In this article, we explore the longue durée philosophical background of Mughal Emperor Akbar’ssun worship. Although Akbar’s sun project may have been triggered by contemporary Hindu andZoroastrian... Show moreIn this article, we explore the longue durée philosophical background of Mughal Emperor Akbar’ssun worship. Although Akbar’s sun project may have been triggered by contemporary Hindu andZoroastrian ideas and practices, we argue that Akbar’s Neoplatonic advisers reframed it as a universalcosmotheistic tradition that, at the start of the new millennium, served as the perfect all-inclusiveimperial ideology of Akbar’s new world order. The astonishing parallels with the much earlierNeoplatonic sun cult of Roman Emperor Julian demonstrate that, although having characteristic ofits own, Akbar’s sun project was not that unique and should be seen as a fascinating late example ofa so-far completely forgotten ancient Neoplatonic legacy of seeing the philosopher king, via the Sun,via illumination, connected to the One. Show less
This unabashedly intuitive essay introduces Neoplatonism as a new category in global intellectual history. It highlights one particular moment in time when Neoplatonism became the cutting-edge,... Show moreThis unabashedly intuitive essay introduces Neoplatonism as a new category in global intellectual history. It highlights one particular moment in time when Neoplatonism became the cutting-edge, avant-garde intellectual force in both the Latinate West and the Persianate East. More specifically, by comparing Stuart England and Mughal India the essay uncovers a hitherto silent cord of commensurable royal courts stretching from the Thames to the Ganges. During a long sixteenth century (c. 1450-1650), this courtly continuum was the dazzling stage of a global Neoplatonic Renaissance. Whereas in Stuart England it showed primarily in emblematic fiction, in Mughal India it was an imperial dream come true. Show less
This article argues that ṣulḥ-i kull (peace for all) as a specific termwas introduced inthe 1590s by a small group of avant-garde Neoplatonists who worked at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar.... Show moreThis article argues that ṣulḥ-i kull (peace for all) as a specific termwas introduced inthe 1590s by a small group of avant-garde Neoplatonists who worked at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar. It was only in the following century that ṣulḥ-i kull developed into the ethos that became the ideological mainstay of Mughal rule both internally, for its administrative elites, and externally, vis-à-vis their main rivals: the Uzbeks in Central Asia and the Safavids in Iran. The early stages in the making of this ideology can be followed in some detail by studying Akbar’s neglected millennial history, the Tarikh-i Alfi. In fact, this vast Mughal world history demonstrates that apart from Neoplatonic akhlāq, there was another important building block that so far has been missing altogether in the making of ṣulḥ-i kull, that is, the practical model of the Pax Mongolica, as established under Chinggis Khan, the most famous of Mughal ancestors. Most crucially, it is in the Tarikh-i Alfi that we find the legacies of Persianate akhlāq and Mongol yasa (law) married to each other. In fact, it was through akhlāq that the peace of the Mongols became the Mughal peace for all. Show less
On the basis of the neglected Mughal world history, the Tarikh-i Alfi, this study investigates the making of immanentist cosmic kingship under the aegis of emperor Akbar. This remarkable chronicle... Show moreOn the basis of the neglected Mughal world history, the Tarikh-i Alfi, this study investigates the making of immanentist cosmic kingship under the aegis of emperor Akbar. This remarkable chronicle was part of a post-Islamic project to demarcate the end of the Islamic millennium and to announce the coming of Akbar as saviour with a new covenant of universal peace. During a global Neoplatonic Renaissance, it turned Akbar into a messianic philosopher-king. Different from his royal colleagues in the West, though, Akbar could build on an existing Neoplatonic legacy of Chinggisid rule and post-nomadic state-formation along the arid frontiers of the Islamic world. Show less
