THE MUGHAL STATE

1526-1750

edited by
MUZAFFAR ALAM
SANJAY SUBRAHMANYAM

OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
3
The Formulation of Imperial
Authority under Akbar and
Jahangir*
J.F. Richards

INTRODUCTION

After AD1720 the Mughal empire was no 10nger

a
political entity. Muhammad Shah (AD1719-48) and tightlycentralized
his
no longer freely command the flow of money, goods,successors
personnel to and from the capital nor direct the inter- information
cial movement of these entities, Nevertheless, in and
spite of its
political collapse, the legacy of the imperial system
perial model for concentration and power retained itsremained.The
for Marathas, Jats, Rajputs, Sikhs, and ultimatelythe compellingappeal
pansion, and consolidation, of the empire had British.The
irrevocablyreordered
human relationships throughout the subcontinent in
aspect of society. virtuallyevery
As late as the first years of the nineteenthcentury,
theMughal
agrarian order decayed, but still recognizable, offereda
rationale
techniques for recognition and assimilation of aristocracies and
rooted in
local control of land and peasants. The imperial land tax structure still
set limits, levels and acceptable modes of assessmentandcollection
for the state's share of agrarian production. Under the EastIndiaCom-
pany and the princely states the Mughal currency systemflourished in
its essential metrology, bi-metallic composition, coin types,andminting
system. Mughal courtly rituals, etiquette, terminology,honorific sym•

bols, etc. retained their appeal in virtually every region.Imperial aes-

*From J.F. Richards, ed., Kingship and Authorityin SouthAsia

(Madison

University of Wisconsin South Asian Studies, 1978).

 of Imperial Authority Under Akhar and Jahangir J27
Ile Formulation
in painting, calligraphy, literature, architecture, still
thetic standards
vided a cultural reference point. Imperial techniques for the rnanagement,
recruitmentand control of military élites continued to have great in-
fluence. Debased and distorted Mughal numerical ranks, and the u-
biquitousjägir or lands assigned for salaries and troop maintenance
were utilized by Rajput and French rulers alike.
Most dramatic of these survivals was the continuing near-monopoly
of the later Mughal emperors over the dispensation of legitimate
authority in the form of Mughal offices, ranks and honours. The
downwardmovementof these rights, in the absence of a centralized
political order (as Stewart Gordon has shown), is one of the continuing
aspects of high politics in the eighteenthcentury. As is well known,
the East India Company found it useful to perpetuate the fiction of
Mughal supremacy as late as 1857.The tenacity with which the imperial
nåythof authority retained its fascination, and utility for the tough, cal-
culatingpoliticians, military leaders and kings of eighteenth- and early
nineteenth-centuryIndia is somewhat baffling. Nonetheless, such lon-
gevity does suggest that for a very long period of time, as much as a
century or more, imperial authority, embodied in the Emperor, sys-
ternaticallydestroyed and/or assimilated to it all competing sources of
legitimate rule. Only in exceptional circumstances did the rebel Bhonsle
Maratha dynasty (prior to 1689) and the Sikh Khalsa rise independently.
On the one hand, this is perhaps only stating the obvious: that an im-
perial structure existed before 1720.On the other hand, it raises the
central issue behind the truly impressive achievementsof the 'Great
Mughals'. Why and how were the Mughal Emperors able to create a
system of symbols, and rituals necessary for a pervasive network of
authoritative, hierarchical relationships? Why and how did this authority
system develop so firmly that it allowed the Emperors to mobilize the
active energies of the imperial political elect, i.e. the nobility and their
military followers, the burgeoning civil service, and other official
groups such as the 'ulama in state employment? Preceding Indo-Muslim
dynastiesin north India failed in precisely this area. The Afghan Lodi
rulers were never able to overcome satisfactorily fissiparous tendencies
among their nobles and fellow tribesmen.
Akbar, after surviving at least one attempted coup and two concerted
rebellions (in 1567 and 1579—80),fashioned new relationships between
himselfand his military/administrative élite. In part, Akbar succeeded
by a careful balancing of old and new ethnic groups as he rapidly
expandedhis cadre of army commandersand administrators to keep
128 Mughal state, 1526-1750
pace 'With the speed of territorial conquest.I But Akbar's
achievement was far more difficult than the simple balancing of Political
and factional interests within the élite. He and his adviser s ethnic
successfully
shaped a new individual and group identity: that of the imperial
sahdär or amir, i.e. a military commander and imperial administrator
The wealth, powers, status and lifestyle of the amir or noble be
and remained a pervasive model of secular attainment for
ambitious
able, men whether rajas, lineage chiefs, aristocratic Muslim
migrants
to India or even peripatetic European adventurers.
Akbar carefully fostered the inherited advantages of his own
sonality. A complex mixture of acute intelligence, great sensitivity per.
warmth, and an easy, yet never abandoned dignity and
marked his over.
whelming appeal as a political leader. His open style was
remarkable
for an Indo-Muslimautocrat.As Father Monserrate observed:3
It is hard to exaggerate how accessible he [Akbar] makes himself to
all
wish audience of him. For he creates an opportunity almost every day who
for
of he common people or of the nobles to see him and to converse with any
and he endeavours to show himself pleasant-spoken and affable rather
him.
severe toward all who come to speak with him. It is very remarkable how than
an effect this courtesy and affability has in attaching him to the minds great
subjects.
of his

By a series of symbolic acts, Akbar built upon his personal appeal

to
establish an image or metaphor of the Emperor's person as an embodi-
ment of the Empire. To challenge or destroy the Emperor's person
was

