Din-i Ilahi (Divine Faith)

Timeline

1. 1575–1580Ibadat Khana, Fatehpur Sikri · Fatehpur SikriAkbar established a house of worship in his new capital, convening Sunni ulama, Hindu scholars, Jains, Zoroastrians, and the first Jesuit mission to debate scriptures and law, exposing sectarian mutual recrimination and preparing public opinion for the emperor to establish an alternative syncretic authority.
2. 1579Fatehpur Sikri · Uttar PradeshA group of court ulama signed the mahzar, acknowledging Akbar's final adjudicatory authority in jurisprudential disputes, allowing the emperor to bypass conservative judges and bring religious arbitration into court administration, paving the way for the subsequent disciple-system experiment.
3. 1582–1585Fatehpur Sikri · Fatehpur SikriAkbar accepted a few confidants as disciples, requiring reverence for the sun, observance of specific etiquette, and absolute loyalty, mixing Islamic monotheism, Hinduism, and Zoroastrian elements; it was a court ethical society, not a proselytizing movement open to imperial subjects.
4. 1585–1605Lahore-Agra court · Indian subcontinentUlama and some nobles continuously attacked this disciple system; after Akbar's death Jahangir no longer maintained it, and the institution died with its founder. Its more lasting legacy was sulh-i kul-style imperial religious administration rather than an independent sectarian organization.