Abu'l-Fazl 's Akbarnama

The ancestors of Abu'l-Fazl had settled in Nagaur, later, fed up with the persecution of the Ulemas, they moved to Ahmedabad. Abu’l-Fazl's father Sheikh Mubarak was born in 1506. Abu’l-Fazl was the second of the eight children of his father. He was born on 14 January 1551 in Agra. He completed his education in 15 years and became a teacher himself in 20 years. He met Akbar in 1574. It made its debut in Akbar's court  From the mansabdar of 20. It was murdered by Veer Singh Bundela on the co-operation of Salim. In 1589-90 AD, He was ordered to write Akbar Nama. Which it prepared after seven years of hard work in 1597-98 and handed it over to Akbar .

                           Akbar Nama

First Part - Description of all his ancestors including Akbar's father Humayun

Second Part - A chronological description of the 46 years of Akbar's Life

Third Part - Ain-i-Akbari                                              

                   Ain-i-Akbari

Part - 1 – 10 Ain – Parents, contemporary state system, the birth of Akbar

Part - 2 – 30 Ain - Description of state employees, military and civilian officers and courtiers

Part - 3 – 16 Ain - Department of Justice and Revenue

Part - 4 – Hindu Literature, Astrology, Philosophy, Biographies of Saints

Part - 5 - Emperor's moral rules, code of conduct, administrative ideals, proverbs and autobiography of Abu’l-Fazal.

Merits of Abul Fazal's Akbarnama

Historigraphy : New Approach to Indian History : Need for a Positive Intellectual Propaganda

1.    Nationalist Historian with Rationalist-Liberal Approach : Abu’l-Fazl  tended to adopt an innovative and more comprehensive view of Indian history, inspired as much by his rationalist-liberal approach as by his patron emperor's new view of the Mughal Empire. The empire that Akbar was trying hard to build a different nature from that of the Sultanate, it was outlined as a true Indian empire, an empire based on a composite national authority and friendship with the Hindus, which now millions of local people. Governance imposed on communities by a foreign ethnic and spiritual group was no longer synonymous with it as seen in the Sultanate period. 

2.   Theorist of Sulh-i-Kul in Religious Society : Abu’l-Fazl, who represented the stream of wisdom and religious tolerance against the extreme fanaticism of the Ulema, provided the moral and intellectual basis for the unconventional policies of the emperor. He refused to accept the view of his predecessors that the essence of Indian history was the struggle between the forces of Islam and Hinduism. No one could have done this job better than Abu’l-Fazl, who had a liberal outlook on religion and politics.

3.   Identification of the real area of conflict : In the view of Abu’l-Fazl, the conflict was between the Mughal Empire and the Indian kings, both Hindus and Muslims. Basically it was a struggle between the forces of stability, strength and good governance under an ideal emperor capable of leading the masses in both worldly and spiritual perspective and the forces of fragmentation and misrule under the leadership of the zamindars. It has called those fighting for the emperor, instead of Mujahidane Islam or Ghaziane Islam, Mujahidane Iqbal and Ghaziane Daulat.

 

History Craft: Instrument, Theme and Style

 

1.   Instrument : Abul Fazl writes that I collected the evidence and documents of His Majesty Akbar's activities with great research and diligence and for a long time communicated with the officials of the state and the members of the royal family, I learned the truth, wise elders and smart mind Vale, Satya Karmi Jawan, both of them were examined and their statements were written down... Original copies of orders and information from the provinces were included.

2. Theme: In Akbarnama, extensive information is available on many subjects. Broadly speaking, there is a plethora of information related to wars. Apart from this, there is also information about other countries and territories. Apart from this, information about place description, falit astrology, animals and economic data is also available.

3.        Style: It has been the belief of Abul Fazl that in the field of historiography, he laid the foundation stone of a new style by eliminating the old erotic style and the word trap. But on a cursory look at the Akbar Nama, it is known that his belief is not correct. The Akbarnama is full of rhetoric. Which at some places make it monotonous and unattractive.

