The Shadow of God on Earth

The formation of the Mughal Empire (1526–1857) initiated an unprecedented age of creativity, which continues to reverberate around the world today. In the first century of rule in particular, a cosmopolitan atmosphere of artistic, religious and technological exchange flourished.

Although the Mughals were Muslims of Central Asian origin and Persian was the official administrative language, they ruled over a population in India with a diversity of beliefs. Artists and craftsmen from across the subcontinent and beyond were employed to create a wealth of paintings, textiles and decorative arts, which were the result of a confluence of Hindu, Persian and European influences. This new hybrid style was distinctly Mughal.

During the Golden Age of the Mughal Empire, Akbar the Great (1556–1605) actively fostered interfaith co-existence in India and promoted dialogues and conducted religious discussions at his court in Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, with a diversity of theologians, poets, scholars and philosophers. Akbar referred to himself as the Shadow of God on earth and attempted to resolve the socio-political and cultural differences in his empire by establishing a divine theory of his own, in the form of a new expression of faith, Din-i-Ilahi. A short-lived ethical system, the Din-i Ilahi integrated elements of Sufism, Catholicism and Jainism.