141 Facts About Akbar

Akbar is generally considered one of the greatest emperors in Indian history and led a successful campaign to unify the various kingdoms of Hindustan or India proper.

Akbar gradually enlarged the Mughal Empire to include much of the Indian subcontinent through Mughal military, political, cultural, and economic dominance.

Disillusioned with orthodox Islam and perhaps hoping to bring about religious unity within his empire, Akbar promulgated Din-i Ilahi, a syncretic creed derived mainly from Islam and Hinduism as well as elements of Zoroastrianism and Christianity.

Akbar was succeeded as emperor by his son, Prince Salim, later known as Jahangir.

Akbar spent his youth learning to hunt, run, and fight, and although he never learned to read or write, when he retired in the evening, he would have someone read to him.

In Kalanaur, Punjab, the 14-year-old Akbar was enthroned by Bairam Khan on a newly constructed platform and was proclaimed Shahanshah.

Akbar introduced organisational changes to the mansabdari system, establishing a hierarchical scale of military and civil ranks.

Akbar took an interest in matchlocks and effectively employed them during various conflicts.

Akbar sought the help of the Ottomans, as well as Europeans, especially the Portuguese and Italians, in procuring advanced firearms and artillery.

Akbar faced Hemu, a minister and general of one of the Sur rulers, who had proclaimed himself Hindu emperor and expelled the Mughals from the Indo-Gangetic Plains.

Akbar made a triumphant entry into Delhi, where he stayed for a month.

In 1558, Akbar took possession of Ajmer, the aperture to Rajputana, after the defeat and flight of its Muslim ruler.

Akbar made clear that he would stay in India, reintroducing the historical legacy of the Timurid Renaissance, in contrast to his grandfather and father, who reigned as transient rulers.

Akbar was defeated by the Mughal army in the Punjab and forced to submit.

Akbar forgave him and gave him the option of either continuing in his court or resuming his pilgrimage; Bairam chose the latter.

Akbar personally rode to Malwa to confront Adham Khan and relieve him of command.

Baz Bahadur temporarily regained control of Malwa until, in the next year, Akbar sent another Mughal army to invade and annexe the kingdom.

Still alive, Adham Khan was dragged up and thrown to the courtyard by Akbar to ensure his death.

Akbar pardoned the rebellious leaders, hoping to conciliate them, but they rebelled again; Akbar quelled their second uprising.

Akbar did not personally lead the campaign because he was preoccupied with the Uzbek rebellion, leaving the expedition in the hands of Asaf Khan, the Mughal governor of Kara.

Akbar went first to the Uzbeks, then returned to Gondwana where he was pursued by Mughal forces.

Finally, he submitted and Akbar restored him to his previous position.

Akbar sought to conquer Rajputana's heartlands, which had rarely previously submitted to the Muslim rulers of the Delhi Sultanate.

Akbar had the surviving defenders and 30,000 non-combatants massacred and their heads displayed upon towers erected throughout the region to demonstrate his authority.

Akbar remained in Chittorgarh for three days, then returned to Agra, where, to commemorate the victory, he set up statues of Jaimal and Patta mounted on elephants at the gates of his fort.

Akbar would celebrate his conquest of Rajputana by laying the foundation of a new capital, 23 miles west-southwest of Agra, in 1569.

Akbar first moved against Gujarat, which lay in the crook of the Mughal provinces of Rajputana and Malwa.

Akbar intended to link the maritime state with the massive resources of the Indo-Gangetic plains.

In 1572, Akbar moved to occupy Ahmedabad, the capital, and other northern cities, and was proclaimed the lawful sovereign of Gujarat.

Akbar then returned to Fatehpur Sikiri, where he built the Buland Darwaza to commemorate his victories.

Akbar then returned to Fatehpur Sikri and left his generals to finish the campaign.

Akbar was defeated by the Mughal general Khan Jahan Quli and fled into exile.

Akbar's severed head was sent to Akbar, while his limbs were gibbeted at Tandah, the Mughal capital in Bengal.

Akbar did not leave Fatehpur Sikri on a military campaign until 1581, when Punjab was again invaded by his brother, Mirza Muhammad Hakim.

Akbar expelled his brother to Kabul and waged a campaign to remove him from power.

Akbar stayed there for three weeks and his brother fled into the mountains.

Akbar left Kabul in the hands of his sister, Bakht-un-Nissa Begum, and returned to India.

Akbar then pardoned his brother, who took up de facto control of the Mughal administration in Kabul; Bakht-un-Nissa continued to be the official governor.

In 1585, after Muhammad Hakim died, Kabul passed into the hands of Akbar and was officially incorporated as a province of the Mughal Empire.

