343-5.
358-9.
Cbampancr
ChnndBih
<8>3
|jg
Kah*dui (Khan)
B*iur iBa,
M,
ChutorlC^'.
29,34,66.75, 163*4,
197.
t(Batiaraj
Vannui)
277,
Coui'F ml
,J
311, SM),
BribLi
213. 130
Bmu
llajuM.
***
.23.73W.99.HJ.US.347,
juniy"!
406
Hakim Humam
47,49,3a
l6?
ill:,
HWi|lm
Dm
35,180,2^295^/
,
HamMaBanon
Hamzaban
y.
,,
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33. 77
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OMibtnlHu)
55
65
Havel! E.B
47.66.2
72. 74, 83. 9*.
101,1*3.203.
Herou
HtiKJal
19, 71-2,
19.
60
Hirvijuya Suri
38 r
194-5.
Dgp
43
24$
i*.
Dm
Du-irtc
I
21,73
W
dc Laccrda
215.
Humayun
'.S3.
350. 55J
Husaln Humyn)
Dur^*
Fife!
4.
26-8.
HIM.
Ibrahim
Chilti
204.
Ibrahim Haji
228,339.311. 344.353*6
88,91
opr}
Ibrahim Husain
36-9, 49, 54. 85. 87, 91, 107,
H Wi
M
l72f3
h -rhru*
134,
Sibl
1*2
7,
194), :*.
J) -3,
Ibrahim Lodi
Ibrahim
lkhuy.it
157.
193,2034, 215-7, 278, 261, 268, 275. 282, 319. 327-8, 330 334. 340. 395.
291
Mfc
2 '*''
85,267-8.273,295,
Fwiihfc
:m
Iskandar
FaenliBli
Ftrnzatod
153 5
197
Kb" .'
tariud
225
J 19.
3*0
81
261
Ralph
'
.1
Ghijttuddin
393
Gibbon
570,
GukundaiGojHndaj
n
&
Jam"1 "
102
"*I R 30.215.241
Gui
rw> d uo
|5
Maghfur D1
41-2.
$<,
x233.269.-0.
eHiai.
Mali Ghck
Jluvef
1
<>,
311
M 20
,
JL-nlMui
46
Ik
Band
I4|
ta
1
ft
Malkson
Jyk*Klu>
Manbat
Jrtmbr
tSliah
Begun
jm
:<*
-:
361
319-20, 393
Mankut
(pi
255,279
43
Mansingh
m-1
Manuui
J7-60
fit,
391
Kunnji
"|
Kandahir tQinddun
K.:in Kkas
I
3S,
4*
<H>.
lii fQtat
Khan
MiKudHusais
IS2
W W
JS, 107.
101
keac
66
30, 51,
Mast.ro
Khun
24,
156.275
Kkamcm Satan
SB
Mathura
npr
129.178
"'
ftbum.rp.il
<*
*,
,34,
Idfitlj
|,
aJalua
-A
56,362,395
273,
270-1
Medina
Wl.l54.lfl
* 4bdu> Shahid
Miran Bahadur
Mi ran
Miib.M.ik
1*3
Mir Uak*h
tf*
Mir***"*
'
l2
'-".22.. J.J.2
1 I
ML
4U
iJ, aeS|
Mohan""*"
1***
'
Lerto
Wdkm.
flM
26]
'
ltd
*r *
******
a*
,,
li.ikmi
21
37
266
Jog, J7 .
411
Pinhetro
Pralap
VHBMl
P**
"*S
.i
, cu
Tuelil^(q>IS5
Priihviraj
17
[OS
"
3M
'
Htwt u
M m
PuranaQila
'
Valdnt
J37
Qabul Khan
lie,
Qa&im Khan
Qazi Ali
43, 221
1
in
2a
Qazi Yaqub
'
U
Knanum
S3
faj r^
Qullugh
INigar
Muiu
Mulijn
.
Mttjdi
Qutub
115
frM*
khan
..
H
31
J,
ft
S3,
Ragbava Dev
123,
47.
174
154,
183,216-7,292. 341-2,
353
Rai(c) Singh
44,
10UIU32, UM.
tJFII
Rajmahat
35,78
119. ITS
(rah
Mason
Uuufli
-
283
i23
Raj singh
Uuaiflai Shall
0,
H
381
Ramchand
Raja
IK 34*-7
RanaPratap
I.M,
18/
159.
