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INTRODUCTION.
them. Impelled by a fanatical zeal, other religions and their preachers were run down and condemned by muslims under the impression that by doing so their own religion would be exalted. Wherever racial, cultural, and religious conflicts take place, prejudices and condemnations are bound to occur. Human nature has been the same at all times and in all climes,
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By false aspersions and reports conveyed to Jahangir, he was easily led to pass unwarranted oppressive orders. Prof. Beniprasad says:-"He passed an order of persecution against the Shwetambar Jains of Gujarat because their leader Man Singh had, on the outbreak of Khusrau's death, prophesied the downfall of Jahangir's empire within two years and because their houses were reputed, though wrongly, to be hotbeds of sedition and immorality. Sometime after the order was withdrawn." History of Jahangir pp. 443444. In the foot-note there he adds: "The Persian chroniclers do not mention the withdrawal of the order against the Jains, but the Jain works of the period are clear on the point." The present work is one of them.
"Jehangir was a great drinker, but was also ashamed of his vice, and cruelly punished those, who talked of his orgies or of the part they took in them" (Rawlinson).
Neither religion nor piety had struck deep roots in Jahangir's heart; yet he was a sincere believer in God, and always respected those saints-be they Muslim or Hindu or Jain-who had dedicated their lives to the service of God. He was also interested in intellectual discussions with learned men like Jadroop, Bhanucandra and others. Barring a few exceptions here and there, his religious policy was that of toleration. Like his revered father, he also prohibited animal-slaughter on certain fixed days in a year, though the number of days was not as large as the number which Akbar had fixed. The extract quoted below, from his Memoirs (p. 9) will make this amply clear.
"In accordance with the regulations of my revered father I ordered that each year from the 18th of Rabiul-awwal, which is my birth-day, for a number of days, corres ponding to the years of my life, they should not slaughter animals (for food). Two days, in each week were also forbidden, one of them Thursday, the day of my accession, and the other Sunday, the day of my father's birth. He (Akbar) held this day in great esteem on this account, and because it was dedicated to the Sun, and also because it was the day on which the Creation began. Therefore it was one of the days on which there was no killing in his dominions".
We shall now deal with the Jaina teachers at the court of Jahangir.
1-2 Bhanucandra and Siddhicandra.
About them something has been said before on p. 9 and their account is related in the Summary of this work and more facts will follow thereafter.