Demerits of Abu’l-Fazl's Akbarnama

1.     Faulty historical causality : In the context of the concept of causality in history, Abu’l-Fazl  believes that the behavior of humans stems from their nature and this behavior is the cause of different events. Akbar is an exception to this rule because he is a quasi-divine being whose actions are outside the realm of reason. Since Abu’l-Fazl also saw history as a collection of individual events or cases involving individuals or institutions, there was little room for interpretation and generalisation.

2.     Worshiper of the Person : The most serious error of Abu’l-Fazl as a historian was his subjectivity which was as sharp as the subjectivity of Barani or Badayuni. This expressed in the form of his blatant prejudice towards his patron. He lost all his intelligence, prudence, decency and self-control in justifying and appreciating every move of Akbar, who was always right in his view as he could never make a mistake. The objectives of Akbar's military campaigns against the enemy, whether a Rajput ruler or a Muslim ruler, were always considered just and laudable. The author's unwavering faith gave Akbarnama the form of a commendation.

3.     Lack of historical objectivity: His process of justifying his explanations is always does not satisfy the conditions of historical objectivity. He Shows a partisan and even hostile attitude against Sher Shah as he considered this great Afghan the enemy of Akbar's father. Blind faith and flattering  should be considered as the biggest fault of Akbarnama.

4.     Resentment towards Ulema: He is not completely free from psychosomatics and personal convictions, since The Ulemas had troubled his family at one time, so Its old Outrage erupted against Ulema in the form of vengeance through this powerful pen. Abu’l-Fazl 's description of Akbar's hatred for the Ulema and his alienation from them cannot be considered fair.

5.     Concealment of facts : Another serious allegation against the author of Akbarnama is that he concealed many facts and in this order ignored those incidents and facts which was against the mythological notion and against the popularly known about Akbar's ability and intelligence. Therefore, Abu’l-Fazl  is completely silent on the huge amount of agricultural land wasted due to the Crore. System of land revenue settlement and the terrible problems that the ryots had to face. These issues have been discussed by Badauni and Nizamuddin Ahmed has confirmed them.

6.     Plagiarism: Abu’l-Fazl  is alleged to have committed plagiarism and obtained information from sources which have not been accepted with certainty. Sometimes they take many paragraphs literally from the works of other authors. In doing so, they do not have any kind of fear and are also unaware of the allegation of plagiarism. Details related to Hindus in Ain Which are largely taken from Alberuni, there is no confession regarding the original source .

Conclusion

In spite of all these faults we have no hesitation to say that the effort he put into writing the Akbar Nama and the exhausting research method was followed certainly a developed attempt to write authentic history. Although his assumptions seem simple or his predictions are invalid, but even after this his compositions it is historical or epoch -making event in medieval historiography.

अबुल फ़ज़ल की अकबरनामा तथा इसके गुण- दोष

अबुल फज़ल के पुरखे नागौर में आकर बसे थे बाद में उलेमाओं के उत्पीड़न से तंग आकर अहमदाबाद चले गए। अबुल फजल के पिता शेख मुबारक का जन्म 1506 में हुआ था। अबुल फ़जल अपने पिता की आठ संतानों में से दुसरे नंबर का था। इसका जन्म 14 जनवरी 1551 में आगरा में हुआ था। इसने अपनी शिक्षा 15 साल में पूरी कर ली तथा 20 साल में स्वयं शिक्षक बन गया। अकबर से इसकी मुलाकात 1574 में हुई। अकबर के दरबार में इसने अपनी शुरुआत बीसी मनसबदार से की। सलीम के सह पर वीर सिंह बुंदेला ने इसकी हत्या कर दी। 1589-90 ईसवी में इसे अकबर नामा लिखने का आदेश प्राप्त हुआ। जिसे इसने सात सालों की मेहनत के बाद 1597-98 में तैयार करके अकबर को सौंप दिया।

                          अकबर नामा

पहला भाग – अकबर के पिता हुमायूँ समेत उसके सभी पूर्वजों का वर्णन

दूसरा भाग – अकबर के शासन के 46 वें वर्ष तक का कालक्रमानुसार वर्णन

तीसरा भाग – आईन ए अकबरी 

                        आईन ए अकबरी 

पहला भाग – 10 आईन – माता पिता, तत्कालीन राज्य व्यवस्था, अकबर का जन्म

दूसरा भाग – 30 आईन – राज्य के कर्मचारी, सैनिक तथा असैनिक अधिकारी तथा दरबारियों का वर्णन

