The Institutes of Akbar 135.3
The Áín i Akbari (Blochmann, Jarrett) 135.3
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135.3.1
The ringing of bells as in use with the Christians, and the showing of the figure of the cross, and ........, and other childish playthings of theirs, were daily in practice. The words Kufr shai' shud, or 'heresy became common’, express the Tárikh (985). Ten or twelve years after the commencement of these doings, matters had gone so far that wretches like Mirzá Jáni, chief of Tattah, and other apostates, wrote their confessions on paper as follows:—‘I, such a one, son of such a one, have willingly and cheerfully renounced and rejected the Islam in all its phases, whether low or high, as I have witnessed it in my ancestors, and have joined the ‘Divine Faith’ of Shah Akbar, and declare myself willing to sacrifice to him my property and life, my honor and religion.’ And these papers—there could be no more effective letters of damnation—were handed over to the Mujtahid (Abulfazl) of the new Creed, and were considered a source of confidence or promotion. The Heavens might have parted asunder, and earth might have opened her abyss, and the mountains have crumbled to dust! In opposition to the Islam, pigs and dogs were no longer looked upon as unclean. A large number of these animals was kept in the Harem, and in the vaults of the castle, and to inspect them daily, was considered a religious exercise. The Hindus, who believe in incarnations, said that the boar belonged to the ten forms which God Almighty had once assumed. ‘God is indeed Almighty—but not what they say.’
135.3.2
The saying of some wise men that a dog had ten virtues, and that a man, if he possess one of them, was a saint, was also quoted as a proof. Certain courtiers and friends of His Majesty, who were known for their excellence in every department, and proverbial as court poets, used to put dogs on a tablecloth and feed them, whilst other heretical poets, Persians and Hindustanis, followed this example, even taking the tongues of dogs into their own mouths, and then boasting of it. Tell the Mir that thou hast, within thy skin, a dog and a carcass. A dog runs about in front of the house; don’t make him a messmate. The ceremonial ablution after emission of semen was no longer considered binding, and people quoted as proof that the essence of man was the sperma genitale, which was the origin of good and bad men. It was absurd that voiding urine and excrements should not require ceremonial ablutions, whilst the emission of so tender a fluid should necessitate ablution; it would be far better, if people would first bathe, and then have connexion. Further, it was absurd to prepare a feast in honour of a dead person; for the corpse was mere matter, and could derive no pleasure from the feast. People should therefore make a grand feast on their birth-days. Such feasts were called Ásh i hayát, food of life. The flesh of the wild boar and the tiger was also permitted, because ‘the courage which these two animals possess, would be transferred to any one who fed on such meat.
135.3.3
It was also forbidden to marry one’s cousins or near relations, because such marriages are destructive of mutual love. Boys were not to marry before the age of 16, nor girls before 14, because the offspring of early marriages was weakly. The wearing of ornaments and silk dresses at the time of prayer was made obligatory. * * * * The prayers of the Islam, the fast, nay even the pilgrimage, were henceforth forbidden. Some bastards, as the son of Mulla Mubarak, a worthy disciple of Shaikh Abulfazl, wrote treatises, in order to revile and ridicule our religious practices, of course with proofs. His Majesty liked such productions, and promoted the authors.
135.3.4
The era of the Hijrah was now abolished, and a new era was introduced, of which the first year was the year of the emperor's accession (963). The months had the same names as at the time of the old Persian kings, and as given in the Niqâbu-l-jiyân. Fourteen festivals also were introduced corresponding to the feasts of the Zoroastrians; but the feasts of the Musalmâns and their glory were trodden down, the Friday prayer alone being retained, because some old, decrepit, silly people used to go to it. The new era was called Târîkh i Ilâhî, or ‘Divine Era.’ On copper coins and gold muhurs, the era of the Millennium was used, as indicating that the end of the religion of Muhammad, which was to last one thousand years, was drawing near. Reading and learning Arabic was looked upon as a crime; and Muhammadan law, the exegesis of the Qorân, and the Tradition, as also those who studied them, were considered bad and deserving of disapproval. Astronomy, philosophy, medicine, mathematics, poetry, history, and novels, were cultivated and thought necessary. Even the letters which are peculiar to the Arabic language, as the ث, ح, ص, ض, and ط were avoided. Thus for عبدالله Abdullah, people wrote ابداله Abdullah; and for احدی Ahadi, اهدی Ahadi, &c. All this pleased His Majesty. Two verses from the Shâhnâmah, which Firdausi gives as part of a story, were frequently quoted at court—
135.3.5
From eating the flesh of camels and lizards The Arabs have made such progress, That they now wish to get hold of the kingdom of Persia. Fie upon Fate! Fie upon Fate! Similarly other verses were eagerly seized, if they conveyed a calumny, as the verses from the ......, in which the falling out of the teeth of our prophet is alluded to. In the same manner, every doctrine and command of the Islam, whether special or general, as the prophetship, the harmony of the Islam with reason, the doctrines of Rúyat, Taklíf, and Takwín, the details of the day of resurrection and judgment,—all were doubted and ridiculed. And if any one did object to this mode of arguing, his answer was not accepted. But it is well known how little chance a man has who cites proofs against one who will reject them, especially when his opponent has the power of life and death in his hands; for equality in condition is a sine quâ non in arguing. A man who will not listen, if you bring the Qorán and the Tradition, Can only be replied to by not replying to him. Many a family was ruined by these discussions. But perhaps ‘discussions’ is not the correct name; we should call them meetings for arrogance and defamation. People who sold their religion, were busy to collect all kinds of exploded errors, and brought them to His Majesty, as if they were so many presents.
135.3.6
Thus Latíf Khwájah, who came from a noble family in Turkistán, made a frivolous remark on a passage in Tirmizí’s Shamáil, and asked how in all the world the neck of the prophet could be compared to the neck of an idol. Other remarks were passed on the straying camel. Some again expressed their astonishment, that the prophet, in the beginning of his career, plundered the caravans of Quraish; that he had fourteen wives; that any married woman was no longer to belong to her husband, if the prophet thought her agreeable, &c. * * * At night, when there were social assemblies, His Majesty told forty courtiers to sit down as ‘The Forty,’ and every one might say or ask what he liked. If then any one brought up a question connected with law or religion, they said, “You had better ask the Mullás about that, as we only settle things which appeal to man’s reason.” But it is impossible for me to relate the blasphemous remarks which they made about the Çahábah, when historical books happened to be read out, especially such as contained the reigns of the first three Khalifahs, and the quarrel about Fadak, the war of Çiffín, &c.,—would that I were deaf! The Shí’ahs, of course, gained the day, and the Sunnís were defeated; the good were in fear, and the wicked were secure. Every day a new order was given, and a new aspersion or a new doubt came up;
135.3.7
and His Majesty saw in the discomfiture of one party a proof for his own infallibility, entirely forgetful of the proverb, ‘Who slanders others, slanders himself.’* * * The ignorant vulgar had nothing on their tongues but ‘Alláhu Akbar,’ and they looked upon repeating this phrase, which created so much commotion, as a daily religious exercise. Mullá Sherí, at this time, composed a qit’ah of ten verses, in which the following occur:— It is madness to believe with the fool that love towards our prophet Will ever vanish from the earth. I smile, if I think that the following verse, in all its silliness, Will be repeated at the feast of the rich, and as a prayer by the poor: ‘This year the emperor has claimed prophetship, Next year, if God will, he will be God.’