A study on universal peace and harmony in akbars religious policy with reference to din i ilahi and sulh i kul

Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 4, No 2 (2018) 277-288

A Study on Universal Peace and Harmony in Akbar's Religious
Policy (with Reference to Din-I-Ilahi and Sulh-i Kul)
Nguyen Tran Tien*
Abstract: Abu‟l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar popularly known as Akbar the Great
(1556-1605) is considered as one of the greatest Mughal emperors for his achievements in
the military, politics, and administration. In fact, he was the real founder of the empire
after his victory at the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556 AD. The victory has paved the
way for Akbar to become the sole emperor in the Indian sub-continent and continued to
wage wars against the Hindu rajahs. During his reign, Akbar was credited with his liberal
ideas and religious policies. These religious policies emerged from different internal and
external factors and his success stemmed from his religious policy that was based on Sulh-i
Kul (universal peace and harmony between all his subjects regardless with their social,
ethical or religious identities). In 1582 A.D, he propounded a new religious ideology
namely the Din-i Ilahi (Religion of God). This was a syncretic religious movement and
was one of the most substantial dimensions of mutual interaction and relationship between
Hinduism and Islam.
This paper aims to examine the factors influencing Akbar’s religious policy and to
critically analyze Akbar’s Din-i-Ilahi and Sulh-i Kul by dealing with its basic features and
virtues which shaped his attitudes towards other religious and social groups.
Keywords: Mughal empire; Akbar; religious policy; Din-i-Ilahi; Sulh-i Kul.
Received 5th March 2018; Revised 2nd April 2018; Accepted 30th April 2018

second half of Mughal‟s period witnessed
the decline of the Mughals, particularly after
the demise of Aurangzeb in 1707 at a time
when the Mughal empire was weak and
besieged by serious resistance from the
Hindus, power struggle among the royals,
weakness, and incompetence of the rulers

and invasion and intervention by foreign
powers, particularly from Europe.
Among the Mughal emperors, Akbar was
not only a great conqueror but a capable
organizer and a great administrator as well.
In 1556 AD, a 13-year-old boy who would
come to be known as Akbar the Great
assumed the throne of the Mughal Empire.
With “bright flashing eyes,” a legendary
military prowess, and a distinctly strong

1. Introduction*
The Mughal empire was a great Muslim
power in the Indian subcontinent. The
advent of the Mughal rule in India brought
in the rich culture and ethical changes.
Historically, the Mughal era can be divided
into two periods, namely the consolidation
and glory period (1526-1707) and the
decline period (1707-1857). During the
glorious period of the empire‟s history, India
was ruled by Babur, Humayun, Akbar,
Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb. The

*

VNU-University of Social Sciences and Humanities,
Ha Noi, Viet Nam; email:

277

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Nguyen Tran Tien / Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 4, No 2 (2018) 277-288

personality, “one could easily recognize
even at first glance he was King” (Tancred
Borenius 1943: 68). He set up a host of
institutions that proved to be the foundation
of an administrative system that operated
even in British India (Thorpe 2009: 76).
Akbar‟s rule also stands out due to his
liberal policies towards the non-Muslims,
his religious innovations, the land revenue
system and Mansabdari system became the
basis of Mughal military organization and
civil administration. Akbar‟s ability to
mobilize the Mughal army and conquer
Hindu kingdoms one by one undefeated was
a feat not attained by anybody before him.
Because of this achievement, Akbar was
recognized as the greatest Mughal ruler and
given the accolade „Akbar The Great‟.
Many historians agreed that Akbar was
the greatest Mughal Emperor of all (Lee
2010: 51). Akbar consolidated his empire by
marrying Hindu princesses from Rajputana
and other powerful Hindu provinces. He
also founded his own Sufi order dedicated to

“divine monotheism” and wanted to found a
society based on “universal peace.” This is
attributed to Mughal‟s achievement during
his rule which saw the empire extended to
the entire of India.1 As a strong personality
and a notable ruler, Akbar gradually
expanded the empire to annex Afghanistan
with the Indian peninsula. To unite the vast
empire as well as to protect peace and order
in a culturally and religiously diverse state,
he adopted a distinctive political and
religious policy. Akbar first established his
control over the scattered land then weld his
collection of different states, different races
and different religions into a whole. For
achieving this aim, Akbar firstly improved a