तीसरा भाग – 16 आईन – न्याय विभाग तथा राजस्व

चौथा भाग – हिन्दू साहित्य, ज्योतिष, दर्शन, संतों की जीवनियाँ

पांचवां भाग – सम्राट के नैतिक नियम, आचार संहिता, प्रशासनिक आदर्श, कहावतें तथा अबुल फज़ल की आत्मकथा

           

           अबुल फ़ज़ल की अकबरनामा के गुण

इतिहास दर्शन : भारतीय इतिहास के प्रति नवीन दृष्टिकोण : सकारात्मक बौद्धिक प्रचारतंत्र की आवश्यकता

1.    बुद्धिवादी-उदारपंथी दृष्टिकोण वाला राष्ट्रवादी इतिहासकार : अबुल फजल भारतीय इतिहास के एक अभिनव तथा अधिक व्यापक विचार को अपनाने के लिए प्रवृत्त हुए जो उनके बुद्धिवादी-उदारपंथी दृष्टिकोण से उतना ही अधिक प्रेरित था जितना मुगल साम्राज्य के बारे में उनके संरक्षक बादशाह के नए दृष्टिकोण से। अकबर भरपूर प्रयत्न करते हुए जिस साम्राज्य का निर्माण कर रहा था वह सल्तनत से भिन्न प्रकृति का था, इसकी रूपरेखा एक सच्चे भारतीय साम्राज्य, एक समग्र राष्ट्रीय सत्ता और हिंदुओं के साथ मैत्री पर आधारित साम्राज्य के रूप में निश्चित की गई जो अब लाखों स्थानीय जन समुदायों पर एक विदेशी प्रजातीय और आध्यात्मिक समूह द्वारा थोपी गई शासन व्यवस्था का पर्याय नहीं रह गया था जैसा कि सल्तनत काल में देखा गया था।

2.   धार्मिक समाज में सुलह ए कुल का सिद्धांतकार : उलेमा के घोर कट्टरपंथ के विरुद्ध बुद्धि विवेक और धार्मिक सहिष्णुता की धारा का प्रतिनिधित्व करने वाले अबुल फजल ने बादशाह की अपारंपरिक नीतियों के लिए नैतिक एवं बौद्धिक आधार प्रदान किया। उन्होंने अपने पूर्ववर्तियों के इस दृष्टिकोण को मानने से इनकार कर दिया कि भारतीय इतिहास का सारतत्त्व इस्लाम और हिंदुत्व की ताकतों के बीच संघर्षो का लेखा - जोखा है। धर्म एवं राजनीति के प्रति उदारवादी दृष्टिकोण वाले अबुल फजल से अधिक अच्छी तरह यह काम और कोई नहीं कर सकता था।

3.   संघर्ष के वास्तविक क्षेत्र की पहचान : अबुल फजल की दृष्टि में संघर्ष मुगल साम्राज्य और भारतीय राजाओं, जिनमें हिंदू और मुसलमान दोनों थे, के बीच था। मूल रूप से यह सांसारिक तथा आध्यात्मिक दोनों परिप्रेक्ष्यों में जनसाधारण का नेतृत्व करने में समर्थ एक आदर्श सम्राट के अधीन स्थिरता, मजबूती और सुशासन की शक्तियों तथा जमींदारों के नेतृत्व में विखंडन एवं कुशासन की शक्तियों के मध्य संघर्ष था। इसने बादशाह के पक्ष में लड़ने  वालों को मुजाहिदाने इस्लाम या गाज़ियाने इस्लाम की बजाय मुजाहिदाने इकबाल तथा गाज़ियाने दौलत कहा है। 

 इतिहास शिल्प : साधन, विषयवस्तु  और शैली 

1. साधन : अबुल फजल लिखता है कि मैंने काफी खोजबीन व मेहनत से महामहिम अकबर की गतिविधियों के सबूत व दस्तावेज़ इकट्ठे किये और बहुत समय तक राज्य के मुलाज़िमों व शाही परिवार के सदस्यों में संवाद किया, मैंने सच बोलने वाले समझदार बुजुर्गों व फुर्तीले दिमाग वाले, सत्य कर्मी जवान, दोनों की बातों को परखा तथा उनके बयानों को लिखित रूप दिया...आदेशों की मूल प्रतियों तथा प्रान्तों से आई सूचनाओं को शामिल किया गया।

