A Critical Analysis of Akbar’s Religious Policy: Din-i İlahi

Makale
Cemil Kutlutürk, Doç. Dr.
A Critical Analysis of Akbar’s Religious Policy: Din-i İlahi
International Relations and Diplomacy
Dinler Tarihi
Hinduizm
2016
c. 4, sy. 6
s s. 407-417
Akbar, religious policy, Din-i Ilahi, Hindu-Muslim Interaction, the Medieval India
Pdf
The period of Akbar‟s rule (1556-1605) has been regarded as one of the most significant and incomparable periods
in Indian history in particular regarding with Hindu Muslim interaction. Indeed, Akbar‟s success stemmed from his
religious policy that based on Sulh-i Kul (universal peace and harmony) between all his subjects regardless with
their social, ethical or religious identities. His religious policy was not a sudden event, rather emerged from in the
course of time depending on different internal and external factors. The final stage of Akbar‟s religious policy, the
Din-i Ilahi (Religion of God), was a syncretic religious movement propounded by him in 1582 A.D., was one of the
most substantial dimensions of mutual interaction and relationship between Hinduism and Islam. The primary aim
of this paper, therefore, is to examine the factors influencing Akbar‟s religious policy and to analyze critically
Akbar‟s Din-i Ilahi by dealing with its basic features and virtues which more or less shaped his attitudes towards
other religious and social groups.