cf. Iqtidar Alam Khan, 'The Nobility Under Akbar and the Development
of
His Religious Policy, 1560—1580',Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society(1968),
pp. 29—36,
2
S.A.A. Rizvi in his recent Religious and Intellectual History of the Muslims
in Akbar's Reign (New Delhi, 1975), has been the first scholar to noticeandto
discuss the intellectual connections between the ideology of illumineddescent
set forth in the Akbar-Namaand the doctrines of the most importantIranian
philosophical schools. However, the great significance of Professor Rizvi's
finding has not yet been fully understood or recognized. Partly this is due to less
than full development of the argument and partly to difficulties with the
organization of the volume as a set of topical essays.
Antonio Monserrate, Commentary, tr. and ed. J.S. Hoyland and S,N. Banerji
(London, 1922), p. 19T Monserrate also noted that Akbar 'is especially
rematkable for his love of keeping great crowds of people around him andinhis
sight and thus It comes about that his court is always thronged with multitudes Of
men of every type, though especially with the nobles . Ibid., p. 198.
 of Imperial Authority Under Akbar and Jahangir 129
771eFornulation
destroy the imperial system, for they were identical. In
to challenge or
furtheringthis metaphor, Akbar (or his advisers) established a degree
spiritual authority for the Emperor unprecedented in
of paramount
previous Indo-Muslim experience. This assertion merged with the
recognized familial charisma residing in direct descent from the Timurid
line which, for Muslims at least, connoted legitimate monarchy. All of
these elements were eventually expressed by Abul Fazl in a dynastic ideol-
ogy which explicitly set out Akbar's infallible, unchallengeable authority.
Glorification of the Emperor's person in this manner provided a
basis for more intense, emotive ties with the imperial nobility. The
latter increasingly felt a sense of direct, personal obligation to the
Emperor.The ruler and his élite shared a complex Indo-Persian eti-
quette and ritual which delimited and patterned transactions of authority
and subordination. Over time, amirs and even lesser commanders and
administratorsdisplayed similar, predictable, responses to the rituals
and symbols of imperial authority. By the time Jahangir, who followed
his father's policies, completed his 22-year reign, in 1627, the system
was firmly set. Younger generations, sons of nobles anticipating imperial
service from childhood, were readily assimilated into the imperial élite.
From an external perspective, the bureaucratic structure of the em-
Pire with its specialized offices, systematic procedures, and hierarchies
of technically proficient officials, was the most impressive aspect of
the empire. However, the core of the imperial system embedded within
the outer structure was formed by the complex matrix of ties of loyalty
and interest between the amirs and the Emperor.
However, the system could only have succeeded by transforming
the values of high-status warrior-aristocrats of diverse origins. The
sense of honour for each amir had to shift from personal, lineage, or
sectarian pride—that of the 'free' warrior chief—to a more ilnpersonal,
imperial pride—that of the 'slave' warrior—administrator. In this trans-
formation the search for the display of martial honour necessarily
changed from bardic or epic glory immortalizing feats of victory (or
defeat) in battle, to chronicled fame testifying to service of the Empire
and its Master, Honour in the latter case also became advancement,
i.e. the greater honour of promotion or movement nearer to the person
of the Emperor. Honour found in unconditional service and obedience
was a salient characteristic of the new role for an imperial commander.
The sense of discretionary personal honour of the warrior-aristocrat,
leader of a lineage group or war band, obviously did not disappear
altogether,but its subordination to a less parochial concern within the
imperial context was generally assured.
130 M„ghal State, 1526-1750
THE
leaders, Akbar, from his
In common mth all gifted 1560), earliest
rule (i.e. from about virtually
day of indevendent tested for intuitively
presented to sarious social groups and responses facetsof
Akbar's personal behaviour and traits evolved
his public personality.
coterminous<y his grategic and admini<rative policies The sixteenth.
analysts: courtiers,
century version of political reporters and nobles at
sent to the
court, agents of nobles and mansabdärs imperial audiences
agents of tributaryrajas or of mercantile houses; spies of as yet un_
conquered regional kingdoms, all carefully watched every perceived
and reported action or speech of the Emperor. Close, unremitting public
scrutiny (aided by Akbar's inclination towards open accessibility) gave
the young Emperor an opportunityto create an image of certain,ab-
solute (but not capricious) power. Gradually, by a series of symbolic
actions undertaken during the first two decades of his mature reign, he
underscoredthe fact that no minister, no noble, nor any groupcould
challenge or limit that authority. After 1580, with the entrance of Abul
Fazl to the select group of the Emperor's closest advisers,the
Emperor's approach shifted towards a more didactic, verbally expressed
ideology.
One of Akbar's earliest public expressions of his intended autonomy
emerged from his decision not to make Delhi the imperial capital. In-
stead he embarked upon an extensive programme of urban construction
and fortificatiom For two and a half centuries Delhi had been the un-
assailable redoubt, the refuge for Indian Muslims and the seat of the
Sultans of Hindustan. By moving first from Delhi to Agra, and laterto
his own capital at Fatehpur Sikri (as shown below) Akbar reducedex-
isting associations of legitimate rulership with Delhi. Neither Akbarnor
a possible rebel henceforth could easily claim the imperial throneby
virtue of possession of the citadels, the palaces, or the active support
of the volatile populace of the old imperial city.
For more than 15 years, Akbar diverted much of his resources
towards the building of three massive palace-fortresses: Agra, defend-
ing the gateway to central Hindustan; Allahabad (formerly Prayag),
commanding the eastern Gangetic valley; and Lahore, capital of the
Panjab and a Muslim military base since Ghaznavid times. The Emperor
and his builders and architects designed walls and battlementsof
dressed stone construction running thousands of yards to encircleeach
city and its palace and citadel (e.g. at Agra the 'enclosurewall
consists of a solid sandstone rampart just under seventy feet in height
 Fornulation of Impenal Authority Under Akbar and Jahangir 13J
miles in
and nearly one and a half The elaborate array of
palace and official buildings placed within each fortress allowed the
Emperor to move freely and comfortably with his household and central
administrationfrom one to the other city as poJiticaJor military con-
siderations demanded direct supervision or command. To complete the
new imperial strategic pattern, Akbar designed a smaller, but strongly
defended, fort at Ajmer, the northern gateway to Rajasthan. Ajmer fort
became the headquarters for the Mughal governor of the directJy con-
trolled district.s in Rajasthan, and defender of the plain against possible
future Rajput revolts. Finally, older fortifications at the extremities of
the northern plains were strengthened.Attock and Rohtas forts (built
by Sher Shah Sur) on the Indus and Jhelum rivers guarded the north-
west trunk route to Lahore, while the identically named Rohtas fort,
served as a major stronghold in the eastern Gangetic valley.
Akbar firmly broke with the Delhi-centred political tradition in
1571,when he selected a site for a new imperial capital at Sikri, a
vilJage located some 20 miles from Agra. Renamed Fatehpur Sikri, the
new capital, despite its characteristic red sandstone battlements, was
primarily a courtly city—essentially dependent upon the proximity of
Agra for economic and military support. Akbar's meticulous concern
(continuingfor well over a decade) for site selection,for the spatial
arrangement of buildings and streets, for the distinctive shared style of
building architecture in red sand.stone has long been seen a.san aesthetic
effort of great appeal and near-genius. However, the city was also a
firm political statement and symbol of the new order. The uniform
architecture, and configuration of streets and public buildings designed
only for the needs of centralized rule and administration, proclaimed
the Emperor's personal and dynastic supremacy. Enclosed within the
walls, adjacent to and dependent upon the palace rose the great public
mosqueof the city, an integral part of the urban plan. So also did the
tombof Shaikh Salim Chishti, a Sufi mystic and recluse who, before
his death, had often met and discussed spiritual questions with the
Emperor (as noted below). Thus, the new capital contained both a great
congregational mosque and the tomb (dargäh) of a widely revered, still-

See Percy Brown, Indian Architecture (Islamic Period) (Bombay, J968 5th
edn.), pp. 92—6for a description of these structures. Unlike Lahore, Agra, or
Allahabad, Fatehpur Sikri 'was never intended to be of any strategic value being
purely a ceremonial capital', (p. 94).
cC S.A.A. Rizvi. 'Mughal Town Planning Fathpur Sikri: A Case Study',
Abr-Nahrain. xv, pp. 98—112.
132 The Mughal state, 1526-1750
worshipped Sufi saint—the binary institutions of legal and mystic Indian
Islam.
Within the city, the single most dramatic symbol of Akbar's
autocratic rule extant is the interior design of the arcaded aUdience
chamber (the Diwän-i Khäss) intended for more restricted court audi-
of
ences (as opposed to the Diwän-i 'Amm, the Hall Public Audience).
hall stands a massive
At the precise centre of the two-storey open pillar
and platform carved of red sandstone. Towards the top of the great
column a vertical series of three carved circular brackets (or corbelling)
begin radiating outward. The uppermost (and largest) bracket supports
the heavy square platform. From this square platform diagonal pas-
sageways, guarded by carved railings, reach to the four corners of the
hall. Whether, in actuality, Akbar used the so-called 'throne' platform
as a throne support or not, or whether, as local legend has it, he sat
on his throne beneath the great pillar, is unimportant. The pillar
dominates the physical space of the grand audience hall just as Akbar
dominated the new political and social space of the empire in the six-
teenth century.
Choosing Sikri as a site also underscored the young Emperor's wide-
ly noted mystical affinities—a tendency which would later buttress his
assertion of spiritual authority. The village of Sikri was the residence
of Shaikh Salim, whom Akbar frequently visited, for, as Abul Fazl puts
it, there existed 'a bond of union between them'. Such marked attrac-
tion between these two powerful figures must have attracted consider-
able popular attention. Obviously, Akbar, a young, vigorous and
victorious Emperor created a sense of drama in virtually all his actions.
Shaikh Salim was renowned as 'one of the greatest Shaikhs of Hind,
and a high master of the different stages of the advancement in the
knowledge of God'.

