The historian who labeled Akbar’s ‘Din-i-Ilahi’ a religion was Abdul Qadir Badauni. As an orthodox Muslim theologian and chronicler, Badauni was severely critical of Akbar’s syncretic policies, viewing the Din-i-Ilahi not as a philosophy but as a heretical new religion designed to displace Islam. The correct answer is (C) Abdul Qadir Badauni.
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The contemporary historian who explicitly referred to Akbar’s ‘Din-i-Ilahi’ as a religion was Abdul Qadir Badauni. Badauni, an orthodox ulema who had fallen out of favor with Akbar’s increasingly liberal court, viewed the new system with intense disdain and hostility. His work, the ‘Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh’, passionately condemns Din-i-Ilahi, portraying it as a dangerous innovation intended to undermine Islam. Modern historians generally agree that Din-i-Ilahi was a socio-religious order or syncretic philosophy, not a full-fledged religion.