Din-i-Ilahi and Its management perspective

India has been and is still a land of varied culture and diversities. There are twenty two
languages “official” as the language of eight schedules while as per census of 2001 almost 29
languages were spoken in India though primarily the languages of India belong to two major
linguistic families of Indo-Aryan and Dravidian. A peep into the calendar 2008 indexing The
Indian Festivals of all regions and religions count approx to four hundred seventy five and
above. If bharatnatyaam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, Odisi forms a part for
the classical dances then there are more than sixty eight regional folk dances prevalent in
India. As per 2001 census report around 80.46 % are Hindus, 13.43 % being Muslims, 2.34
% as Christians while 1.87 % belongs to Sikhs, 0.77 % belonging to Buddhism, the Jainism
counting at 0.41 % and the remaining Animist and others share 0.65 %.

“Culture refers to a system of shared meanings and beliefs held by organizational members
that determines, in large degree, how they act. It represents a common perception held by the
organization’s members.”
Prof. Rajesh Asrani

“Diversity refers to human qualities that are different from our own and those of groups to
which we belong; but that are manifested in other individuals and groups”.

Dimensions of Diversity:
• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Country of Origin
• Language and communications
• Physical abilities
• Race
• Religious beliefs
 • Educational background
• Present Geographical location
• Income
• Marital Status
• Parental status
• Work experience
• Job Classification
• Sexual Orientation

Diversity is not confined to only the above stated attributes. In the context of workplace
diversity means creating a workplace that respects and includes differences recognizing the
unique contributions that each individual contributes irrespective of such differences and
making the workplace conducive for maximizing potentials of the employees.

According to Geert Hofstead there are four dimensions along which managers in international
organizations tend to view cultural differences. Those are
• Power distance: the extent to which a society accepts the fact that power in
organizations is distributed unequally.
• Individualism/collectivism: the extent to which people act on their own or as a part of
a group.
• Uncertainty avoidance: the extent to which people in a society feel threatened by
uncertain and ambiguous situations.
• Masculinity/feminity: the extent to which a society values quantity of life (e.g.
accomplishment, money) over quality of life (e.g. compassion, beauty).
www.google.com

The picture above states about a reign where India and the ruler tried to attain utmost
harmony and peace and attempted to have solutions to cross cultural diversities. A major
color of unity in diversity was made when the Mughals came to India.

Ten Commandments of Din-i-Ilahi

• Liberality and beneficence.

• Forgiveness of the evil doer and repulsion of anger with mildness.
• Abstinence from worldly desires.
• Care of freedom from the bonds of the worldly existence and violence as well as
accumulating precious stores for the future real and perpetual world.
• Wisdom and devotion in the frequent meditation on the consequences of actions.
• Strength of dexterous prudence in the desire of marvelous actions.
• Soft voice, gentle words, pleasing speeches for every body.
• Good treatment with brethren, so that their will may have the precedence to our own.
• A perfect alienation from creatures and a perfect attachment to the Supreme Being.
• Dedication of soul in the love of God and union with God the preserver of all.

The new Entrant to Din-I-Ilahi

The fitness of the intending entrants was tested by his readiness to sacrifice Property, Life,
Religion and Honour. It was not that each of the Ilahians would be in a position to sacrifice
all those four treasures of lire all at one time; some might sacrifice one and some two and so
on. The stage of the entrant was styled in a nomenclature peculiar to the order and was called
"Degree." They were said to have obtained degree with reference to these four degrees were
defined as "oath of fealty" in 1579 when the Din-i-Ilahi was not even thought of, as marks of
loyalty to the throne. When the Din was promulgated they were included in the preliminaries.
Before introduction into the order the entrant, was examined and if found fit, would be
admitted for initiation. The new entrant was introduced on Sundays. The intending was to
approach the Emperor with his turban on the ground and on approaching the Emperor should
bow his forehead down to His Majesty's feet. This is symbolical; the turban is the symbol of
conceit and selfishness, so putting off of the Turban symbolized the putting off of pride and
conceit. The Emperor as usual with Sufi mode of initiation accepted him as his disciple and
raised him from the ground and put the turban on his head. The initiation was by batch of
twelve and by turns.
They were to offer Zaminbos to the Emperor. The “Initiated” was called “Chelas”, an Indian
term meaning “disciples”. They formed a brotherhood amongst themselves, and had a
common symbol called “Shast” in which “The Great Name” was engraved an the symbolic
motto of “Allaho Akbar” was inscribed. The teaching inculcated was the pure “Shast” and
“the pure sight shall never err."

Rules of Conduct amongst the Disciples

To the Emperor, the Chelas were to offer Zaminbos and prostrate before him. The King used
to give them “Darshan” from his window called “Darsharniya Manzil” (House of Royal
Appearance). If a member met another member he was to greet him with “Allaho Akbar” and
the other was to respond with “Jalle Jalalahu”.

Changes Akbar inducted in his ruling and policies:

• Akbar used to pray three times a day and not five times as prescribed in Islam for
namaz and the same was urged for the Ilahians.
• The usual customary form of salutation “As-Salaam-e-Kum” and “waalekum-as-
salaam” was changed as he wanted that persons should remember their origin and
existence and to keep the deity in fresh and grateful remembrance.
• No separate mosques were built for the Ilahians which proves the point that Akbar
was in no support of forceful conversion of religion or propaganda of religion.
• Elimination of Jizya tax on Hindus was done by Akbar.
• The evolution of Mansabdari was a system designed by Akbar which states the
Mansabdar to collect revenue and other dues.

Practices of the Ilahians:

• Not to feast after death

• To feast of life during life
• To avoid flesh as far as possible
• Not to take anything slain by one's own self
• Not to eat with butchers, fishers and bird catchers
• Not to cohabit neither with pregnant, old and barren women nor with women under
the age of puberty.
 • Political Alliances in form of Marriages with Hindu Ruler’s daughters to expand his
kingdom.

Akbar was a great negotiator. He very well deciphered the point that to rule and expand his
territory he need to negotiate and coarse his counterpart He was a skilled persuader. Akbar
always aimed at religious harmony and peace. During his regime the persons with real talents
and managing capabilities. As an inquisitive inquirer endowed with the spirit of reason, he
learnt the Hindu alchemy and medicine and cultivated their Yoga system. He was an effective
negotiator.

The common characteristics of effective negotiators are having objective skills, patience
tranquil and a good knowledge about party with whom the proposed negotiation is to be
made. In the international arena, an effective negotiator would try to have a complete
knowledge about the history of the country in which he is going to negotiate. An effective
negotiator would be objective in the sense that he would not criticize the system, political
structure and form of government of the country in which he is negotiating. He should also
keep himself updated with the cultural dimensions of the country in which he proposes to
negotiate. It is very important for a negotiator to understand that cultural dimensions play an
important role in the process of negotiations. It is often seen that people belonging to ‘low
context cultures’ would have lower negotiation skills than those belonging to ‘high context
cultures’. Finally an effective negotiator would set apart all aggressions, exertions and
emotions during the process of negotiations.

Technical Ability Social Skills

Achievement Ascription
Scientific Skills Status
Legal training Personal Attributes
General Knowledge Kinship
Language fluency Social class
Source: - Robert T Moran William G strip: Dynamics of Successful International Business
Negotiations