Chapter 1 Tolerance and the Encounters with Europe

This chapter serves as an introduction to the political and cultural environment at the courts of and that shaped the complex interactions be- tween , Europeans, and other diverse groups. I argue that at the crux of these cultural encounters lies the concept of ṣulḥ-i kull, the Mughal policy of tolerance and social balance. Examining the basic tenets of ṣulḥ-i kull may en- able us to grasp more fully the Mughals’ attitude of openness to other traditions. Using the Mughal policy as a framework, the first part of the chapter focuses on the meaning of ṣulḥ-i kull and how it came to be practiced as a court policy. The chapter proceeds to a brief selective chronology of Mughal-European encoun- ters that were informed by this ideology of tolerance. Through the accumula- tion of encounters, we can trace the ever-evolving relationships of trade and cultural exchange, from which new artistic sensibilities seem to have emerged. The discussion of period texts and the presence of certain Christian images and articles at the Mughal courts introduces the complexity of primary sources, es- pecially with respect to Jesuit accounts. My overall aim is to open up the pos- sibilities for multiple narratives of Mughal engagement with European artistic tradition and consider them as nuanced and negotiated processes.

Religious Tolerance under Akbar and Jahangir

In the first decades of the sixteenth century, the firangīs, or Franks, as Europeans were generically called in Persian, were already present in the subcontinent in various capacities as the Mughals began to establish themselves in north . Contact with the Europeans (mainly from Portugal, Italy and Spain) oc- curred within different strata of Mughal society, ranging from the ruling elite to tradesmen, artisans and service persons. By the time of Akbar and Jahangir, the Mughals were primarily engaged with Safavids, Ottomans, and Uzbeks in the international arena and with other Indian rulers domestically. Only in the 1570s did they begin to pay more attention to the Portuguese colony in Goa and to other European entities.1 This interest in Europeans was likely related

1  and his Mughal army encountered the Portuguese of Goa earlier during the cam- paigns to capture and in the 1530s. Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, “Frank Disputations,” Indian Economic and Social History Review 46, no. 4 (2009): 462.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/9789004374997_003 Mughal Tolerance and the Encounters with Europe 27 to Akbar’s new policy of ṣulḥ-i kull (“peace with all”, “absolute peace” or “Universal Conciliation”). Its goal was to create stability and a balance of power among the different religious, social, and ethnic groups in the empire, thus enabling the to broaden their base of support, making the empire a place of refuge for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The policy contributed and - cided with Mughal openness to and curiosity of other cultures and played an important role in the creation of a pluralistic artistic language. Akbar, who ascended the in 1556, dismissed his regent in 1560–61 when he was eighteen. Newly independent, he faced the challenge of a Muslim king ruling a population that was multilingual and multiethnic, but mostly Hindu—infidels (kāfirūn) in the eyes of .2 Simply put, according to strict Islamic law (shariʿa), infidels who come under Muslim rule must either con- vert to Islam (there were in fact instances of forced conversion) or be executed or killed in a holy war ( jihad). Early in his reign Akbar adopted a harsh line to- ward Hindu and other non-monotheist subjects. But ultimately he recognized that since Hindus outnumbered Muslims, he had to devise a different strategy.3 In the early period, he imposed heavy taxes on Hindus, excluded them from high administrative positions at the court, and, for the most part, kept them at a distance from Mughal political and intellectual life.4 In 1568, following a Mughal victory over Hindus at Chittor, in Rajasthan, western India, Akbar is- sued a decree ( fatḥnama) referring to the campaign as a jihad against infidels.5 Around that time Akbar’s nobility was composed mainly of Central Asian Turks (Sunnis) and (Shiʿis), with a small percentage of Indian Muslims and chieftains, who were Hindus.6 Even though Akbar identified himself

2 Kāfirūn and kuffār are the plural forms of kāfir. These terms, meaning “infidels” or “unbeliev- ers,” appear in numerous verses of the Quran; sura 109 is called “al-Kāfirūn.” There is a long discussion on the subject in Islamic theology and law. 3 According to the historian Nizami, there were few instances in which Akbar forced people to convert, and he later regretted the forced conversions. See Nizami’s quotation from the Ain-i Akbari in Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, Akbar and Religion (1989; repr., : Idarah-i-Adabiyat-i- Delli, 2009), 109. On relations between previous Muslim rulers in India and their non-Muslim subjects, ibid., 9–99. 4 They were subjected to a burial tax, a pilgrimage tax, and the jizya (a poll-tax on non- Muslims), all later abolished. See Abū’l Faz̤l ibn Mubarak, The Akbarnāma, trans. Henry Beveridge (Delhi: Low Price Publications, 2010. First published 1902–39 by the Asiatic Society of Bengal) 2:295. 5 See a facsimile of the document in Nizami, Akbar and Religion, appendix 13, 385–99. 6 See Iqtidar Alam , “The Nobility under Akbar and the Development of His Religious Policy, 1560–80,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1, no. 2 (April 1968): 29–30, 35.