Din-i-ilahi: the social order
Aswani
Though there existed multiple religions, Hinduism And Islam were prominent in the Mughal era. The prominent ruler Akbar the great had a special tolerant mindset towards all the religions in India .he changed the attitude of the ruling class towards the Hindus, who were the majority population in Mughal time and were ruled by the Muslim class. Akbar has done this through several religious experiments. Din-I-Ilahi was one such element that brings out the religious understanding of the period. Din -I-Ilahi was not a religion, it was a social order intended to meld the finest elements of myriad religions like Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, etc. `Peace to all ‘was the tagline of Akbar’s religious experiment. He believed in truth and accentuated the concept that all religions are equal as well as to respect them. As a part of this he constructed Ibadat Khana, a prayer hall at Fathepursikri in the year 1575, and every Wednesday he invited people from different religions for healthy discussions. he believed that, if there is a common life pattern for all the people irrespective of religion it should boost the political integrity of diverse India. So, he took efforts to inculcate the `soul’ views and realities of every religion.
In the first phase of Ibadat Khana Akbar invited Muslim theologians for a religious talk. but that did not go to a healthy thriving discussion when religious scholars of a different bunch of Islam attempted to denounce each other. In the second phase he invited scholars from Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, etc. there they enthusiastically shared their views on the existence of god, Prophets, holy books so, and so on. but later in 1582, Akbar discontinued these discussions, when the talks led to friction rather than religious goodness. however, he maintained the hunt for truth in religion. then he realized the worth of fusing the finer facets of different religions into a nutshell – and there he found `Tauhid- Ilahi ‘ which is popularly known as Din-I-Ilahi. it was a simple monotheistic cult which was simpler in outlook. we have nothing to believe that Din-I-Ilahi was a religions; they had no scared book , priests, place of worship as well as rituals or cerimonies. Akbar never pushed anyone to join in this order. and the members to it were admited by emperor himself. Din- I-Ilahi prohibits lust, sensuality, slander and pride. moreover the memebers have to sacrifice property, honour and existing religion. with the realisation of sulh kul or peace to all Akbar banned Jiziya , a religious tax collected from non- muslims. then he withdrew pilgrim tax and he stoped the forcible conversion of prisoners of war. Laterwards , with the demise of Akbar the relevence of Sulh kul submerged.
Read more : Geothermal energy
[…] Read more : Din-i-ilahi: the social order […]