Akbar and His Search for Spiritual Truth

Bibliographic Data

ID11418189
AuthorsIrfan Habib (0009-0001-0140-2920, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India., corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume38
Issue1
Pages75-89
Publication date2022-02-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0257-6430 • E-ISSN: 0973-080X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/02576430221096407
OpenAlexW4229082844
LanguageEN
Citations received2

Akbar is celebrated for his policy of religious toleration, studies of which have also necessarily involved an examination of his own religious views. These led to the proposition, once dominant in scholarly discourse, that he wished to establish a religion of his own, namely Dīn-i Ilāhī or ‘Divine Faith’. This view is now widely discounted, but there still seems to be room for assembling material from various contemporary sources in order to trace the step-by-step evolution of his religious views, taking note of the influences he encountered, and then seeking to establish the final beliefs that he came to hold and promote. The present article draws on various contemporary sources, notably including Akbar’s authoritative spokesman Abū’l Faẓl and the critic but also a close observer Badāūnī, to reconstruct the story of the evolution of Akbar’s beliefs and set them out in a roughly chronological order. Accuracy is sought; definitiveness is not claimed for the result

Aesthetics · Economics · Epistemology · Faith · Linguistics · Observer (physics · Order (exchange · Political science · Proposition · Set (abstract data type · Sociology · Toleration · Computer Science · Education and Islamic Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Religious studies · Religious Studies

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