1

See more: Bosworth, C.E. 1967. The Islamic Dynasties:
A Chronological and Genealogical Handbook.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

religious policy and did his socio-cultural
reforms. Akbar was tolerating other
religions. He did not discriminate other
religions but focused on the ideas of peace,
unity, and tolerance. Akbar accepted all his
subjects equally regardless of their religious
identities and cultural backgrounds. This

religious policy was based on the doctrine of
Sulh-i Kul which means universal peace as
well as tolerance for every individual and
considered himself the ruler of all of his
subjects, including Muslims, Hindus, and
followers of other faiths. Akbar did not
persecute not-Muslims nor attempt to
convert them to Islam. He observed Hindu
festivals, sponsored and placed Hindus in
positions in his court and army, and
abolished jizya (the tax on non-Muslims)
and became a vegetarian and quit hunting (a
sport he greatly enjoyed) so as not to offend
Hindus. Akbar financed Hindu temples and
established a “House of worship,” where
representatives from all religions could
meet. For this purpose, he firstly fulfilled
various significant implements regarding
with religious social, imperial and political
issues which had an important role in the
development of his religious policy and
thoughts (Rizvi 1975: 409).
2. Social and religious background for the
formation of Akbar’s religious policies
The development process of Akbar’s
religious policy was a result of his
interaction with not only Muslim society but
other religious groups as well as local
prominent rulers. His religious policy was
considered as one of the most liberal

exponents of the policy of toleration among
all Hindu and Muslim rulers in India.
Therefore, to understand Akbar‟s religious
policies, one should also pay attention to the


Nguyen Tran Tien / Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 4, No 2 (2018) 277-288

religious challenges posed to him during his
reign.
Akbar, whose parents were followers of
the Sunni Hanafi way of Islam,2 was firstly
affected by his religious environment and
background. The attitudes of narrowminded, as well as world seeking Muslim
ulemas, had an important role to shape his
religious mind and policy. His early days
were spent in the backdrop of an atmosphere
in which liberal sentiments were encouraged
and religious narrow-mindedness was
frowned upon (Chandra 2007: 253). In his
childhood, Akbar had come in contact with
Islam and Sufism. He was educated by
scholars who were the follower of Shia
tradition. His childhood tutors, who included
two Irani Shias, made an important
contribution to Akbar‟s later inclination
towards religious tolerance. From his early
age, therefore, Akbar was exposed to Sufism
and Shia doctrines (Habib 1997: 81).
It was also during his period that

conflicts were both inter-religious and intrareligious. One of the major intra-religious
conflicts was between the Shia and Sunni
sects. Mughal emperors clearly had a close
association with the Sunnis but followed a
policy
of
tolerance,
unlike
their
contemporary Islamic states. Meanwhile, a
large number of Shia migrations from the
Safavid state took place, which followed a
very orthodox policy. Despite the high
salaries of the Mughal court and open-policy
of the state, the conflict between these two
sects intensified. In the beginning, Akbar
was also inclined towards the sect of

2

The Hanafi school is one of the four religious Sunni
Islamic schools of jurisprudence (fiqh). It is named after
the scholar Abū Ḥanīfa an-Nu„man ibn Thābit, a tabi„i
whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two
most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad alShaybani.

279

Mahadawis. The followers of this sect
believed that the advent of a Mahdi or a

messiah was forecasted and did not agree
with the fact that the Prophet Mohammad
was the last prophet. This easily identifiable
class was not well inclined to Mughal rule
and could be easily be accused of disloyalty
as well as of unorthodoxy. The orthodoxy
saw them as heretics, but the Mughal state
did not persecute them for a very long time.
As a result, Akbar‟s religious policies were
implemented in the background of such
religious challenges, of which the most
crucial one was the change in the
relationship and the constant struggle
between the emperor and the ulema.
Akbar remained a staunch Sunni Muslim
during the period 1556 and 1562. He
continued the practices of Islamic tenets as a
devout Muslim and prayed five times a day,
kept fast in the holy month of Ramazan and
honored the ulemas of Islam. He never
hesitated to punish the opponents of Islam.
However, his views gradually changed after
1562 and one of the other important factors
was the development of the Din-i Ilahi,
Akbar’s religious policy. Din-i Ilahi was
Akbar’s a special inclination and sympathy
for the society of various social identities
such as Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians as
well as a close association with religious
leaders like Brahmins, missionaries, monks,

and priests. With Din-i Ilahi, Akbar aimed to
express his tolerance to all kinds of religious
systems.
As for the Rajputs and Hindus, his
Rajput views and contact with Hinduism
made an impression on his imaginative
mind. An astute ruler who genuinely
appreciated the challenges of administering
such a vast empire, Akbar introduced a
policy of reconciliation and assimilation of
Hindus (including Maryam al-Zamani, the
Hindu Rajput mother of his son and heir,