6E.W. Smith, The Mogul Architecture of Fathpur Sikri, Archaeological

Survey of India, Annual Reports, XVIIand XVIJI(4 vols) (1895—96),1.,p. 22 and
plates. This work contains a description, scaled drawings and plans, and plates
for each of the remaining edifices of the city. The frontispiece to vol. 1is a much
reproduced plan of the city's remains. A more readily accessible colourplateof
the throne pillar may be found in Bamber Gascoigne, The Great Moghuls
(London, 1971), p. 102. A small accompanying Inset photograph shows the
arrange-ment of the four diagonal passageways intersecting at the top of the pillar.
'Abd-ul-Qadir Badauni, Muntakhab-ut-Tawürikh, ed. Ahmad Ali et al., 3
vols Calcutta. 1864-69; trans. T.W. Haig et al., reprint, Delhi, 1973—83
1.,p. 112
(translation).
81bid.,
L, p. 140.
 Authority Under Akbar and Jahangtr J33
Fornulation of Imperial
Shaikh implied, at least, the validity of Akbar's
Recognitionby the
The latter is also inherent in the seeming intensity
mysticalconcerns. struggle. Two publicly reported mystic episodes
religious
of Akbar's appearance of trance-like seizures associated with the
tookthe external
in early adulthood,apparently arose from Akbar's
hunt.The earliest, in the desert. The second, in mid-life occurred
unanticipatedsolitude
court was engaged in the mass slaughter of all quarry
in 1578,when the hunt prepared by beaters days in ad-
within a ring fence (a gamargha
the Emperor experienced 'the sublime
Vanceof the event). Suddenly, God', in Abul Fazrs
joy' of the 'attraction (jazaba) of the cognition of
termsor 'a strange state and strong frenzy' in the words of a hostile
critic. Upon recovery, Akbar immediately forbade the killing of those
animals surviving. Later he proclaimed that on certain days the
slaughterof animals was to be prohibited.He also cut his hair in the
10
style of an ascetic.
In the long-prevailing Sufi tradition of pastoral concern, Shaikh
salim also counselled Akbar in regard to the aspiring dynast's most
vexingproblem:his inability to produce a live male heir from among
his wives. Finally, when Shaikh Salim foretold the birth of the long-
awaitedfirst prince of the line, the grateful Emperor named his son
Salim (later the Emperor Jahangir). After Shaikh Salim died in 1571,
Akbar selected Sikri for his new capital, renaming it Fatehpur Sikri, or
'Place of Victory'. To preserve his mentor's memory, the Emperor
directedconstructionof a carved white marble tomb within the court-
yard of the great public mosque at Fatehpur. The tomb, located at what
had become a busy imperial metropolis, rapidly became a major 11
pilgrimagesite (dargäh) for worship of Shaikh Salim as a saint.
By thus emplacing Shaikh Salim's tomb within the walls of the
FatehpurSikri mosque, Akbar was able to draw upon that perceptible
sanctity adhering to it, and to assimilate this to his own authority.
Moreover,he did not permit Shaikh Salim's sons to succeed him, nor
even to retain control over and management of the newly established
dargäh and its enormous potential for secular profit and spiritual status.
hNead, in another measure of incorporation,Akbar strongly encouraged

9
Abul Fazl, Akbar-Nama, tr. Il. Beveridge, 3 vols. reprint (Delhi, 1977) 11,pp.
348—56.
Badauni, Il, p. 261. The earlier incident occurred when Akbar was
hunting wild asses in the desert (see Abul Fazl. Akbar-Nama, Il, p. 522.)
10
Abu! Fazl, Akbar-Nama, Il, p. 356.
Il
Badauni, I, p. 140. The tomb is one of the finest extant examples of Mughal
building.
134 Mushal state. 1526-1750
grandsons to enlist in his service as tnansabdors.
the sons and
men, attaining high tanks, provided exceptional several
of these to retain an aura of spiritual
service for
empire, while continuing distinction
Salim. Perhaps the most distinguished
this group was the general and governor Islam Khan
of seventeenth-centuryMughal conquestsChishti,ar
chitect of the early in
As govemor and conqueror in distant
under Jahangir. Bengal, Islam
Khan began challenging Jahangir's imperial authority by
adopting
various royal perquisites (e.g. the 'viewing', orjharoka, of the governor
on a balcony at set times of day by the general populace).In pan,
Islam Khan felt he could challenge the spiritual aspect of the Emperor's
inherited, illumined authority by citing his own descent from Shaikh
Salim. - The latter point implies, at least, that Akbar's own connection
'*ith the incorporationof a leading family of the Chishtiyyawas of
some importance to him, in that he could assimilate and share the
mys_
tical qualities of that family.
The Emperor extended his ties with the Chishtiyya to other sections
of the order. Since 1562, he had regularly visited the sacred tombof
the founder of the Chishtiyya order, Khwaja Muinuddin Chishtiat
Ajmer. In 1570, fulfilling the terms of a vow made prior to the birth
of his son, Akbar walked the 228-mile distance from Agra to Ajmer
to worship at the tomb and to give thanks for his gift. However,when
bitter, open quarrels broke out among the supposed descendants of the
Khwaja over division of the Emperor's gifts to the shrine, Akbar reacted
much as he did with the corrupt official 'ulama of his administration:
he ordered an investigation. The legitimacy of these descendantsprov-
ing to be dubious, he expelled them, seized control of the shrineand
appointed an imperial mansabdär as superintendent. This officerwas
to utilize the gifts and income of the tomb for proper charitable purposes
such as the repair and maintenance of mosques, or other such
enterprises.15 That Akbar's interest in the Chishtiyya originatedin
genuine religious concerns, his frequent pilgrimages leave little doubt;
that he was able to make use of control over two major Chishtiyya

-Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, pp. 182—3.

13See Jadunath
Sarkar (ed.), History of Bengal, Muslim Period, 12(W1750
(Patna, 1973 reprint edn), p. 282,
14For one of Akbar's first visits to Ajmer in 1562, see AbulFazl,
Akbar-Nama, Il, p. 243.
15
Abul Fazl, Akbar-Nama, n, pp. 510—11.
 Authority )

gtowing influenceover membersof the order 'n an

and hie with the orthodox 'Illatna is al'") likely.
Ideologicalsttliggle
association with the Chi•htiyya, one oi the most well.
certainly. of north India, must have added to Akbar's polite
Sufi orders 590,
rega al and his own popular reputation as a mystic. Thuc. by i
tcaiarpe Fazl began a systematic affirmation of Akbar'.s claim to
included an anecdote which
authorityin the Akbar-Na,na,he
the most famed Chis-
stated Akbar•s superiority over even
for the year 1568. Abul Fazl noted that
saint. In the narrative
made a vow (similar to that made after Salim's birth) that
had Rajput fortress at Chitor, he would
capture the tnassive
if he could distance from Chitor to Ajmer in order to worship at the
the full
of Khm•yia Bluinuddin.However. soon after the king and his en-
tomb along the route came a message from the at-
had started out,
tour-age
of the shrine (still at that point the purported descendants of
tendants
Muinuddin),saying:
had appeared in a vision and announced that the
his holiness the Khwaja formed the intention of visiting
king [i.e. Akbarl had
spiritualand temporal
humble self on foot. and had directed them this living disciples]
the shrine of his
conductor of truths way ftom his design by every means
to restrain the caravan amount of his own spirituality he would not
their power. If he knew the
sitter-in-the-dust of the path of studentship.
bestowa glance on me the
the economic functions
By the 1580s Fatehpur Sikri rapidly added
and expenditures, the flow of taxes and
of a true city. Court income
usually associated with a major
tribute,as well as the type of demand
inter-regional trade from
imperialcapital, diverted local regional and
dependent upon court-
Aorato the new site. Merchants and contractors to
generatedtrade necessarily responded to the new shift by migrating
as
Fatehpur.Constantbuildingby the grandees of the etnpire, as well
lesserofficialsand merchants began to create the appearance of a more
spontaneous,less planned urban space, Residential suburbs appeared
outsidethe enclosure walls. Suddenly, however, the Emperor moved
his entire court and administration to the palace-fortress at Lahore,
presumablyto better supervise operations against the Yusufzai, a rebel-
liousPathantribe in the Hindu Kush. Not to be reoccupied thereafter,
FatehpurSikri was gradually deserted leaving its shell in a Pompeii-like
effect virtually intact.

16
1bid., pp. 476—7.
116 The Muehtll .state, j 426.
Whether the the merited thiq
on or he a mixture Iden
difficult 10detetmine. may be what

