Abu’l Fazal wrote ain-i-akbari, who described Akbar’s love for Gangajal. Akbar once drank Gangajal that he brought to him from Uttar Pradesh and Haridwar. He also uses Gangajal to eat Gangajal through food, as it is cooked with Jamuna and Chenab water.
This Mughal emperor only drank Ganga, and other emperors also prefer…
Ganga River, Jamuna, Saraswati and others are the most sacred holy rivers in India. According to Indian mythology, they were given this status and therefore people began to worship them from ancient times. Indus Valley civilization was also formed around these rivers. It is surprising, however, that although the Indians had worshipped the river for centuries, the Mughal Emperor also realized the importance of these rivers and thus incorporated their waters into his lifestyle.
Mughal Emperor Akba’s love for Gangar
Akbar once drank Gangajal that he brought to him from Uttar Pradesh and Haridwar. When Agra became his capital, he used to drink Gangajal from certain parts of Uttar Pradesh, and when he moved his capital to Lahore, he drank Gangajal from Haridwar. Not only did he drink alcohol, he also used it to consume Ganga through food, as it was cooked with Jamuna and Chenab water.
Abu’l Fazal wrote ain-i-akbari in the Akbar era, and he described Akbar’s love for Gangajal. He is one of the nine gemstones in the court of Akbar, and his Vizier also wrote Akbarnama.
Historian Dr. Ram Nath, in his book The Private Life of the Mujar, states that Akbar can only consume Gangajal in the water at home and even when traveling. He once paid attention to the water he drank without poison, so he used to have only trustworthy people on the banks of the Ganges, who once gave him his water in sealed jars.
The connection between Mughals and Ganges and their uses
In addition to Akbar, his father Humayun and his grandfather and the founder of the Mughal dynasty Babur also once preferred Ganga. After defeating the last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, after setting it down in Industan in 1526, Ibrahim Lodhi missed the colder areas of Uzbekistan at the time, and thus discovered the coldness in the Ganges waters. His son Humayun also liked it more because of his father.
Another option for Ganga is Jamuna, which flows between Delhi and Agra. In older Indian texts, many stories surrounding the Ganges describe their purity and benefits. One of them is that it is pure because it is not contaminated by anything and therefore can be stored for a long time. But it is Akbar that popularized the use of Gangajal.
Ganga, the goddess of all rivers worshipped, also believed that people could wash away all their sins by immersing themselves in this holy water. People of the contemporary era worship it and believe in getting rid of their sins by dipping a little in the Ganges.
