Jodha Akbar Historical Update | Akbar trying to be God ? + Future Tracks

Friends,

This is a short update about a track of Zee TV's show Jodha Akbar. 
I am terming it -> "The God track". 

It is shown that the flatterers of Akbar are supporting him and making him believe that if he cannot be the God himself than he can be the next most powerful person after God / Allah / Khuda / Bhagwan / Ishwar.

In this "God Track", it is being shown that -->
i. "Akbar tries to equate himself with God",  or i must say
ii. "he is trying to become the most powerful person after God", or 
iii. "he is trying to become the God present on Earth".

Watch Episode 442 - February 16 2015, between : 6:47 & 11:00 . The exact dialogues used in the episodes can be heard at this link. 
Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt5BLo61jgM 

In the end of this talk Akbar says ->  "Jald se Jald wo sikke banwaye jaye taaki aawam ko ehsaas ho saake ki Jab unki fariyaad wo EK Khuda na sun sake to dusra to sunega hi".

A New Promo has been released. It can be watched here.
Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJV2SnUo4Fk&feature=youtu.be

New Promo Picture - Credit(Bhavna)

Now, naturally lot of questions arise while watching this track. Viewers are eager to know whether such an event happened in reality or not. Along with this, Zee TV has released a New Promo.

In regard of the same issue, here is a short historical update. I always love to write a LONG and Detailed writeup, but for time being do suffice with this, as i am short on time to write a long one. I have also given some future possible historical tracks, and i really hope the makers show all of them, focus on Jodha Akbar, as there are lot of events which can be shown.

Note: 
This post is not meant to hurt anyone's religious sentiments. Now, I am only writing what History has told us. You will understand this post in a better manner, if you remember the years/timeline i am mentioning in this post. 

First, I am listing some core events from history. Before you read, let me tell you that this period is THE MOST controversial period in the life of Akbar. You will understand why i said so, as you read more below. Try to think after reading these incidents. If the Creatives of Jodha Akbar have touched this then it is a brave decision, but they should be careful in the execution. The track is inspired from history , of course with drama in play.!


I. Akbar issued a new Imperial Seal & new coins in 1575-76

According to Al-Badouni -> " Akbar asked how people would like it, if he ordered the words "Allah-u-Akbar" to be cut on the Imperial seal, and also on the the dies of his coins."

Many people supported Akbar, but some objected. Among them was a cleric Ibrahim who objected and said that the phrase could not be used. The issue is that the Emperor's name was also Akbar. Akbar means Great.

Hence, "Allah-u-Akbar" gave 2 meanings which offended some people. It "could" mean these two things ->
i. God is great, or 
ii. Akbar is God <--(This means Jalal-ud-din Muhammed Akbar was God.!!)

Hence, Ibrahim requested Akbar to substitute the verse "Allah-u-Akbar", and suggested the use of a verse from the Holy Qur'an -> "La Zikr Allah-u Akbar", which means "To commemorate God is the greatest" or "Speaking of God as Almighty".

Hence, this verse, if used, could easily remove the ambiguity. But Akbar became displeased at this suggestion & strongly resented this proposal of Ibrahim. 

Akbar's rejected his proposal saying -> "It was surely sufficient, that no man who felt his weakness would claim Divinity; he merely looked to the sound of the words, and he had never thought that a thing could be carried to such an extreme."

Before Akbar thought of using this new verse on the coins, the verse which was used on coins was -> "Huw-al-Ghani", which means the "one who is Independent" or "the one who is supreme/perfect".

Also, before this, the verse used on the Imperial Seal, was -> "Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim", which means "In the name of Allah - The most gracious the most merciful". Now, this was also replaced by "Allah-u-Akbar".

Several scholars have criticized and doubted Akbar's intentions, as he rejected the well thought out advice of Ibrahim. Had Akbar agreed to the suggestion of Ibrahim, there would have been no doubts over his intentions.



II. Renewal and Re-imposition of Jazia(Tax) on the Non-Muslims in 1575

Many of you have been asking me if this is the beginning of "Jallad(Devil) phase of Akbar" ? I want to tell one incident which happened around the same time. 

