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Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c17: Chapter III. The Mughal Dynasty (resumed). Akbar the Great

Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c17

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English

Chapter III. The Mughal Dynasty (resumed). Akbar the Great

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THE MUGHAL DYNASTY (*resumed*).

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WE are now approaching the reign of the monarch who is justly regarded as one of the greatest sovereigns India has ever seen. Akbar is as much noted for his statesmanship as for his encouragement of letters. He is, however, described by some writers as utterly unlettered. Noer,¹ for instance, on the authority of a Goanese writer, credits him with no literary education. The *Tūzaki-Jahāngīrī* makes the following statements on the subject:—

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¹ Noer’s *Akbar*, vol. ii, pp. 56, 243.

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“My (Jahāngīr’s) father used to hold discourse with learned men of all persuasions, particularly with the Paṇḍits and the intelligent persons of Hindustan. Though he was *illiterate*, yet from constantly conversing with learned and clever persons, his language was so polished that no one could discover from his conversation that he was entirely *uneducated*. He understood even the elegances of poetry and prose so well that it is impossible to conceive of any one more proficient.”²

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² *Tūzaki-Jahāngīrī*, by Rogers and Beveridge, p. 33; *Tūzaki-Jahāngīrī*, translated by Lowe, p. 26, Fasc. i, (*Bibl. Indica*).

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Here, the Emperor is described by his son Jahāngīr, of whom the *Tūzak* professes to be an

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autobiography, to be “entirely uneducated.” On the other hand, the *Wāqī’āti-Jahāngīrī*, which also styles itself to be an autobiography of the same royal personage, only says that though Akbar was not profoundly learned, yet his conversation with the learned might lead one to believe that he was profoundly learned in every branch of science. *It does not say that he was utterly unlettered.* The description is as follows:—

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“With these Paṇḍits my father (Akbar) was in constant habit of familiar conversation on every subject. He associated, indeed, with the learned among the Hindus of every description; and although he might not have derived any particular advantage from the attainment, he had acquired such a knowledge of the elegance of composition both in prose and verse that a person not acquainted with the circumstances of his elevated character and station might have set him down as profoundly learned in every branch of science.”¹

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¹ *Wāqī’āti-Jahāngīrī*, Price’s transl. (1829), pp. 44, 45.

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The above two quotations are typical of the two divergent views on the point, the one or the other of which may be found in several other books that profess themselves to be autobiographies of Jahāngīr, e.g. *Iqbāl-Nāmah*, *Tārīkhi-Salīm-Shāhī*, *Jahāngīr-Nāmah*, etc., as also in other historical records. The position that Akbar was unlettered cannot however be accepted for various reasons. The fact of Humāyūn’s appointment of ’Abdul Laṭīf as tutor to his son, who, however, did not arrive at the Court till after the death of the Emperor, proves

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the solicitude of the latter for his son's education, and it is not at all likely that he, and after his death, Bairām the guardian, should have left the education of the future monarch in a precarious state. Bairām, it appears, chose 'Abdul Laṭīf as Akbar's tutor later on.¹ Moreover, there is distinct record that Pīr Muḥammad Khān² and Ḥājī Muḥammad Khān³ were also his tutors. Besides, an "entirely uneducated" or "illiterate" person is not in a position to *appreciate* conversations on learned topics, enjoy abstruse controversies or take part in discussions with learned men, much less to appreciate the elegances of literary compositions. This inference is supported, at any rate, by Abul Faẓl who makes some positive remarks about Akbar's education. He says that when the Emperor was four years, four months, four days old⁴ on the 20th November, 1547, he was put to school and Maulānā A'ẓamuddīn was charged with the responsible task of educating him.⁵

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¹ Noer's *Akbar*, vol. i, p. 127.

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² *Ferishta* vol. ii, pp. 193, 201; Elphinstone, vol. ii, (ed. 1841), p. 262.

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³ *Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 194.

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⁴ Humāyūn also went through the same ceremony as noticed above.

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⁵ *Akbar-Nāmah*, vol. i, (Beveridge), ch. xliv, p. 518. The remarks of Mr. Beveridge are important in this connection, as they are directed towards the solution of this perplexing question: "The truth as far as it can be seen through the maze of Abul Faẓl's rhetoric seems to be that Akbar was an idle boy, fond of animals

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Humāyūn himself by his knowledge of astrology fixed the lucky moment; but when the hour came, Akbar concealed himself in a frolic and was nowhere to be found. A’ẓamuddīn did not remain long as tutor, and was dismissed owing to his addiction to pigeon-flying, Maulānā Bāyazīd being appointed in his place. Later on, Muni’m Khān was selected for giving him a training in the military art.¹

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¹ Noer’s *Akbar* (transl. by Annette S. Beveridge), vol. i, p. 125.

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In view of these evidences, we cannot easily accept the view that Akbar lived and died in ignorance of the alphabet. On the other hand, we find some historians describing him as well read in history, and able to compose poetry ² and recite several odes of Ḥāfiẓ.³

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He took much pleasure in Indian fables, and caused the *Stories of Mīr Ḥamzah* consisting of 360 fables to be written in a beautiful hand and embellished with appropriate pictures affixed to each

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and out-door amusements, and that he would not learn his lessons. This is corroborated by Jahāngīr’s description of him as an unlettered man, and one who in his youth was fond of the pleasures of the table. It seems probable, too, that Akbar never knew how to read and write. This seems extraordinary in the son of so learned a man as Humāyūn, but apparently the latter was not to blame for this. We are told that A’ẓamuddīn, the first teacher, was removed for his addiction to pigeon-flying. This was a taste he communicated to his pupil, if indeed the boy did not inherit it from his great-grandfather ’Umar Shaikh.”—*Akbar-Nāmah*, vol. i, (Beveridge), p. 518 n.

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2-3 Elliot iv, p. 294; and *Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 280. See Addendum.

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fable.¹ He kept up his studies throughout his life. Every day some competent person read to him books which he used to hear from the beginning to the end. He marked with dates the places where he left off, and paid the reader according to the number of pages read. This steady progress in study made him acquainted with many works on different subjects; and Abul Faẓl says that there was "hardly a work of science, of genius or of history but was read to His Majesty; and he was not tired with hearing them repeated, but always listened with great avidity."² The following works were repeatedly read by him:—

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¹ *Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 280.

