The religion that Mughals inherited was Islam but during their rule we see much

diversity. In most time of their rule we see religious tolerance but that was more of their
political policy. Akbar introduced his religion in which he was considered as divine. Due
to this Muslim scholars were very much against him. Mughals were also inspired from
Christians. We can see that in their paintings depicting virgin mother and son. Some
Buildings decorations show Christian influence especially in Jahangir’s time.

Babar:

Babar was the first mughal emperor. He was the descendent of Chengiz khan. His rule
was a mixture of different cultural influences like Persian, Mongol and Indian culture. He
allowed the Hindus to build their temples and worship their Gods. Babar destroyed the
hindu temple and made the famous Babri Masjid. The issue still remains unsolved.

Humayun:

Humayun was the son of Babar. He was a drug addict and due to which he lost most of
the land conquered by his father. He later on regained a few back. He didn’t realy
attended any problems regarding religion. That doesn’t mean there were no problems but
because he didn’t get time or that due to other political stuff going on.

Akbar:

Akbar became the emperor at the age of 13. He believed that all religions should be
tolerant and should be treated at equality basis. He freed the Hindus from the tax that they
used to pay to perform their religious activities. Akbar made a new religion, a
combination of all the existing religions in his empire, naming it Din-e- Elahi. This
religion of Akbar was based on an ethical system in which lust, sensuality and pride were
considered as sins. Not many people realy followed Din-e-Elahi except his elite class.

Akbar prayed in various places including churches and also used divine names of Islam
as battle cries.

The Akbarnama mentions that Akbar visited a priest in Goa. He asked for translation of
Christian books in Persian. But Akbar was never converted into a Christian.

He sent his aunt Gulbadan and wife salima along with other royal ladies for pilgrimage to
Mecca. When they returned they brought back the relic of qadam-e-rasool (PBUH) that
Akbar went to pay homage too.

He made an Ibadat Khana in Fatehpur Sikri where he used to hold religious debates and
discussions.

Akbar’s life in term of religion has always been a subject of debate since we can see so
much diversity regarding his religious views.
Jehangir and Shah Jahan:

JEHANGIR was the next Mughal emperor and he readopted Islam as the state religion.
His court included all religious scholars.

The mother of Shah Jahan was hindu. He was a sunni muslim and used to wear muslim
clothes. He did not allow hindus to wear muslim dresses. He used to pray regularly and
fast during the holy month of Ramzan. He destroyed many Hindu temples and also
demolished many churches.

Aurangzeb:

Aurangzeb was a very observant and religious Muslim emperor. He imposed the shria
law throughout his empire. Music was disliked. In 1696, he banned the performance of
shia muharam rites and processions. He built Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. Hindus were
no longer allowed to live under their religious laws. Many of the Hindu temples were
destroyed. The extremisms of Aurangzeb were one of the major reasons of the decline of
Mughal Empire.

Bahadur Shah:

He was the last Mughal Empire. He considered himself as a saint and used to have many
pupils. He was a liberal Sufi. He was also a poet. His takaluss was Zafar.

Mystical Poetry:

During the reign of mughals mystical poetry flourished. Shahjahan himself was a very
good mystical poet. Qadi Qadan and Madho lal Husain are very famous poets. The
commander of Akbar’s army was also a very good mystical poet. A lady mystic, Bubu
Rasti is considered to be one of the experts on classical Persian mystical poetry. Tuhfa-al-
mursalaila’n-nabi was written during mughal era. Shah abdul latif and Sachal Sarmast are
also famous for mystic songs. Sultan Baho cant be ignored who is mainly known for his
Siharfi, a ‘Golden Alphabet’ in which each verse starts with one letter of alphabet and
ends with exclamation hu. Bulhe Shah is another great poet.

Conclusion:

Most of the mughals were very tolerant towards religion. They let people practice their
respective religion freely. We can see diversity throughout Mughal era. Many Mughals
twisted religion because of their political policies. But overall the role of religion cant be
neglected and has played a very important role throughout Mughal rule.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/modern/akbar_vs.html
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MUGHAL/AKBAR.HTM
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070810114727AARk4vI
http://www.india9.com/i9show/Din-i-Ilahi-21384.htm
http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDD907/
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1596069
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/mughalempire_1.shtml
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MUGHAL/AKBAR.HTM
http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Mughal
http://hubpages.com/hub/India-Under-the-Mughals
http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Mughal_Empire
Ziad, Zeenut. (Editor). ‘The Magnificent Mughals’. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2002.
HISTORY AND PHILOSPHY OF ART AND
ARCHITECTURE

MUGHALS AND RELIGION

SUBMITTED BY:
KHOLA ARIF
BARF-08-34
CONTENTS:

• INTRODUCTION
• BABAR
• HUMAYUN
• AKBAR
• JAHANGIR AND SHAHJAHAN
• AURANGZAIB
• BAHADUR SHAH
• MYSTICAL POETRY
• CONCLUSION