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Jahangir), who represented the majority of
the population. He recruited and rewarded
Hindu chiefs with the highest ranks in
government. He came into close contact
with the Hinduism and had regular meetings
and discussions with Hindu leaders. He was
impressed by their strong philosophical
solution on the nature of man, the creation
of world and existence of god and then he
ordered to translate Hindu religious
literature and history into Persian. As a
result of close association with Hindus and

translation of some Hindu sacred texts to
Persian or Arabic, Muslims began to obtain
some important knowledge on Hindu
religion and their history. This process, on
one hand, enabled to some informed
Muslims to discuss with Hindus in a true
manner, on the other hand, caused to reveal
a new section among the Muslims who were
called “muselman hindu ve mizaj”, Hinduminded Muslims (Siddique 2001: 97).
Akbar’s deep intimacy with Hindus,
especially with Raja Birbal and some
converted Hindus like Bhavon played a
significant role to lead him away from the
orthodox way of Islam.
From the beginning of the fifteenth
century, the Bhakti movement had created a
new religious and political environment in
India. As a result, a lot of rulers in various
parts of India adopted a more liberal policy
of religious tolerance, attempting to set up
communal harmony between Hindus and
Muslim. By the impact of Bhakti thinkers,
who particularly emphasized on the
devotion of Hindu gods like Rama and
Krishna, Akbar also appreciated the value of
Hindu gods and goddesses. He made some
coins in which pictures of Ram and Sita
were engraved. These liberation and quality
songs are sung by the teachers and popular
gurus of the Bhakti movement such as Guru

Nanak, Kabir, and Chaitanya. These

outstanding and effective ideas of Bhakti
leaders have also impacted the development
of Akbar’s religious attitudes towards others.
(Chandra 2007: 253). Moreover, in the
process of improvement of his religious
discourses and ideas other religious
traditions and their imminent leaders such as
Christian missioners and Jainist monks had
an important role (Siddique 2001: 109). So,
in order to understand his unique religious
policy of the Din-i-Ilahi and to carry out a
critical evaluation of his religious policy the
factors impacted on his mind should be
clearly analyzed.
3. Akbar’s religious policy of Din-i Ilahi
and Sulh-i Kul and its features
Akbar‟s religious policy of peace,
harmony, and synthesis among all the
religions did not emerge all of a sudden but
after a long process. This is the reason why
his religious policies can be understood in
diverse manners as representing a much
wider change in Akbar‟s perspective on
religion and the development of his religious
ideas. We can also link the changes that
were introduced in the organization of the
Mughal government and religious policy to
the structure, composition, and changes

under Akbar or a changing attitude towards
the ulema and divides Akbar‟s reign in the
context of his religious ideas.
At the beginning of his reign (15561574), Akbar seems to be in agreement with
the Islamic orthodoxy. There is also a
tentativeness in the manner in which he
dealt with different groups. He made serious
departures from the traditional Sunni system
of government. In 1562, the pilgrimage tax
on Hindus was abolished. Abu Faz‟l informs
us about the abolishment of Jiziya in 1564 (a
tax on non-Muslims), and also the
abolishment in the practice of enslaving the


Nguyen Tran Tien / Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 4, No 2 (2018) 277-288

prisoners of war and their families. These
changes had great political implications. In
this context of the political challenges,
Akbar had to face the side of his Turani
nobility and had to look for new support
groups and he turned to Rajputs as possible
allies. Jiziya was thus abolished in order to
win them over. However, even after
adopting liberal policies as such, not all
Rajput groups joined him. As a result, Akbar
had to change stance and took some
aggressive measures against the Rajputs in
1567. Also, in the same year, Chittor was

attacked, and in a Fathenama issued by him
after the victory, identified it as a jihad,
subjugation of the infidels. In 1569, a
farman was issued to the Muhtasib of
Bilgram, to stamp out all kinds of infidel
worship (idol worship) in his pargana.
Despite these policies were in favor of
the Hindus, Akbar remained largely Islamic.
The nobility was also dominated by
Muslims. His inclination towards the
leading orthodox Sunni personalities
prevented any overt break with the ulema
and he gave them full and independent
control over the religious affairs.
Meanwhile, dominant scholars included
Makhdumul Mulk Sultanpuri and Shaikh
Abdul Nabi, were highly conservative Sunni
Mullahs. This period kept Akbar quite busy
because of his several military conquests,
and reforms implemented in revenue,
military, and other sectors. Thus, ulema had
full control over affairs and were never
satisfied with Akbar‟s concessions. Under
these elements, the non-conformists groups
like the mahadawis were also persecuted.
During the period of 1574-1580, there
gradually emerged a tangible change in
Akbar‟s religious beliefs. In his early age,
Akbar had held a special interest in the
spiritual matters and felt that the orthodox

