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Šramana, Vol. 58, No. 1 January-March 2007
THE INFLUENCE OF JAINISM ON AKBAR, THE MUGHAL EMPEROR
Nirmala Gupta*
Akbar, the great Mughal ruler, was born in Amarkot of Sindh. He was a mixture of three distinct stains of foreign blood, the Turk, the Mongol and the Persian, who changed the course of history. A great man, of great age, who believed in the sanctity of all the religions. He was a liberal and a tolerant king and the originator of Indo-Muslim culture, which reached to it's zenith in his regime. He believed in the theory of "No worship of God is equal to the service of Mankind." Akbar, with his deep interest in comparative religion, was naturally anxious to know the principles and doctrines of Jainism. For many years he felt the insufficiency of Islam for being a national religion of India with it's vast Hindu population. Struggling through the conflicting opinions that he received from the leaders of various faiths, whom be summoned to his Ibādat Khānā at Sikri, Akbar reached to the conclusion that every creed had something to teach and that the spiritual doctrine is one that is based on rationalism. His sensitive and inquisitive nature, his great legacy, Indian circumstances and his matrimonial alliances with the Hindu-princess, had great effect in shaping his religions and secular policies. Moreover, for this purpose, he made a clear and careful examination of all the doctrines, Hindu, Jaina, Zoroastrian, Christianity and Islam. He had a firm belief that all the religious of the world teach something new and lead to some goal. He had acquired good knowledge by listening the religious discourses in the religious assembly. He showed equal favour and * Reader in History, M.M.V., B.H.U., Varanasi.
