Evaluate the contribution of Abul Fazl as a historian of Akbar’s reign:
The most celebrated official history, which should have the
pride of place is ‘Akbarnamah’ of Abul Fazl, who undertook it under the
specific orders of Akbar.
Sheikh Abul Fazl, the son of Sheikh Mubarak of Nagaur was
born at Agra on 14 Jan 1551. He was a born genius, who completed his education by
his 15th year and became a teacher by his 20th year.
In 1573 he was introduced to Akbar, who quickly perceived
his sharp intellect and made him his close associate. He rose quickly in Akbar’s
esteem and gained one after another very responsible posts in the Empire. Whatever
he touched he turned into a great success, whether it was in the arena of
scholarship, politics, diplomacy, or warfare. But he is known to the world
mostly as a historian.
He wielded a very powerful pen which was well utilized for
his monumental work, when Akbar asked him to present a sincere and truthful account
of the happenings of the Empire. Abul Fazl states how he set about doing this
job, which was all not very easy. Very painstakingly he labored hard to collect
the material, interrogated numerous officers, nobles and dignitaries and
examined young and old witnesses in order to exact information from them. He caused
a royal decree issued to all the provinces to furnish him every bit of relevant
data on administration, social conditions and economic life.
Special care was taken to see that correct information was
furnished which was to be recited in the royal hearing. The result was the daily
inundation of official reports in his office, which became a massive record office.
Great pains were taken to obtain the original orders issued to the provinces
from the Centre, the reports of the ministers and higher officers which were
all scrutinized and utilized. Whenever any doubts occurred, he consulted Akbar
himself.
Abul Fazl wanted to write four volumes on Akbar’s reign and
a fifth volume on the administrative institutions. Abul Fazl was so keen on doing
the job well that he revised the original draft five times until it came up to
his expectations. The volume on administration was completed in 1593. When the
main work, ‘Akbarnamah’ was completed in 1598, it created a sensation. This work
is regarded as the most complete and authentic history of Akbar’s reign. In terms
of the authenticity of information obtained, the variety of topics covered, the
critical and analytical method adopted, the honesty and sincerity of purpose
displayed and the analysis and interpretations presented all such that it is a
class by itself.
Abul Fazl rightly deserves the title of Histographer-Royal
of the Mughals. A contemporary remarks about his style, ‘Abul Fazl stands
unrivalled. His style is grand and free from technicalities and flimsy pettiness
of other munshis, the suitableness of his compounds, and the elegance of his
periods are such that it would be difficult for anyone to imitate him’.
The Akbarnamah is a comprehensive history of the reign of
Akbar. The first part deals with Babar and Humayun, the second part deals with Akbar
from his accession to 1602, and the third part is ‘Ain-e-Akbari’ that deals
with the administrative machinery of the government. It is a mine of information
that gives us minutest details on the extent, resources, conditions,
population, industry, trade and commerce of the empire.
Abul Fazl regarded History as ‘a unique pearl of science
which quiets perturbations, physical and spiritual, and gives light to darkness,
external and internal’. He declares that he complied this history with a
scrupulous regard for truth. ‘It was his practice to be critical of self and
indulgent of others’. Akbar’s age witnessed a great awakening in social,
political and religious areas, and Akbar himself was the main source for the
great change. Abul Fazl attempted to capture the mood of the age and depicted
the manners of the people, so that prosperity could appreciate the powerful
impact that one enlightened monarch could bring about in all vital areas of
human activity.
Abul Fazl depicts the spirit of the age, its arts and
social life, its administration and culture. Akbar realized the basic needs of
the time, a strong monarch, a liberal outlook which would bring down the barriers
between man and man and political stability and social solidarity which were
all needed to push India forward to the level of the most advanced nations of
the world. He did succeed in his efforts, as he was ably assisted in his endeavor
by a band of selfless associates who were sincerely loyal to him and who genuinely
believed in the nobility and necessity of his mission.
Akbar needed a wide publicity for his policies and programs
and no medium was more suited in those days than that of history, and no better
historian could be thought of for the purpose than Abul Fazl. It was the greatness
of Akbar that he had a discerning eye which could at once detect who was suited
most for a particular job.
Despite the numerous virtues of ‘Akbarnamah’ as a great
work, it cannot be denied that hit was not altogether free from subjective
approach. Abul Fazl believed in Akbar as saints believe in God. Abul Fazl was first
an artist and then a scientist and hence in many places Akbar’s vices have been
minimalized and virtues have been exaggerated. His style is not easy, lucid,
and captivating, but so terse and sophisticated that only serious scholars
could make good use of it. Abul Fazl says that he did not write for the
commoners, but only for the exalted and more so for the enlightened monarch.
The oriental languages in general and Persian in particular
are more suited for poetic and artistic purposes, and when an author adopts
almost an epic style in prose and attempts to produce a scientific treatise,
the natural confusion is imaginable. Consequently, the Akbarnamah unlike ‘Shahnamah’
of Firdausi or ‘Gulistan’ of Sadi is not on the lips of all those who know
Persian, but a sacred and celebrated book of reference, like an authority on jurisprudence
or an encyclopedia, consulted at times of compelling necessity but not read for
pleasure.
