Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s1.13

c5.s1.13

Now, the distinctive feature of the Persian monarchy, as has been mentioned, was its claim to divine origin. In relation to his subjects, the Sassanian monarch was ‘their lord and master, absolute disposer of their lives, liberties, and property; the sole foundation of law and right, incapable himself of doing wrong, irresponsible, irresistible—a sort of God upon earth; one whose favour was happiness, at whose frown men trembled, before whom all bowed themselves down, with the lowest and humblest obeisance’.¹ Islam could not easily be reconciled to this bare-faced exposition of despotism, least of all to the divinity of a person on which the whole theory of despotism rested. This difficulty was solved by associating the virtue of divinity with the office of the Sultanate rather than with the person of the Sultan. He was designated as ‘Zill-ullah’ the shadow of the Divine Being.² This, however, did not stop divine honours from being paid to a Sultan, or a monarch from ruling over people ‘as a God in human form’.³ In Hindustan especially, no attempt was made to conceal the position. People had to prostrate themselves before the Sultan of Delhi when he was present, and to stand up even when his name was mentioned as a mark of solemn reverence; when at a distance from Delhi, they bowed towards the seat of the Sultanate.⁴ Salutations were offered to the vacant royal throne whenever a person passed by it, even to the wooden sandals and quiver put on the throne as the symbol of monarchy.⁵ It is related of the Mughal Emperor Humayun, that on the occasion of a public audience, a curtain was drawn before him; and when it was drawn, the whole gathering exclaimed: ‘Behold the illumination of the Divine Being.’ The same monarch was similarly credited with possessing super-human powers.⁶ Under these circumstances, it is to be forgiven if the fancy of a chronicler compared the officers of a Sultan to Gabriel and other angels attending on Allah.¹ Abu’l Fazl was encouraged to advance a step further. He elaborated the mystic theory of ‘The Perfect Man’ (*Insan-i-kamil*), to prove that Akbar had realized the mysteries of human life and was absorbed into the Reality like a Yogi.² An appropriate ceremonial was therefore devised for the public audience of the Mughal emperor : one man cried ‘*Allah-o-Akbar*’ (‘God is Great or *Akbar*’ implying that Akbar the emperor was an incarnation of God); and the other responded by saying ‘*Jalla-Jalalo-hu*’ (literally ‘May his glory increase’. The phrase however mingles the name of Akbar, ‘*Jalal*’).³