This was also the time when Akbar reversed one of his earlier landmark decision. You all remember that Akbar had abolished the tax - Jazia in 1564. But he brought back this tax in 1575.

An order of Akbar given in this regard has been noted in Al-Badouni, Vol-2, Pg-210. I could not find much details. Akbar ordered his religious ministers to assess and decide how much tax should be levied on Hindu population, and farmans were dispatched in all the directions of the Empire announcing this new decision. But, this regulation disappeared soon. Akbar withdrew Jazia again in 1579-80.

Some scholars are also of the view that this tax was re-imposed in order to pressurize the Rana of Mewar, Maharana Pratap, to make him surrender to the Imperial Mughal authority. Remember that, this period was one of great tension between Akbar and Maharana Pratap. The Battle of Haldighati also took place in 1576. So, the makers can show this event also, as they are NOT following the timeline.


III. Role of Abu'l Fazl

This track has shown Abu'l Fazl supporting the idea of Akbar being equated to God. Well, in one sense, this is true. It was Abu'l Fazl and his father Sheikh Mubarak who gave Akbar the idea of being the "spiritual and temporal guide of his people" on this Earth. The concept of Akbar being "Zil-e-Illahi" was supported by Abu'l Fazl very strongly. In the Din-e-Illahi Akbar is termed "Zil-e-Illahi", meaning "Shadow of God". 

Akbar used to conduct religious debates in Fatehpur Sikri since 1575-76. Abu'l Fazl was the head of one of the sections of the debating parties. He at last persuaded the emperor that his subjects ought to look upon the king not only as the temporal, but also as the "only spiritual guide." {Ain-i-Akbari, I, xiii}


IV. Role of Mansoor

Along with Abu'l Fazl, another person is shown to be supporting Akbar a lot, in this decision in the present track. He is Mansoor. I have not got any information about this person's involvement in this kind of act. But, he was a major finance minister of Akbar. He was caught on charges of treason around 1580, as he was found to be in secret correspondence with Mirza Hakim and hand in glove with his conspiracy to overthrow Akbar from Hindustan. His secret letters exchanged with Mirza Hakim were discovered by Raja Man Singh, who exposed him to Akbar. Such was Akbar's belief on Mansoor that he did not act against him(or perhaps did not believe the charges to be true) at first instance, but when his letters were discovered for 3rd time. Then he was executed. He was hanged till death on a tree, and this job was assigned by Akbar, to Abu'l Fazl. !! Though, Akbar punished him, but he often felt that he lost an able distinguished official in Mansoor.!



Future Tracks which the makers can show in the serial.


i. Since, the makers have brought this track of "coins" and also brought Mansoor in picture, i doubt they will show the "heated religious" debates which took place in Fatehpur Sikri since 1575. Acc. to Badayuni, such was the intensity of debates that, when "tongue" was not sufficient, the debating parties often used their "hands/limbs" to settle their point. !!! :-P

Akbar's religious debates in the Fatehpur Sikri since 1575 had began to turn the orthodox Ulemas against him. Badayuni, himself an orthodox, was so much frustrated with Birbal's views that he abused Birbal in his book. For Raja Bhagwan Das also he uses quite bitter words. Badayuni has infact "celebrated and rejoiced" their deaths in his book. 

Badayuni calls Abu'l Fazl as a "cursed infidel" for he supported Akbar and infact encouraged him to be the spiritual and temporal head of his people, and was liberal in his outlook. Badayuni has also written about the influence of Rajput wives of Akbar, for which a separate post will be made.


ii. During this time only, in 1577-78, an orthodox Sadr(religious minister) of Akbar, executed an influential Brahmin of Mathura on charges of blasphemy. Initially, he was brought to the court, but his crime could not be established. Hence, Akbar ordered him to be kept in custody, while the investigation was on. Death sentence could only be awarded by Akbar. But, this minister was so powerful that he got this Brahmin executed without orders of Akbar. 

