Akbar's court and the translation movement

Detail

Akbar the unlettered patron

• Akbar was illiterate — he could not read or write. Yet he loved books.
• He had texts read aloud to him. This is how he learnt Persian works and classical Indian thought.
• He was curious about many faiths and ideas. He called scholars of different religions to his court for debate.
• Two Jesuits (Catholic priests from Europe) came to his court. A court painting shows them sitting in the discussion.
• These debates took place at the Ibadat-Khana ("house of worship"), one of the institutions founded at Fatehpur Sikri, along with Din-i-Ilahi, the Tarikh-i-Ilahi calendar, Jharokha-Darshan, and the doctrine of Sulh-i-Kul (peace with all). [4]
• Why he did this: his empire had grown very large. It held people of many faiths, languages and cultures. Reading and translating their books was one way to understand and include them. [2]

Fatehpur Sikri — the city that held the project

• Akbar built Fatehpur Sikri near Agra. Its most famous palace is the five-storied Panch Mahal.
• It was the Mughal capital for only about 10 years, in the second half of the 16th century. [3][4]
• It was the first planned city of the Mughals — the sloping ground was cut into terraces, and each terrace carried a group of buildings: Jami Masjid, Buland Darwaza, tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti, Khass Mahal, Shahi Bazar, Mina Bazar, Panch Mahal, Khwabgah, Diwan-i-Khass, Anup Talao, Chaupar and Diwan-i-Am. [4]
• UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986 (List no. 255). [3]

The 'house of translation' (Maktab Khana)

• At Fatehpur Sikri Akbar set up a 'house of translation' — the Maktab Khana.
• It was started in 1574 to turn important Sanskrit texts into Persian. [2]
• Persian was the court language. Sanskrit was the language of Indian learning. The Maktab Khana was the bridge between the two.
• Method: Sanskrit scholars explained the text in everyday speech, and Persian writers then put it into Persian prose.

What was translated

Sanskrit text	Persian result
Mahabharata	Razmnama ('Book of War')
Ramayana	illustrated with 176 miniature paintings
Bhagavad Gita	Persian translation
Panchatantra	Persian translation

Razmnama — the flagship work

• Razm = war, nama = book/history/epic. So Razmnama = 'Book of War'. [2]
• Akbar commissioned it in 1582. [2]
• It covered all eighteen books of the Mahabharata plus the appendix Harivamsha. [2]
• A colophon of 1599 (the note at the end of a manuscript) names the Sanskrit interpreters — mu'abbiran — Deva Misra, Satavadhana, Madhusudana Misra, Caturbhuja and Shaykh Bhavan. [2]
• Later copies were made for nobles. A famous sub-imperial copy was made for 'Abd al-Rahim Khan-i Khanan; single illustrated folios from it are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (e.g. "Arjuna Battles Raja Tamradhvaja"). [5]

Why it matters

• Translation was not only about books. It was a policy tool. It let Persian-reading nobles read Hindu epics, and it showed Akbar as a ruler of all his subjects, not one community. [2]
• The illustrations mattered as much as the words. Painters of the Mughal workshop drew Indian gods, heroes and battles in a Mughal style — a mixing of Persian and Indian art.

Prelims Hooks

• Akbar was illiterate but had books read aloud to him.
• Two Jesuits appear in a court painting of Akbar's religious debates.
• The 'house of translation' = Maktab Khana, set up at Fatehpur Sikri in 1574. [2]
• Razmnama = Persian Mahabharata, meaning 'Book of War'; commissioned 1582. [2]
• Razmnama includes all 18 parvas plus the Harivamsha appendix. [2]
• The Persian Ramayana was illustrated with 176 miniature paintings.
• Panch Mahal at Fatehpur Sikri is five-storied; Fatehpur Sikri is near Agra.
• Fatehpur Sikri became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. [3]
• Fatehpur Sikri was the home of the Ibadat-Khana, Din-i-Ilahi, Tarikh-i-Ilahi, Jharokha-Darshan and Sulh-i-Kul. [4]
• Sanskrit interpreters named in the 1599 colophon: Deva Misra, Satavadhana, Madhusudana Misra, Caturbhuja, Shaykh Bhavan. [2]

Mains Points

• Translation as statecraft. Akbar ruled a very mixed population. Turning Sanskrit epics into Persian gave his Persian-speaking nobility access to Indian tradition, and supported his stated policy of Sulh-i-Kul — peace with all. [2][4]
• Fatehpur Sikri as a single experiment in ideas. Maktab Khana, Ibadat-Khana, Din-i-Ilahi and Sulh-i-Kul all began in the same city within roughly a decade. The city was a laboratory of Akbar's religious and cultural policy, not just a capital. [4]
• Composite culture. The Razmnama and the illustrated Ramayana are examples of Indo-Persian synthesis — Indian stories, Persian words, Mughal painting. Useful in GS-I answers on syncretic culture and on Mughal art.
• Limits and continuity. Akbar's patronage of Sanskrit learning rested on the ruler's personal will, not an institution. Under later rulers, especially Aurangzeb, this kind of patronage narrowed — a good contrast point for questions on change in Mughal religious policy.