view of Islam was not giving him the

281

needed answers. Hence, this was a period of
intense discussions and introspection which
led to radical change in his religious views
that affected his future policies. His growing
awareness of repercussions of the traditional
orthodox Sunni dominance over his
administration compelled him to an active
search for new solutions. He, therefore,
encouraged the emergence of a new elite
group. Furthermore, Akbar was very much
aware of this diversity in the country of
India. It would not be possible for him to
rule the country with the support of any one
group. As a result, after the Gujarat
campaign, he had to bring all on one
platform by establishing the Ibdad Khana,3
in 1575 at Fatehpur Sikri in 1575.
With the help of Shaikh Mubark and his
sons Faizi and Abdul Fazal, Akbar collected
a library of books on history, religion,
philosophy and sciences (Mahajan 1965:
93). These were read out and explained to
him by Faizi. The result was that Akbar‟s
views on religion became very liberal and he
wanted to go deep in religious matters4.
After long discussions between religious

leaders, it was concluded that salvation is to
be achieved only by the knowledge of Truth
and by following the precepts of the “Great
Namus” i.e. reason (Rizvi 1975: 411-12). In
Akbarname the explanation of the emperor
on the building of the “Ibadat Khana” was
cited as follows: I have organized this
“majlis” (gathering) for this aim only that
the facts of every religion, whether Hindu or
Muslim, be brought out in the open. The
closed hearts of our (religious) leaders and

3

The term was translated as the House of Worship or
house of worship, gathering for searching/realization of
the Truth.
4
For this he thought of providing a meeting ground for
discussion between Sunnis and Shias as well as other
religious groups such as Jews, Christians and Hindus held
in the presence of Akbar.


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scholars be opened so that the Muslims
should come to know (essentially) who they

are. Because most of them, unfortunately,
are unaware of their religion... (Rezavi
2008: 197).
The purpose of Ibadat Khana was to
resolve disputes within groups through
discussions. Initially, it was open only for
the Muslim sects, but later it was opened to
the representatives of other religions and
faiths too. The exponents of Hinduism,
Jainism,
Buddhism,
Sikhism,
and
Christianity began to be invited. All the
scholars were given due respect. Akbar had
a keen interest in the religious and
intellectual debates and discussions and thus
took part in them in the hope that he would
educate himself in spite of the fact that he
never got a chance to formally educate
himself. Abu Fazl, the Grand vizier of the
Mughal emperor Akbar, and author of the
Akbarnama, the official history of Akbar's
reign recorded that these discussions very
useful, which according to him guided the
people away from the darkness and
enlightened them. These deliberations were
not conducted only for the sake of inquiry
and search but most of the participants
hoped for a way to obtain favors and

promotions from the court. As far as the
composition of the intellectuals is
concerned, Ibadat Khana included scholars
from across the religions. Special efforts
were made to associate distinguished Sufis
with the activities of Ibadat Khana. The
debates were open to the Shias as well,
Hindus were also being favored as the new
alliance was budding between the crown and
the Rajputs. Akbar also invited Zoroastrian
priests, Jesuit missionaries, and Jain priests
to widen the scope of discussions. However,
later we find that the confluence of different
ideas led to confusion and led the debate to
no conclusion. Thus, as professor R.P

Tripathi says, ”[i]nstead of bringing credit,
the Ibadat Khana brought growing discredit”
(Chandra 2005: 171). Thus, Akbar himself
became convinced of the futility of these
debates and finally closed the Ibadat Khana.
However, for the time being, Akbar found
that the debates in the Ibadat Khana were
not helpful in leading to better
understanding between different religions,
rather they created bitterness. Hence in
1582, he discontinued the debates.
In 1579, Akbar became Imam-i-Adil or
the final interpreter of Muslim Law5 and
issued Infallibility Decree (Mahazarnama).

He views that if Muslim intellectuals will
have a different opinion on an issue, then as
religious head and ruler of state will choose
any one decision. However, his search for
the common ground for all religions was not
over. He continued to explore and search for
truth. In this, he invited saints of different
religions and had a discussion with them.6
In 1579, Akbar‟s break from the
orthodoxy is also symbolized with the
propagation of the Mahazarnama. This
document, like a petition, was presented by
the ulema gave the Crown the right to accept
any position in case there is conflict among
the orthodoxy. This made it clear that
Akbar‟s position was higher than that of the
mujtahid, the interpreter of the holy laws.
By issuing this decree, Akbar was in favor
of weakening the powers of the ulemas and
Mullahs (The term mullah is primarily

5

At the suggestion of Shaikh Mubarak, Akbar decided to
become Mujtahid. He was to act as the supreme arbiter in
religious matters. In 1579, Shaikh Mubarak produced a
document in his own handwriting which was drafted in
such a way that Akbar became the supreme arbiter in civil
and ecclesiastical matters.
6

After this discussion, Akbar came to conclude that the
things are common in all the religions in term of basic
principle and final objective. This was a conclusion and
the integration of these two led to the birth of the new
religion ie. Din-i-Illahi in the later period of his reign.