For thirteen years, beginning in 1585, Akbar remained in the north, shifting his capital to Lahore while he dealt with challenges from Uzbek tribes, which had driven his grandfather, Babur, out of Central Asia.

In 1586, Akbar negotiated a pact with Abdullah Khan in which the Mughals agreed to remain neutral during the Uzbek invasion of Safavid-held Khorasan.

Akbar, in turn, began a series of campaigns to pacify the Yusufzais and other rebels.

Akbar ordered Zain Khan to lead an expedition against the Afghan tribes.

Raja Birbal, a renowned minister in Akbar's court, was given military command.

Akbar immediately fielded new armies to reinvade the Yusufzai lands under the command of Raja Todar Mal.

Akbar responded by sending a Mughal army to besiege Sehwan, the river capital of the region.

In preparation for taking Kandahar from the Safavids, Akbar ordered the Mughal forces to conquer the rest of the Afghan-held parts of Baluchistan in 1595.

In 1558, while Akbar was consolidating his rule over northern India, Safavid Shah Tahmasp I seized Kandahar and expelled its Mughal governor.

In 1593, Akbar received the exiled Safavid prince, Rostam Mirza.

In 1593, Akbar began military operations against the Deccan Sultans, who had not submitted to his authority.

Akbar besieged Ahmednagar Fort in 1595, forcing Chand Bibi to cede Berar.

Akbar then established the Subahs of Ahmadnagar, Berar, and Khandesh under Prince Daniyal.

Akbar touched the western sea in Sind and at Surat and was well astride central India.

Akbar reorganised the sections with a detailed set of regulations.

Akbar reformed the administration land revenues by adopting a system that had been used by Sher Shah Suri.

Akbar introduced a decentralised system of annual assessment, which resulted in corruption among local officials.

Akbar organised his army and the nobility by means of a system called the mansabdari.

Akbar employed strict measures to ensure that the quality of the armed forces was maintained at a high level; horses were regularly inspected and usually only Arabian horses were employed.

Akbar was a follower of Salim Chishti, a holy man who lived in the region of Sikri near Agra.

In 1599, Akbar moved his capital back to Agra, where he ruled until his death.

Akbar had Sanskrit literature translated and participated in native festivals.

Akbar established the library of Fatehpur Sikri exclusively for women, and he decreed the establishment of schools for the education of both Muslims and Hindus throughout the realm.

Akbar's government prioritised commercial expansion, encouraging traders, providing protection and security for transactions, and levying a low custom duty to stimulate foreign trade.

Akbar made concerted efforts to improve roads to facilitate the use of wheeled vehicles through the Khyber Pass, the most popular route frequented by traders and travellers journeying from Kabul into Mughal India.

Akbar strategically occupied the northwestern cities of Multan and Lahore in Punjab and constructed forts, such as the one at Attock near the crossing of the Grand Trunk Road and the Indus river.

Akbar constructed a network of smaller forts called thanas throughout the frontier to secure the overland trade route with Persia and Central Asia.

Akbar established an international trading business for his chief consort, Mariam-uz-Zamani, who ran an extensive trade of indigo, spices, and cotton to Gulf nations through merchant's vessels.

Akbar introduced coins with decorative features, including floral motifs, dotted borders, and quatrefoil.

Akbar departed from that practice, providing that the Hindu Rajputs who married their daughters or sisters to him would be treated equally to his Muslim fathers- and brothers-in-law, except that they would not be allowed to dine or pray with him or take Muslim wives.

Akbar obtained a cartaz from the Portuguese to sail in the Persian Gulf region.

The Portuguese Governor, upon the request of Akbar, sent him an ambassador to establish friendly relations.

Akbar accepted the offer of diplomacy, but the Portuguese continually asserted their authority and power in the Indian Ocean; Akbar expressed concern when he was required to request a permit from the Portuguese before any ships from the Mughal Empire could depart for the Hajj to Mecca and Medina.

In 1573, Akbar issued a firman directing Mughal administrative officials in Gujarat not to provoke the Portuguese in the territory they held in Daman.

Akbar was unsuccessful in purchasing compact artillery pieces from the Portuguese, hindering his efforts to establish a Mughal navy along the Gujarat coast.

Akbar successfully defeated the rebels, but he became more cautious about inviting guests to his court, seeking advice from his counselors.

In 1576, Akbar sent a contingent of pilgrims on Hajj, led by Khwaja Sultan Naqshbandi, with 600,000 rupees and 12,000 khalats for the needy of Mecca and Medina.

Mughal-Ottoman trade flourished during this period; merchants loyal to Akbar are known to have reached Aleppo after journeying upriver through the port of Basra.

