Jodha Akbar God Track Pt1 | Historical Inputs

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Abhay

@history_geek

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Posted: 8 years ago

Hi all,

Recently it was shown to us that Akbar is trying to equate himself to God. On the same issue, i dug up some very interesting points and you can read them at this link. Along with that there are ideas of some future tracks, which the CV's can use in the show.

I have mentioned the role of the following :

- Shah Mansoor
- Issuing of new coins by Akbar which led to the confusion whether he was equating himself with God
- Role of Abu'l Fazl

Also mentioned an inspirational speech of Man Singh in favor of Akbar, which he gave to Mirza Hakim when he was in the war field. You may find it interesting.

Link : Click here : Jodha Akbar | Akbar trying to be God ?? + Future Tracks

God Track has 3 more posts related to the these episodes which i shall share in future. They were among the most read posts that time.

PS :
This post was the one, which I wrote last year ; re-sharing it for those who wish to read it again or for those who are new to the forum. At the time of writing this post, i was merely trying to guess what the CVs were going to show and fortunately it happened to be a correct guess. This entire track was a great effort on the part of CVs to revive the show. TRPs soared here, after the debacle of Salim Anarkali.

BTW, Please check the 4 comments below.

Edited by history_geek - 8 years ago

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Abhay

@history_geek

Rocker

+ 5

Posted: 8 years ago

As i said above, I made this post / blog / thread last year, and it was greatly received. Here is the link to the forum thread for those who wish to read it again.

INFO GOD track Jodha Akbar Promo 17 Feb 2015
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/jodha-akbar/4312687/info-god-track-jodha-akbar-promo-17-feb-15-two-new-links-updated-pg6

I am also taking the liberty of quoting some good comments from that discussion. I hope no one minds it. They are historical in nature.

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1. By RadhikaS0

Posted: 20 February 2015 at 1:45am | IP Logged

This is a great post :)

I loved it all. Esp the part where you mentioned the Rajput wives taunting Akbar. It reminded me of the following lines from the Edicts from the Mughal Harem, by S.A.I. Tirmizi, Deputy Director of Historical Archives, Government of India:

"The recipients of such madad i maash grants generally belonged to the orthodox class and as such constituted a bastion of conservatism. This class naturally came in conflict with Akbar when he began to build a new theoretical basis for his imperial sovereignty by embarking on the policy of religious tolerance and matrimonial alliances with the martial Rajputs. The Rajput consorts in the harem gained such an ascendancy on Akbar that he abstained from everything which they thought repugnant to their nature. It was probably in pursuance of this policy of religious tolerance combined with the influence of the Rajput inmates of the harem that Akbar extended the benefits of the madad i maash grants to the non-Muslim divines."

The Rajput wives had such an influence on Akbar that he gave up everything they disliked, probably like eating meat. And their influence extended to the administration also, like you wrote. Here they were able to get the benefits of land grants extended to non-Muslims. :)

I have also read that Akbar used to burn the hom or a sacred fire in compliment to his wives, the daughters of the Rajas of HInd in the female apartments and that he expected the whole court to rise up in respect in the evening as candles and lamps were lit..And that once year, he would appear in public wearing a tilak on his forehead like a Hindu and with jewelled strings tied to his wrist by Brahmans as a blessing.

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BTW, in the last post which was made about death of Akbar, a painting was included which showed Akbar in Rajput(Hindu) dress with a forehead tilak and the description matched as the one provided by Radhika, above.

Forum Thread Link:
Rise of Orthodoxy, Jesuit obituary, Ppl reaction on Akbar's death Pt3

Direct Post Link : Contemporary account of reaction of people & Aftermath of Death of Akbar | Rise of Orthodox elements | Obituary of the Christian Priests | With 14 Full Size Mughal Miniature Paintings| Death of Mughal Emperor Akbar - Last Part of a 3 part series

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Abhay

@history_geek

Rocker

+ 5

Posted: 8 years ago

2. By RadhikaS0

Posted in continuation of above comment.

Posted: 09 March 2015 at 12:49pm | IP Logged

Hi Friends,

This is from Edicts from the Mughal Harem, by S.A.I. Tirmizi, former Deputy Director of Archives, Govt of India.

Recently a comment was posted that harem inmates hardly knew each other and did not interact with each other. This book however differs on this point.

"Within the precincts of the harem the inmates appear to have lived a happy domestic life with a strong tradition of affection and love which led many credulous foreign travellers to believe in curious tales and scandals. As a matter of fact the ladies of the royal harem, according to Gulbadan Begam, sister of Humayun, used to mix freely with their male-friends and visitors. Sometimes they went out in male-garments, played polo and applied themselves to music. They were also well-versed in the use of pellet-bow and other practical arts.

Akbar organised the Mina or Fancy bazar and ordered that "for a stated time (it) be given up for the enjoyment of the Begams and women of the harem." "

This clearly shows that women in the harem were on friendly terms with each other and did not live in isolation in their own hojras.

Further, the book mentions:

"This comparitive freedom given to the consorts and princesses of the Mughal harem inculcated in them a greater sense of dignity and honour with the result that they exercised no mean influence on the court and participated in the politics of the state and exercised considerable authority as is evident from the edicts issued from time to time by Hamida Banu Begam, Maryam Zamani, Nur Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal, Nadira Begam and Jahan Ara. The power thus wielded by these ladies can best be studied in the context of the participation of the pre-Mughal Indian, Persian, Turkish and Mongol women in the politics of their times."