Nguyen Tran Tien / Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 4, No 2 (2018) 277-288

understood in the Muslim world as a term of
respect for an educated religious man). He
wanted to combine in himself both political
and spiritual powers. According to the
decree, Akbar became the supreme arbiter in
civil and religious affairs. This declaration
was signed by leading divines. Akbar
himself began to read the Khutba (earlier
read by the Imam of the Mosque) from the
pulpit of a Fatehpuri Mosque.
Many historians had different opinions
on the meaning and its consequence of the
decree. It is perceived as an infallibility
decree, influenced by papacy, stating that
Akbar was influenced by the Jesuit
propagators. I.A. Khan opines that Mahzar
can only be understood if we look at
Akbar‟s general attitude of promoting and
befriending the Indian Muslims. He wanted
to show that he would not accept any
orthodox, sharia law which lacked a logical

reason. S.R. Sharma argues that Mahzar was
introduced to replace the sharia laws (Rizvi
1975: 157). Nurul Hasan has discussed
Mahzar at different levels in which Akbar
never sided with any one Islamic sect and
made the Mughal state all inclusive, unlike
the Ottomans who sided with the Sunnis or
the Persians who favored the Shia sect. At
the political level, Mahzar made it possible
for the king to deal with the ulema and, keep
the nobility under his influence and also
placing himself above the sharia law
interpretations. The real significance of
Mahzar, it seems, was that it was the first
effective declaration of the principles of
Sulh-i Kul which Akbar had decided to
implement firmly (Chandra 2005: 174).
Hence, we can see a final breakup between
Akbar and the ulema orthodoxy.
During the period of 1581-1605, Akbar‟s
religious beliefs are defined by the
crystallization of Akbar‟s ideologies. To
consolidate his political position and to

283

reach an understanding among his people,
Akbar introduced the idea of a new religion
known as Din-i-Ilahi (Divine Faith), a
conception of a new religion combining the

virtues of other religions. It seems that
Akbar wanted to utilize religion for his
political advantage. When the empire
expanded and included people of different
religious faith, it is necessary for him to
broaden the base of the empire. Therefore,
he tried to establish a composite governing
class which would not be discriminated on
the grounds of religion as can be clearly
seen in the case of assimilating the Rajputs
into the nobility7.He was accused of
completely abandoning Islam and created
his own religion of which he was the leader.
Meanwhile, the focus of Akbar‟s religious
beliefs was his faith in Din-i Ilahi that based
largely on the philosophies of Ibn-i Arabi.
After he acquainted himself thoroughly with
the principles and practices of different
religions through listening to the debates
and discussions of religious philosophers
and scholars and watching their lives. Abu
Fazl links Din-i-ilahi with the concept of
Akbar being a spiritual guide of the people.
He opines that the intention of Din-i Ilahi
was to find a common ground between the
din or the religion and the duniya or the
materialistic or non-spiritual affairs.
During this period, there was a negative
discourse about Islam and it was argued that
Islam with its own entire aspects was not a

valid religion until the day of judgment.
Badauni opines that “According to Majesty,
it was settled fact that the one thousand
years since the time of the mission of the
Prophet, which was to be the period of the
continuance of the faith of Islam, were now

7

The Kachhwahas were the first Rajput clan to join
Akbar and also helped in the war against the other Rajput
clans as seen in the Chittor campaign.


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completed, which he treated in his heart.
(Badauni 1898: 327) After persuading with
this idea, Akbar seemed to change and
design ordinances of Islam. The outcome of
his deliberations was the Din-i Ilahi at the
beginning of 1582 (Siddique 2001: 115).
The fundamentals of the teachings of
Din-i-Ilahi can be found in his ideological
beliefs and religious practices. With Din-iIlahi, all followers of the religion must
believe in the oneness of God and must
prostrate before Akbar. Akbar is a viceroy
of God who always receives the guidance of

