________________
72
Mulla Shah Mahammad Shahabadi.
8.
9. Sufi Ahammad.
10. Sadarjahan Mufti.
11-12. Two sons of Sadarjahan Mufti.
13. Mir Sharif Amli.
14. Sultan Khwaja Sadar.
15. Mirza Jani Hakem Thatha.
16. Naki Shostari.
17. Shaikh Jada Gosla Benarsi. 18. Birbal.
Havell, in his "History of the Aryan rule in India ", says that those who had joined this new faith of Akbar could be divided into four main classes: (1) Those who were ready to sacrifice all their worldly enjoyments for the sake of the Emperor. (2) Those who were ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Emperor. (3) Those who were ready to sacrifice all their glory and respect for the sake of the Emperor. (4) Those who literally accepted all the religious thoughts of the Emperor. These last, though few in number, were such as believed Akbar to be the Khalifa of God.
For the spread and acceptance of this belief Akbar had never used his authority. He even tolerated those who professed and expressed ideas contrary to his own. As a result, at least in his life-time, Akbar achieved almost mythical greatness. Many simple-hearted Muslims and Hindus consecrated many of their actions to him and took vows in his name. There are many stories about this belief of the people in the divinity of Akbar.
Poet Rishabhadas has given many such illustrations. We shall give one or two here.
Once, on the Navroz day, there was a fair. Akbar was moving in the fair, and he saw a woman selling some clothes. He asked her, "Why do you sell away these? Have you no issue?" The woman replied, "Sire, nothing is unknown to you. And Akbar took some water, chanted some incantations over it and gave it to her, saying, "Drink this. Be religious, and observe nonviolence, and take only vegetarian food. If you do this you will
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
"
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
