ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost I want to offer my everlasting gratitude to the Almighty Allah, who granted me necessary strength, determination and ability to complete this work. The present work, planned and executed under the able guidance of Prof. Shahabuddin Iraqi. So, I express my deep sense of gratitude to him. I am also thankful to Prof. B. L. Bhadani, Chairman and co- ordinator, C.A.S, Department of History, for his valuable suggestions. I am indebted to Prof. Rafi Ahmad Alavi who always ready to provide me valuable suggestions and his corporation. My thanks are also due to Prof. Afzal Husian, Prof. S. P. Verma, Dr. Liaqat Moini, Dr. Ali Athar, Dr. Bashir Hasan, Dr. Afzal Khan and Dr. Sumbul Halim Khan, for their timely suggestions. I am, grateful to my beloved parents, for their blessings, constant encouragement and moral support, which enabled me to complete this work. I am also thankful to my sisters for their constant inspiration to me. I am also grateful to my friend Naiyar Azam, for his moral support to me. I would like to express my gratitude to my friends Mohd Naushad, Salim Javed Akhtar, Hamid Hussain and Syed Salahuddin who always remained ready for their cooperation to me. My thanks are also due to Mohammad Asif for typing my thesis with great care. I am also thankful to Mr. Mohd Arshad, Mr. Mohd Salman, Mr. Zubair, Mr. Mazhar Hussain, Mr. Bansi Dhar and Mr. Moin of Seminar Library, Department of History, who were always ready for their cooperation to me. Suhaib Qayyum CONTENTS Page No. ACKNOWLEDGMENT INTRODUCTION 1-19 1 AKBAR’S RELATIONS WITH NON SUFI-SAINTS 20-72 1.1 Akbar’s Relations with Sikh Gurus 23 1.2 Akbar’s Relations with the Saints of Pushtimarga 29 1.3 Akbar and Swami Haridas 43 1.4 Akbar’s Nobles and their Relations with the Saints of Pushtimarga 44 1.5 Akbar and Dadu Dayal 48 1.6 Akbar’s Relations with Jogis of Jakhbar 50 1.7 Akbar’s Relations with Jain Saints 54 1.8 Akbar and Baba Bilas 61 1.9 Akbar and Jadrup Gosain 61 1.10 Akbar and the Goswamis of Chaitanya Sect 62 1.11 Akbar’s Relations with Parsis (Zoroastarian) 67 1.12 Akabr’s and the Goswamis of Jangam Bari Math of Benaras 69 1.13 Akbar’s Grants to the Brahmans of Puskhar 71 1.14 Akbar and Sant Das Gosain 72 2 JAHANGIR’S RELATIONS WITH NON-SUFI SAINTS 73-100 2.1 Jahangir’s Relations with Sikh Gurus 76 2.2 Jahangir and Jadrup Gosain 80 2.3 Jahangir’s Relations with Jain Saints 83 2.4 Jahangir and Jogis of Jakhbar 91 2.5 Jahangir’s Relations with Gowamis of Jangambari Math of Benaras 94 2.6 Jahangir’s Relations with the Priests of the Temples of Mathura and Vrindavan. 95 2.7 Jahangir’s Grants to the Brahman of Pushkar 98 2.8 Jahangir’s and Sanyasi Moti 100 3 SHAHJAHAN RELATIONS WITH NON-SUFI SAINTS 101-122 3.1 Shahjahan’s Relations with the saints of Pushti Marga 105 3.2 Shahjahan’s Relations with the Goswamis of Jangam Bari Math of Benaras 109 3.3 Shahjahan Relations with the Goswamis of Chaitanya Sect of Vrindavan and Mathura 113 3.4 Shahjahan and the Jogis of Jakhbar 117 3.5 Shahjahan’s Relation with Sikh Guru’s 118 3.6 Dara Shikoh and Guru Har Rai 120 3.7 Dara Shikoh and Baba Lal 121 4 AURANGZEB AND HIS RELATIONS WITH NON-SUFI SAINTS 123-149 4.1 Aurangzeb and the Goswamis of Jagambari Math of Benaras 125 4.2 Aurangzeb and the Jogis of Jakhbar 128 4.3 Aurangzeb and Mahant Shri Mangal Das, a Leader of Khaki Bairagi Saints 129 4.4 Aurangzesb’s Relations with Jain Saints 130 4.5 Aurangzeb’s Farman for Bhagwant Gosain of Benaras 4.6 Aurangzeb’s Farman of land grant to Ramjvan Gosain of 132 Benaras 4.7 Aurangzeb’s Farman to Sudaman Brahman Pujari of Umanand Temple of Gawahati, Assam 133 4.8 Auranzeb’s Farman to Mahant Balak Das Nirvani of Balaji Temple at Chitrakoot 134 4.9 Aurangzeb and the Jogis of the Maths of Marwar 135 4.10 Aurangzeb’s Grants to the Pujaris (Priests) of Mahakaleshwar Temple of Ujjain 137 4.11 Aurangzeb’s Relations with other Saints and Jogis 140 4.12 Aurangzeb and Goswamis of Chaitanya Sect of Vrindavan 141 4.13 Aurangzeb’s Relations with Sikh Gurus 145 5 THE LATER MUGHALS AND THEIR RELATIONS WITH NON-SUFI SAINTS 150-179 5.1 Bahadur Shah I 150 5.2 Jahandar Shah 156 5.3 Farrukh Siyar 156 5.4 Muhammad Shah 158 5.5 Ahmad Shah 169 5.6 Alamgir II 170 5.7 Shah Alam II 171 CONCLUSION 180-183 BIBLIOGRAPHY 184-196 INTRODUCTION The present theme of research is of great interest for the scholars of Medieval India. In the present scenario, this theme is also of great importance for the cultural aspects and national issues. The Mughal period was an epoch in Indian history. It represents the legacy of a cultural