1 602
2 Ddrd Shikoh .
3 This document made Akbar supreme head of the faith and was soon
4 roliowed by the attempt of H&ji Ibrahim of Sirhind, who is said’ to
5 have translated the Atharva Veda,1 to adduce proof s that the emperor was
6 the Sahi b-i-Zamdn, or ' Man of the Age', a title frequently given to the
7 lm&m Mahdi, who was to reconcile the 72 sects of Isldm, and in 983
8 H. this movement received some support from the learned.* A mono
9 Moslem doctors who are mentioned as having influenced Akbar's conduct
10 is Shaikh Taj-ud-Dm of Delhi, son of Shaikh Zakana of Ajodhan
11 and a disciple of Shaikh Zamrin of Panipat. IVj-ad-Dfn was styled
12 laj-ul-Armn, or crown of the Sdfis, and the emperor listened whole
13 nights to his f Sdfic trifles * according to AUBudauni.5
14 Muhammad Akrain was appointed Q&zi of the imperial court in
15 1698 and died in 1705; 4
16 But tolerant as Akbar was of religious convictions he persecuted
17 doubtless in self-defence and in the interests of toleration itself, many
18 learned men and lawyers. The ulantd as a class appear to have come
19 in for very severe treatment and many Shaikhs and faqirs were sent to
20 Qaudahir and elsewhere to be exchanged for horses. The sect of the
21 Il&hfg met with similar treatment.6
22 The story of Dari Shikoh may now be read in J. N. ■Sarkar's
23 History of Aurangsteh 6 and his place in literature in Pandit Sheo
24 i^arain's paper.7 In the Sat in at -«/- Anita he calls himself a HanaR and
25 his poetical name was Qadiri, but it is not certain that he belonged to
26 that or any other particular sect or order. His views were exceeding¬
27 ly broad and liberal and though he seems to have been initiated into
28 the Q&diria order by Muhammad Sh&b Tisan-ullah in 104*9 H., he may
29 have been influenced by political motives to adopt a vague Suflism
30 which would win him support from the Hindus without alienating the
31 more moderate Muhammadans. However this may be, many folktales
32 recall his Hindu leanings, and his dialogues with B£ba U\ show that
33 1 Muntahh*b»ut-Twdrikh, pp. 189 and 105,
34 * lb., p. 190. The Munfakhab-ut-Tauodrtkh, Lowe, II, p.295 (Persian text, pp. 286-7)
35 ascribes this incident to 990 U. and adds that Khwaja Maulana of Shiraz, 1 f he heretic
36 of .Jalrdan*, brought a pamphlet by somo of the fhartfs of Mecca, which quoted a
37 tradition that the earth would exist for 7000 year#, and as that period was now over the
38 promised Mahdi would soon t appear. ‘ Many others . also produced such pamphlets
39 and this made the emperor the more inclined to claim the dignity of a prophet,
40 perhaps I should say, the dignity of something else (of God)*.
41 > Ib„ p, 181. Shaikh Zaman was in Sufiisin and pantheism second only to Shaikh-
42 ibn*Arabi. He was the author of one commentary on the L&wii h and of another com¬
43 prehensive one on the Nuzhat-ul~arv>dh.
44 * Sarkar, op. cit., p. 142. The kiud of question that was referred to the tmfH* is illus¬
45 trated by an incident of AurangxcVs reign. Some Hindus were taken prisoner at the siege
46 of atara and the oni'peror directed the Court QAzi Muhammad Akram to investigate the
47 question with the help of the muftis* He reported that under ti c canou 'aw they could
48 be released if they accepted Islam— but that the Muslims taken should be imprisoned for
49 8 years j ib., p. 141. But he soon reviewed his decision in the light of the JFatfaa-i-
50 Alamgtri and the prisoners were impartially executed. The function of mufti was to
51 expound the law and assist the Qaziby supplying him with faUdtoas or decisions : p. 142.
52 * Muntalchab*ut-Tav>dr(kh, pp, 273 & 191.
53 * Two vols., Calcutta, 1912.
54 f Pun job Historical Society1* Journal, 1912, p. 21.