A Short History of the Mughal Empire (I.B.Tauris Short Histories) by Fisher H Michael

Author:Fisher, H, Michael [Fisher, H, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9780857729767
Publisher: I.B.Tauris
Published: 2015-10-01T04:30:00+00:00

Of late years the Europeans have discovered an extensive and populous insular continent which they have called the New World. Some shattered vessels have been here driven ashore. A man mounted on horseback was seen by the inhabitants. Mistaking the man and his horse for a single animal they were overcome by fear and the country fell an easy capture.33

But Akbar evidently made no practical use of the atlas or European-style globes he later received, treating them as curiosities, like the European-made musical organ that one of his courtiers brought back from the Hajj.

Akbar admired European-style art for its unfamiliar perspective and figuration. He had some of his best artists copy European paintings and incorporate their conventions. He reportedly displayed special veneration towards pictures of Christ and Mary (traditionally revered in Islam, although not considered divine). He also commissioned a Jesuit to compose a biography of Christ in Persian.34

Showing the Jesuits favor, Akbar ordered them moved from their distant lodgings to nearer his own living quarters, converting a perfume workshop for them. There, they installed a small chapel, before whose altar Akbar reportedly prostrated himself, with head uncovered (as Europeans showed respect and Hindustanis showed abject submission). Akbar appointed Jesuit Father Monserrate (who wrote a detailed report for his superiors) as tutor for his second son, Mirza Murad. But Akbar found unconvincing the Jesuits’ insistence on monogamy (even for Akbar), the Trinity, the divinity of Christ and the low status of the Prophet Muhammad. Ultimately, Akbar frustrated Jesuit expectations for his conversion.

Akbar, however, recognized the value of some Portuguese worldly knowledge and their potential as allies, or troublesome adversaries. In 1582, he dispatched two envoys to King Philip II (ruled Spain, 1556–98, also Portugal, 1581–8), proposing regular diplomatic exchanges and requesting Arabic and Persian translations of the Pentateuch, Gospels and Psalms.35 Akbar’s emissaries, however, never got further than Goa. Additionally, skirmishes erupted in Gujarat over Portuguese seizures of Mughal ships, confiscation of a village and blockade of Surat.36 Akbar received another short-lived Jesuit mission (1591–3) and then one that arrived in 1595 and remained 20 years, well beyond Akbar’s reign.

Akbar, however, did not limit his exploration of the cosmos to established Asian or European cultures. Starting in 1582, Akbar experimented to resolve the long-standing philosophical debate about whether human beings have an inherent natural language and religion, from which all others diverged. He ordered 20 newborn babies purchased from their parents and isolated, attended only by absolutely silent servants. After a few years, Akbar observed that the children had no language or religion at all, concluding ‘Learning to speak comes from association, otherwise men would remain inarticulate.’37 Akbar also tried inter-breeding varieties of animals, to observe whether they could reproduce and, if so, the nature of their offspring. Further, he worked to master alchemic production of gold and esoteric means of achieving immortality.

Akbar’s search to find a universal basis for all religions, and create congeniality among all his subjects’ religious communities, became his policy sulh-i kul (translated variously as ‘universal peace’ or ‘tolerance for all’).

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