and di«iplining of the new being

fornjed),
anger
of
and eventually incapacitating the F.njperor, "I'he Indo.P i%olatihg
er%ian
rituaÅ frotn which Mughal practices Were largely derived Court
pri,narily an metaphor for overwhelming authority
and
ical stability. But. as such, these reassuring images of unchanging
could confine, circumscribe and, in extreme cases, destroy
Any contradictionsbetween a more passive, immobile the ruler
role for the Emperor, and a more aggressive, active role
inten€ified with the enhanced wealth and size of steady undoubtedly
growth. Akbar',s characteristically innovative solution to territorial
this tension
was to revert to the ambulatory court camp capital of his
ancestry. Although every Chaghtai, Timurid ruler and noble Turko-Mong01
Was
living and moving with tents, the true precedent or model at ease
Mughal imperial camp must be traced back to the practices for the
and even earlier to the army encampmentsof the Mongols." of Timur
revived and expanded upon this tradition by devising a mobile Akbar
containingall the necessary parts of the central administration: capital
household,his official audience and consultation halls, the imperialhis
chives, and chancery; the treasury and mint; the horse stud and are
elephant
stables; field and siege artillery; armouries and powder
magazines;
court attendants, and bodyguards; kitchens and bazaars; and the
larger
portion of the central army. Each of the accompanyingnoble encamp.
ments replicated these arrangements on a smaller scale. The
gigantic
size and precise organization of the imperial camp capital was a
source
of amazement and a staple description for those foreign travellersor
visitors reporting back to their European or Middle Eastern homelands.
Akbar's camp, after his departure from Fatehpur Sikri in 1585,be-
came a mobile version of that capital. Instead of dressed stone,the
camp contained structures of canvas tenting, timber, supports,rope,
thousands of yards of cloth passageways, and rich carpetingandhang-
ings. Moreover, each tent and structural component was duplicatedso
that a second camp could be sent on ahead for assemblyand erection
17
Ruy Gonzålez de Clavijo, Narrative of the Embassy to the Court of Timour,
trans. and ed. C.R. Markham, Hakluyt Society, no. 26 (London, 1856),
pp. 140—63,passim.
 for occupancyat end of day" Clear}j,
in preparation
giantorganism was Cardijjetent in ifs conceptjorj and t}jarjtik
this miljt;try column which Jj;jtjjer acumjvanjed
fost-moving
march toward Kabul
Emperor placed Jii%tebidence pavJJion, unvaryirjz)y at tip
camp (he end of a rectangje runningalong an eawme.#t
centreof the east in length, Akbar occupied a two-storeye,drec%d'jed
yards
some 1500 the highest in the camp, 'Jbe residence area was sur-
canvas structure,
cloth-walled. screened enclosure, JSOyard%square.
rounded by a
had reception facijitic%for private con-
this royal space the Emperor
officers, ambassadors or other digmtarjes,
sultations with his senionnost
tents were dyed scarlet, the Tirnurjd and. pre.
All of the Emperor's
viously,the Sasanian royal colours. "Jbe next westward segment of
was aJJoted to encj0%ed and closely guarded
the formal encampment
haremtents. The third section towards the west provided space for a
gigantic audience tent and its eJevated throne. When closed, the
audiencetent was the Diwån-i Khåss or 'select' audience hajj, when
opened,it extended to an uncovered roped area to accommodate the
largest public audiences (i.e. the Diwån-i 'Amm), ) Finally, at the
westernborder of the enclosure, the various official administrative tents
housingthe treasury, etc. were placed.
Tents for the princes and most distinguished nobles were pitched at
alloteddistances within the royal enclosure respectively on the right
and left sides of the Emperor's quarters. Other nobles erected their
residence structures and cover for their entourages in sites determined
by their rank, and current favour at court, surrounding and facing the
the march to Kabul, the MughaJ grand army was scarcely encumbered
by the paraphernalia of the courtly camp. As Father Monserrate commented: 'He
[AkbarJcarried those black standards, the sign of war to the death, which Timur
the Lame—ancestorof the Mongol kings—had been wont to employ jn his
wars.' Monserrate, Commentary, p, 73.
19CIavijo,Narrative, p. J45, cf. G, Widengren, 'The Sacral Kingship of Iran',
InternationalCongress for the History of' Religions, Regalita Sacra (Leiden.
1959),p. 254. 'The king's proper dress was red, thus associating him Withthe
class of warriors, for red was the colour of this class in Indo-European
society .
See AbuJ FazJ,Ain.i Akbari, Blochmann trans., J. p. 47 ff. for a descripuon
and drawings of the layout of the encampment, M.A. Ansari, in Social Life of the
MughalEmperors (1526—1707),has compiled from the Ain-i Akbari and other
u•urces a more detailed and comprehensive plan and descripuon, Ansari,
pp. 201-2.
 O' autet of the
.44 fee

as the Impenal
of mobile
If Abel Fazrs
to be
camp and
Sin similar features. Forthe
of mpezial palace
liie east wall of the
canv (the
private
quarters
Sn.ä;.z be made, structure by (the
Gukl
of cé teats virtuallyduplicates
earlier
de
er•-iåeacealso suggests identificationof
of empire. After A-kbar's de
the
Impenal
S*n, eacz:.nprnentseems to have become
of its location
Eggers •as jz•uneying- According to PL. or v.hether
became the leading centre of coinageGupta's
Rz±aetthe struck *ith the name of a town for the
or
cons legends such as •struck at the camping city, gold
frnze' (Zorb Iqbal). By the year 1000AHgroundof
(theMus-
mi%erg.øurnfrnj t?' Hijra Muhammad, i.e- 1591—92)gold
and
issæs from,Akbar's camp carried the legend Dar-ul Khilüfat orsil-
the
•sea: caliphate', in other words the capital of the Caliphof
Age, AkbaruMore humble the
issues from the camp-mintcarried
cniy narrz of tiz often-obscuretown adjacent to the campwhen
coins were struck- These n.arnes,however, can be correlatedwith
known movementsof Akbar during the latter years of his reign,"

2l
cf, illustration in Blochmann edn of the Ain-i Akbari, plate iv, p. 50
with Smith, Mogul Architecture, I, plate IL
ZPL Gupta. 'The Mirn-Townsof Akbar', in
H.R Gupta. Essays Presented
to Sir Ja&ath Sarkar, 2 vols 1958), 1, pp. 154—69.See alsoLN.
Kurkuranov, —rhe'Urdu" Issues of Emperor Akbar', Museum Notes, Amencan
Numismatic Society, xv (1969), 137—40.Gupta's analysis draws uponthe
observations of SH Hodivala. 'Abu) Fazi's Inventory of Akbar's Mints',
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, new series, XVI( 1922), pp. 165—90.
 Auth0'ity Under Akhar and Jahangir J.39
Fomtulationof
lie first Akbar designed and built Fatehpur Sikri aq a
To summaöze,
new capital devoid of any of the political
association« of
Lahore or any
of the other long-occupied Muslim cities. His own
Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri, was thus completely identified with Akbar•s
creation, personal authority. Later, concerns for defence and perhaps
licies and
suggested, rejection of possible ceremonial immobilization,
as we have abandonment of Fatehpur. Thereafter, the imperial camp
led to the specific city, became Akbar's capital, titled the seat of
ratherthan a
the Indo-Muslim rulers of Hindustan prior to Akbar,
the Khiläfa.For
includinghis father and grandfather, possession and political domina-
of supreme importance. Similarly in the earlier
tionof Delhi was
central Asian tradition of the Timurids, possession of Samarkand,
coronation,and political support from the populace was a matter of
continuingconcern. Akbar reversed this fixed concern, fusing, instead,
all authoritywithin himself and ultimately within the dynasty which
succeeded him.

DYNASTIC IDEOLOGY
Towardsthe end of Akbar's third regnal decade, the Emperor had iden-
tifiedand attracted to him a significant addition to that small coterie
of his closest advisers. Abul Fazl and his brother, the poet Faizi, were
as capable,versatile, and imaginative as earlier entrants to this select
clusterof Akbar's 'companions'. However,unlike men such as Todar
Mal,primarily a superb administrator, Abul Fazl's breadth of vision,
powersof political analysis, and trained understanding of philosophy,
mysticism,and the other disciplines of Islam, made him an outstanding
ideologueand propagandist for Akbar. That Abul Fazl and Akbar were
attractedto each other despite the difference in status and years is
manifest.
Fromthe time of his appearance at court, Abul Fazl began erecting
an intellectualscaffolding upoÅwhich to build a Timurid dynastic ideol-
ogy—anedifice firmly establishing a new legitimacy for Akbar and his
descendants.If done well, such an ideology would pre-empt the chal-
lengescertainto re-emerge from the fissiparous claims of the Mirzas
(Akbar'scollateral Timurid princes) or from new coalitions of dis-
gruntledorthodox 'ulama and imperial grandees. Abul Fazl achieved
this end by asserting the divinely illumined right of the Emperor to rule
mortalswith lesser qualities. The actual developmentof the new im-
perialdoctrinewas the result, however, of a brilliant partnership, in
whichAkbar's own intuitive sense of political need, his desire for broad
140 stale. 1526-1750
polltteal €upport (the most useful context in which the
can be applied to the Emperor) and what -to
qenQ• of hi« own rnission, found a direct
a mystical response n
nund of Abu) Fazl, latter, with a few collaboraters, be in
gan to e
the dynaqtic fottnula in a number of modes: discussions at *pres%
eulogisuc poetry, and a continuing and wide-tanging official and
correspondence. Abul Far-I's most systematic exposition of
the
ideologyis set out in the best-known Mughal history, the
voluminr
Akbar-Nama,an annual recounting of the events for 47 regna!
along with it.s equally bulky appendix: the three volumes of Years
the
an imperial manual and gazetteer. After years of effort,
Fazl presented the magnificently bound and calligraphed first vol
of the finished manuscript to Akbar at a court audience in 1595.
To
further aid the intended effect of the work, several hundred miniature
paintings, found on virtually every page, illustrate the most
events described in the work.
Outwardly, the Akbar-Nama is merely another example in
an
tensive genre of Indo-Islamic court eulogies, perhaps more ambiti(RJs
than most, but little more. A more careful reading reveals that
Akbar-Namais also unquestionablya product of serious,
historical
scholarship. Abul Fazl based his detailed narrative upon
official
records, no longer extant, and upon interviews with eyewitnesses
and
participantsin events. At the core of the work, however, permeating
nearly every passage, is an ideology of authority and legitimacy.The
aim of Abul Fazl's panegyric is to demonstrate either openly or subtly
with every possible rhetorical device, his master's superiorityto ordi-
nary men. That is, Akbar's claim to rule over all men rested on an
ultimate legitimacy far surpassing the accidents of conquest, coupor
secession. Even the solemn recognition of authority in the recurring

