For ‘though illiterate’, agreed the Jesuits, ‘[Akbar] loved to hear discussions on points of theology and philosophy and with an open mind, listened to any man learned in the law, whether he was Parsee or Hindu or Christian’. Akbar had heard of the renown of the Jain priest, Hiravijaya Suri. According to Jain folklore, Akbar happened to witness a religious procession celebrating six months of fasting by a Jain monk Champa and was intrigued.