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*Akhlāq-i-Nāṣirī*, *Kīmiyā-i-Sa‘ādat*, *Qābūs-Nāmah*, Works of Sharf of Munair, *Gulistān*, *Ḥadīqah* of Ḥakīm Sanā’ī, *Maṣnawī-i-Ma‘nawī*, *Jām-i-Jām*, *Bustān*, *Shāh-Nāmah*, *Maṣnawīs* of Shaikh Niẓāmī, Works of Khusrau and Maulānā Jāmī, *Dīwāns* of Khāqānī, Anwarī and several works on history.³

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2-3 For the above information, *vide* Blochmann’s *Ā’īn-i-Akbarī*, p. 103; and Gladwin, p. 85. 'Abdul Qādir, in his *Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, tells us that Naqīb Khān often used to read before the Emperor the book called *Hayāt-ul-Haiwān*. [*Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, by 'Abdul Qadir, vol. ii, p. 207, translated by W. H. Lowe (*Bibl. Indica*).]

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The royal duties being heavy and exacting, a part of the night had to be devoted to them; but the king, with his uncommon thirst for knowledge, had always the patience to devote some time to communion with philosophers, Ṣūfis, and historians, who entertained him with wise discourses. He always took delight in the society of learned men, and called meetings in which he listened to their discussions on nice points of science, on ancient and modern history, on religions and sects, —in short, "on all matters of worldly interest." It was this love of knowledge that prompted him to build the famous 'Ibādat Khāna in his newly built city of Fathpūr Sīkrī. It stood in the garden of the royal palace with its four halls, the western of which was occupied by Sayyids or descendants of the prophet, the southern by the learned ('ulamās), the northern by Shaikhs and men subject to ecstasy, and the eastern by the nobles and officers of the court, whose tastes tallied with those of one or other of the above three classes. The allotment of separate halls was to remove the ill-feeling that had arisen on one occasion in the assembly for seats and

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order of precedence. On Fridays and Sundays, as well as on holy nights, the “Ṣūfīs, doctors, preachers, lawyers, Sunnīs, Shī’as, Brāhmanas, Jains, Buddhists, Chārbāks, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and learned men of every belief”¹ were invited to the royal assembly, and each fearlessly brought forward his assertions and arguments. “Profound points of science, the curiosities of history, the wonders of nature, were ever spoken of.” Sometimes the discussions grew very hot,² and gave rise to such noise and tumult as exhausted the patience of the royal listener; so that, on one occasion, he proposed to the author of the *Tārīkhi-Badā’ūnī* the adoption of a repressive measure, which, however, was not carried into effect. Though in this meeting-room much serious discussion was done, yet sometimes the Emperor cut practical jokes, to the annoyance of a certain learned man, Maulānā ’Abdullāh Sulṭānpurī, against whom he used to set up Ḥājī Ibrāhīm and Abul Faẓl to argue. Akbar interrupted the Maulānā in the course of his altercation, and hinted to his companions to interfere with interjections and queer observations. But the discussions took a serious turn on such occasions as when *Pādri Radalf*

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¹ The accounts differ as to the days on which the meetings took place. For the quotation, see Elliot vi, p. 59. A.N., III, 365, is slightly different.

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² Specimens of the discussions are given in the Persian work *Dabistān*.

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(i.e. Rodolpho Aquaviva ¹), a missionary from Goa, who by his intelligence and learning occupied a very high place among the Christian doctors, came there to "try a fall" with the Indian savants in an intellectual wrestle. The Emperor was very liberal in his views, and always kept his mind open to any new light that any man, irrespective of his creed or nationality, might bring. This is manifested not only by the admittance of the heterogeneous assembly into the hall to take part in the debate, but also by many other acts of the Emperor. The missionaries of Europe, for instance, came to him and advanced proofs of the truth of their religious principles. The King ordered Prince Murād to learn a few lessons from the Gospel and treat it with due respect, and directed Abul Faẓl to translate it.²

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¹ *Vide* Blochmann's *Ā'īn-i-Akbarī*, vol. i, p. 167; and Murray's *Discoveries and Travels in Asia*, vol. ii.

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² Blochmann's *Ā'īn-i-Akbarī*, pp. 182, 183.

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It was in this 'Ibādat Khāna that a proposal was made one Thursday evening that the King should be recognized as the only temporal and spiritual guide. This proposal raised a storm of opposition, but a compromise was come to, by the bestowal of the title of Mujtahid (the highest authority in jurisprudence) upon the Emperor.³

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³ Gladwin, p. 559, f.n.

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In the 'Ibādat Khāna the Emperor used to

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reward those who were declared by the assembly as the most worthy by giving them handfuls of *ashrafis* and rupees. Those, however, who did not receive any remuneration on the occasion were given sums of money by handfuls on Friday mornings.

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The discussions in the ’Ibādat Khāna often lasted beyond midnight, and sometimes the morning sun peeped into the debating-hall before the rapt assembly, with the Emperor as President, was dissolved.¹

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¹ For all the above information re ’Ibādat Khāna, vide *Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī*, Elliot v, pp. 390-391; *Tārīkh-i-Badā’ūnī* (or *Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*), Elliot v, pp. 517-519 and 526-529; Abul Faẓl’s *Akbar-Nāmah*, Elliot vi, pp. 59, 60.

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Great as was the Emperor’s zeal for extending the bounds of his knowledge by participating in such learned discourses, no less was his earnestness to foster literature which feeds such knowledge and becomes a valuable asset to the country at large.

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Many translations into Persian or Hindī were made of books in Sanskrit and other languages by the Emperor’s order.

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The *Mahābhārata* was ordered to be translated into Persian in 1582 A.D. The Emperor assembled some learned Hindus and gave them directions to write an explanation of the work; and for several nights, he himself devoted his attention to explaining the meaning to Naqīb Khān. He also ordered

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'Abdul Qādir, the author of the *Tārīkhi-Badā'ūnī*, to help Naqīb in his work. In three or four months, two out of the eighteen sections of the work were translated. Mullā Sherī and Naqīb Khān then accomplished another portion, while Sulṭān Ḥājī Thāneswarī did also some other portion. Shaikh Faizī was directed to translate the rough translation into prose and verse, but he did not finish more than two sections. Ḥājī then revised Faizī’s work, but was dismissed before he finished a hundred sheets.