This book as well as many other books, including those by Gulbadan Begam and women historians, clearly show that no matter how smart Akbar was, his womenfolk did play an active role in court politics and had a lot of influence and authority.

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Abhay

@history_geek

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Posted: 8 years ago

3. By me

Posted: 20 February 2015 at 12:25pm | IP Logged

Radhika,

Thanks for sharing those^^^^ interesting details..Indeed Tirmizi has mentioned a lot of details in the text, which was a treat to read. :)

BTW,
I have already shared this info in my Post whose link i gave above.
But posting a snap as well. >>>

This talks about the serious revolt which Akbar faced during this time, and the situation in Bihar and Bengal was quite delicate, these regions almost passed into the hands of the rebels. This information is not rocket science. The following information has been sourced from the Class-12th NCERT Book of Central Board of Secondary Education which is taught in India even to the school Students..Some people here might be remembering it from the school days, hence thought of sharing here..

Akbar faced a very Delicate situation During this time. Rest you can read below.!!

I mentioned this info in my old history threads, but writing again here...Man Singh had less force compared to the army of Mirza Hakim. And, Man Singh was given the "offer" of surrendering, by Mirza Hakim...

This was Man Singh's reply to Hakim. Speaks a lot about the bond of sworn-ed loyalty which Man Singh and Akbar had.-->>

" 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. "

This^^ was recorded by the Christian missionaries who were with Man Singh during this campaign.

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Abhay

@history_geek

Rocker

+ 5

Posted: 8 years ago

4. An interesting convo :

Posted: 20 February 2015 at 4:07pm | IP Logged

Originally posted by Donjas

Abhay, I read your detailed post. It was a fascinating read. All the twists and political outmaneuvering that Akbar did during this period is just perfect for a Hindi serial, provided the CV's are capable enough to adapt it to the small screen.

I have a true story regarding Akbar and religion. As everyone knows Akbar had an interest in various religions. The Jesuits too enjoyed his patronage.

It so happened that at one time, Jesuit priests from Goa came to Akbar with a request, they had a very strong urge to convert some people.

Akbar agreed with their views and decided to provide the Jesuits with 5 Turkic soldiers for conversion. So, it happened that 5 hapless Turkic soldiers, maybe they were given financial incentive by Akbar, or maybe they were genuinely clueless. At the end of it all, 5 Turkic soldiers became fresh converts to Christianity.

I gave this story to point out how unlikely this scenario is in the modern setup. Religion had a strong hold during those times too, but Kings had greater leeway over religion, than do politicians in modern times.

Originally posted by history_geek

Donjas,
Thanks for sharing this interesting event. Really appreciated.

Akbar was so fondly associated with religious debates. The more i read about this phase of 1570's-1580's, the more complex person he appears to me, but at the same time truly a marvel..

I don't want to write but still writing something. Your last lines remind me of a text which i finished reading last year. It was supposed to be a book written by the German economist Karl Marx, who is known for his Marxist approach. He wrote the text around mid 19th century , but unfortunately that was not published and he died.

But a part of that text was adopted as a preface in another book -> Deutsch Franzosische Jahrbucher. There is a famous quote in that preface which i still remember and have used it once before on this forum . It says -> Die Religion ist das Opium des Volkes , means "Religion is the opium of the masses". The full thing says -> Religion is soul of soulless, heart of heartless, and finally it is the opium of masses.. The thing being -> for the masses(commoners) religion means a really big thing, it is a big issue, but for a ruler it may not mean that much big thing.

Just take the example you mentioned, Akbar gave that permission and was quite "free" in his outlook, but the masses might have perceived this is many other ways, as per their "interpretation".

If one reads that book , there we find some excellent narration which Marx has drawn while analyzing the German economy with Religion and contemporary Deutsch politics. Truly commendable work. ! He has compared the 3 things -> economics, politics and religion and drawn a parallel with the monarchy.

BTW, I have not watched the episode today, but reading the WU's it looks like a power-packed episode and i think the CV's are building the road leading to the big revolt. Man Singh and Mansoor seems to be on opposite sides as expected. I just wish they do not rush through this part. I am quite hopeful this time.

Originally posted by jiya.k

thanks both of you donjas n abhay sharing these interesting info about akbar n marx...

Originally posted by history_geek

Welcome Jiya.
BTW, I remember once you mentioned some thing about Aurangzeb and his "rituals". Donjas shared some interesting event regarding him in an old thread. Link:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/119202921

{
Following is Donjas's comment, quoted below, whose link is provided above. Excellent and rare piece of information.
}

Posted: 06 February 2015 at 3:52pm | IP Logged

Abhay, thank you so much. Your detailed post. leading up to the marriage is magnificent. The influence of MUZ in the politics of Akbar has never been more clearly enunciated, than by you.
I was reading the history of the Jantar Mantar by Anisha Shekhar Mukherji. I came across a passage that makes it clear what a special relationship the Mughal Empire had with Amer-

" The Mughal Emperors shared a special relationship with the Kacchawaha Rajas, themselves anointing every new king with sandalwood paste. Aurangzeb too put the sandalwood tika mark of kingship on Raja Rama Singh, Sawai Jai Singh's great grandfather with his own hand in September 1667."

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Somehow that old thread brought back great memories! The warmth in the discussion and the passion to share info and write anything and everything which any member knew / read / heard, can be seen in those comments.