Mcliam
ftgiita
43 u,
|3j,
us, 24 R, ;-m
M4*S
MmM
273
RawalHarRai
l32
itton^il
Red Roc
Fott,
SJr
25. 27
Thomas
24*
,5
Nwnaul
in.
T5
385
KtMaiultab
HI*. I* 3* 3
Sahara^*
OrcbUa
30
Satin.
Chi*'-
ShiW
fjHfiBitkag
8 238,2n
6(
347-35t
** hh
112
*.
South KtaiiBjton
Srinaj-ax
43-6,
H 8Q
**
ffiafa
Sulian Khwaja
45, 2?4,
i,
mj* im. i*
Sultan Rustum 45
*i.
w. 1H
^38.77.,2l,
30. 146, 194,
2l
Surjan
,^^
1?1
J,
Mm
^
Shall
18.
Swat
,7J '"
42, 105
OHM
83, 183
<,iii
IUl
'
l,|d
"^
348,
Sycdpur
56
.5, 361,
Shall MaiiMir
Taj Mahal
Slapoo!
Sb
Tambol 55
194-5
31, |44, 178. 225,
Tansen
272- J, 275
Timur (Tamcrlaml
Terry
Sharfuddin
SH
2M.
226. 380,
StauBuSK
Stobil.M
54.120
Sthaneahwiiri 23. J7, T4, 241,
38*197*25%
53, 59-61. 68, 84,
Hi
Thatitthwur iThaitewi.
.,
IB, 341
TRjl
i;J6,
189,
195.
198,
250,
292! 295
Sli Shah
Saiiaji
16, 153-55.
Tipurdas
197, 226,
222
Tod
14UR
l.
155
Todarn,!
-144* It.
IM
1.
I*
*
i
Sfcnwtjiva
(SnvMimi
Dr. A,
[26
^9-
lgn*J
Saiga
Tukaroi
34,
?fl
182-3,
!94
199, 212,
-'
StaAni
Sifai
220. 229,
239-40.
249,
TulsWai
354-5,
nlu-i^jJ
.-5,
331,.333.349.53, 359,
368
Turk AH Muim
UdwiStnih
Ujjain
II
5 <>
:gum
44
S6
Sheikh
S3
S*ddliapu
Puuti
21
Umar
V*
14 J
.
28
,43-4
I.'i
J!;
K 56
-
'
7-
59.62,68, 70-i,
Wah
adflt
Ali ah
It*5 '
37S
! *
iiV say
354
,^'W
\yhed* r
80
W-..204. 2.6.219.
312,
X*vi
a,****
387,389-91,
COM
414
v^s
*n Ahmad
"
Hindi*
Other UooUs
b v (ht S;
^
puM,^
,
Building
Mory
ZiicKhiin
4.\
64.105
Mew DelM*.
1.
or other
Taj
2.
Road Bomba\
^
4.
Sme
price
Blunders of Imiian
Rs,
lfl-
HftMfM fe
own
puhl.cjiion).
(Author's
-or
institutes a blueprioi
**m
*"
iconc.il
and world
history.
6.
a..thort
ft'h
both he
is
an
W"" 11 ""
,
m^
7.
5*
koc
Hindu
,
rini
if
oi
the
Indian
National
,.V,
f;
and iti
dug
(Now
oui tt print)
The
extent to which
y
r
.V-Mimohur GranlhI
ma
i;i
Ro ad
na-2
received literary
the
title
is
Hindu
Palace,
by the
jl
L.dia
Book House, 249 Dr. Dadabhai Road, Bombay- and 'Some Blunders of
Historical
Research*,
Indian
have
unsettled
current
by the historical concepts the world over, may be judged following reviews and reactions >
T)
1. Dr.K. Vaidyanathan M.A. Ph.D. Madras;It is not so much '.he Taj Mahal but it is your book on be Taj Mahal which is the eighth wonder
l
4 *
of the world."
2.
Dalai Street, Bombay daily, the Free Press Journal, 1967 ; -P. N. Oak is emerging -I) dated August 27. aspects el Indian as a popular writer on different to hh fe* but Ill addition history and culture. Oak * article, h quite sensational publications.
found
lies in
iheir
way
into
weeklies
are (people) who look the glory Ol Hindu rcoorn VvVsa reborn to reinstate , vyasa n u us v misrepresented callously mi heritage so grossly and
f ^J"
i
*^
by wicked right *efePP ci pl...Oaki* absolutely s understood ... .u. . Ai has been mMintftrstoot that lu term Arya lias
fl
f^tie^an^^
i*
to
be
a racial term
*..
