The Institutes of Akbar 135.6
The Áín i Akbari (Blochmann, Jarrett) 135.6
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135.6.1
Common people should no longer learn Arabic, because such people were generally the cause of much mischief. Cases between Hindus should be decided by learned Brahmins, and not by Musalmán Qázís. If it were necessary to have recourse to oaths, they should put heated irons into the hands of the accused, who was guilty if his hands were burnt, but innocent if not; or they should put the hands of the accused into hot, liquid butter; or the accused should jump into water, and if he came to the surface before an arrow had returned to the ground, which had been shot off when the man jumped into the water, he was guilty. People should be buried with their heads towards the east, and their feet towards the west.” His Majesty even commenced to sleep in this position.” [p. 363.] “In the same year the prohibition of the study of Arabic was extended to all. People should learn Astronomy, Mathematics, Medicine, and Philosophy. The Tarikh of this order is Fasád i fazl (995).
135.6.2
On the 10th day of Muharram 996, His Majesty had invited the Khán Khánán, and Mán Singh (who had just been appointed governor of Bahár, Hájípúr and Patna); and whilst they were drinking, His Majesty commenced to talk about the Divine Faith, in order to test Man Singh. He said without reserve, “If Your Majesty mean by the term of membership, willingness to sacrifice one’s life, I have given pretty clear proofs, and Your Majesty might dispense with examining me; but if the term has another meaning, and refers to religion, surely I am a Hindu. And if I am to become a Muhammadan, Your Majesty ought to say so—but besides Hinduism and Islam, I know of no other religion.” The emperor then gave up urging him. During the month of Çafar 996, Mírzá Fúlád Beg Barlás managed to get one night Mullá Ahmad of T’hat’hah, on some pretext, out of his house, and stabbed at him, because the Mullá openly reviled [as Shí’ahs do] the companions of the prophet. The Táríkh of this event is expressed by the words Zihí khanjar i Fúlád, ‘Hail, steel of Fulad,’ or by Khúk i saqari, ‘hellish hog!’ And really, when this dog of the age was in his agony, I saw that his face looked just like the head of a pig, and others too witnessed it—O God! we take refuge with Thee against the evil which may befall us! His Majesty had Mírzá Fúlád tied to the foot of an elephant and dragged through the streets of Láhor;
135.6.3
for when Hakim Abulfath, at the request of the emperor, had asked the Mírzá, whether he had stabbed at the Mullá from religious hatred, he had said, ‘If religious hatred had been my motive, it would have been better to kill a greater one than the Mullá.’ The Hakim reported these words to His Majesty, who said, “This fellow is a scoundrel; he must not be allowed to remain alive,” and ordered his execution, though the people of the Harem asked the emperor to spare him for his general bravery and courage. The Mullá outlived the Mirza three or four days. The Shi’ahs, at the time of washing his corpse, say that, in conformity with their religion, they put a long nail into the anus, and plunged him several times into the river. After his burial, Shaikh Faizi and Shaikh Abulfazl put guards over his grave; but notwithstanding all precaution, during the year His Majesty went to Kashmir, the people of Lahor, one night, took the hideous corpse of the Mulla from the grave, and burned it.” [pp. 375, 376, 380.] “In 999, the flesh of oxen, buffaloes, goats, horses, and camels, was forbidden. If a Hindu woman wished to be burnt with her husband, they should not prevent her; but she should not be forced. Circumcision was forbidden before the age of twelve, and was then to be left to the will of the boys. If any one was seen eating together with a butcher, he was to lose his hand, or if he belonged to the butcher’s relations, the fingers which he used in eating.
135.6.4
In 1000, the custom of shaving off the beard was introduced.” In 1002, special orders were given to the kotwals to carry out Akbar’s commands. They will be found in the Third book of the Ain, Ain 5. The following are new: If any of the darsaniyyah disciples died, whether man or woman, they should hang some uncooked grains and a burnt brick round the neck of the corpse, and throw it into the river, and then they should take out the corpse, and burn it at a place where no water was. But this order is based upon a fundamental rule, which His Majesty indicated, but which I cannot here mention. If a woman was older than her husband by twelve years, he should not lie with her, and if a young girl was found running about town, whether veiled or not, or if a woman was bad, or quarrelled with her husband, she should be sent to the quarter of the prostitutes, to do there what she liked.” [p. 391.]