23
cf. Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, pp. 300—22for discussionof
Abul Fazl' s extant letter books.
24
The Akbar-Nama paintings from this earliest manuscript are in the
collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Other manuscript
versions of the history, apparently widely circulated in the royal and noble
circles of Mughal India, were also similarly illustrated by imperial artists.Gavin
Hambly, in Cities of Mughal India: Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri (NewYork
1968), p. 24 has included a large colour reproduction of a paintingby
Govardhan, 1602—5,depicting Abul Fazl presenting the second volumeof the
Akbar-Namato Akbar in a court scene. The latter is part of an Akbar.Nama
manuscript in the possession of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.
 Authority Under and Jah„ngir
Il,e
of the Indowluslim community (i.e. the Khutba) was weakened
prayersintercession of fallible human agency.
the contrast to the fallible nature of the ordinary Indo-Muslim
In direct
Akbar was a superior being, existing ontologically closer to
Sultan, reality, This as«ertion was confirmed by the hidden light
God, to true
final recipient through a chain of ancestors (see below).
passed to its ineffable radiance emanating from the brow of Akbar
Moreover, the
perceptible only to superior men—men whose spiritual capacities
was developed, and who could recognize the signs of true
were highly
for those men willing to be properly instructed,
authority. For adepts, or
the outpouring of light from Akbar was removed, and
the veil guarding
revealed. He had esoteric knowledge and authority
his true nature
Sharia, (i.e. the Mujtahid
greater than the recognized interpreters of the
the most saintly of Sufi masters (Pir) or the most
of the age), than
renowned of the charismatic saviours (mahdt).
such an assertion was not a rhetoricaldevice in the accepted con-
ventionaldescriptionof the Indo-MuslimSultan as the 'Shadow of
God'. Faizi, in one of his eulogistic quatrains (rubä'iyat) says:
He IAkbarJis a king whom on account of his wisdom, we call züfunün [pos-
sessorof the sciences] and our guide on the path of religion.-Although kings
are the shadow of God on earth, he is the emanation of God's light. How then
can we call him a shadow?

25Akbar'sassertion of the right of final judgement between the various

interpretationsand interpretations of the sacred law resulted from his long
struggle with the conservative gulama holding state positions in the 1560s. The
finalresolutionof this appeared in the much discussed 'testimony' (mahzar) of
1579.This document, signed under duress by the chief Qazi and the Sadr of the
Empire,stated 'that the rank of a just Sultan is higher in the eyes of God than of
a mujtahid'. The most comprehensive discussion of this conflict is that of Rizvi
in Religiousand Intellectual History, pp. 141—75.For Akbar's incorporation of
the most prominent Chishti family and shrine under his authority see below. For
the attitude of Akbar toward Bayazid Ansari (d. 1572) who claimed to be a hadi
or 'guide' possessing a divine call to lead his followers in the path of the Prophet
Muhammad,see also S.A.A. Rizvi, 'Rawshaniyya Movement', Abr-Nahrain, VI
(1965) pp. 62—91;VIJ (1967—8),pp. 62—98.Instead of using the name
Rawshaniyya or 'Followers of Light' for this predominantly Afghan movement,
Abul Fazl employed the term Tarikian or 'Followers of Darkness'. A Mughal
armed contingent eventually hunted down and killed Bayazid in the Hindu Kush.
Abul Fazl, Ain-i Akbari, I, p. 631.
142 Mughal stare, 1526-1750
lh1S, Akbar possessed refulgent power which was the gift
'*Odd-adomingCreator' He obtained this power and its
ing piercing quality of vision in a process both miraculous accompany
and
The masterfully composed miniature paintings found
pages of the Victoria and Albert manuscript (one of the Within
Nama manuscripts if not the original), in addition to their first
appeal, served to enhance the central theme of the narratives aesthetic
artists directing each painting carefully planned the The
depict each of the major incidents and affairs of the compositions
history,
on facing pages of the manuscript. In a seldom appreciated usually
their genius, the Emperor's artists, image after image, aspectof
conveyedAbul
Fazl's view of Akbar: 'absolute li ht which would carry
as an image of absolute power'. More than 5() paintings conviction
directly portraying the Emperor. In these, the artists contrast survive
order, self-control and harmony of the Emperor as illumined the divine
with the turgid, struggling disorder of those unwieldy person
masses of men
and mankindseen in the remainder of the painting.
To achieve this ideological end (transmuted to an
aestheticfocus
for the series), the Emperor's master painters avoided
obvioustech.
niques such as differential scaling for the Emperor's figure,
identifyingdress, symbols of authority or even, in many elaborate
instances,ren-
dition of Akbar's figure as the central compositional focus
of the paint.
ing. Frequently, on first viewing, he
appears as a still, nearly
figure, who, after a few moments of study, becomes truly unnoticed
Although dressed very simply in colours contrasting with dominant.
the apparel
of those near him, Akbar always bears characteristic, recognizable
tures. Other men may be identifiable by careful portraiture in fea-
one paint-
ing, but in another remain anonymous. The Emperor consistently
iconically supreme. In each composition, intersecting curves, is
rhythms,
stresses and lines lead the viewer's eye to a figure which is the
source
27
Abul Fazl, Akbar-Nama, Il, p. 501.
28Debra Brown
Levine, The Victoria and Albert Museum Akbar-Nama; A
Study in History, Myth and Image', 2 vols, Ph.D. dissertation (Universityof
Michigan, J974), I, p. 47. The artists of the Mughal atelier had progressed inthe
course of nearly 30 years from the single plane conventionsof the perfected
Persian miniature style to the use of new European techniques of 'deep space'.
The latter combined receding horizon lines, visual curves, and diminishedfigure
size. Experimentation with these new devices clearly enabled the paintersto
avoid more obvious visual clichés such as actually attemptingto showdivine
light coming from the Emperor's brow.
 Under Mbar and
of Impetial
calmly controlled energy which en-
potential energy—a mass of human action. By means of
'JIV
of
intense in the confusing
sÜbtle techniques the court painters presented to the cognizant
h
Mbar-Nama the radiant, infallible, powers of their master
readerof the
of his servants, his subjects, and ultimately of all mankind.
theenergies explicitly states the core of his ideology in the introduc- 29
AbulFazl passages describing Akbar's ancestry and descent.
Akbar-Nama
Adam, the ancestor of all men, Abu) Fazi in 52 human
Beginningwith the passage of the hidden Divine refulgence until it
generationstraces intended
and illuminesthe spirit and intelligence of Akbar, its
reaches
Akbar's 'heaven descended forefathers' from the seven
recipient.
all came to earth as 'kings, kings of kings, kingdom bestowers
planets [whol governed the world by God-given wisdom and
andking makers
insight'. Adam, born 7000 years ago, was the first ancestor (as, of
true 3 Thereafter, Abul Fazl briefly lists five
course, he is for all men).
before reaching Ikhnush I or Enoch, who, among his
biblicalprophets
'guided men to the reference of the Great Light
otheraccomplishments
sun)'. The continuingline of male descent leads through Joseph
[the
his son Turk, ruler of Turkestan, thus shifting from biblical prophets
to to the first Turko-Mongal figure.
(commonto Islam and Christianity) eponymous ruler in an
MughalKhan, the son of a Turk, is the first
(or Mongol) kings. The last, or ninth
unidentifiedseries of nine Mughal
massacred and dispersed by an
generationof the dynasty, is defeated,
confusion to a mountain valley,
enemy. The survivors retire in years in seclusion, a
Mughalistan,hidden far to the east. After 2000
Alanquwa (Alan-qo-a) a Mughal
most importantnatal event occurs.
number of well-known
29Tosubstantiatethese points Levine analyses a
of Chitor, the great Rajput
paintings.See, for example an incident at the siege
Jaimal at the Siege of
fortressin the painting. 'Akbar Uses Sangram to Shoot
Chitor', Levine, I, pp., 63—4.
30Abul Fazl, Akbar-Nama, I, p. 143.
which he
31At this juncture, Abul Fazl engages in a lengthy digression in
essentially
explainsthe Hindu and Jain views on the age of the universe. These
of
cyclicalcosmologies suggest that countless Adams may well have begun each
innumerableages of man. Ibid., p. 154.
32Ikhnushis also Hermes, a key figure in the philosophy of Suhrawardi
Mae (see below).
Ibid., p. 168.
34Accordingto Blochmann, this withdrawal to Mughalistan derives directly
from the Mongol traditions, Ibid., p. 175n.
 14260730
State,
Btughat
13iynn,king of b"
purity whose
of nnd
a lay sleeping in tent one m
of the princes• body and
ilühi).As entered her
this conception were triplets,
of from
called 'nairun' or 'lightwroduccd'
were
collectively of the divine illumination into the
the transmission to her sons as the 'first
its
Alanquwa,and the divine origin of Akbar, From the eldest
:ahür) of possessed the illumination of his mother
brothers, who passed through generation after
three light
the hidden
greatest degree. of mankind, Akbar, was born in 1542
the Shähinshäh
tion until notices of nine Turko-MongoI rulers, member%
Followingshort Fazl arrives at Chingiz Khan (Temuchinj
of
descent, Abul
the chainof surprisingly,he does not glorify. In an apologetic
who,somewhat the prevailing Islamic view of Chingiz Khan as
a
sage he concedes But the myopia of most men means that 'every
destructivemonster. existence in the world of evil [its] real _
into nature
thing whichcomes percieve'. That is, one of Chingiz Khan's
cannot well.
the superficial he bore the veiled light for his descendant who
hidden virtues is that
men as much as his distant ancestor had harmedthem
wouldbenefit generations from the early thirteenthand
Rapidly descending the
late fourteenth centuries, Abul Fazl begins his most extended discus.
the Gurgan of Samarkand the 'Lord of Con-
that point. Amir Timur
sion to
junctionsof the Planets' (Sähib Qirän) was, of course, the conqueror
those Central Asian lands in Balkh, Badakhshan and Ferghanain-
of
fifteenth-century descendants.
herited by his politically fragmented
Moreover,Timur's exploits,his control of Samarkand, his methodsof
rule afforded a source of legitimacy for all subsequent Timurid princes
as well as a model of conquest and rule on the greatest possible scale.
Timurwas 'a hero fit for and capable of a great sovereignty'(wälä'ig

