Ibadat Khana

The Ibādat Khāna ("House of Worship") was a meeting house built in 1575CE by the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) at his palace in Fatehpur Sikri to gather religious leaders of many faiths in discussion.

Akbar built the Ibādat Khāna originally as a debating house open only to Sunnis, but following a series of petty squabbles which turned ugly, Akbar encouraged Hindus, Roman Catholics and even atheists to participate. Religious leaders and philosophers from around this diverse empire, as well as those passing through, were invited to Akbar's Thursday evening discussions.

by the late 1580s CE, Akbar began to reconcile the differences of all religions by creating a new faith called the Din-i-Ilahi ("Faith of the Divine"), which incorporated both 'pantheistic' versions of Islamic Sufism (most notably the Ibn Arabi's doctrine of 'Wahdat al Wajood' or Unity of existence) and 'bhakti' or devotional cults of Hinduism. Even some elements of Christianity (like crosses), Zoroastrianism (fire ceremonies) and Jainism were amalgamated in the new religion. Akbar was greatly influenced by the teachings of Jain Acharyas Hir Vijay Suri and Jin Chandra Suri and gave up non-vegetarian food by their influence. He declared "Amari" or non-killing of animals on the holy days of Jains like Paryushan and Mahavir Jayanti. He rolled back Jizya Tax from Jain Pilgrim places like Palitana.

This faith, however, was not for the masses. In fact, the only "converts" to this new religion were the upper nobility of Akbar's court. Historians have so far been able to identify only 18 members of this new religion.

The exact site of the Ibadat Khana within the palace complex is unknown, and has likely been long demolished. There is conjecture that the ornate single storey "Diwan-I-Khas" was the Ibadat Khana's original site. [ [http://www.touristplacesinindia.com/fatehpur-sikri/tourist-attractions.html touristplacesinindia.com: fatehpur-sikri.] ]

Alfred Tennyson's poem "Akbar’s Dream" lauds the Ibādat Khāna, ascribing tolerance and humanity to his "Divine Faith", while implicitly criticising the intolerance of 19th century British Christianity. [ [http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/T/TennysonAlfred/verse/deathofoenone/akbarsdreamnotes.html Notes to Akbar’s Dream] , from The Death of Œnone, and Other Poems by Alfred Tennyson (1892).]

ee also

* Dabestan-e Mazaheb
*Akbar the Great
*Din-i-Ilahi
*Fatehpur Sikri

References

* [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/ikram/part2_12.html Muslim Civilization in India] . S. M. Ikram (edited by Ainslie T. Embree). New York: Columbia University Press, 1964.
* The Din-I-Ilahi Or The Religion Of Akbar. Makhan Lal Roy Choudhury. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. (Edition: 1997) ISBN 81-215-0777-4
* Jews and Judaism at the Court of the Moghul Emperors in Medieval India. Walter J. Fischel. Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 18. (1948 - 1949), pp. 137-177.
*Akbar's Personality Traits and World Outlook: A Critical Reappraisal. Iqtidar Alam Khan. Social Scientist, Vol. 20, No. 9/10. (Sep. - Oct., 1992), pp. 16-30.

Also

* Akbar's "House of Worship", or 'Ibadat-Khana. Vincent A. Smith, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1927, pages 715-722.