41*
419
Mr
Roil d.
Monthly edited by Molhir India .1 Sir Pherozsbah Mehta lf J. M P December 966\ pa^c IS; Bombay-t), ro books ii missing the most excitsft
,
Mahal. Your scholarly Cb,i cred our o wn ll 1C o ritk 8'onM,.v f l ended for the clarity ?' U lfi l?"" 10 his new and
Cily
lT
^fc^JmWl?*
7 ^C4m W
'
<
'
fo
Hind,,
ing
m
ic
ile
cd
MoghuJs and
after
the British
for
per-
petra;
helpless
Indian people
Indfji
ovei
J
tt -
H.tioncd l
Un
t^dvc
the
centuries
Only
got
in
freedom,
the
Upon
ii
seeing
iwrsftfcmsJ
disclcsure>
contained
two
hie lovely
ruclu
i
magnificent grandeur
lJ"
1
* 0Wn ^
Tm* <*
-^^
nd
ftjth
The books provoke thought, new thought old history begins to assume
i different complexion."'
Hindu
(Indian
architecture
what was
JZZ
known
as
i
then
Sundnj
Standard
Express,)
februar
,nd
"Or Oak's
is
Rajpu tana. Also the octagonal design is definitely of Hindu origin. Our library recently acquired your wonderful little book, and some of these
things which had been puzzling me were
tely cleared up."
7,
irame-.
tirr)
S^V***Mr
Ptad!;
,i,
r?
The
Astrological
Magazine
(Editor,
Mr
a
ni,,,a,h
;
as
"<>
ll
D *s
"I
"
Governor,
uuar
'
^"r
.n
1
daW **
B.V. Raman, Sri Rajcswart, Bangalore 20) Mahal Was "Here is a publication (Taj 1966 RajP t Pate) which tnay
*
January
rt.-r-.il
* a Ra P
thc
(
Ta>
* having
been
From a slumber hy with close attention both man.' history and the lay
June
4.
^g%2m*
it*
'
-WJ-.
lore).
J
i
1967
Jhfc
^^
K* 0-
w>
,,.
s a
"
'
;JmJ
,cl '
1
Eail
n
d
tblu ' d
MS
.V'
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v 5lt * L. time hBr s ol J i" l * and students hb0lil the or igin of Falehpur SIM, w* before Akba*. lead themselves fou nd*d centuries ejir Hindu 0n||ro|y of lh(| Hlndw dti It was an
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This painting depicting (Akbar's father) Humayun with his nobles at Fathpur should explode the myth that Akbar founded Falehpur Sikti. The painting is apparently of a period when Akbar was not even born, Akbar was born during
Humayun's exile (154055), Humayun returned to Delhi in July 1555 and died within sin months. Page 62, Vol. IV, Elliot & Dowson, clearly mentions thai Fathpur means Fatehpur Sikri, On page 157 of our book Badayuni has also been
quoted referring to Falehpur Sikri as Fathpur during Akbar's own tlms. Visitors to that township, archaeology officials and students and teachers of history must not hereafter mislead themselves Bnd others about the origin of Fatehpur Sikri.
It
was an Hindu
capital
1
Ji _
Some
1.
Fatehpur Sikri
Delhi's
is
a Hindu City
is
2. 3.
Red
Fort
Hindu Lalkol
4.
5.
is
a Hindu Building
Fowler's Howlers
Islamic
*rf <TOT
6.
7.
Havoc
in Indian
History
tWMMK
10.
fl
fH ^
(fH
* Ht^ranO
(iw)
(2 *ft)
12.
13.
ft^^nf
W(
uror
aft?
tt^t
15. 16.
3 5^nr f*iH
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OT?
17.
18.
m$w
ffi$
* ^^ ^
19.
fts*r sfasrer
^^
20.
Some Blunders of
Research
Indian Historical
Who
Akbar as
The author of this book questions this view. He quotes innumerable incidents and deeds of the so called great
great-
well decumentcd
work worth
reading...
Connaught Circus.
New
Delhi
1100O1,