351bid., p. 179; Abul Fazl, Akbar-Nama, 3 vols (Lucknow edn.), 1, pp. 51-2. I
have used this edition of the Akbar-Nama text to verify key passages and phrases
from the translation because the Bibliotheca Indica edition was not accessibleat
the time of writing,
Akbar-Nama,(trans.), J, p. 180; (text) J, p. 52.
37
Ibid. trans., I, p. 196.
 Under Akbar and Jahangir 145
lation of Imperial Authority
victories illumined that
Always, 'the lights of celestial
Saltanat). whose feat.s of both destruction and reconstruction
i conqueror',
Asia forecast those of his sixteenth-century descendant in
central vast, heavily populated regions of the subcontinent.
and the
Hindustan legititnacy for the Timurids began when, in April 1370
Thus,formal
finniy seated on a throne in Sarnarkand, placed on his
Timur,
the 'crown of world conquest'. More than three decades
head expense and effort, he ensured complete recog-
considerable
later.at Muslim king: 'In the pulpits of Mecca, Medina and
nition as a tille
holy places, the khutba was read in his name.' Babur, in a
other by his son, grandson, and all subsequent Timurid
practice followed
dynastic genealogy with Amir Timur (or Sahib Qirün,
rulers,began his
title). The magnificently calligraphed, etched iron seals
theposthumous
ceremonial gold coins of the dynasty invariably bear this official
and
Surviving manuscripts of histories of
statementof dynastic authority. not
that these were
Timur,profusely illustrated, also demonstrate
and continuing
merelyformulaic expressions, but represented a deep
achieve-
interestin Timur (and one suspects in measurement against his
ments)on the part of emperors such as Shah Jahan (1627—58),reigning
43
the apogee of the empire.
at

3SIbid., (trans.), I, p. 204; (text), I, p. 61.

391bid.,(trans.), I, p. 210, (text), I, p. 62. 'wa anwärfatühät äsmäni bar ruzgär
änjahängir 'älam-peraya '.
401bid.,(trans.) 1,p. 208; (text), I, p. 61. 'ikhlil-ikishwär-kishä 'i'.
411bid.,(trans.) I, p. 212; (text), 1, p. 62. The term used for monarchy is
farmänrawäi.
40 a seal of Babur see Momin Mohiuddin, The Chancellery and Persian
-For
EpistolographyUnder the Mughals (Calcutta, 1971), p. 77. For a more
elaboratelydecorated seal of Akbar, bearing the tughra, see the picture, text and
translationin B.N. Goswamy and J.S. Grewal, The Mughals and the Jogis of
Jakhbar(Simla, 1967), pp. 57—61.(The tughra was a square, etched, vermilion
renditionof the Emperor's titles placed beside the official seal at the head of all
formalrescripts.)
43
See Khan Sahib Abdul Muqtadir, 'Note on a Unique History of Timur and
his Descendants in Iran and India . , Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research
Society111,175—263.The handsomely calligraphed and illustrated 'Tärikh-
i-khändän-i-Timuriyah'
was compiled by an unidentified author in Akbar's
reign.It bears an autograph note of Shah Jahan describing its contents as 'the
historycontainingan account of the circumstances of Hazrat Sahib Qiran, the
"worldseizer" and his descendants' (p. 268).
 state,

Concluding his account of Abu! Fall

from Stitanshah. €on of Tinlur. to Sultan Muharnmad
•econd generation),to his eon Sultan Abu Said Mit/a (1427
of Samavkandand tno€t of Transoxania (of the third), to
NIit7,a(14504), one of Il sons of Abu Said Miwa
generation).Until his accidental death. 'Unvar Shaikh NI
of Ferghana (tom the city of Andijan, revived andtria ruled
s4111ey
under Timufid rule. By this titue, the Turko-Mongol a repopuj•the
P
that the Timutid ancestral territories were freepanagesyste
of
control. Three of •Umar Shaikh Mirza',s siblings also centraliz
ruled
one at Kabul, one at Samarkand, and one at Kunduz. This as ki
of Timur•s descendants was continuously engaged in a s generatirm
wirling
for dominance and for survival against the challen ges of struggle
other
of the Chaghtai line anxious to rule. The forceful sibling;
intrusion of
Imension
political milieu. to the
However, when Babur assumed the deceased 'Umar
Shaikh
responsibilities at Andijan (supported by various adult
advisers),the
divine illuminationflared out again for the first time since
the
of Amir Timur. Abul Fazl compares Babur's seizure of Delhi exploits
tion of the city against desperate Rajput and Afghan and reten_
resistance
the feats of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, Sultan Muhammad with
and Amir Timur, all of whom commanded gigantic armies. of Ghur
That
could emulate their example by taking and holding the heart Babur
dustan with only 13 000 followers was proof of 'divine aid'. of Hin_
Babur was the 'carrier of the world-illuminatinglight' (hämilTherefore
nürjahän
äfrüz), which would reach its full glory in only two generations.44
As one might expect after the long narrative of descent, Abul
in his account of the life and reign of
Fazl,
Humayün, minimizes the latter's
apparent incompetence and defeats, to stress the imminent appearance
of Humayun's son, Akbar. Prior to his flight and wanderingexile,
Humayun's 'shining forehead' lit the world with the power of the divine
light which, originating 'in the time of the ocean pearl-shellAlänqüä',
had traversed the centuries and generations hidden 'under the veilsof
women in travail' .45 At the foreordained nativity of Akbar, the divine
illumination would shine forth in its full glory (but only for those
capable of proper perception). Humayun's political failures weresimply
calamities assigned by God to 'quicken the attention of the
44
Abul Fazl, Akbar-Nama, I (trans) I, pp. 243—5;(text) l, p. 76.
45
Ibid. (trans.) I, p. 287.
 Auth'*itv Under Akhar and Jahangir
147
or 'o alert them that showrng forth of the
the final cause
to holy incarnation of tus majesty. the king of
of theat"*ht hand'
was at
defeated and despaurtng 1540. found reassurance tn a
viston. God sent htm an Illumtned message that •an
„,aFStic night
successor •.hose greatness •bone from his forelock' would be
upon the exiled ruler—a successor whose greatness would
than rectify his father's The nativity of Akbar was fur-
a
ther pre«aged bv mystertous light which entered the bosom of Akbar's
putative nurse. God's all-powerful. ommscient wtll had determtned
that the moment wa-sat hand for bringing forth the receptacle for that
hidden light so long in Its passage through the age•.
Hy-,erboIiCand excessive as the above treatment of Akbaös ances-
may seem. it vvasnot entirely a concoction of Abul Fazl'• Inventive
mind_If the doctrine were to have any widespread recogmuon and
response it necessarily needed to possess and retain an easily recog-
nizable affiliation with already existing religio-politicai traditions. Thus.
Abul Fazl fused two well-known doctrines: the ancient origin myth of
the sfongols and the illuminationist theosophy of Suhrawardi Maqtul,
the Persian mystic and philosopher.
The probable source for Abul Fazl for the traditional Mongol
genealogicalmotif is one of the Mongol histories widely available in
the sixteenth century. Mirza Haidar, who compiled a history of his
Mongolancestors 40 years before the writing of the Akbar-Näma.in
the mid-sixteenth century, states: 'All histories [i.e. of the Nlongolsl
trace the genealogy of Alankua Kurkluk, back to Japhet- son of Noah
(upon them be peace) and detailed accounts of all her ancestors are
given in these histories.' All the Mongol chronicles available to Mirza
Haidar included variants on the story of the conception by means of a
divine light of Alankua Kurkluk (which means an immaculate woman)
and the subsequent birth of her son Burunjar Khan. Ho'*ever, Mirza
Haidar minimizes this clearly pagan, pre-LMuslimmotif, and be2ins his
full narrative only after the acceptance of Islam by the Mongols in
Transoxania.He comments that 'the object of this book Ithe Tärikh-i