2. विषयवस्तु : अकबरनामा में अनेकानेक विषयों की वृहद् जानकारी मिलती है। मोटे रूप से युद्धों से सम्बंधित जानकारी की बहुलता है। इसके अतिरिक्त दुसरे देशों तथा प्रदेशों के बारे में भी जानकारी है। इसके अतिरिक्त स्थान वर्णन, फलित ज्योतिष, जानवरों तथा आर्थिक आकड़ों की भी जानकारी मिलती है।

3. शैली : अबुल फज़ल की यह मान्यता रही है कि उसने इतिहासलेखन के क्षेत्र  में पुरानी श्रृंगारिक शैली व शब्द जाल की शैली को समाप्त कर एक नई शैली की आधार शिला रखी। परन्तु अकबर नामा को सरसरी तौर पर देखने पर यह मालूम पड़ता है कि उसकी मान्यता ठीक नहीं है। अकबरनामा में शब्दाडम्बरों की भरमार है। जो काई जगह इसे नीरस तथा अनाकर्षक बनाते हैं।

            अबुल फ़ज़ल की अकबरनामा के दोष

1.    दोषपूर्ण ऐतिहासिक कारणात्मकता :  इतिहास में कारणात्मकता की संकल्पना के संदर्भ में अबुल फजल का मानना है  कि मुनष्यों का व्यवहार उनकी प्रकृति से उपजता है और यही व्यवहार अलग - अलग घटनाओं का कारण होता है। अकबर इस नियम का अपवाद है क्योंकि वह एक अर्ध - दैवी व्यक्ति है जिसके कार्य कारण के दायरे से बाहर है। चूंकि अबुल फजल ने भी इतिहास को व्यक्तियों या संस्थाओं से संबद्ध अलग - अलग घटनाओं या मामलों की एक समष्टि के रूप में देखा, व्याख्या और सामान्यीकरण की यहां बहुत कम गुंजाइश थी।

2.   घोर व्यक्ति पूजक : एक इतिहासकार के रूप में अबुल फजल की सबसे गंभीर त्रुटि उनकी व्यक्तिपरकता थी जो उतनी ही तीव्र थी जितनी बरनी या बदायूंनी की व्यक्तिपरकता। यह अपने संरक्षक के प्रति उनके निकृष्ट पूर्वाग्रह के रूप में व्यक्त हुई। अकबर, जो उनकी दृष्टि में हमेशा सही था क्योंकि वह कभी गलती नहीं कर सकता था, के हर कदम को उचित ठहराने और उसकी प्रशंसा करने में उन्होंने अपनी समस्त बुद्धि, विवेक, शालीनता तथा आत्मनियंत्रण खो दिया। शत्रु चाहे कोई राजपूत शासक हो या मुसलमान शासक, उसके विरुद्ध अकबर के सैन्य अभियानों के उद्देश्यों को हमेशा उचित तथा प्रशंसनीय माना गया। लेखक के अटूट विश्वास ने अकबरनामा को एक प्रशस्ति का रूप दे दिया।

3.   ऐतिहासिक वस्तुपरकता का लोप : अपनी व्याख्याओं को सही ठहराने की उसकी प्रक्रिया हमेशा ऐतिहासिक वस्तुपरकता की शर्तों को पूरा नहीं करती हैं। वह शेरशाह के विरुद्ध पक्षपातपूर्ण और यहाँ तक कि शत्रुतापूर्ण दृष्टिकोण का भी परिचय देता है क्योंकि वह इस महान अफगान को अकबर के पिता का दुश्मन मानता था। अंध आस्था और चापलूसी चापलूसी को अकबरनामा का सबसे बड़ा दोष माना जाना चाहिए।

