CHAPTER 26 - The Divine Religion

Summary

When Akbar's first children, a pair of twins, died shortly after they were born, he consulted a Sufi teacher, Salim Chishti, who lived as a recluse at Sikri, twenty-six miles west of Agra. Salim Chishti predicted that Akbar would have a son. When a son was born to Akbar in 1569, the child was named Salim. The next year, Akbar decided to build a magnificent new city at Sikri. The city was a recreation of the Mughal tent city but built with sandstone instead of canvas. The grandeur of Mughal power was expressed through the erection of a huge gateway, the Buland Darwaza. This gateway, thirty-five meters wide and fifty-three metres high, rose majestically from the top of a forty-two step stairway and was the world's highest gateway at the time of its construction. In a panel on the archway the following words are inscribed:

“Jesus, Son of Mary (on whom be peace) said: The world is a bridge, pass over it, but build no houses upon it. He who hopes for a day, may hope for eternity; but the world endures but an hour. Spend it in prayer, for the rest is unseen.”

Through the gateway, one enters the courtyard to encounter the two streams of belief prevalent among Akbar's Muslim nobility. There is a large Mosque which reflected the orthodox Sunni ideology and the marble tomb of Salim Chishti which reflected Sufi beliefs. Within Fatehpur Sikri, many buildings were constructed to meet Akbar's official and personal needs. The emperor conducted his private audiences at the Diwan-I-Khas.

In 1582, Akbar had to leave Fatehpur Sikri to chastise his half-brother in Kabul. Before he left, he conducted a ceremony in the Diwan-I-Khas to initiate his courtiers into a new religious order called the Din-I-Ilahi or Divine Religion. One by one, each initiate took off his turban and placed his head at Akbar's feet. The emperor raised each suppliant and placed the turban back on the head. The initiate then promised loyalty and pledged to place the four sacrifices at the emperor's disposal – his property, his life, his honour, and his religion. Henceforth, the initiate would greet another member of the order with the greeting: Allahu Akbar which means “God is great”. The reply to such a greeting would be Jalla Jalaluhu or “God's glory shines forth”.