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Akbar's Lechery > Page1
On page 31 Smith says, "Abul Fazl never tires of repeating that Akbar during his early years remained behind a veil. What he means thereby is that Akbar used to spend most of his time in his harem." On page 82 Smith informs us that Aquaviva "the good (Jesuit) father had boldly dared to reprove the emperor sharply for his licentious relations with women...Akbar blushingly excused himself." Abul Fazl, describing Akbar's harem, says: "His Majesty has made a large enclosure with fine buildings inside where he reposes. Though there are more than 5,000 women (in the harem) he has given to each a separate apartment." This apartment portion is of course a lie because there is no building of Akbar's time, where 5,000 women could have been accommodated in separate apartments.
On page 276 of Ain-i-Akbari, Vol. I, edited by Blochman, Abul Fazl tells the reader: "His Majesty has established a wine shop near the palace...The prostitutes of the realm who collected at the shop could scarcely be counted so large was their number...The dancing girls used to be taken home by the courtiers...if any well known courtiers wanted to have a virgin they should first have His Majesty' permission. In the same way, boys prostituted themselves and drunkenness and ignorance soon led to bloodshed...His Majesty himself called some of the principal prostitutes and asked them who had deprived them of their virginity?"
A pertinent question would be who were these so called prostitutes? Where from did a whole army of prostitutes suddenly descend on Akbar's realm, like a swarm of locusts? The answer is that these ever-increasing prostitutes were none other than decent Hindu women whose homes were daily raided and plundered and after their men folk were either massacred or converted, were haplessly left to fend for themselves and exposed to the mercy of sex hungry Mussalman courtiers.
Despite an exclusive harem of 5,000 women, and all the virgin prostitutes of the realm whose virginity, as Abul Fazl tells us, was at Akbar's exclusive royal command and could not be violated without special permission by any courtier, the honor of the wives of noblemen and courtiers was itself always subject to Akbar's sexy pleasure. In Vol. III of Akbarnama, edited by Sir Jadu Nath Sarkar, Abul Fazl says: "Whenever Begams or the wives of nobles, or other women of chaste (sic) character, desire to be presented, they first notify their wish to the servants of the seraglio and wait for a reply. From thence they send their requests to the officers of the palace after which those who are eligible (sic) are permitted to enter the harem. Some women of rank obtained permission to remain there for a whole month."
Remembering that Abul Fazl had the reputation of being a shameless flatterer, the above passage is a clear admission that Akbar used to compel wives of courtiers and noblemen, toward whom he felt sufficiently attracted to remain within his harem at least for a month at a time.
The conclusion is further reinforced by a perusal of the conditions of the treaty of Ranthambhore. The first condition as listed by Vincent Smith was "that the chiefs of Bundi (who owned the fort) be exempt from that custom degrading to a Rajput of sending a bride to the royal harem." Akbar thus had made it a pernicious custom to demand choicest women from the household of vanquished foes. Thus all women in territories conquered by Akbar, whether commoner or of noble or royal descent, were at Akbar's mercy.
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