4.   उलेमा के प्रति आक्रोश :  यह मनोमालिन्य तथा व्यक्तिगत आक्षेप से पूरी तरह मुक्त नहीं है, चूँकि उलेमाओं ने एक समय इसके परिवार को परेशान किया था अतः उलेमा के विरुद्ध इसका पुराना आक्रोश इसकी शक्तिशाली कलम के माध्यम से प्रतिशोध के रूप में फूट पड़ा। उलेमा के प्रति अकबर की घृणा और उनसे उसके अलगाव का जो वर्णन अबुल फजल ने किया है उसे निष्पक्ष नहीं माना जा सकता है।

5.   तथ्यों को छुपाना : अकबरनामा के लेखक के विरुद्ध एक और गंभीर आरोप यह है कि इसने कई तथ्यों को छुपाया और इस क्रम में उन घटनाओं एव तथ्यों की अनदेखी कर दी जो अकबर की योग्यता तथा बुद्धिमता से संबंधित लोकप्रचलित दंतकथात्मक धारणा के प्रतिकूल थे। अतः भू - राजस्व बंदोबस्त की करोड़ी प्रणाली के कारण विशाल परिमाण में कृषि योग्य भूमि की जो बर्बादी हुई और रैयतों को जिन भयंकर समस्याओं का सामना करना पड़ा उन पर अबुल फजल पूरी तरह चुप हैं। इन मुद्दों की चर्चा बदायूंनी ने की है और निजामुद्दीन अहमद ने उनकी पुष्टि की है।

6.   साहित्यिक चोरी : अबुल फजल पर यह आरोप लगाया जाता है कि इसने साहित्यिक चोरी की तथा उन स्रोतों से जानकारियां हासिल कीं जिन्हें निश्चितता के साथ स्वीकार नहीं किया गया है। कई बार होता है कि वे अन्य लेखकों की रचनाओं से शब्दशः कई अनुच्छेद ले लेते हैं। ऐसा करते हुए उन्हें किसी तरह का भय नहीं होता और साहित्यिक सामग्रियों की चोरी के आरोप से भी अनभिज्ञ रहते हैं। आइन में हिंदुओं से संबंधित विवरण जो बहुत हद तक अलबरूनी से लिए गए हैं, के मूल स्रोत से संबंधित कोई स्वीकारोक्ति नहीं है।

निष्कर्ष

इन सब दोषों के बाद भी हमें यह कहने में कोई हिचक नहीं है कि अकबर नामा को लिखने में उसने जो परिश्रम किया तथा थका देने वाली शोध - पद्धति को अपनाया वह निश्चित ही प्रमाणिक इतिहास लिखने का एक विकसित प्रयास था। यद्यपि उसकी धारणायें सहज लगती हों अथवा उसका पूर्वानुमान अमान्य हो परन्तु इसके बाद आज भी उसकी रचनायें मध्यकालीन इतिहास लेखन में एक ऐतिहासिक अथवा युगान्तरकारी घटना है।

Gulbadan Begum's Humayun Nama, Merits and Demerits

Babur's daughter Gulbadan Begum was born in 1523 AD. His mother was Dildar Begum. Hindal was Gulbadan's real brother. He was married to Khiz Khwaja Khan Mughal. For the purpose of collecting material for the Akbarnama, Akbar ordered many people to record the information they had about Babur and Humayun. Humayun Nama composed by Gulbadan Begum is also a result of this order. He has divided his work into two parts - the events of Babur in one and the history of Humayun in the other. Although Humayun Nama Originally written in Persian language but it contains a mixture of Turkish and Persian words. From this it is felt that the author was not only a scholar but was also passionate about reading and writing. Mrs. Beveridge has edited an edition of Gulbadan's original book and published its English translation with commentaries. This book Published by the Asiatic Society.

                Merits of Humayun Nama

Information about female life

Being a woman, its approach is different from other writers and it has described important things about Mughal women. This book is important for the information about the condition of the Begums of the Mughal period.

1.    Description of Woman in War and Love : According to Prof. Rizvi, "The specialty of its history is the vivid pictures of women's life and interesting description of their character. The leadership of the army by Haram Begum, wife of Suleiman Mirza Shahi, has been mentioned very clearly by Begum. Mirza Kamran 's stupidity and Gulbadan Begum has discussed in detail the ill-effects of declaring love to Haram Begum .