truth and strength. In daily rituals, fire and
sun worship is encouraged. Sunday is the
official day of worship. The Islamic greeting
of al-Salam „Alaykum is replaced by Allahu
Akbar while Wa„alaykum al-Salam is
replaced by Jalla Jalaluhu. As the head of
the religion, Akbar is prohibited from eating
all kind of meat or flesh and is forbidden to
have intercourse with pregnant women, old
women, the infertile and girls who have not
come of age. These teachings were
implemented to make Din-i-Ilahi a success
to some extent. However, it failed to achieve
its objectives because Muslim majorities
opposed the new religion which was
considered to be deviant and pro-Hindu.8
Followers of Din-i-Ilahi amounted to his
adherents who were mainly made up of the
officials at the palace.
The principles of the Din-i Ilahi were
also indirectly referred to in Dabistan-iMazahib in the chapter entitled “Ilahiya
Beliefs”. It deals with a huge religious
discussion between Sunnis and Shias as well

as other religious groups held in the
presence of Akbar. The outcome of their
religious discussions was to point out that
only by the knowledge of truth and by
following the precepts of the reason,
salvation could be achieved. Renunciation

and non-attachment of the world; avoiding
from lust and sensuality; refraining from
adultery, deceit, oppression, unethical traits,
intimidation, foolishness; and emancipation
from the punishment of the hereafter and
doubts about the truth are all dependent
upon obeying the virtues. The virtues of the
Din-i-Ilahi listed as follows:
(i) Liberality and beneficence; (ii)
Forgiveness of the evil-doer and repulsion
of anger with mildness; (iii) Abstinence
from worldly desires; (iv) Care of freedom
from the bonds of the worldly existence and
violence, as well as accumulating precious
stores for the future real and perpetual
world; (v) Wisdom and devotion in the
frequent meditation on the consequences of
actions; (vi) Strength of dexterous prudence
in the desire of marvelous actions; (vii) Soft
voice, gentle words, pleasing speeches for
everybody; (viii) Good treatment with
brethren, so that their will have the
precedence to our own; (ix) A perfect
alienation from creatures and the material
world, and a perfect attachment to the
Supreme Being; and (x) Dedication of soul
in the love of God and, very close a union
with god, the preserver of all, that as long as
the soul may think itself with the Merciful
One until the time of separation from its

worldly body (Mezahib 1904: 322)9.

8

9

The opposition even came from Akbar‟s own ulema,
among them was Mullah Muhammad Yazdi, who
supported Akbar‟s younger step-brother, Mirza
Muhammad Hakim, to be the new Mughal ruler,
considering Akbar had deviated from the true teachings of
Islam.

Though it is mostly ascribed to Muhsin Fani, the recent
studies have been revealed that the writer of the text is not
clear. It is also argued some scholars that in fact this book
seems to have been written by Zulfaqar Ardastani. See
more: Rizvi, S. A. A. (1975). Religious and intellectual
history of the Muslims in Akbar’s reign with special


Nguyen Tran Tien / Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 4, No 2 (2018) 277-288

However, one cannot see the Din-i-Ilahi
concept as being developed into a new
religion, as it had no formal rituals, beliefs
or the holy books like the other religions. It
can be seen as Akbar‟s personal faith, which
he welcomed people to join in. Therefore,
the biases of contemporary accounts, calling

Akbar a heretic has no basis. This proves
that he did not abandon Islam, the
accusations were all from the bitter ulema,
who were complaining about the curbs put
on their revenue grants and political
ambitions and could not digest the fact that
Akbar had moved away from their influence
of an orthodox form of religion.
The basic sources on Din-i Ilahi often
indicate the example of Birbal, a Hindu
voluntarily joined to the Din-i Ilahi, to
demonstrate Akbar’ s religious tolerance and
freedom (Lal 1966: 242). It is suggested that
Akbar made no attempt to use the authority
of the state to spread his religion. As
tolerance for all human being is one of the
main core principles of Islam and it has
already ordered in various verses of Quran.
On the other hand, it stated that such a
person had played an important role to
mislead the emperor from orthodox Islamic
tradition.
Akbar, probably, became aware of this
Islamic principles and values. As the
historical documents revealed, however,
Akbar was influenced by Indian culture and
other religious groups more than his Islamic
background. Therefore, when declared his
religious ideas, he attempted to differ from
some Islamic concepts that are why he was

criticized by many Muslim theologians.
Nevertheless, by examining virtues of the
Din-i-Ilahi it is possible to confirm that

reference to Abu’l Fazl (1556- 1605). Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal Publishers. p. 39).