Badayuni has not named any Rajput wife of Akbar, but only that Akbar's Rajput wives had put their complete force in the defense of that Brahmin, and they were a major force due to whom this Brahmin was not punished, despite the strong points put forward by many Sadrs of Akbar during the trial. And, when that Brahmin was wrongly executed, Akbar was "taunted" by his Rajput wives for his inability to "control" his ministers who were becoming very powerful and acted against his orders. {Persian Text, Tarikh-i-Badouni, Vol-3, Pg-129}


iii. Shortly afterwards in 1578 Akbar discovered that the Ulemas , Sadrs / Mullas were mis-using their powers, and discovered large scale corruption in the allocation of charitable lands. He confiscated the lands and along with that, took strict measures which offended the entire Islamic theologians, and they aligned against Akbar. Akbar was going to face a major revolt.! The measures taken by Akbar are too large to be covered in this post. Already, these people were offended by Akbar, due to the debates in Fatehpur Sikri, now they became even more bitter towards Akbar.


iv. In 1579, an event happened which was going to prove to be a final nail in the coffin. A full-fledged revolt was going to take place. What happened was that Akbar issued a document which was prepared by the father of Abu'l Fazl. This document gave Akbar enormous powers to decide the cases if there was any dispute among the religious theologians. This was seen by the theologians, as an attempt to put into practice the earlier suggestion to Akbar, of becoming the "spiritual and temporal head of his subjects". 

It was drafted in such a manner that the Emperor must be accepted as the supreme arbiter in all causes, whether ecclesiastical or civil, when ever there was difference of opinion among the interpreters of Shariat. It will suffice to say that Akbar was solemnly recognized as being superior in his capacity of Imam-i-Adil* to any other interpreter (mujtahid) of Muslim law - Shariat. Some theologians signed the draft willingly some were forced to do so. 

* - Imam-i-Adil means -> "One who is Just Like God".

This alarmed the Ulemas, because they thought Akbar was taking wide powers and concentrating them in his own hands, and reducing the hold of the Ulemas. Earlier also, Akbar had confiscated some lands and made new regulations, after discovering corruption by Ulemas, which were not liked by the latter.

This fear led to a full fledged war against Akbar, starting 1579-80, for economic, political & religious reasons. The Sadrs of Bengal and Bihar declared Jehad(Holy War) against Akbar and issued Fatwas against him, appealing the masses to safeguard 'Islam' from Akbar.! Mirza Hakim was invited to attack Hindustan from the North West Frontier, and from Bihar and Bengal's side Afghans gave GREAT trouble to the Mughals.! Raja Man Singh was sent to handle Mirza Hakim and Raja ToderMal was sent to Bengal. But it took as long as 1585 to completely silence the rebels.

Man Singh was given an offer to surrender himself before him, by Mirza Hakim, who had superior forces. This is what Man Singh replied to Mirza Hakim ->

" I will not break my promise to your brother Jalaluddin, who has kept this fort under my charge. If you want to try your fortune, move forth to the storm ; as I am ready to stop you. If you have faith in your greater forces, I am confident of the valour of my blood and my men, who will die thousand times sooner than surrender. If you proceed and capture the fort, I won't care for my life. I only care to be faithful to my word to my Shahenshah. "


Conclusion:

I am not giving my view on these events which happened from 1575 to 1580, as they can not be covered in a single post. I made this post only to tell you all what Akbar did and what were the reactions to those events.

Another thing, which is worth noticing is that, the Creatives/Writers of Jodha Akbar have taken a sort of back-leap because all these events which you are reading are from mid 1570's onwards, while the show Jodha Akbar is running around mid 1580's ; because wedding of Salim and Man Bai happened in 1585 and Aram Bano was born in 1584. 

Perhaps, it has become clear that nothing can save this show except tracks which focus on life of Jodha and Akbar, not their children or grandchildren. :-P

Since the show is not following the events chronologically, it is not a big deal to worry about the time line. At least the makers have decided to show these events. For once, it looks like the show is trying to be about Jodha and Akbar once more.

So, this was the history part of the current track which i could share with you based on my readings, and which i think should proceed in this manner. Let's see how is all this shown in the show. I have shared some ideas for the future tracks also, and will share more, in coming days, as and when time permits.

Article Category : Jodha Akbar and Mughals(Akbar).