Mughal Administration c12.s5: § 5. Religious titles of the Emperor.
Mughal Administration c12.s5
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§ 5. Religious titles of the Emperor.
c12.s5.1
The tradition of the Emperor being the spiritual guide of the people and of his initiating personal disciples, continued in Aurangzib's reign, though that Emperor attracted men by his reputation for strict orthodoxy, ascetic rigour of life and power of working miracles, for which he was called *Alamgir*, *zinda pir* or 'Alamgir the living saint.' In 1690, when the Emperor was encamped at Badri on the bank of the Krishna, Salabat Khan the *Bir-i-tuzuk* presented to him in the court of justice a man, who said, "I have come from the far-off land of Bengal, wishing to be your Majesty's disciple. I hope that you will favour me by granting my desire." Aurangzib smiled a sarcastic smile and gave the Khan about Rs. 100 in cash and some bits of gold and silver to be presented to the man, saying, "Tell him that the favour he is really expecting from me is *this*!" The man flung the money away and threw himself into the river. He was rescued by the Court attendants.
c12.s5.2
The Emperor ordered him to be taken to a famous Muslim scholar of Sarhind, with a request to admit him as a disciple. (*Masir-i-Alamgiri*, 333-334.)
c12.s5.3
As a token of the religious veneration paid to the Emperors, they continued throughout the Mughal period to be addressed by their sons and subjects with epithets characteristic of prophets, such as *Qibla wa qaba*, i.e., the central point to which the faithful must turn in prayer, like the Black Temple at Mecca or Solomon’s Temple at Jerusalem, the *Qutb* or Pole-star of the faith, and *Pir wa murshid-i-alam-wa alamian* or *du-jahan* or *din wa dunia*, i.e., the spiritual guide and preceptor of the world and its inmates, or of this world and the next.
c12.s5.4
In imitation of Akbar, his contemporary, the Bijapuri Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II, took the title of *Jagat-guru*. He is popularly said to have inclined to the Hindu faith and practices, lived on milk and even worshipped the Hindu god Narsoba in a small temple on the western edge of the inner ditch of the citadel of his capital. His Muslim historian has taken pains to rebut the charge that he apostatized from Islam (*Busatin-us-Salatin*, 259-260, 264), but admits that in popular speech he was called *Jagat-guru*. [Also Bombay Gazetteer, xxiii, 636.]
c12.s5.5
The Mughal Emperor, as we have seen, claimed to be *Jagat-guru* or world’s Supreme Religious Head. But this Pope was married, and it would have been inconsistent if his principal wife did not partake of his spiritual attributes. Thus we find that Jahangir’s wife, a Jodhpur princess and the mother of Shah Jahan, was styled the *Jagat Gosaini*, or female Pope of the World! (*Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri*, 5.)
c12.s5.6
There are many historical parallels to this aspect of the Mughal monarchy. The Abbasid Khalifs of Baghdad rose to the throne on the crest of a religious movement in favour of the family of Ali and they claimed the spiritual homage of the Muslim world by reason of their descent from the prophet's family as completely as the political allegiance of their subjects.
c12.s5.7
So, too, the Safavi dynasty of Persia at first created an influence and a strong following by posing as religious leaders, and then easily seized the throne of that country. The Sikh *gurus* began as religious guides pure and simple, and ended by becoming warriors and rulers of men. Even now they are designated as the 'ten Padishahs' by their votaries.