285

Akbar benefited from basic sources of
Islam, Quran, and Sunnah when he built his
religious thoughts. When he criticized some
Muslim ulemas for their intolerance and
unconsciousness attitudes, Akbar also
referenced to “tahqiq” (sincere) belief of
Islam. Even though he introduced some
implements against Islam, he continued to
hold in high regard many Islamic
institutions and utilized them when he
proposed his religious ideologies. The
mutual interaction and close resemblance
between Islamic values as well as his
religious ideas, however, were deliberately
and not overlooked by some scholars who
had a bias or limited knowledge of Islam.
After Din-i Ilahi, Akbar introduced Sulhi Kul as the official policy of the empire.
The dynamic element in Akbar‟s religious
policy found its powerful expression in his
anxiety to study religious orders other than
his own. Max Muller calls him the first

student of comparative religions. One
essential condition for comparative religious
studies is sympathy for all religions and
antipathy for none (Singh 1996: 140). By
propounding his doctrine Sulh-i-Kul, Akbar
emphasized on the peaceful coexistence of
people belonging to different religious
communities. But this liberal attitude was
interpreted as hostility towards Islam by his
orthodox critics (Nizami 1989: 215). Sulh-i
Kul is an Arabic term literally meaning
“peace with all,” “universal peace,” or
“absolute peace,” drawn from a Sufi mystic
principle, it described a peaceful and
harmonious relationship among different
religions. In keeping with efforts to mesh
the diverse populations of his realm, Akbar
proposed unity and peace among all human
beings. The concept implies not just
tolerance, but also the sorts of balance,
civility, respect, and compromise required to
maintain harmony among a diverse


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Nguyen Tran Tien / Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 4, No 2 (2018) 277-288

population. Jahangir, Akbar‟s son, described
his father‟s policy of Sulh-i Kul in the

following words: As in the wide expanse of
the divine compassion, there is room for all
classes and the followers of all creeds, so …
in his Imperial dominions, which on all
sides were limited only by the sea, there was
room for the professors of opposite
religions, and for beliefs, good and bad, and
the road to intolerance was closed. (Shireen
Moosvi 1994: 123). Sunnis and Shias met in
one mosque and Christians and Jews in one
church to pray. He consistently followed the
principle of “universal peace” (Sulh-i Kul)
„Sulh-i Kul‟ was his policy of
reconciliation and liberalism in religious
matters. Sulh-i Kul was also the product of
the synthetic effect of the Bhakti and Sufism
and he was greatly influenced by his Hindu
mother, his guardian and tutor Bairam Khan
and Abdul Latif. His contact with
philosophers and scholars like Sheikh
Mubark and his sons Faizi and Abdul Fazal,
his contact with Rajputs, his contact with
other religions and his political ambition to
expand and strengthen his empire with the
cooperation of all religions. It was a liberal
philosophy, which translated as the
universal peace. In fact, some scholars
identify „Din-i-Ilahi‟ with „Sulh-i Kul.‟ He
watched the good men professing different
creeds and „Sulh-i Kul‟ seemed to be the

only solution of developing harmony and
friendship among followers of different
faiths. In the field of interfaith dialogue,
tolerance plays an important role in
constructive interactions, so the concept of
Sulh-i Kul has great potential relevance to
discussions of intercultural dialogue
specifically, and cultural diversity more
generally. It meant to inform everyone about
the main spiritual truth. This can only be
done by a sovereign who is a representative
of God. Abu Fazl‟s Ain-i Akbari, put

forward the theory of Rawa-i- Rozi or the
social contract between the king and his
subjects. It suggested that like a god, a king
should not discriminate, in giving his
rewards amongst his subjects, on the basis
of religion they follow. The sovereign, thus,
had to follow the idea of a Insaan-i-Kamil or
the perfect man who adopts and favors the
idea of tolerance. Therefore, we find that the
king, even if he did not agree with the ideas
and practices of other religions, he should
still uphold the theory of Sulh--Kul and treat
everyone equally. Evidence of this practice
comes from the fact that Akbar disliked and
thought poorly of his finance minister, Raja
Todar Mal as he was a devoted image
worshiper and Akbar believed that the god

was besurat (limitless or formless).
Regardless of this, Akbar gave large grants
of land to temples. Hence, the theory of
Sulh-i Kul propagated by Akbar denied the
temporal practices of the Din and wanted to
replace it with the declaration of reason,
rationale and also the rejection of
superstition. Sulh-i Kul was an idea which
was a result of Akbar‟s experiences in while
he quenched his thirst of gaining spiritual
knowledge over the years, by different
media like being close with the ulemas,
instituting Ibadat Khana, Mahazarnama, the
heavy influence of Sufi Chisti silsilas and
many others. Thus, Sulh-i Kul was created
to describe universal peace, specifically with
regard to interfaith tolerance and equal
treatment for all, regardless of religious
beliefs. In the field of interfaith dialogue,
tolerance plays an important role in
constructive interactions, so the concept of
Sulh-i Kul has great potential relevance to
discussions of intercultural dialogue
specifically, and cultural diversity more
generally. Given continuing religious
conflicts matched to the reality of cultural
pluralism, it seems useful to resurrect this
historic term as a modern tool. The concept

