Akbar and His Search for Spiritual Truth

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.