UPSC Prelims 2014 Question:

Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri was

Explanation:

• Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri is a place where Akbar held discussions with scholars of various religions. It was originally built as a debating house open only to sunni muslims.
  
  
• While Akbar was at Fatehpur Sikri during the 1570s, he started discussions on religion with the ulama, Brahmanas, Jesuit priests who were Roman Catholics, and Zoroastrians. These discussions took place in the ibadat khana.
  
  
• He was interested in the religion and social customs of different people. Akbar’s interaction with people of different faiths made him realise that religious scholars who emphasised ritual and dogma were often bigots. Their teachings created divisions and disharmony amongst his subjects.
  
  
• This eventually led Akbar to the idea of sulh-i kul or “universal peace”. This idea of tolerance did not discriminate between people of different religions in his realm. Instead, it focused on a system of ethics – honesty, justice, peace – that was universally applicable.
  
  

Therefore, option (3) is the correct answer.

Subject: History | Mughal Empire