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This translation, which was a sort of abstract of the voluminous work, was called *Razm-Nāmah* (Book of War) ; and after being neatly engrossed, it was embellished with pictures. Abul Faẓl wrote a preface covering two sheets. The nobles were ordered to take copies.¹

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¹ Gladwin's *Ā'īni-Akbarī*, p. 85; and *Tārīkhi-Badā'ūnī*, Elliot v, pp. 537, 538.

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The translation of the *Rāmāyaṇa* into Persian was completed by 'Abdul Qādir in 1589 A.D., after a labour of four years.²

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² *Tārīkhi-Badā'ūnī*, Elliot v, p. 539.

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The *Atharva Veda*³ was translated into Persian by Ḥājī Ibrāhīm Sarhindī, the *Lilāvatī* by Faizī,

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³ 'Abdul Qādir says that the work of translation was first entrusted to a learned Brāhmaṇa convert to Muhammadanism, who came from the Deccan, and to 'Abdul Qādir himself. They failed, and then the task was imposed on Shaikh Faizī, and next on Ḥājī Ibrāhīm.—Lowe's *Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, vol. ii, p. 216.

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the *Tājak*, a treatise on astronomy, by Mukammal Khān Gujrātī, the *Wāqi’āti-Bābarī* in Turkish by Raḥīm Khān Khānān, and the *History of Kashmīr* in Sanskrit by Maulānā Shāh Muḥammad Shāhābādī.¹ The *Jāmi’ul-Rashīdī* was translated by ’Abdul Qādir. The *Majma’ul-Buldān*, a geographical work in Arabic, was rendered into Persian by several scholars such as Mullā Aḥmad T’hat’hah, Qāsim Beg, Shaikh Munawwar and ’Abdul Qādir.² The *Haribansa* was also translated into Persian, while Naṣrullah Muṣṭafā and Maulānā Ḥusiani Wā’iẓ had made a Persian rendering of the *Pañchatantra*, which was called *Kalilah-Damnah*. The translation of the last-named work was difficult, and so an easier adaptation under the title of *’Ayār-Dānish* was also made.

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¹ ’Abdul Qādir made an abridgment of the history of Kashmīr, which is said to have been translated from ‘Hindī’ (Sanskrit) by Mullā Shāh Muḥammad Shāhābādī, and was called *Rauẓahi-Ṭāhirīn*, but apparently not the *Rājatarangiṇī*, for the translation of that work is usually attributed to Maulānā Imāmuddīn. According to Professor Wilson there were frequent remodellings or translations of the same work, but among those he notices he does not mention the one by Mullā Shāh Muḥammad Shāhābādī.”—Elliot v, p. 478; *Asiatic Researches*, vol. xv, p. 2; and Blochmann’s *Ā’ini-Akbarī*, vol. i, p. 106.

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² *Tārikhi-Badā’ūnī*, Elliot v, p. 478.

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The work delineating the love of Nala and Damayantī was translated into Persian verse after the model of Layalā and Majnūn.

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While the Court was at Shīrgarḥ, otherwise

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called Qanauj, 'Abdul Qādir was given instructions by the Emperor to translate the *Sinhāsana Battīsī* into prose and verse. A learned Brāhmaṇa was appointed to interpret the work to Qādir. When the translation was finished it was called *Khirad-Afzā-Nāmah*, a name which contains the date of its composition. It was then placed in the royal library.¹ The *Shāh-Nāmah* was turned into prose, and the *Ḥayātul-Ḥaiwān* was also translated.² Abul Faẓl, we have noticed before, was charged with the task of translating the Gospel.

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A part of the Astronomical Tables of Ulugh Beg which we have noticed in Bābar's reign was translated under the supervision of Amīr Fatḥullāh Shīrāzī, as also the Sanskrit works,—the *Kishn Jōshī*, the *Gangādhar*, and the *Mahes-Mahānanda* under Abul Faẓl.³ Bābar's *Memoirs* was translated from Turkish into Persian by 'Abdul-Raḥīm Khān Khānān in 1590 A.D.⁴

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³ Blochmann's *Ā'īni-Akbarī*, p. 104.

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⁴ Elliot iv, p. 218.

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The *Tārikhi-Alfi*,⁵ or the history of 1000 years,

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1-2 *Tārikhi-Badā'ūnī*, Elliot v, pp. 483, 484 and 513.

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⁵ "The literary circle which followed the Imperial Court appears to have been peculiarly active during its sojourn at Lahore. It was here that the voluminous history of Muhammadanism from the earliest period up to the thousandth year of the Hijri era compiled by the order of the Emperor was finished and revised ; and it was here that the translation of the *Mahābhārata* and the *Rājatarangiṇī* into Persian was undertaken," p. 10, *A Brief Account of the History and Antiquities of Lahore*, 1873 (author not mentioned)—[in the Calcutta Imperial Library].

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was begun by Naqīb Khān and others; Maulānā Aḥmad T’hat’hahwī had a great share in the compilation. Ja’far Beg and Āṣaf Khān finished it.¹

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¹ For the above information, *vide* Gladwin's *Ā’īn-i-Akbarī*, pp. 85, 86.

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The descendants of Tīmūr seem to have had a great partiality for writing their memoirs, *e.g.* Bābar and Jahāngīr. But those who did not write their own biographies provided for a record of their lives and actions to be written. This was done in the case of Akbar. The Wāqi’navīs used to make a *ta’līqah* of the daily actions of the Emperor; for instance, what he ate or drank, what books were read to him, and so forth. The diary had to be approved by Akbar and several other officers before it could be taken as an authentic record fit for preservation. This office of Wāqi’navīs also existed in former reigns, but, according to Abul Faẓl, it was not turned to any useful purpose.²

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² Gladwin, pp. 177, 178.

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The Emperor took much delight in the collection of books in his library, a feeling natural to all bibliophiles. Some of the books in the royal library were kept in the harem and the rest in the outer apartments. He made several provisions for the good management of his library, and its books were classed under sciences and histories.³

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³ *Ibid.*, pp. 84, 85; Mullā Pīr Muḥammad was at one time the superintendent of the library (*Tārīkh-i-Akbarī*, MS. in ASB, leaf 42).

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The Emperor acquired a library belonging to I'timād Khān Gujrātī during the conquest of Gujrāt. It contained many fine books which were placed in the royal library, but were subsequently distributed by the Emperor among learned and pious men. 'Abdul Qādir was presented with a copy of the *Anwarul-Mishkāt*.¹

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¹ *Tārīkhī-Badā'ūnī*, Elliot v, p. 519; *Tārīkhī-Akbarī*, MS. in ASB, leaf 58.