Nguyen Tran Tien / Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 4, No 2 (2018) 277-288

also has the potential for discussions of such
concrete
contexts
as
managing
a
multicultural workforce.
Though Akbar had a dominating spiritual
side to him, which was clearly reflected in
his religious policies, one cannot deny the
fact that not always all of his policies were
made with only this contemplation. The
policies were largely propelled politically,
which by the last phase is clearly expressed
in the theory of Sulh-i Kul, the theory of
absolute peace, where the subjects were not
allowed to quarrel with each other and were
to follow their spiritual sovereign who‟ll
guide them to the ultimate truth. The Divine
Faith had far-reaching consequences. It
totally changed the character of Muslim rule
in India. Akbar‟s foremost aim was the
union of Hindustan under one head which
was difficult to achieve had he persecuted
all non-Islamic religions. To accomplish
such a union, it was necessary for him to
conquer and respect all consciences, and all
methods of worshipping the almighty.

4. Conclusion
Akbar‟s success in unifying India under a
single rule namely the Mughal Empire
placed him among the greatest leaders in
Mughal history. Akbar ruled for nearly a
half of century. As a “workaholic” who
seldom slept more than three hours a night,
he personally oversaw the implementation
of his administrative policies, which were to
form the backbone of the Mughal Empire
for more than 200 years. He busied himself
in the administration of justice, and made
fitting regulations for the founding of
empire and the cherishing of subjects
(Mubarak 1902 : 315). He continued to
conquer, annex, and consolidate a far-flung
territory bounded by Kabul in the northwest,
Kashmir in the north, Bengal in the east, and

287

beyond the Narmada River in the south-an
area comparable in size to the Mauryan
empire some eighteen centuries earlier.
Akbar‟s religious policy and his treatment
towards the Hindus healed strife and
bitterness and produced an environment of
harmony and goodwill where there had been
racial and religious antagonism of a most
distressing character. Thus, because of his

ideal of cultural synthesis and religious
diversity, Akbar reserved a unique place for
himself in Indian history.
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Vấn đề hịa bình và hịa hợp trong chính sách tơn giáo của
Akbar: nhìn từ Din-i-Ilahi và Sulh-i Kul
Nguyễn Trần Tiến
Tóm tắt: Abu‟l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar hay Akbar Đại Đế (1556-1605), là
một trong những vị hoàng đế vĩ đại của đế chế Mughal với nhiều đóng góp về qn đội, chính
trị và hành chính. Trên thực tế, ông là người sáng lập ra đế chế sau khi ông giành chiến thắng
tại trận đánh Panipat lần thứ II vào năm 1556. Chiến thắng này đã mở đường cho Akbar trở
thành vị hoàng đế duy nhất ở tiểu lục địa Ấn Độ và tiếp tục tiến hành chinh phục các vị vua
Hindu. Trong sự nghiệp trị vị của mình, Akbar được tơn vinh bởi những tư tưởng tự do và các
chính sách tơn giáo của mình. Chính sách tôn giáo của Akbar được đưa ra dựa trên những tác
động bên trong cũng như bên ngoài đế chế Mughal và thành cơng của ơng bắt nguồn từ chính
sách tơn giáo Sulh-i Kul (hịa bình và hài hịa phổ quát) không kể tôn giáo, địa vị xã hội hay
nguồn gốc xuất thân. Năm 1582, ông đưa ra một hệ tư tưởng tôn giáo mới là Din-i Ilahi (Tôn
giáo Thần thánh). Đây được coi là một phong trào tôn giáo thống nhất và là một tư tưởng trọng
yếu về sự hòa hợp giữa Hindu và Islam giáo. Bài viết này nhằm xem xét các yếu tố ảnh hưởng
đến chính sách tơn giáo của Akbar, đi sâu phân tích tư tưởng tơn giáo mới Din-i-Ilahi và Sulh-i
Kul bằng cách nhìn nhận các đặc trưng và tính chất cơ bản mà nó đã định hình nên thái độ ứng
xử của Akbar đối với các tơn giáo và các nhóm xã hội khác nhau.
Từ khóa: Đề chế Mughal; Akbar; chính sách tơn giáo; Din-i-Ilahi; Sulh-i Kul.