46
1bid., p. 353.
47
1bid., p. 42.
48
Ibid., p. 44—5.
Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, Tärikh-i Rashidi, trans. N. Elias and
E.D. Ross, A History of the Moghuls of Central Asia (London, 1895), p. 5.
501bid.
 Mughal state.
not to tell tales
Buruntnt Khan wa.s botn of hiQ'hother
it to include any
of
snteenth y. Collective (and ten) 1
a Muslin) Id netnories
of
before
.NbulFarl leaves not doubt as to the so urce
of the
thene •ystematically intenvoven with the Mon
gol mythilluminatirmtq
the course of his description of the Cive bi of
blical prophets descent.
Ikhnu€h or Hermes. Abul Fazl states that he
has
comtnentaryof 'the very learned Shahrazüri'. 5.3 been
The the
by Shamsuddin Muhammad Shahrazuri (d. 1243
Arabic biography of pre-Muslim and Muslim Al)) is a
philosophers andcollective
Included among these is the life of Shihabuddin
1191 AD)the spiritual and intellectual master of
Suhrawardi Maqtul
Shahrazuri, and (d
of the 'Eastem' or 'Ishraki school of Persian founder
philosopy. For his
aptation of the Mongol genealogy, and portrayal of ad.
Akbar's antecedents
Abul Fazl freely utilized many aspects of Suhrawardi's
The central vision of the 'Ishraki school (that is, complexsystem.
those who followed his teachings) 'regards Beings andSuhrawardiand
irradiations of the Pure Light which rises in the East', Knowledge as
In otherwords
Suhrawardis 'East' is not merely the eastern
philosophyof
Neoplatonism,but the east of the origin of light and the
•Ea.st of Thought'. 'Ishrak (the east), as a symbol of metaphorical
light, 'is not
Ibid.
52
Abu! Fazl, Akbar-Nama, I, p. 157. In 1 101 AH (1602—3)Prince
Salim. later
the Emperor Jahangir, commissioned the paraphrased translation
fromArabic
anto Persian of Shahrazuri's work (titled in Arabic Raudatu 'l Afsah
wa Nuzhaluil
Arwah). This was completed in 1610 during Jahangir's reign by Maq
ud'Ali
Tabnzi. See Muhammad Ashraf, A Concise Descriptive Catalogue of the Persian
Manuscripts in lhe Salar Jang Museum and Library, 3 vols (Hyderabad,
19654), 11,p, 238, Catalogue no. 595. Hermann Ethé, in the Catalogueofthe
Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, lists another copy of the same
manuscnpt, but ascribes the original to Shamsuddin MuhammadSuhrauardi
irNead of Shahrazuri,no, 614, p. 249.
For the transjnissionof 'ßhraki ideasto
India the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries see Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual
His•ioty, pp. 40-2, and for direct
influence of 'Ishraki thought upon Abu!Fazjsee
ibid. pp. 339—73.
R. Arnaldez, V
*'Ishräkf' and *'Ishräkiyyün"' The Encyclopaedia Islam,
2nd edn.-
 Under Akbar and Jahangir 149
of Impcnal Aufhontv
general notion of illununation which confers upon the
to the
-edtruth inaccessible to the abstract concepts of reason; it more
a delight in the •ource
S
of all light, whence proceed all
Jillentally.authenticknowledge.' 8 All life, all 'real ity' in the world,
light given existence by the constant blind-
t'einr to Suhrawardi, is
(ding Light of Lights (nür-al anwür), or God. The
20 illuminationof the
luminosity each being or object possesses is a measure of its
of an expression of its self-awareness.
reality and also
ontological reaches earth and mankind through the intervention of
God-slight of dazzling angels. In this descending vertical or
hierarchic chain
archangel. receives the 'divine
•tudinal order of angels, the supreme
longl of God, veil.s its intensity and transmits the remainder of
irradiation'
to the next subordinate angel until the chain is ended at the
the light in the heavens. This, the feminine order of angels, is a ver-
fixedstars love and acceptance by means of which light and life
ticalchain of horizontal, latitudinal order of angels, existing beside
reachearth.The
the 'masculine' order of domination.These platonic
oneanother,is over a still lower order of angels who govern the
archetypespreside
dominant force within this lower order of 'lordly
humansoul. The angel for mankind, the Angel Gabriel (identified
lights'is the guardianProphet Muhammad), the revealer to man of true
the
withthe spirit of
knowledge of God.
soul possesses a core of light imprisoned
Each individualhuman
luminous core or 'divine spark' is divided or
withinthe body.This light still remaining in the heavens (the soul's
from an angelic
separated
enter the body. Thus man's soul longs to
guardianangel) in order to
counterpart. Of three groups of men, the
be reunitedwith its angelic
ignorance and wickedness; the second have
lowesthave live.sshaded by
attainedsome measure of goodness, or enlightenment; and the third
consistingof the saints have already become aware of their own il-
lumination and that of God. They are the true theosophists and masters
of the age. Masters like Plato or Suhrawardi himself understood both
and the limits of rational discursive thought. For Suhrawardi,
illumination
theoriginsof this wisdom of the east, i.e. of the firmament of the stars
inhis geographicalsymbolism, was first revealed to man by the prophet
Hermes.The latter's teachings followed two chains of transmission,

54
Thefollowingsynopsis is drawn from Seyyid Hossein Nasr, Three Muslipn
Sages(Cambridge,Mass., 1964), pp. 52—82.
 162647.50
Mughal State,
I SO Greece. Suhrawatd,
the second felt
of thought.
only a of Suhrawardüs
he is
the
ieadily discern its influence upon Abu!
can
philosophywe Hennes in deqcribing the eat]iest of the biblj}cal
hie adaptation of the concept of a
appa«nt. so also so intense
is divine luminosity that it must
possessing a of human life by a
of transmitters The direct generation
veiledto prevent fom, and the subsequent transmittal of this inner
angelic gave him the enhanced awareness
a feminine clearly
to Akbar of the Age'. Simultaneously, however,
Suhrawardi's'Master Mongol princess by light from a star enabledAbuI
the
tion inducedin male—female opposition in Suhrawardi's
an.
to utilize the basic
Fazl
gelology.
'longitudinal' chain of generative. loving, stars and the
The vertical array of protecting, commanding guardian an.
horizontal, 'latitudinal'
its counterpart or parallel in the extended Akbar-Nama
gels has character. With alternating love and sternness,he
portrayalof Akbar's
esoteric knowledge (the 'light from his brow') to all his
extendshis doctrine of sulh-i kul 'peace for all'
subjects.In the well-known
the Akbar-Nama we find a shorthand expression of
pearing later in
nurturing and punishingroles. Rather than simply 'toleration'
Akbar's subjects of the empire, Abul Fazl was
of the Hindu or non-Muslim
clearing the way for a broader ideology of imperial concern
subtly
tensions between rulers and ruled seen in
which would abate the grim 56
earlier Indo-Muslim regimes.