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When Faizī² died, he left a library containing 4600 volumes, some of which were exquisitely copied with extravagant care and expense. Most of them were autographs of their respective authors or were at least copied by their contemporaries. They were all removed to the King's Library, and catalogued and numbered in three different sections. The first section included poetry, medicine, astrology and music; the second, philology, philosophy, Ṣūfīism, astronomy and geometry; and the third, commentaries, traditions, theology and law. There were 101 copies of the poem *Nal-Daman* in Faizī's collection.³

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² It is gratifying to learn that the houses at Fathpūr Sikrī of both Faizī and Abul Fazl, which stand very near each other, are now being used as a Zilla School, and have not been appropriated to some other purpose (*vide* Smith's *Fathpūr Sikrī*, pt. iii, p. 29).

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³ *Tārīkhī-Badā'ūnī*, Elliot v, p. 548. Though we learn that there was an Imperial Library, which grew richer in its collection by additions made by the Emperor, we are quite in the dark as to the number of volumes in it, and hence unable to compare it with the libraries established at such centres of Muslim learning as

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In the Agra Fort there is a room which is pointed out as the place where a library was located. Mr. Havell thus describes its situation :—

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Passing through these [i.e. the small rooms known as Akbar's apartments adjoining the Samman Burj] we enter a long room known as the *Library*, in which a not very successful attempt was made some years ago to restore the painted decoration."¹

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¹ E. B. Havell's *Handbook to Agra and the Taj, Sikandra, Fathpūr-Sīkrī and the Neighbourhood*, p. 66.

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While dwelling on libraries, we should not omit to notice how painting was laid under contribution to beautify and illustrate the books in the royal library. Persian books in prose and verse were richly illuminated by eminent artists. The *Qiṣṣaḥ Ḥamzah* in twelve volumes was profusely illustrated by so many as 1400 paintings; and similarly, among many others, the following works were embellished, viz. : *Changīz-Nāmah*, *Ẓafar-Nāmah*, *Iqbāl-Nāmah*, *Razm-Nāmah*² (i.e. the *Mahābhārata*), *Rāmāyaṇa*, *Nala-Damayantī*, *Kalīlah-Damnah* (*Pañchatantra*) and the *’Ayār-Dānish* which was an easy Persian version of the *Pañchatantra*.³ Ingenious artists were employed to embellish the

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² The famous manuscript of *Razm-Nāmah* is said to have cost Akbar about £40,000—a sum which in our days would be much greater. It is now at Jaipūr (see Martin's *Miniature Painting and Painters of India, Persia, and Turkey*, vol. i, p. 127).

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³ Gladwin's *Ā'īn-i-Akbarī*, p. 87.

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Cordova, Cairo, Merv, Bukhārā, Baghdād, etc. For an account of these libraries see Justice Khudā Bakhsh Khān's *Islāmic Libraries*.

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margins of books, and much labour was expended upon the bindings.¹

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¹ Blochmann’s *Ā’ini-Akbarī*, pp. 96 ff.; Gladwin, p. 89. For a list of painters in Akbar’s Court, and their paintings still preserved, see Martin’s *Miniature Painting, etc.*, vol. i, pp. 127–131.

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Akbar’s taste for the fine arts was no less than his love of learning. From the very commencement of his reign, he encouraged painting, and in order that a number of painters might by emulation among themselves be more and more proficient in their art, he established a *painting gallery* in which they might assemble and ply their art. Every week, the *Dāroghās* brought to His Majesty the performance of every artist, and the Emperor rewarded him with bonuses and increase of salary in proportion to his merit. The most eminent painters attached to the royal Court were:—

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Mīr Sayyid ’Alī Tabrīzī, Khwājah ’Abdul Ṣamad Shīrīnqalam Shīrāzī, Daswant, the son of a *pālki*-bearer, Basāwan, Kesū, Lāl, Mukund, Mushkīn, Farrukh the Qalmāq, Mādhū, Jagan, Maheś,

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Khemkaran, Tārā, Sāṇwlah, Haribaṅs and Rām.

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The portraits of all the principal officers of the Court were made by the Court painters, and were bound up into a thick volume.¹

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¹ For the above information, *vide* Blochmann, pp. 107, 108.

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The sister art of music obtained also a great encouragement from the Emperor and reached a high excellence in his reign. There were numerous musicians at his Court, Hindus, Irānīs, Turānīs, Kāshmīrīs, both men and women. These were divided into seven classes, one for each day in the week.² The world-renowned singer, Miyān Tānsen, a Hindu convert to Islām, whose tomb at Gwalior has become a place of pilgrimage to the Indian musicians, was a Court singer of Akbar. There flourished at the time, the great singer Hari Dās the master of Tānsen, and Rām Dās the second Tānsen, who hailed from Lucknow and received, it is said, on one occasion, a present of a lac of rupees from Khān Khānān.³ Besides Tānsen and Rām Dās there were at Akbar’s Court the following other singers⁴ :—

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² *Ibid.*, p. 612.

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³ *Tārikh-i-Badā’ūnī*, Elliot v, p. 482 ; and N. A. Willard’s *Treatise on Hindu Music*, p. 214.

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⁴ Willard, pp. 213 ff., and Blochmann’s *Ā’īni-Akbarī*, pp. 612, 613.

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Subhān Khān, Srigyān Khān, } of Gwalior, Miyān Chānd,

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Bichitr Khān, brother of Subhān Khān, Muḥammad Khān Ḍhārī, Dā'ūd Ḍhārī, Sarud Khān, } of Gwalior, Miyān Lāl,

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Tāntarang Khān, son of Tānsen, Bilās, another son of Tānsen mentioned by the *Bādshāh-Nāmah*,¹ Mullā Isḥāq Ḍhārī, Nānak Jarjū of Gwalior, Sūr Dās, son of Rām Dās, Chānd Khān of Gwalior, Rangsen of Agra, Raḥmatullah, brother of Mullā Isḥāq, and Pīrzādah.

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¹ *Bādshāh-Nāmah*, by 'Abdul Ḥāmid Lāhaurī, vol. ii, p. 5.

