How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
dailytimes.com.pk
How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
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Re: How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
#2Akbar was one of the more interesting monarchs in human history. He was quite tolerant for the time, so much so that he created his own syncretic religion that aimed to soothe tensions among his subjects.[1]
He also had an official biography written, the Akbarnama, [2] which is a pretty fascinating look behind the throne of Mughal India. It includes chapters on the imperial kitchen, coins used in the empire, army encampments, and more. [3]
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Din-i_Ilahi
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akbarnama
3. http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00litlinks/abul...
Re: How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
#3I remember a John Green history video which subverted the traditional understanding of Akbar and Aurangzeb (the former not actually as tolerant and good a ruler as previously thought, the latter not actually as harsh and austere as previously thought).
Re: How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
#4Ironically, even though he loved books and the pursuit of knowledge, when the British envoy first presented him a printed Bible, he was not impressed by it and is said to have commented that his calligraphers could create much better looking books than such ugly ones! The Mughals cared too much about art and military to realise how much the printed books would revolutionise the world.
Re: How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
#5Wasn't the guy probably dyslexic?
Re: How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
#6Akbar was one of the more interesting monarchs in human history. He was quite tolerant for the time, so much so that he created his own syncretic religion that aimed to soothe tensions among his subjects.[1] He also had an official biography written, the Akbarnama , [2] which is a pretty fascinating look behind the throne of Mughal India. It includes chapters on the imperial kitchen, coins used in the empire, army en…
His creation of his own religion might be the reason that tensions still exist in that region or maybe its just people. Interestingly, he was a brilliant commander even though people call him illiterate, he preferred his own way of studying which meant understanding topics at his own pace instead of cramming. Just shows us how only education has nothing to do with being tolerant or being brilliant.
Re: How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
#7I suspect Akbar’s “illiteracy” like the similar case of Charlemange, was probably performative. Both were representing dynasties whose people were recently considered barbarians. While being a sponsor of learning brings great prestige, being too literate can make you look soft and corrupted by decadent civilization (Chinese history has a repeated pattern of coups like this against conquering inner Asians who became too Chinese). Not a serious historical theory mind you, just some irresponsible speculation
Re: How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
#8Wasn't the guy probably dyslexic?
Where do you come to this conclusion from?
There is one line in the entire article about that:
"Ellen Smart in her 1981 essay makes the case that Akbar may have been dyslexic, though there is little evidence or corroborating facts in support of this."
Do you have any sources?
Re: How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
#9Akbar was one of the more interesting monarchs in human history. He was quite tolerant for the time, so much so that he created his own syncretic religion that aimed to soothe tensions among his subjects.[1] He also had an official biography written, the Akbarnama , [2] which is a pretty fascinating look behind the throne of Mughal India. It includes chapters on the imperial kitchen, coins used in the empire, army en…
His creation of his own religion might be the reason that tensions still exist in that region or maybe its just people. Interestingly, he was a brilliant commander even though people call him illiterate, he preferred his own way of studying which meant understanding topics at his own pace instead of cramming. Just shows us how only education has nothing to do with being tolerant or being brilliant.
Tensions mostly exist in the region because of colonialism and the poorly-managed independence of India and subsequently of Pakistan. If, nonetheless, you wanted to pin the blame for modern religious issues in South Asia on a Mughal, it would probably be Aurangzeb, Akbar’s great-grandson, who was definitely not tolerant.
Re: How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)
#10Akbar was one of the more interesting monarchs in human history. He was quite tolerant for the time, so much so that he created his own syncretic religion that aimed to soothe tensions among his subjects.[1] He also had an official biography written, the Akbarnama , [2] which is a pretty fascinating look behind the throne of Mughal India. It includes chapters on the imperial kitchen, coins used in the empire, army en…
His creation of his own religion might be the reason that tensions still exist in that region or maybe its just people. Interestingly, he was a brilliant commander even though people call him illiterate, he preferred his own way of studying which meant understanding topics at his own pace instead of cramming. Just shows us how only education has nothing to do with being tolerant or being brilliant.
How could religion that died +-with him 400 years ago and nobody worships anymore could have any effect on tensions these days? People even today are often primitive when it comes to handling their emotions, generally easy to manipulate and so on. Those are more sources of issues