, one of the disciples of
Din-i Ilahi, presenting
Akbarnama to
Akbar, Mughal miniature Akbar promoted
tolerance of other faiths and even encouraged debate on philosophical and religious issues. This led to the creation of the
Ibādat Khāna ("House of Worship") at
Fatehpur Sikri in 1575, which invited theologians, poets, scholars, and philosophers from all religious denominations, including Christians, Hindus, Jains, and Zoroastrians. Since Akbar had severe
dyslexia, rendering him totally unable to read or write, such dialogues in the House of Worship became his primary means of exploring questions of faith. Despite his aforementioned illiteracy, Akbar would eventually amass a library full of more than 24,000 volumes of texts in
Hindustani,
Persian,
Greek,
Latin,
Arabic and
Kashmiri. The later
Mughal Emperor and son of Akbar,
Jahangir, stated that his father was "always associated with the learned of every creed and religion." In a letter to
King Philip II of Spain, Akbar laments that so many people do not investigate their religious arguments, stating that most people will instead blindly "follow the religion in which [they] were born and educated, thus excluding [themselves] from the possibility of ascertaining the truth, which is the noblest aim of the human intellect." By the time Akbar established the
Dīn-i Ilāhī, he had already repealed the
jizya (tax on non-Muslims) over a decade earlier in 1568. A religious experience while he was hunting in 1578 further increased his interest in the religious traditions of his empire. From the discussions held at the Ibādat Khāna, Akbar concluded that no single religion could claim the monopoly of truth. This revelation inspired him to leave Islam and create a new religion,
Dīn-i Ilāhī, in 1582 and Akbar along with his loyal officials converted to this new religion
Dīn-i Ilāhī in 1582. This conversion of Akbar to
Dīn-i Ilāhī angered various Muslims, among them the
qadi of the
Bengal Subah and Shaykh
Ahmad Sirhindi, who responded by declaring it to be
blasphemy to Islam. Some modern scholars have argued that the
Din-i Ilahi was a spiritual discipleship of Akbar of his own belief which he propounded in his new religion.
After Akbar Dīn-i Ilāhī appears to have survived Akbar according to the
Dabestān-e Mazāheb. However, the movement was suppressed by force after his death and was totally eradicated by
Aurangzeb, a task made easier by the fact that the religion never had more than 19 adherents. but any prospects of an official revival were halted by his brother, Aurangzeb, who executed him on grounds of
apostasy. Aurangzeb later compiled the
Fatawa-e-Alamgiri, reimposed the
jizya, and established
Islamic law across the
Indian subcontinent, spreading
Islamic orthodoxy and extinguishing any chance of religious reform for generations. ==Beliefs and practices==