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The following were the noted players on different musical instruments:—

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Bīr Manḍal Khān, of Gwalior, player on the *sarmaṇḍal*;

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Shihāb Khān and Purbīn Khān, performers on the *bīn*;

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Ustā Dost, of Mashhad, player on the flute (*nai*);

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Shaikh Dāwan Ḍhārī, performer on the *karaṇā*;

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Ustā Yūsuf of Hirāt, Sulṭān Ḥāshim of Mashhad, Ustā Muḥammad Amīn and Ustā Muḥammad Ḥusain } players on the *tambūrah*;

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Mīr Sayyid 'Alī of Mashhad and Bahrām Qulī of Hirāt, } players on the *ghichak*;

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Tāsh Beg, of Qipchāq, player on the *qūbūz*; Qāsim, who invented an instrument intermediate between *qūbūz* and *rubāb*; Ustā Shāh Muḥammad, performer on the *Surnā*, and Mīr 'Abdullāh, on the *qānūn*.

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At the time of Akbar, the art of music reached its noon-day splendour. The vocal music with its various *rāgs* and *rāgiṇīs*, many of which have now been forgotten for want of cultivation, received a good deal of attention, while instrumental music with its various musical instruments was equally cared for.¹

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¹ *Vide* Willard, pp. 101 ff.

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In the domain of music, it is very perceptible how the Hindus and the Muhammadans were borrowing from one another, each community enriching the other with the precious store it possessed. This process of intermixture was not new in the time of Akbar, but dated from a long time back. The history of Indian music, after the advent of the Muhammadans, unfolds a chapter of co-operation and intercourse between the two communities socially and politically. *Khiyāl*, for instance, which is associated with the name of

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Sultān Ḥusain Sharqī, of Jaunpūr, as its inventor, has become an important limb of Hindu music, while *Dhrupad* has engrafted itself on Muhammadan music;¹ the state of Indian music in former times, no less than its present eclectic condition, testifies a good deal to this intermixture taking place through centuries.

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¹ *Vide* Willard, pp. 101 ff.

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Music was at this time cultivated in different parts of the country. We have already seen how Bāz Bahādur, of Mālwa, devoted himself to its improvement and encouragement. In Kashmīr, according to Abul Faẓl, there were now many delightful singers.²

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² Gladwin, p. 411.

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It was not merely the Emperor or the chiefs of the provinces who turned their attention to this fine art, but the nobles also entertained themselves and their families by this means of diversion.³

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³ Gladwin, p. 735.

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Caligraphy as a branch of fine art was long cultivated by the Muhammadan rulers, and at the time of Akbar the following modes of writing were prevalent⁴:—

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⁴ Blochmann’s *Ā’īn-i-Akbarī*, p. 99.

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| Suls, | |
| Tauqī, | |
| Muḥaqqaq, | attributed to Ibni-Muqlah, |
| Naskh, | 920 A.D. |
| Raiḥān, | |
| Riqā’, and | |
| Ghubār, | |

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Some, however, look upon Yākūt Musta'ṣamī as the inventor of the Naskh character. Ta'līq is another mode of writing, and attributed to Tājī Salmānī. Ashraf Khān, Mīr Munshī to Emperor Akbar, was very proficient in this sort of handwriting. The well-known Nasta'līq character which is all curve and said to have been composed from the Naskh and Ta'līq by Khwājah Mīr 'Alī Tabrīzī in the time of Tīmūr, had existed, according to Abul Faẓl, before the time of that monarch, and so Mīr 'Alī could not be the composer of the character.

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Akbar gave great encouragement to good penmanship, particularly to the Nasta'līq hand. Before the invention of printing, clear and neat handwriting was a necessity; and this was the principal reason why so much stress was laid upon this art. The most excellent penmen attached to Akbar's Court were— Muḥammad Ḥusain Kashmīrī Zarrīnqalam, Mullā Mīr 'Alī, and his son, Maulānā Bāqir, Muḥammad Amīn Mashhadī, Mīr Ḥusainī Kulankī, Maulānā 'Abdulḥayy, Maulānā Daurī, Maulānā 'Abdul-Raḥīm, Mīr 'Abdullāh, Niẓāmī Qazwīnī, 'Alī Chaman Kashmīrī, Nūrullah Qāsim Arslān.¹

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¹ Blochmann, p. 103.

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Emperor Akbar paid very great attention to the education of his sons and grandsons, and appointed learned men of very high reputation to superintend their studies. Quṭbuddīn Khān and ’Abdul-Raḥīm Mīrzā were Salīm’s tutors; Faiẓī and Sharīf Khān, Murād’s; and Sayyid Khān Chāghtā’ī, Dāniyāl’s; Murād received instruction in Christian doctrine, and read the New Testament with some of the Jesuit Fathers. The Emperor placed one of his grandsons under the tuition of Abul Faẓl and a Brāhmaṇa.¹

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¹ Noer’s *Akbar*, vol. ii, p. 247. Faiẓī was once appointed Dāniyāl’s tutor [*vide Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, vol. ii, (Lowe), p. 297]. “Akbar committed the education of his favourite son Murād to Father Monserrat to be instructed in the sciences and religion of Europe. One day the young prince began his lesson in the Emperor’s presence with these words, ‘In the name of Almighty God.’ ‘Add, my son,’ said Akbar, ‘and of Jesus Christ, the true Prophet.’”—*Hough’s Christianity in India*, p. 270.

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Akbar’s reign marks a new epoch for the system introduced for imparting education in schools and colleges. The innovations and improvements that were introduced were the outcome of the liberal heart of the Emperor, which made its influence felt in so many other directions. We see in Akbar, perhaps for the first time in Muhammadan history, a Muslim monarch sincerely eager to further the education of the Hindus and the Muhammadans alike. We also notice, for the first time, the Hindus and the Muhammadans studying in the same schools

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and colleges. Besides this reform, the monarch introduced some other changes in the modes of study, in the curriculum, etc., the good results of which made Abul Faẓl pride himself on the fact that “all civilized nations have schools for the education of youths; but Hindustan is particularly famous for its seminaries.”¹

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¹ Gladwin, pp. 192, 193.

