EddieFrine at 01:20, 3 September 2025

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{{short description|Meeting house built in 1575 by Mughal Emperor Akbar for interfaith dialogue}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{religious text primary|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Ibādat Khāna
| native_name = House of Worship
| native_name_lang =
| religious_affiliation =
| image = Jesuits at Akbar's court.jpg
| image_upright =
| alt =
| caption = [[Akbar the Great]] holds a religious assembly in the Ibādat Khāna; the two men dressed in black are the [[Jesuit]] missionaries [[Rodolfo Acquaviva]] and [[Francisco Henriques]]. Illustration to the [[Akbarnama]] by [[Nar Singh]], c. 1605.
| tradition = [[Din-i Ilahi]]
| region = Fatehpur Sikri
| country = [[Mughal Empire]]
| founded_by = [[Akbar|Emperor Akbar]]
| established = c. 1575
}}

The '''Ibādat Khāna''' (House of Worship) was a meeting house built in 1575 CE by the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] Emperor [[Akbar]] (r. 1556–1605) at [[Fatehpur Sikri]] to gather spiritual/religious leaders of different religious grounds (and beliefs) so as to conduct a discussion and debates on the teachings of the respective religious leaders (if any).<ref name="sen2">{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |pages=171}}</ref>

In his eagerness to learn about different religions, Akbar built a hall of prayer at Fatehpur Sikri in 1575 known as the Ibadat Khana. At this place, he invited selected mystics, intellectuals and theologians, and held discussions on religious and spiritual themes. He invited scholars belonging to various religions such as Hinduism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and even atheists. He conducted religious debates with these people. They visited Ibadat Khana in the past and discussed their religious belief (and faiths) with Akbar. The result of these discussions at the Hall of Prayer led them to the conclusion that all religions lead to the same goal.

==Historical background==
Akbar built the Ibādat Khāna as a debating house.{{Clarify|date=March 2015}} He encouraged [[Hinduism|Hindus]], [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrians]], [[Jainism|Jains]], [[Buddhism|Buddhists]], [[Sikhism|Sikhs]] and even [[Cārvāka|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 Khan Karrani|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 [[Sufism|Sufi]] with a predilection for spiritual debates.<ref name="House of worship">{{cite journal|last=Smith|first=Vincent A.|title=Akbar's "House of Worship", or Ibadat-Khana|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|volume=49|issue=4|pages=715–722|publisher=JSTOR|jstor=25209315|year=1917|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00050814|s2cid=159864148 }}</ref>

===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 [[pantheism|pantheistic]] versions of Islamic [[Sufism]] (most notably [[Ibn Arabi]]'s doctrine of ''[[Sufi metaphysics|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 [[Acharya]]s [[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.<ref>[http://www.telelib.com/words/authors/T/TennysonAlfred/verse/deathofoenone/akbarsdreamnotes.html Notes to Akbar’s Dream], from The Death of Œnone, and Other Poems by Alfred Tennyson (1892).</ref>
[[File:Rodolfo Acquaviva diskutiert mit dem Großmogul.jpg|thumb|A painting depicting the scenes of the Ibādat Khāna.]]

==Discovery of Ibadat Khana==
Different archaeologists and historians had different thoughts on the location of Ibadat Khana. Saeed Ahmed Mararavi, followed by Athar Abbas Rizvi and Vincent Flynn suggested that the mound between Jama Masjid and Jodha Bai's Mahal is the site of Ibadat Khana. However, they had no tangible proof to support their argument. In early 1980s, [[K. K. Muhammed]] working under Prof. R. C. Gaur of [[Aligarh Muslim University]] excavated the mound and found the steps, platforms and boundary wall, which matched the painting of Ibadat Khana from Akbar's period.

==See also==
* [[Akbar the Great]]
* [[Dabestan-e Mazaheb]]
* [[Din-i-Ilahi]]
* [[Fatehpur Sikri]]
* [[Taj Mahal]]
* [[Jama Masjid]]
* [[Tomb of Salim Chishti]]
* [[Jodha Bai Mahal]]
* [[Naubat Khana]]

==Further reading==
* Akbar's "House of Worship", or 'Ibadat-Khana. Vincent A. Smith, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1927, pages 715-722.
*{{cite book|last= Rezavi|first=Dr. Syed Ali Nadeem|title=Religious Disputation and Imperial Ideology: The Purpose and Location of Akbar's Ibadatkhana|url=https://archive.org/stream/ReligiousDisputationAndImperialIdeologyThePurposeAndLocationOf/Ibadatkhana#page/n0/mode/2up|year=2008|publisher=SAGE Publications}}
* The Din-I-Ilahi Or The Religion Of Akbar. Makhan Lal Roy Choudhury. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. (Edition: 1997) {{ISBN|81-215-0777-4}}
* Jews and Judaism at the Court of the Moghul Emperors in Medieval India. Walter J. Fischel. Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 18. (1948–1949), pp. 137–177.
*Akbar's Personality Traits and World Outlook: A Critical Reappraisal. Iqtidar Alam Khan. Social Scientist, Vol. 20, No. 9/10. (Sep. - Oct., 1992), pp. 16–30.
* [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/ikram/part2_12.html Muslim Civilization in India]. [[S. M. Ikram]] (edited by [[Ainslie T. Embree]]). New York: Columbia University Press, 1964.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline|Ibādat Khāna}}

{{Mughal Empire}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Agra district]]
[[Category:Culture of the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:Religious pluralism]]
[[Category:16th-century Islam]]
[[Category:Fatehpur Sikri]]
[[Category:Akbar]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures of the Mughal Empire]]

Ibadat Khana - Revision history

EddieFrine at 01:20, 3 September 2025