135.6.5
“At the time of famines and distress, parents were allowed to sell their children, but they might again buy them, if they acquired means to repay their price. Hindus who, when young, had from pressure become Musalmans, were allowed to go back to the faith of their fathers. No man should be interfered with on account of his religion; and every one should be allowed to change his religion, if he liked. If a Hindu woman fall in love with a Muhammadan, and change her religion, she should be taken from him by force, and be given back to her family. People should not be molested, if they wished to build churches and prayer rooms, or idol temples, or fire temples.” [p. 398.] “In this year A’zam Khán returned from Makkah, where he had suffered much harm at the hands of the Sharífs, and throwing away the blessing which he had derived from the pilgrimage, joined, immediately on his return, the Divine Faith, performing the sijdah and following all other rules of discipleship; he cut off his beard, and was very forward at social meetings and in conversation. He learnt the rules of the new faith from the Reverend Master Abulfazl, and got Gházípúr and Hájípúr as jágír.” [p. 404.] “During the Muharram of 1004, Cadr Jahán, muftí of the empire, who had been promoted to a commandership of One Thousand, joined the Divine Faith, as also his two over-ambitious sons; and having taken the Shact of the new religion, he ran into the net like a fish, and got his Hazáríship.
135.6.6
He even asked His Majesty what he was to do with his beard, when he was told to let it be. On the same day, Mullá Taqí of Shúshtar joined, who looks upon himself as the learned of all learned, and is just now engaged in rendering the Sháhnámah into prose, according to the wishes of the emperor, using the phrase jallat ’asmatuhu wa ’azza shánuhu, wherever the word Sun occurs. Among others that joined were Shaikhzádah Gosálah Khán of Banáras; Mullá Sháh Muhammad of Sháhábád; and Cúfí Ahmad, who claimed to belong to the progeny of the famous Muhammad Ghaus. They all accepted the four degrees of faith, and received appointments as Commanders from One Hundred to Five Hundred, gave up their beards agreeably to the rules, and thus looked like the youths in Paradise. The words mútarásh-i chand, or ‘several shavers’, express the táríkh of this event (1004). The new candidates behaved like Hindus that turn Muhammadan, or like those who are dressed in red clothes, and look in their joy towards their relations, who say to them, ‘My dear little man, these rags will be old to-morrow, but the Islám will still remain on your neck.’ This Ahmad, ‘the little Cúfí’, is the same who claimed to be the pupil, or rather the perfect successor, of Shaikh Ahmad of Egypt.
135.6.7
He said that at the express desire of that religious leader of the age, he had come to India, and the Shaikh had frequently told him, to assist the Sultán of India, should he commit an error, and lead him back from everlasting damnation. But the opposite was the case.” So far Badaoni. We have, therefore, the following list of members of the Divine Faith. With the exception of Bir Bar, they are all Muhammadans; but to judge from Badaoni’s remarks, the number of those that took the Shast, must have been much larger. Abulfazl. Faizi, his brother, Akbar’s court-poet. Shaikh Mubarak, of Nagor, their father. Ja'far Beg A'caf Khan, of Qazwin, a historian and poet. Qasim i Kahi, a poet. 'Abdussamad, Akbar’s court-painter; also a poet. A’zam Khan Kokah, after his return from Makkah. Mulla Shah Muhammad of Shahabad, a historian. Cufi Ahmad. 10 to 12. Cadr Jahan, the crown-lawyer, and his two sons. 13. Mir Sharif of Amul, Akbar’s apostle for Bengal. 14. Sultan Khwajah, a cadr. 15. Mirza Jani, chief of T’hat’hah. 16. Taqi of Shustar, a poet and commander of two hundred. 17. Shaikhaddah Gosalah of Banaras. 18. Bir Bar.