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The boys were first taught the Persian alphabet along with accents and marks of punctuation. As soon as this was mastered, which did not take more than two days, they were taught the combinations of two letters. After a week, they had to read short lines of prose or verse containing religious or moral sentiment, in which those combinations frequently occurred. They must strive to read these themselves with occasional assistance from the tutor. Then, for a few days, the master proceeded with teaching a new hemistich, and in a very short time, the boys could read with fluency. The teacher gave the young students four exercises daily, viz. the alphabet, the combinations, a new hemistich or distich, and repetition of what they had read before. This method proved very successful, so that what usually took them years was now accomplished in a few months. The sciences were taught in the following order:— morality, arithmetic, accounts, agriculture, geometry, longimetry, astronomy, geomancy, economics, the

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art of government, physic, logic, natural philosophy, abstract mathematics, divinity and history. The Hindus read the following books on their subjects of learning, viz.: *Vyākaraṇa*, *Vedānta* and *Patañjali*, every one being educated according to his particular views of life and his own circumstances. These regulations, says Abul Faẓl, gave a new form to the schools, and made the colleges lights and ornaments of the empire.¹

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¹ Blochmann’s *Ā’īni-Akbarī*, pp. 278, 279; Gladwin, pp. 192, 193.

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The Emperor was not satisfied with these healthy educational changes alone, but multiplied the number of educational institutions in his empire by "continually giving employment to a number of hands in erecting fortifications and palaces, *colleges* and *masjids*." ²

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² Gladwin, p. 146.

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A big college was founded by Akbar at Fatḥpūr Sīkrī, "on the hill, the like of which few travellers can name." ³ Lālā Silchānd perhaps means this madrasah when he says, "Akbar on his return from Ajmere made Fatḥpūr his capital, and built many buildings there, including madrasah, *khānqah*, etc." ⁴ Besides this college, it appears that

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³ *Ā’īni-Akbarī*, vol. ii, (Jarrett), p. 180.

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⁴ *Tafrīhul-’Imārāt*, by Lālā Silchānd, MS. in ASB, leaf 243. The Persian MS. ’*Imārātul-Akbar*, by Chahtar Mal, which gives a detailed account of the edifices built by Akbar, and which has been so highly spoken of by Mr. Beale in *Proc. A.S.B.* (1875), pp. 117,

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there were several other madrasahs in the city, founded at the instance of Akbar.¹

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¹ *Vide Khulāṣatul-Tawārīkh*, as quoted in J. Sarkar's *Topography of the Mughal Empire*, p. 24, corresponding to *Khulāṣatul-Tawārīkh*, MS. in ASB, leaf 25.

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In Agra also there were several madrasahs, where several professors brought from Shīrāz, the famous centre of Muslim learning, used to teach.² Sīlchānd records that a very big madrasah existed even up to his time in Agra. Akbar engaged a philosopher of Shīrāz for this institution.³

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² *Tafriḥul-'Imārāt*, MS. in ASB, leaves 39, 41.

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³ *Ibid.*, leaf 41.

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It should be remarked that the colleges in Delhi were not all residential. The learned scholar Shaikh 'Abdul Ḥaqq, who at twenty years of age mastered most of the customary branches of knowledge and learnt the whole of the Qur'ān by heart,⁴ informs us that he used to go twice a day to a college in Delhi, morning and evening, during the heat of one season and the cold of another, returning to his own house for his meal only for a short time. His lodging was two miles away from the college, and

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⁴ *Bādshāh-Nāmah* of 'Abdul Ḥāmid Lāhaurī, Elliot vi, p. 176.

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118, very probably mentions the Sīkrī College. I regret I could not use this rare MS., as the one belonging to ASB procured by Prof. Blochmann is missing.

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In Gujrāt there was a madrasah built by Ṣādiq Khān. Shaikh Wajīhuddīn Aḥmad used to teach here, and when he died he was buried within this college (1589 A.D.).—*Mir'āti-Aḥmadī*, vol. ii, p. 45.

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so he had to travel eight miles a day—indicating indeed a great ardour for learning on his part.¹

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¹ *Akhbārul-Akhyār*, by 'Abdul Ḥaqq, Elliot vi, p. 176, corresponding to its lithographed ed., p. 357.

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While speaking of the schools and colleges of these days, we should not lose sight of the educational work done by distinguished learned men, teaching pupils in their houses. They supplemented, as already pointed out, the educational work done by the literary institutions, and provided a field for post-collegiate studies. It was thus that 'Abdul Qādir, the author of the *Tārīkhi-Badā'ūnī* completed his education at Agra, where he went with that purpose, leaving his house at Basāwar; and there he lived and studied in the house of his preceptor, Mīhr 'Alī Beg.² This system of imparting education has been in vogue from remote times, specially for those branches of arts and sciences for which schools or colleges generally made no provision, *e.g.* music, painting and other arts, the various industries, studies in the higher branches of a subject, and so forth.

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² *Tārīkhi-Badā'ūnī*, Elliot v, 493.

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The Emperor Akbar, like Fīrūz Shāh, was always ready to encourage art and reward the ingenuity of those who produced mechanical works of curious contrivance. The ingenious works which he is said to have rewarded were such as would

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have done credit even to an artisan of the twentieth century.¹

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¹ “One of the wonders of art which was exhibited this year, 1003 A.H. (1594 A.D.), was the work of Sayyid Ḥusain Shīrāzī. He used to stand with a box in his hand, and when any one gave him a rupee, he threw it into the box, and it kept on rolling until it fell to the bottom. Upon this a parrot, which was chained to it, began to speak and two fowls began also to cackle at one another. Then a small window opened, at which a panther put out its head and let a small shell fall from its mouth into a dish which was placed on a lion’s head, and the shell then came out of the lion’s mouth. A short time elapsed when another window opened and another lion came forth, took the shell into its mouth and retired, and the windows again closed. Two elephants then appeared with perfect trunks, and there were also two figures of men who sounded drums. A rope then thrust itself forward and again retreated of its own accord. Two other men then advanced and made obeisance. Shortly after, another window opened and a puppet came forth with an ode of Ḥāfiẓ in its hand, and when the ode was taken away from the puppet, it retired and the window was closed. In short, whenever a piece of money was placed in the hands of Ḥusain Shīrāzī, all these marvels were exhibited. The King first gave a gold mohar with his own hand and witnessed the sight. He then ordered his attendants to give a rupee each. The odes which were presented were given by the King to Naqīb Khān, by whom they were read out. The exhibition lasted for several nights.”—*Zubdatul-Tawārikh*, by Shaikh Nūrul Ḥaqq, Elliot vi, p. 192.

