Fatehpur Sikri - A Search For The Truth Part 5

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The siege of Chitor provides another incident involving women and Akbar. After the fall of the king of Chitor, the honour of the Rajput families were protected in which women, young girls and boys were sacrificed in fire so that, they could escape the hellish experience of Akbar’s harem. The emperor’s troops scoured through the city and found that, two women, the queen’s sister and the fiancée of the Chitor king were unharmed as they had been shielded by a beam which had fallen over them. The women were instantly taken from Chitor to the Mughal Emperor’s harem. 

The Portuguese chronicles as well as Abu fazl’s records indicate that, the emperor allowed himself ample liberty when it came to wives and concubines. It is recorded by many independent witnesses that, when the Jesuit priest Aquaviva remonstrated the emperor for having a large harem, the emperor excused himself and distributed his wives and concubines amongst his nobles. The nobles were given the liberty to choose the women they required. Akbar did this in order to guile Aquaviva into believing that Akbar was ready to embrace Christianity while, his real intention was to learn information about the Portuguese and their ports so that, he could destroy them.

The above incidents show that, Akbar had no regard for women. To him they were like exotic animals locked up in his harem to serve him. It is hard to imagine that such a man would have been sensitive enough to build his wife a palace to satisfy her believes.  Moreover, the record state that his Hindu wife converted to Islam and was called as Miriam Ul zamani. The chronicles do not mention much about her. The only queen who was mentioned to have been favoured by the emperor was Salima Sultana Begum the former wife of Bairam Khan. It is hence, highly improbable that, the largest of the harem complexes would have been allocated to one Hindu princess while the smaller buildings were the residents of Akbar’s other female relatives, wives and concubines.

Akbar carefully monitored and controlled the women in his harem. He devised a system of internal administration and the organization . The women were divided into sections, each under a female commandant. A strict eye was kept on the expenditure. Eunuchs were employed to guard the harem.

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Fatehpur Sikri - A Search For The Truth Part 4

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We once again return to the fort city to continue with our examination of the ancient buildings. As we wander around Sikri, we come across the majestic palace which is referred to as the palace of Queen Jodha. Legend has romanticized the relationship between Akbar and his wife Jodha. The emperor is said to have built this palace for his beloved wife Jodha. This fact seems to contradict with the nature of Akbar. All the chronicles written about Akbar, always mention about his immense harem where he is said to have collected thousands of women.  He was a heavy opium user and his lust for women knew no limits. Fazl notes in his chronicles that the women selected to accompany Akbar on his journey were always transported in gilded cages as if they were exotic creatures on display.

We examined the buildings part of the harem. The largest of these is popularly called as the palace of Jodha Bai the Hindu wife of Akbar. The sunlight danced across the red sandstone walls. The light reflected by the few turquoise bricks on the roof, transported the palace to a set from a fairytale. The emperor is said to have built this palace for his Rajput queen. The walls are bedecked with many Hindu motif characteristic of Rajput palaces. The relationship between Akbar and his Hindu queen is legendary and akin to the story of Romeo and Juliet in India. As we walk through the corridors and courtyards which interconnect the huge harem complex that housed thousands of the emperor's wives and concubines, we wonder if a man who collected a large number of women could have loved any one of them exclusively. 

 
The personal chroniclers of Akbar speak freely about the emperor's lust for women. His biography is full of scandalous incidents with the fair sex. We are told by Abu Fazl that, the emperor spent his early years "behind the veil". The period when he ruled from within the harem and allowed his wet nurse Maham Anaga to make important decisions on his behalf was termed by historians as the time of the "petticoat government". Then we are told about the period when Akbar persuaded the wealthy sheiks living in Delhi to divorce their wives so that Akbar could take these women into his harem. This scheme resulted in an assassination attempt on Akbar's life in January of 1564 after which, the emperor was more cautious with such schemes though it didn't stop him from murdering his mentor Bairam Khan in order to make his wife, Salima Sultan Begam as his queen. She turned out to be the most favoured queen on Akbar's harem and bore him prince Murad in June of 1570. It is therefore incredulous that, the largest of the buildings should have been given to Jodha Bai who receives very few mention in Akbar’s biography and not to Salima Sultan Begum. 

Fazl narrates another incident bringing out the emperor's lust for women. The attack on Malwa in the year 1560 was carried out under the supreme command of Adam Khan the son of Maham Anaga. Khan after a successful war against the Rajput kingdom of Malwa returned with hordes of treasure and captured women. He sent the treasures to the emperor but, retained the women for himself. When news of this treachery reached Akbar's ears, he rushed forth on April 27, 1561 from Agra to intercede the caravan of Khan. The surprised khan managed to make the emperor accept his apology and returned all the women except two exceptional beauties. Khan's mother came to know that, her son had secreted two women for himself. She was afraid for her son's life and had the women beheaded and their bodies scattered in the wilderness. The fear of Maham Anaga was not without cause for, one year Akbar killed Khan by repeatedly throwing him down from a tall rampart till his skull was crushed.

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Fatehpur Sikri - A Search For The Truth Part 3

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The Jesuit priests have chronicled the duplicity of Akbar. At the time of the Jesuit mission, they note that, Akbar wrote welcoming letters to the mission while he was secretly engaged in the capture of the ports held by the Portuguese. We learn from the writings of the missionary Xavier that, Akbar has disassociated himself from Islam and that, he considers himself to be a great prophet. He posed frequently as a miracle worker by offering to cure the sick by giving them the water washed off his feet. These remarks about Akbar, help size up his religious sentiments. He was neither interested in Hinduism nor Islam and nor was he interested in Christianity but, he strived to create his own religion which would enable his subjects to perceive him in a divine light thus, appeasing his ego. He called this religion the ‘din-i-lahi” which many historians have misconstrued as Akbar’s efforts to unify all religions in order to promote peace. His intentions were far from noble. His research into the comparative religious studies, enabled him to understand the role played by Islam and Christianity in the spread of imperialism. He dreamed of extending his power, beyond his territories through a brand new religion of which he himself was the divine prophet. Fazl narrates that,Akbar worked to make himself the  founder and head of a new religion, by combining various elements, taken partly from the Quran, partly from the scriptures of the Brahmans, and to a certain extent from the Gospel of Christ.

Fazl confirms that, Akbar prohibited the use of the name of Muhammad in public prayers after the creation of his new religion. He expected the citizens to enroll in the new faith by sacrificing to him their property, life, honour and their religion. (Ref: Akbar The Great Mogol By Vincent Smith). The ritual of initiating the newcomer into this new faith is well documented by Fazl. The initiate places his head on the emperor’s feet while the emperor accepts the initiate by raising him to his feet. The new recruit is then handed a likeness of the emperor to be worn on his turban to remind him that, the emperor is the supreme. People who protested against the new faith were sold as slaves in exchange for horses.  The whole scheme we are told was the outcome of vanity and a monstrous display of despotism. “The Divine Faith was a monument of Akbar's folly, not of his wisdom. His actions throughout his reign exhibited many illustrations of both qualities.” (Ref: Akbar The Great Mogol By Vincent Smith).

Fazl states that from 1579 to 1585, new mosques were not built and old ones were leveled. In this statement, we find another clue. If old mosques were leveled, why wasn’t the jama mosque in Fatehpore Sikri levelled? Was it because, the original builders hadn’t intended for this building to be used as a mosque? The Emperor stayed in Sikri till 1585 while the rules about demolishing the mosques were imposed in 1579 and yet the building now knows as the Jama mosque has survived. We can only surmise that, in Akbar knew that the, original builders hadn’t built it as a mosque. 

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