2.    Description of the grief and anguish of family disintegration : In addition, According to Prof. Rizvi, "The Begum has mentioned the mourning of Mirza Humayun and the mourning of the Begems and the burial of his corpse. The way Humayun objected to his murder when Mirza Kamran was taken prisoner, Gulbadan Begum was Mentioned in very touching words.

3.    Description of the woman's eternal desire for a son : She has written that how much Maham Begum was worried about not being Humayun 's son and how she tried to get him married to Mewa Jaan. Gulbadan Begum has openly described the preparations made by Maham Begum for the festival on the birth of a son by Mewa Jaan .

4.    Description on Women's rights on the choice of marriage : Gulbadan has written in detail about Humayun's visit to Sindh and his marriage to Hamida Begum, according to Gulbadan, Hamida Bano lasted for about 40 days. The urge to marry continued. Hamida said that she would like to marry whose person that their hand could reach his neck. In the end she agreed. 

Information about Mughal family

What was going on in the Mughal family at that time, how was the social and cultural life of the Amirs and Mirzas and how the Mirzas were working against each other.

1.    Description of Victory Celebration : Gulbadan has given a very interesting description of the way Babar donated money after the defeat of Ibrahim Lodi in Panipat. According to him, not only did he send gifts to his relatives but also to many mystics and saints .

2.    Description of Babur's affection for his relatives: Babar's description of Gulbadan also gives information about how he used to love his relatives. No natural wrath could come in the way of him meeting his relatives on a fixed day. Gulbadan has narrated many interesting incidents of his journey from Kabul to Agra, which shows how eagerly Babur was waiting for him. Babur's affection for Humayun is also written by Gulbadan in a very thrilling manner. Babur's affection for Mirza Hindal is also known from his writings.

3.    Description of the effort for unity in the family : When Humayun was defeated in the battle of Kannauj When he reached Agra, he has given an interesting description of the efforts made by Gulbadan Begum to reorganize the brothers and when all the brothers got organized for some time, Gulbadan described in detail the way Humayun celebrated the occasion. It is quite clear how much Humayun's affection for his mother, sisters and begams was and how much he was concerned for them.

4.    Description of marriages and celebrations : She has described the marriage of Hindal Mirza in more detail and has given not only the seat of various relatives but also the details of the house built for the marriage in very detail. She has described many food grains given in the feast and has left an interesting description of Inam-Ikram very cautiously. In this way Gulbadan Begum is well-versed in the description of festivals etc. She is also unique in describing the customs of the time. Apart from political events, it also describes contemporary customs, social beliefs, etc.

          Demerits of Humayun Nama

1.    Brief political description and faulty chronology : Gulbadan Begum has written that, "When Babur died, she was only a girl of 8 years old and therefore whatever she remembered, she wrote it by mixing the information given by others. That is why Babur’s description is very brief. Gulbadan Begum's chronology is flawed at some places and the subtle political description given by her is very sharp.

2.    Feminine disposition of less interest in war and violence : Gulbadan was a woman and naturally she had less interest in wars and war creations. That is why she has given very little description of wars in general. The details of Humayun 's right over Gaund are only in a few lines. She also gives very little information about the battle of Chausa . He wrote that , "The Mughal soldiers were unaware that Sher Khan reached and attacked. The army was defeated and most of the people and family were taken prisoner ". The incident of blinding Kamran is not found in his work. Perhaps the reason for this was that she did not want to write this heart-wrenching incident.

Conclusion

Gulbadan Begum was not a historian. Humayunnama is his memoir. She was related to the events described in it. Due to this, she gets affected by emotions somewhere and does not remain neutral. For example, she has some partiality towards her real brother Hindal, the events of her death are described in very touching words. Organizing celebrations by Maham Begum, celebration of tilism, celebration of Hindal Mirza's marriage, Maham's desire to give birth to Humayun's son and his efforts to marry Humayun with beautiful girls , mutual competition of Mughal women and many such incidents. Unreachable without description. Gulbadan Begum's chronology is flawed at some places and the subtle political description given by her is very sharp. Despite this shortcoming, the way she has depicted Humayun's personal qualities and his shortcomings is certainly interesting.