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In Akbar’s reign, as also during the reigns of his predecessors, the promotion of education found its supporters, not in the Emperor alone, but also in private individuals belonging to the nobility or the middle class. The Madrasah, about which I shall speak presently, was built by Māham Anaga (the wet-nurse of Emperor Akbar, and the mother

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of Adham-Khān) in the year 969 A.H. (1561 A.D.).¹

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¹ C. Stephen’s *Archaeology of Delhi*, pp. 199 ff.; also *Āṣārul-Ṣanādīd*, by Sayyid Aḥmad, 3rd chap., p. 54. A.N., I, 134 *n.* takes Māham as dry-nurse.

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It is certainly remarkable and creditable that she should think of promoting the cause of education in this way. The masjid attached to this Madrasah was very fine, as the following description will show. It was built of

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“rubble and plaster, with the ornamented parts painted by the use of red dressed stone and granite; the gate, now partly ruined, must have once been very fine. The masjid inside was profusely ornamented with coloured plaster and glazed tiles, though now most of it has been stripped. The façade of the masjid and gateway was also ornamented with coloured medallions and carved stone flowers; the colours used were blue, yellow, red, purple, white, green, black, grey. It has one central dome on a low neck and very peculiar pinnacle, greatly resembling that of Qil’ah Konā Masjid. The walls of the masjid are plumb, but the towers slope, and it has projecting eaves in front as in Moti-ki-Masjid. A peculiarity of this masjid was its cloisters.”²

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² Beglar, quoted in C. Stephen’s *Archaeology of Delhi*, pp. 199, 200.

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Picturesque as the Madrasah looked with its ornamented mosque, it is an irony of fate that its name should ever afterwards be associated with an incident that marred its stainless beauty. In the eighth year of the reign of Akbar, an attempt was made on the life of the Emperor Akbar from the roof of the college, which the author of the *Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī*³ describes as follows:—

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³ *Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī*, MS. in ASB, pp. 260 ff.

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[Figure: Madrasah of Māham Anaga (Akbar’s Wet-Nurse). [From Hearn’s *Seven Cities of Delhi* (Thacker, Spink & Co.).]]

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the Athenians, who were already in the city, were not aware of the plot, but when they saw the Plataeans fighting, they did not wish to attack them, as they were friends, but when they saw that they were being attacked and killed in the city, they were at a loss what to do. They decided to run to the citadel, and some of them escaped there, while others were killed in the streets as they were caught by the Thebans. The women and slaves were screaming and wailing in the houses, and the Thebans, who were in the city, were throwing stones at them, as the confusion was great. In the meantime, the rest of the Thebans, who were outside, hearing the shouting, rushed into the city to help their comrades.

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The Plataeans, seeing that they were being attacked by the Thebans, and that the Thebans were already in the city, were in great fear. They opened the gates of the city, and let the Athenians, who were in the citadel, come out, and they also let the rest of the Plataeans, who were in the houses, come out. They then attacked the Thebans, and as they were fighting in the dark, and in the narrow streets, the Thebans were at a disadvantage. The Plataeans, who knew the city well, were able to attack them from the houses, and from the roofs, and they were able to kill many of them. The Thebans, seeing that they were being defeated, tried to escape, but the gates were closed, and they were trapped. Some of them climbed over the walls, and others were killed as they tried to escape.

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The Plataeans, having defeated the Thebans, sent a messenger to Athens to tell them what had happened, and to ask for help. The Athenians, hearing the news, sent a force to Plataea, and they also sent a message to the Thebans, telling them that if they did not release the prisoners, they would kill the Thebans who were in their hands. The Thebans, fearing for their men, agreed to release the prisoners, and the Plataeans, having received their men, released the Thebans. This was the beginning of the war between the Athenians and the Peloponnesians.

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“When Sharafuddīn Ḥusain fled from Court to Nagor, he had a slave, by name Kukah Fūlād, one of the slaves of his father, who at all times secretly did everything in his power to injure the Emperor. This wretched man came into the royal camp and was constantly on the watch for an opportunity. When the Emperor returned from his hunting excursion, and passing through the bazar of Delhi came near the Madrasah of Māham Anaga, this bloodthirsty fellow shot an arrow at His Majesty, but by the mercy of God, who watched over the Emperor’s safety, it did not inflict a severe wound, but merely grazed the skin. The attendants of the Emperor instantly fell upon the traitor, and with strokes of sword and dagger, sent him to hell.”¹

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¹ C. Stephen’s *Archaeology of Delhi*, p. 200; *Akbar-Nāmah*, vol. ii, (Beveridge), p. 312. Khāfī Khān, in his *Muntakhabul-Lubāb* (*Bibl. Indica*), Pt. i, p. 164, mentions the incident, but not the madrasah.

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This reminds one of what had happened to the Emperor Humāyūn a few years before. Like Akbar, he narrowly escaped being shot while reposing in a garden near Fatḥpūr Sīkrī during a brief halt.²

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² See Jauhar’s *Tazkiratul-Wāqi’āt*, transl. by Stewart, p. 24.

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The Madrasah is now in ruins, but the dilapidated cloisters are still to be seen here and there. It stands almost in front of the western gate of Purāṇa Qil’ah, and near the supposed site of the western gate of the Delhi of Shīr Shāh.³

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³ C. Stephen’s *Archaeology of Delhi*, p. 199. The inscription on the mosque is to the following effect:—“In the time of Jalāluddin Muḥammad, who is Great Akbar among the just kings, Māham Begam, the root of purity, laid the foundation of this house for good men: but the building of this gracious house was helped by Shahābuddīn Aḥmad Khān Bāzil; what blessings there are in this auspicious building that its date is found in the words, *Khairul-Manāzil*, i.e. ‘Blessed among Houses’!” See also S. Aḥmad.

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Besides this college of Māham Anaga, we notice another college of one Khwājah Mu’īn. Here Mīrzā Muflis Samarqandī taught for three years from 1571 A.D.¹

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¹ *Muntakhab-Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī* (bound up in the same volume with *Muntakhabul-Mir’āt-ul-’Ālam*), MS. in Boh. Coll., p. 20. The work only mentions that the *madrasah* was in Hindustan.

