The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c16.99

v4.c16.99

He summoned a general council, composed of the high officials present at the capital but not including Father Rodolfo Acquaviva, and, after discoursing on the evils of religious discord and strife, declared that all religious bodies ought to be united, “in such fashion that they should be both ‘one’ and ‘all’, with the great advantage of not losing what is good in any religion, while gaining whatever is better in another. In that way honour would be rendered to God, peace would be given to the peoples, and security to the empire”. He called upon all to express their opinion, and the officials, doubtless warned of what was expected of them, assented to his proposals, agreeing that “he who was nearer to heaven, both by reason of his office and by reason of his lofty intellect, should prescribe for the whole empire gods, ceremonies, sacrifices, mysteries, rules, solemnities, and whatever else was required to constitute one perfect and universal religion”. There was but one dissentient voice, that of Bhagwān Dās, who, admitting that neither Hinduism nor Islām was perfect, desired to know what the new religion was, that he might decide whether to accept it or not. Akbar was unwilling or unable to formulate his faith, and ceased to press the raja. It was not, indeed, an easy matter to define the creed, for, as Dr Vincent Smith says: