Dumb Mahal, which took away the voice of 12 children, so that they could never speak or understand, what was that experiment?

Emperor Akbar, known in history for his religious tolerance and intelligence, conducted an experiment that changed the lives of 12 innocent children forever. This experiment rendered the children mute forever.

This incident happened towards the end of the 16th century, when Akbar was curious about the origin of the language. Out of his curiosity and for the answer, he sacrificed twelve innocent children. The purpose of this experiment was to know whether a person knows any language by birth? For this, such a decision was taken which defamed Akbar.

What was the experiment?
At that time there was a debate among scholars whether language is innate or learned? Can children speak a natural language, such as Sanskrit, Arabic or Hebrew, without hearing it? Or does language come through listening and learning? Akbar decided that he would answer this question through experiment. He built a separate palace, which was called ‘Gang Mahal’ or ‘Goong Mahal’. Newborn babies were kept in it. The care of these children was entrusted to the hands of dumb nurses or nurses, who were under strict instructions never to talk to the children or make any sound. No one was allowed to speak in the palace. Children should be completely deprived of language, so that it can be seen what language they speak on their own or remain completely silent. According to some historians, Akbar believed that language comes from hearing, so without hearing children would be mute. Other versions say that he was searching for the primal language that God might have given to humans.

This is what happened
This experiment is mentioned in Mughal court historian Abul Fazal’s ‘Ain-e-Akbari’ and ‘Akbarnama’. This experiment, which started around 1578, lasted for about 3-4 years. Akbar himself went to the palace in 1582. There he saw that the children were not speaking any words. No crying, no screaming, no talking. Only silent sounds or gestures. Abul Fazal wrote, “No Tilism-e-Bol came out, there were only the voices of the dumb.” In some reports the number of children is said to be 12, in some 20-30. Critics like Badayuni linked this to Akbar’s religious curiosity, where he wanted to see which religion’s language the children would speak. But the result was disappointing. The children could not speak. He used to talk through signs. An interesting thing is that the word ‘Gang’ did not just mean ‘dumb’ but also meant ‘one who talks with gestures’. The silent nurses probably signaled to each other, and the children also learned the same. That is, oral language did not come, but a kind of sign language developed.