Akbar And The Arrow

 

One evening in 16th century Delhi, the air was suddenly filled with shouts of panic. They were coming from the crossing just outside the madrasa of Maham Anga. An attempt had been made to assassinate Mughal emperor Akbar, who was was returning from a visit to the dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin. An arrow had pierced his right shoulder.

In the bazaar outside the madrasa, shopkeepers were in a state of frenzy, trying to escape the scene as the emperor’s guards searched for the culprit, smashing any items in their way. The public looked on from a safe distance at the unfolding events.

In no time, the man who shot the arrow from the balcony of the madrasa was caught and brought before the wounded emperor. The courtiers suggested that he be interrogated, but Akbar ordered his immediate execution. Akbar was safe, but the aura of the Mughal empire was shaken. The culprit was a slave of Mirza Sharfuddin, a noble in Akbar’s court whose rebellion had recently been curbed. While the attack – which reduced the emperor to a mortal – may have been executed on Sharfuddin’s orders, its roots lay elsewhere.

The origin of that evening’s events can be traced back to when Maham Anga, Akbar’s foster mother, became the sole power holder in the Mughal court following her ousting of Bairam Khan, Akbar’s tutor who was the de facto ruler during the early years of his reign, from the political scene. She had convinced Akbar that in Bairam Khan’s presence, he would not be able to exercise authority. The power was then appropriated by Anga, who can be seen in artistic depictions of Akbar’s court, conducting the affairs of the state sitting next to the emperor

There are two varying accounts of the assassination attempt. The main element of the episode is the location: the madrasa of Maham Anga, now known as Khairul Manazil, which stands just opposite the entrance of Purana Qila. The madrasa was run by Maham Anga and her followers.

In the two accounts, one of Abul Fazl and the other of Abdul Qadir Badauni, the motive is disputed. According to Abul Fazl, the arrow was shot by a man standing near the madrasa.  The man, he adds, was a slave of the rebel Sharfuddin’s father, and thus indirectly attributes the rebellion as motive for the attempt. Badauni also records that the man was standing at the balcony of Maham Anga’s madrasa and that he was Sharfuddin’s slave. But he says the reason behind the attack was the disparate nature of the emperor’s matrimonial alliances with the zamindars of Delhi. Badauni displaces the political nature of the attack and places it in a dimension where Akbar’s actions were the reason.

Neither mention Anga’s role, but Abul Fazl’s narrative provides scope for reconstruction of a long series of interconnected events which begin with her death. Badauni leaves no scope for any such reconstruction.