Akbar the Great – Mughal Emperor – GK

Humayun’s son Akbar was born on 15 October 1542 AD in the palace of Rana Virasal at Amarkot. His mother was Hamida Banu Begum. Akbar ascended the throne on 14 February 1556 AD (at Kalanure) at the age of only 13 years and 4 months. He died on October 25, 1605, at the age of 63 suffering from illness. This article provides general knowledge and short notes on the Mughal emperor Akbar.

Beginning of Akbar’s Reign:

The initial phase of Akbar’s reign lasted from 1556 to 1560 AD. The second phase of Akbar’s reign lasted from 1560 to 1605 AD.

Extra: Bairam Khan served as Akbar’s guardian from 1556-1560 AD. Being guardian, he (considerably) laid the foundations of the Mughal Empire. Bairam Khan held the post of ‘Vakil’. He was conferred with the title of ‘Khan-i-Khanan‘. Bairam Khan’s wife was Salima Begum and his son was Abdur Rahman Khan-i-Khanan.

Akbar defeated Adil Shah’s general Himu (Sur Empire) (who assumed the title ‘Vikramaditya‘) in the Second Battle of Panipat on 5 November 1556 AD. Akbar’s guardian Bairam Khan played an important role in this war.

Antahpur (Royal household) Reign: The ‘Antahpur Reign‘ was ruled from 1560 to 1562 under the leadership of Maham Anga¹, the foster mother of Akbar and her son Adham Khan.

^*1Extra Info: Maham Anga was Akbar’s chief nurse before he ascended the throne at the age of thirteen. Adam Khan was regarded as a prominent one of the imperial family. Maham Anga was in charge of the family and harem. In 1560, Adam Khan tricked Bairam Khan not coming to India. Also, Adam Khan managed to convince Akbar that he was seventeen and, he did not need Bairam. Akbar dismissed Bairam Khan and sent him on a pilgrimage to Mecca. As a result, much of the former power passed to Maham Anga.

Extra Info: Bairam Khan was deposed by Akbar in 1560 AD. Khan was killed by an Afghan assailant on his way to Mecca (January 31, 1561 AD).

Expansion of the Mughal Empire:

Akbar played an important role in the expansion of the Mughal empire.

1. 1561: Akbar conquered Malab or Malwa.
2. 1562: Akbar married the daughter of Ajmer’s king Raja Bihari Mal. Raja Bihari Mal completely surrenderd.
3. 1564: He conquered the Gondwana kingdom. In this battle, the minor King Veer Narayan and his guardian Rajmata Queen Durgavati lost their lives.
4. 1568: He conquered Chittor. This incident surrendered many of the Rajputs.
5. 1570: Bikanir (Kalyanmal) and Jaisalmer (Har Rai) surrendered to Akbar.
6. 1572: Akbar captured Gujarat by killing Muzaffar Shah.
7. 1575: He defeated Daud Karrani, the ruler of Bengal in the Battle of Tukaroi.
8. 1575: Bengals Afghan rulers surrendered to Akbar.
9. 1576: Akbar’s generals Man Singh and Asaf Khan defeated Rana Pratap in the Battle of Haldighat and Mebar fell completely.
10. 1581: He captured Kabul.
11. 1586: Akbar conquered Kashmir in 1586.
12. 1591: Akbar conquered Sindh.
13. 1595: Akbar conquered Afghanistan.
14. 1600: Akbar conquered Ahmadnagar. Chand Bibi or Chand Sultana of Ahmednagar was resisting Akbar.
15. 1601: He conquered Khandesh in 1601.
16. 1601: The last battle of Akbar was the siege of the Asirgarh fort in 1601.

Religious Policies of Akbar:

1. Mughal emperor Akbar introduced liberal religious Policies.
2. 1563: Akbar abolished the Tirthankar tax in 1563.
3. 1564: He abolished the Jizya tax in 1564.
4. 1575: Akbar established the Ibadatkhana (large prayer hall) for religious discussions at Fatehpur Sikri. The saints who participated here were Purushottam and Devi (Hindu), Haribijay Suri, Jinchandra Suri (Jain), Dastur Maharji Rana (Zoroastrian) and others.
5. 1578: Akbar allowed Hindus, Jains, Christians, and Zoroastrians to enter the assembly hall in addition to Muslims. The policy of tolerance of all religions followed by Akbar is known as ‘Sulh-e-Kul‘.
6. 1579: Akbar introduced ‘Majhar Nama‘ in 1579.
7. 1581-82: He also introduced ‘Tawhid-e-Ilahi‘ or ‘Din-e-Ilahi‘. Birbal was the only Hindu to accept Din-e-Ilahi.
8. 1582: He decided to close the Ibadatkhana completely due to mutual accusations in religious discussions.

Social Reforms and Revenue System of Akbar:

• He forbade Sati Daha and child marriage.
• During Akbar’s reign ‘Dahsala system‘ (taxation) and ‘Mansabdari system‘ (rank and salary of a Mansabdar) were introduced.
• He introduced the Jagirdari System, a modified version of the Iqta system introduced by Iltutmish.
• Akbar introduced the “Zabt” system replacing the earlier revenue collection system.
• He introduced Jalali (square) and Rupeeah (round) coins.

Focus: Faizi (poet) and Abul Fazl (historian) were sons of Akbar’s tutor Abdul Latif.

Extra Info: Foreign travelers Father Aquaviva and Antonio Monsaret (Portuguese) came to India during Akbar’s reign.

Architecture During Akbar Reign:

• 1560–1561: Akbar built Humayun’s tomb (in Delhi).
• 1564–1573: He built Ajmer fort.
• 1565–1574: Built fort at Agra.
• 1569–1574: At Fatehpur Sikri, Emperor Akbar built the Buland Darwaza (commemorating the victory of Gujarat). It is also known as the ‘City of Victory’.
• 1583–1584: Akbar built Allahabad Fort on the banks of the river Yamuna.
• 1583: He also built the “Palace of Forty Pillars” (palace-fortress) at Agra.
• 1583–1584: Allahabad fort.
• 1586–1618: Lahore Fort.

Extra Info: The Palace-Fortress of Agra was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.

Arts and Culture:

• ‘Ain-e-Akbari‘ and ‘Akbarnama‘ (both written in Persian and divided into three parts) were written by Abul Fazal who was the grand vizier of Akbar.
• Nizamuddin Ahmed wrote ‘Tabaqat-e-Akbari‘ (Written in Persian) which Covers the first phase of Mughal rule up to 39 years of Akbar’s rule.
• Moula Daud in his book ‘Tawarikh-e-Alfi‘ (Written in Persian) described Akbar’s reign.
• Writer Badauni provided a critical interpretation of Akbar’s reign and Akbar’s religious policies in his book ‘Muntakhab-ul-Tawarikh‘ (Written in Persian).

Hindi, Sanskrit and other vernacular literature

Notable Hindi literatures of his time were –

1. The poem ‘Padmavati‘ by Malik Mohammad Jayasi.
2. ‘Ramcharitmanas‘, ‘Vinaya Patrika’, ‘Gitabali’, ‘Kavitabali’, ‘Dohabali’, ‘Parvati Mangal’ etc. by Tulsidas.
3. ‘Sursagar‘ by Surdas (love composition of Radha and Kri).
4. Prembatika‘ by Raskhan Das.
5. ‘Kabipriya’, ‘Ramachandrika’, ‘Rasikpriya’, ‘Alankrit O Manjuri’ etc. by Keshav Das.
6. Besides, Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan’s Dohas were also famous.

Akbar was also the patron of the Sanskrit language. The first ‘Sanskrit-Persian’ dictionary was compiled at that time. Akbar’s poets were Jagannath Pandit, Kavindra, Acharya Saraswati, Vedancharya etc.

Akbar’s Nine Gems (Navratnas)