IMPERIAL DISCIPLESHIP
(as distinct from the nar-
The ideological formula of the Akbar-Nama
rative text) drew together, and made more coherent, Akbar's eclectic,
publiclydisplayed religious practices—the apparent resolution of an
incessant, at times tortured spiritual quest. In so doing Abul Fazl
55Nasr provides a summary of the two parallel chains of transmission (p, 62).
'The Master of Ishräq therefore considered himself as the focal point at which
the two traditions of wisdom that had at one time issued forth from the same
source were once again unified. He thereby sought to synthesize the wisdom of
Zoroaster and Plato.'
56For a
discussion of the earlier conception of proper relationship.s between
rulers and ruled, see C.E. Bosworth's description of the Islamic 'power-state' in
The Ghaznavids (Edinburgh, 1963).
 151

into a comprehen€ive •ymbolic framework the

-reded in integrating
dynastic legitimation of the Ttmurids With Akbar'espredilec-
itlumtned of the sun. This made a broad appeal to the
for sor«hip tamindürs)
élite. to the landed regional aristocracieq (i.e. the
t. varied groups of other local notables in the empire.
od controversy over the nature and purpose
hoary scholarly
inthis ay, the 'Divine Faith' ha-sbeen misdirected. Since the
of Akbaös so-called generations of hi«torians in sorting out the
early nineteenth century,
rituals and beliefs of Akbarshave tried to determine influences
Nath Yogia, or Brahmmical
and filiation—whetherZoroastrian. Sufi,
cticesand beliefs. A general tendencyhas been to treat the 'Divine
Faith' as a bizarre concoction of Akbar•s
fertile intellect:
1583, Akbar had apparently rejected public prayer and other
a
formalaspects of orthodox ritual Islam in what seems to have been
prayer,
steadyprocess of religious questioning. In place of Muslim
pro•ra-
Akharbegan to worship the sun publicly four times a day with
lions,facingeast before a sacrificial fire and accompanyingrituals of
his own invention. The latter. according to Badauni. included, amono
others.recitationsof 1001synonymousSanskrit names for the sun at
the noontime ceremony:' His continuing interviews with famed holy
menof all sects and the religious debates carried on at Fatehpur Sikri
were obviously part of this effort. In addition, various forms of

haviour.Akbar avoided excessive meat eating, sexual intercourse, and

alcoholicconsumption. Possibly persuaded by the Hindu doctrines of
metempsychosis, Abkar had the crown of his head (the tenth openmg
of his body) tonsured to allow his soul to escape freely at the motnent
61
of death.

To what extent Abul Fazl's origin myth for the Titnurid dynasty tætained
any appeal for Akbar's successors is uncertain. A privately compiled, unoffictal
historyof the early eighteenth centuty does teptoduce a summary of the myth
for its account of Akbar's reign, Khafi Khans in the first volume of his
Muntakhab-ulI-ulhib provides the essentials of the bitth of the thtve
light-conceivedMongol princes and the passage of the interior light to
Khafi Khan. Muntakhab-ul I-ub'ib, Bibliotheca Indicas 3 vols (Calcuttas 1869).
Cf. the comments of S. Roy, in his contribution to R.C. Ntajulndav(ed ) 17te
MughalEntpire, the Historv and Culture of the Indian People (Botnbay, IQ)
74
w. 138-40,
Ritvi, Religious and Intellectual History, p. 338.
61
 state, 1526-1750
Mugl,a/
162 The and puzzling aspects
vnost controversial of the
()ne of the ability to a number of his
F.mperor's courtiers
is the beliefs. Blochmann, the late
élite to his the Mbar-Nama,
highest compiled a
of the bulk of
century translator identified as adherents or disciples li8ting
nobles who could be 'Divine Faith'. Based on this or Akbar
18 to the new enumerat•rm
and subscribers interpretation has been that the
accepted discipleswere
the generally an élite 'order' in the
group equivalent to British knightly
pan of a tiny S.A.A, Rizvi in a recent analysis of thebod
However,
honorificsense. to this issue, has concluded that the term
pertaining
of references misapplied by Blochmann. The enlistment of
'Divine Faith' was cannot be dismissed as the egomania of the
simply
ciples by Akbar sycophancy of his courtiers. Instead,
Eluperoraided by the
possessing a serious political purpose, found its ideological
discipleship,
in the Akbar-Nama and Akbar's symbolic association with
grounding view, discipleship represented a major
and light. In Rizvi's
the sun loyal and reliable cadre of nobles
effort to create an exceptionally
to form a body of life-guards. Far more
carefully screened and recruited
unspecified as to total number, but clearly substantial bodies
than 18,
week in groups of twelve into this more
of men, were inducted every
of the Emperor.
intense relationshipwith the person
At noon on Sunday, the Emperor himself presiding, the newly
selected disciples underwent an initiation ceremony. Each Muslim init-
iate signed a declaration repudiating the orthodox bonds of conventional
(taqlidi) Islam and agreeing to reverence Allah directly. He also swore
to accept four degrees of devotion: the unhesitating willingness to
sacrifice one's life ('On), property (mal), religion (din) and honour
(namüs) in the service of the Master (Akbar). During the ceremony,
the new disciple placed his head on the feet of the Emperor in the
fashion of the Sufi disciple's prostration (sijdah) to his m •ster or Pir.
Upon conclusion of the ceremony, the Emperor raised up the supplicant,
and, placing a new turban upon his head, gave him a symbolic repre-
sentation of the sun, and a tiny portrait of Akbar to wear uponhis
turban.63Thus, the four degrees of devotion were a means 'to unify
64
the new Mughal élite around the throne'. Instead of the ties of
common ancestry, ethnicity, and familial hereditary service which
bound Babur's tiny élite to him, Abkar's Persian, Rajput, and Khatri,

62Ibid.,
pp. 391—2.For the Persian terms see Badauni (text), Il, p. 304.
63
Rizvi, p. 401.
64
Ibid., p. 398.
 of Imperial Authority
Muslim disciples were widely disparate in
fid IndianExacting such a solemn cornrrj}trnentto an had
ethnicity. highe«t degree of purity, knowledge and
the
reac hed a mortal, was one solution to the recurrerg rl
Sible for
legitimate rule, and an alternative v)
challengeable
balancing of factions within the éhte.
divisive under«tandingof the Emperor's assertions of divirziy
popular
ancestry. illumined wisdom and spirituality, clearly
tioned of the cour1Jcampand other major uHr;an
amongthe populace
empire. Ultimately this understandjng became pervasive that
of the
continuing memory of Akbar's powers was even absorbed into
a society within the various regions of the empire-
folk culture of rural
existence was
Discipleship, however (although evidently its
Fan or the Emperor in the
secret), was never publicized by Abu)
informed observers from
fashion. Certainly, the nobility, and more
imperial political élite, must have
secondaryand tertiary ranks of the
significance of discipleship. But, unfor-
fully comprehendedthe true
operation in the last decade or
tunately,extant written references to its
so of Akbar's reign are muted, imita-
Jahangir, who seems to have been caught in the dilemma of
the sons of men of
lionversus rebellion against his father, common to
He
extraordinarystature, did perpetuate the imperial order of disciples.
his
demandedworship from his disciples in the mode established by
saintly
father.Unlike Akbar, however, he viewed many of the renowned
figuresof his time as competitors,rather than spiritual masters. In-
terestingdirect testimony to this effect comes from the letters and jour-
nals of Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador from James of England to the
MughalEmperor. A university graduate, a minor ari<ocrat a farrnly
mercantilebackground, a courtier and diplomat of long experience, and

65E.g. in his description of the Kunbis, the most numerous peasant caste in
Maharashtra,R.V. Russell detailed the birth customs of the caste from
ethnographicmaterial collected in the first years of the twentieth century. If the
labourof a Kunbi woman were unduly prolonged, among the folk remedies
recounted'she is given water to drink in which a Sulaimäni onyx or a rupee of
Akbar's time has been washed;...the virtue of the rupee probably consists in Its
beinga silver coin and having the image or device of a powerfulking like
Akbar'.'Kunbi', in R.V, Russell, Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of
India, 4 vols (London, 1916), Il, p. 29.
E.g. Jahangir's response to the Sikh Guru Arjun's untimely, accidental
meetingwith Prince Khurram during the latter's rebellion against his father.