The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c16.105

v4.c16.105

Another foolish experiment now completed was also a failure. Four years before, Akbar had shut up a number of wretched infants, appointing dumb nurses to attend them, and taking other precautions against their ever hearing the sound of the human voice. His object was to discover “the divine language”, for, as none of the children could have learned to speak by human agency, if any one of them spoke, the language which he spoke would be, Akbar believed, the divine language. Of course the unfortunate children emerged dumb from their confinement.