For the cohesion of India as a nation, Akbar will do a much better job as a hero than Rana Pratap or Shivaji. Akbar even inspired Dutch liberals to build a secular society in Holland.

Coffeehouse for desis :: Coffeehouse :: Coffeehouse Main

Page 1 of 1

For the cohesion of India as a nation, Akbar will do a much better job as a hero than Rana Pratap or Shivaji. Akbar even inspired Dutch liberals to build a secular society in Holland.

by Guest Sat May 23, 2015 9:42 pm

"It's unfortunate that people are so gullible that they lap up fiction as fact. While there can be no doubt that Maharana Pratap was an important figure in history, it's unfair to compare him with Akbar," says archaeologist and historian Dr KK Mohammed, who discovered Akbar's ibadatkhana at Fatehpur Sikri in the 1980s.

The scholar elaborates his point with a historical anecdote: "Once in Hormuz, some Portuguese had tied a copy of the Holy Koran around the neck of an ass and released it in the market. When Hamida Bano Begum, Akbar's mother, learnt about it, she asked the emperor to tie the Bible around a dog's neck and release it in Agra. Akbar refused. If the actions of the Portuguese were wrong, then this would be wrong too, he reasoned. His stance showed his remarkable mind and spirit."

Professor Jos Gommans of Leiden University says for the cohesion of India as a nation, Akbar will do a much better job as a hero than Rana Pratap or Shivaji. "Akbar inspired even Dutch liberals in the mid-19th century to build a secular society without religious interference."

Dirk Collier, author of The Emperor's Writings: Memories of Akbar the Great, points out that historical facts are being ignored in the debate. "The resistance of Maharana Pratap against Akbar has often been portrayed as a desperate and noble struggle for Hindu independence against the overwhelmingly superior forces of a Muslim invader, but, as most historians agree, it was hardly that. The Hindu kings of Amber, Bikaner and Bundi sided with Akbar, and even Rana Pratap's own brother Sagaraj did the same. Pratap's army, on the other hand, included large Afghan contingents. Only 30 years before the fall of Chittor, an earlier Rana of Mewar had marched against the neighbouring king of Malwa in alliance with the Muslim sultan of Gujarat. In other words: the Mewar conflict was essentially one of local rivalries," he says.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/deep-focus/How-Akbar-went-from-great-to-not-so-great/articleshow/47402293.cms

Guest: Guest