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Akbar used to encourage the learned by giving them rewards and stipends. When he conquered Kashmīr, he showed some learned men of Kashmīr this liberality.² His fame spread far and wide throughout his dominions for his literary encouragement in various ways, for which he was revered not only by the Muhammadans, but also by men of other persuasions. To quote an instance: Madhavāchāryya, a Bengali poet of Triveṇī, contemporary with the Emperor, speaks of him in his *Chaṇḍī-Maṅgal* in terms of very high regard.³

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² *Tārīkhi-Kashmīr* (or *Gauhar-i-’Ālam*), by Muḥammad Aslam, 5th Ṭabaqah.

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³ Mr. Dinesh Ch. Sen’s *Hist. of Bengali Literature*, pp. 335, 336 (new ed.).

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The *Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī*⁴ gives a list of a number of learned men and poets, some of whom received encouragement from the Emperor. Here are the names of a few of them:—

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⁴ *Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī*, MS. in ASB, pp. 769-799. In Blochmann’s *Ā’īni-Akbarī*, pp. 537 ff., a list is given of names of the literati of this time, culled from the *Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī*, *Mir’ātul-’Ālam* and *Badā’ūnī*.

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(1) Amīr Mīr Taqi Sharīfī,
(2) Mullā Sayyid Samarqandī,
(3) Shaikh Abul Faẓl,
(4) Mullā 'Alāuddīn Hindī,
(5) Mullā Ṣādiq Halwā'ī,
(6) Mīrzā Muflis,
(7) Ḥāfiẓ Ṭāshqandī,
(8) Mullā 'Abdullāh Sulṭānpūrī,
(9) Shaikh 'Abdul Nabī Dihlawī,
(10) Qāẓī Jalāluddīn Hindī, etc., etc.

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The list contains ninety-five names altogether. The *Ṭabaqāt* has a list of names of about ninety-three poets of the time.

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'Abdul Raḥīm, the son of Bairām Khān, was a great patron of letters. He could write volubly Persian, Turkish, Arabic and Hindī. He was a poet too, and as such, known as Raḥīm. He presented to Akbar a Persian translation of the *Memoirs of Bābar* in 1590.¹ Bairām was educated at Balkh, a centre of Persian scholarship.² Before his arrival in India, he had opened tutorial relations with Maulānā Zainuddīn Maḥmūd Kāmāngarh, finishing *Yūsuf and Zulaikhā*, and other books under his tuition.³

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¹ Noer's *Akbar*, vol. ii, p. 89.

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² *Ibid.*, vol. i, p. 126.

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³ *Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, vol. i, (Ranking), p. 588.

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Mīrzā Īraj, son of 'Abdul-Raḥīm Khān Khānān

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was also well educated. Maulānā Khairuddīn Rūmī, a pupil of Mīrzā Jān Shīrāzī,¹ was once his tutor. He was also under another preceptor who had taught for twenty-three years in a madrasah at Aḥmadābād.²

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¹ Ma'āṣiri-Raḥīmī, MS. in ASB, leaf 467.

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² Ibid., leaf 487.

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'Abdul-Raḥīm had a library to which many learned men used to come for study and self-improvement.³ We are left in the dark as to how big his library was. Pictures of old libraries of Muhammadan gentlemen of India or of any other place are very rare. I append hereto a representation of an ancient library at Ḥulwān, in Persia, a country very near to Raḥīm's father's birthplace, Badakshan. It satisfies our curiosity as to several points regarding the internal arrangement of the library.⁴

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³ Ibid., leaf 480.

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⁴ 'Abdul Bāqī proposes, in the Table of Contents of his Ma'āṣiri-Raḥīmī (MS. in ASB), to speak of 'Abdul-Raḥīm Khān Khānān's Madrasahs in the third book, but, much to my disappointment, he omits the subject altogether.

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Many people used to come to Khān Khānān to become his pupils.⁵ The Ma'āṣiri-Raḥīmī mentions the names of about ninety-five learned men who were favoured with his patronage in various ways.⁶

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⁵ Ma'āṣiri-Raḥīmī, MS. in ASB, leaf 480.

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⁶ Ibid., leaves 488 ff.

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We have now seen from the variety of evidence and information adduced above that Akbar occupied [From Martin’s *Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India and Turkey* (Bernard Quaritch).]

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a unique position in the Indian literary world of his times. His reign is distinguished from that of other Muhammadan sovereigns who preceded or succeeded him by the broad principles of toleration and catholicity which governed every branch of his administration, political, religious, or literary. His complete identification with the interests of his subject peoples, irrespective of their faith or creed, was very well demonstrated in the entirely new attitude which he took up towards the learning and culture of the Hindus—an attitude of which the first early signs were seen in Fīrūz Shāh Tughlaq, who in some instances replaced 'Alāuddīn's vandalism by the care he bestowed on such monuments of ancient civilization as the Library at Jawālāmukhī and the Asoka pillars transported from their original locations.¹ Akbar's, however, was a systematic and deliberate policy of protection of Hindu learning, which showed itself, as we have already seen, in the generous provisions he made for the education of Hindu youths in their own culture in the madrasahs, along with the Muhammadan boys; in the discussions, which he initiated in the 'Ibādat Khāna with the orthodox Hindu learned men; in the translations of Hindu classics and scriptures exhibiting his profound appreciation of the value of Hindu culture as well as its zeal for its propagation; and

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¹ See chap. on Fīrūz Tughlaq, *supra*.

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finally, in the State patronage bestowed on distinguished Hindus for their proficiency in such fine arts as music and painting. We have also seen how Akbar was qualified to exercise his potent and beneficent influence on the literary world by his intellectual tastes (with which he must be credited to the rejection of the theory of his illiteracy) which led him to associate largely with learned men, some of whom, like Abul Faẓl, Faiẓī, 'Abdul Qādir and others, were even his best friends, thus establishing the difficult concord between wealth and learning. To the same intellectual tastes we also owe the debates and discussions in the 'Ibādat Khāna, which was Akbar's special innovation, and where representatives of the different religions of the land—Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians and Muhamadans—met on a common platform, inaugurating a new era of religious toleration, and quickening the intellectual life of the country. Among other notable features of Akbar's reign should also be remembered the lavish patronage of learned men by stipends and rewards, the foundation of educational institutions and the creation of educational endowments, and, lastly, the abundance of literary men who were drawn to the capital by these educational facilities as also by the favourable imperial influence, so that the seats of Government became also centres of culture and enlightenment.

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