synthesis in India. The adherents of different religious communities, people of different castes and diverse cultures present at the Mughal court played a vital role in the formation of a composite culture in India. The most important part in this cultural development was played by the saints of the time. The Mughal emperors being secular in their religious attitude maintained good relations with both sufi saints and non-sufi (Bhakti) saints of the time. The „Sant Sahitya‟ or the literature of Indian saints particularly the sectarian works of „Pushtimarga‟ and „Radha Vallabha‟ sect produced during 16th century, have admired the liberal ideas of the Mughal rulers and nobles and appreciated them for maintaining goodwill and amity with their non-Muslim subjects. The literature of Pushtimarga like, „Chaurasi Vaishnuavon Ki Varta‟ and „Do Sau Bawan Vaishnavon Ki Varta‟ and „Bhaktamal‟ etc. is very glaring as far as this aspect is concerned. During Mughal period all the sections of society practiced their religion without any restriction such a situation is reflected in the following lines as written by a 16 th century writer. “fruds jkt lcS lqq ikoSa A vki vius ÌeZu lc Ì;koSa « 1 lc jktu d¨ vkKk nhuh A nso LÉy dh jpuk dhuh A 1 (In his Akbar‟s realm all people are happy. All people follow their own religious. He has issued an order to all governors to permit the construction of temples which have turned into abodes of saints, thus connecting the hearts of people with the lord of the Universe.) All the religious divines and recluses belonging to different non- Muslim religious sects, whether Bhakti saints, jogis, Sanyasis, bairagis, priests and heads of different religious institutions are treated as non sufi saints. They came into contact with the Mughal emperors and enjoyed their patronage. It is said that Babur came into contact with Guru Nanak and was impressed by his spirituality and piety and asked him for his blessing. 2 Humayun, having liberal outlook, is said to have made a grant of 300 acres of land in Mirzapur, for the maintenance of Jangambari Math of Benaras. 3 The saints of Radha Vallabha sect were attached to Humayun and were admitted to imperial service. 4 Objective The objective of present research is to pursue a thorough study of the theme which will reveal the nature of the relations between the Mughal emperors and non-sufi saints. The project under study seeks to cover the changes that took place in society as a result of the influence 1 Bagwat Mudit, Sri Rasik Ananyamal, ed. Lalita Prasad, Venu Prakashan, Brindaban, 1960, p.44. 2 M.A. Macanliff, The Sikh Religion low Price. Pub. Delhi, 1993, vol-I, p.p. 109-121. 3 C.f.S.R. Sharma, The Religious Policy of the Mughal Emperors, Munshiram Manohar Lal Publishers, Delhi, 1988, p.10 4 Bhagwat Mudit, Shri Rasik Ananyamal op. sit p22 2 made by non-sufi saints on the Mughal ruling class. It seeks to measure the extent of the impact on the religious policy of the Mughal emperors and their attitude and contribution towards the formation of a composite culture in India. The Chapterisation of the thesis: It has been divided into five chapters. A separate chapter has been devoted to each Mughal emperor, i.e Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb; fifth chapter is devoted to the later Mughal emperors. There are a large number, farman, parwanas and Sanads, pertaining to the grants and patronage of all the Mughal emperors, to the different non-Muslim religious institutions and non-Muslim religious divines. These documents are the testimony of the tolerant religious outlook of all the Mughal emperors. The first chapter relates to Akbar‟s relations with Non-Sufi saints. Akbar attempted to assimilate every section of society at his court by adopting the policy of Sulh-i-kul. The cultural achievement of his reign were immense. He maintained good relations with non-sufi saints of the time. Akbars relations with three Sikh Guru‟s namely Amar Das, Ram Das and Arjan Deo were very cordial. He granted land to Guru Amardas and paid visits to Guru Arjan Deo. The saints of Pushti Marga or Vallabhacharya sect, were benefited to a large extent by Akbar‟s partronage. Vithalnath, the head of Pushti Marga, received so many farmans and concession from Akbar, by his mother, and also by many other Mughal nobles. Akbar also came into contact with a large number saints who belonged to Pushtimarga, namely Surdas the saint 3 poet Khumbandas, Gangagawal, Bhagwandas, Nand Das the saint poet, Narain Das Lohana was in imperial service, Raja Prithvi Singh, saint peot, and Chaturbhuj Das Mishra, etc.