BADA'UNI and “Akbar and Religion” Throughout time, people in power constantly show off their power in both peace and war time. No matter how peaceful a city can become, the person in power shows that they are still in control. They listen to their advisors and other council members creating an idea that the belief is their own. Whether an idea is whimsical or spot on, good or evil, the leader takes the information, processes, and believes it is they who created the concept.
The writer in Akbar and Religion Bada ‘Uni, was an advisor to the Mughal Emperor Akbar. The writer describes conditions as he sees them at a time in history when buildings called Ibadatkhana (Hall of Religious Discussions) were completed. Bada’s view on history was based upon a period of time that followed the expansion of the empire into India. As a result of the emperor’s expansion and development, there came a time when the kingdom was essentially stable and was no longer involved in conquest. Instead of a battle to gain territory, the emperor was creating an elaborate administrative bureaucracy. The emperor saw the people of the conquered lands differently than others in his position would have. Unlike the European monarchs who conquered lands and forcibly converted their original peoples, Akbar would reach out to his Hindu decibels in ways that were quite different. Bada ‘Uni took pride in the establishment of the empire and the victories which established that empire. He valued the contribution of Islam in providing a fundamental foundation for the society and for the empire.
Akbar, however, saw the period of stability and peace as an open door to philosophy and other religions. Bada describes the period of stability as a time of “leisure to come into nearer contact with ascetics” (1) and others. It led discussions within the Muslim culture in which controversies were discussed and