Total Peace (sulh-i kull): A Mughal Solution to a Biblical Problem

Radhakrishnan Memorial Lectures 2019

Azfar Moin (Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Texas at Austin)
“Mughal Kingship and Oaths of Peace (sulh) in Islam”

Toward the end of the sixteenth century, the Mughal empire implemented Sulh-i Kull or ‘Total Peace (with all Religions)’. This policy, under which all religions were to be treated as equals, was unique among the Muslim and Christian empires of the early modern world. It was also controversial from an Islamic and Biblical perspective because it negated the supremacy of any one religion. In these lectures, Prof. Moin will explore the origins and nature of this Mughal policy. He will also examine how pre-modern Muslim kings in South Asia and elsewhere solved the general problem of peace-making and oath-taking across religious divides.

Image: Badshahi Mosque, Lahore.

Week 4: 22 May 2019
Total Peace (sulh-i kull): A Mughal Solution to a Biblical Problem

Week 5: 29 May 2019
The Caliph’s Body: A Relic of Peace (sulh)

Week 6: 5 June 2019
In God’s Name: The First Oath of Peace (sulh) in Islam

All lectures take place at 5pm in the Old Library, All Souls College