Akbar built the Ibādat Khāna as a debating house. He encouraged
Hindus,
Catholics,
Zoroastrians,
Jains,
Buddhists,
Sikhs and even
atheists to participate. Religious leaders and philosophers from around this diverse empire, as well as those passing through, were invited to Akbar's Thursday evening discussions. Akbar's spiritual inclinations were roused to a large extent by the example of
Sulaiman Karrani, a past ruler of Bengal, who was said to spend nights in the company of over a hundred ratiocinating spiritual men. Akbar also wanted to sharpen his theological grasp because he had been told of the imminent arrival to his court of Mirza Sulaiman of Badakshan, a
Sufi with a predilection for spiritual debates.
Faith of the Divine By the late 1580s CE, Akbar began an attempt to reconcile the differences of all religions by creating a new faith, the
Din-i-Ilahi ("Faith of the Divine"), which incorporated both
pantheistic versions of Islamic
Sufism (most notably
Ibn Arabi's doctrine of
Wahdat al-Wujud or Unity of Existence) and
Bhakti or devotional movements of Hinduism. Even some elements of
Christianity (like crosses),
Zoroastrianism (fire ceremonies) and
Jainism were amalgamated in the new religion. Akbar was greatly influenced by the teachings of Jain
Acharyas
Hir Vijay Suri and
Jin Chandra Suri and gave up non-
vegetarian food because of their influence. He declared
Amari or non-killing of animals on the holy days of Jains like
Paryushan and
Mahavir Jayanti. He rolled back the
Jizya tax from Jain pilgrimage places like Palitana. This faith, however, was not for the masses. In fact, the only "converts" to this new religion were the upper nobility of Akbar's court. Historians have so far been able to identify only 18 members of this new religion, including his closest minister Birbal.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem
Akbar’s Dream lauds the Ibādat Khāna, ascribing tolerance and humanity to his "Divine Faith", while implicitly criticising the intolerance of 19th century British Christianity. ==Discovery of Ibadat Khana==