The city, which was administered by Bairam Khan at the time of Akbar's accession, was invaded and captured by the Persian ruler Husain Mirza, a cousin of Tahmasp I, in 1558.

Shortly afterwards, Akbar's army completed its annexation of Kabul, and to further secure the north-western boundaries of his empire, it proceeded to Qandahar.

Vincent Arthur Smith has observed that the merchant Mildenhall was employed in 1600 to bear a letter from Queen Elizabeth to Akbar requesting liberty to trade in his dominions on terms as good as those enjoyed by the Portuguese.

Akbar sponsored religious debates between different Muslim groups, Parsis, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Jews, Jesuits, and Materialists.

Akbar was partial to Sufism; he proclaimed that "the wisdom of Vedanta is the wisdom of Sufism".

Akbar suppressed Mahdavism in 1573 during his campaign in Gujarat, in the course of which the Mahdavi leader Bandagi Miyan Sheik Mustafa was arrested and brought in chains to the court for debate and released after eighteen months.

Akbar was reportedly angered by acts of embezzlement by many high level Muslim clerics.

In 1579, the Mughal Emperor Akbar referred to himself as:.

Emperor of Islam, Emir of the Faithful, Shadow of God on earth, Abul Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar Badshah Ghazi, is a most just, most wise, and a most God-fearing ruler.

Akbar suppressed the rebellion and handed out severe punishments to the Qazis.

The mahzar asserted that Akbar was the Khalifa of the age, a higher rank than that of a Mujtahid; in case of a difference of opinion among the Mujtahids, Akbar could select any one opinion and could issue decrees that did not go against the nass.

Akbar moved away from orthodoxy, appointing to his court several people with liberal religious philosophies, including Abul Fazl, Faizi, and Birbal.

Upset by this, Akbar opened the Ibadat Khana to people of all religions as well as atheists, resulting in the scope of the discussions broadening, even extending into areas such as the validity of the Quran and the nature of God.

Some modern scholars claim that Akbar did not initiate a new religion, instead introducing what Oscar R Gomez has called a transtheistic outlook, derived from tantric Tibetan Buddhism, and that Akbar did not use the word Din-i-Ilahi.

Akbar decreed that Hindus who had been forced to convert to Islam could reconvert to Hinduism without facing the death penalty.

Akbar was well-liked by Hindus, who sang religious hymns to him and his eulogies.

Akbar celebrated Diwali and allowed Brahman priests to tie jewelled strings around his wrists by way of blessing.

Akbar renounced beef and forbade the sale of all meats on certain days.

Akbar referred to the Ganges water as the "water of immortality".

Akbar regularly held discussions with Jain scholars and was impacted by their teachings.

Akbar held several inter-faith dialogues among philosophers of different religions.

Akbar issued many imperial orders that were favourable for Jain interests, such as banning animal slaughter.

In 1584,1592, and 1598, Akbar declared "Amari Ghosana", which prohibited animal slaughter during Paryushan and Mahavira Janma Kalyanak.

Akbar removed the jizya tax from Jain pilgrim places like Palitana.

Akbar invited Hiravijaya Suri's successor Vijayasena Suri to his court who visited him between 1593 and 1595.

Akbar was a warrior, emperor, general, animal trainer, and theologian.

Akbar created a library of over 24,000 volumes written in Sanskrit, Urdu, Persian, Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Kashmiri; the library was staffed by many scholars, translators, artists, calligraphers, scribes, bookbinders, and readers, and he did much of the cataloguing himself.

Akbar was said to have been a wise emperor and a sound judge of character.

Akbar has broad shoulders, somewhat bandy legs well-suited for horsemanship, and a light brown complexion.

Akbar's forehead is broad and open, his eyes so bright and flashing that they seem like a sea shimmering in the sunlight.

Akbar limps in his left leg though he has never received an injury there.

Akbar was not tall, but powerfully built and very agile.

One such incident occurred on his way back from Malwa to Agra when Akbar was 19 years old.

Akbar rode alone in advance of his escort and was confronted by a tigress who, along with her cubs, came out from the shrubbery across his path.

Akbar's approaching attendants found the emperor standing quietly by the side of the dead animal.

Akbar was notable for his command in battle, and, "like Alexander of Macedon, was always ready to risk his life, regardless of political consequences".

Akbar often plunged on his horse into flooded rivers during the rainy seasons and safely crossed them.

Akbar rarely indulged in cruelty and is said to have been affectionate towards his relatives.

Akbar is said to have been extremely moderate in his diet.

In 1570, Akbar visited Vrindavan, regarded as the birthplace of Krishna, and gave permission for four temples to be built by the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, which were Madana-mohana, Govindaji, Gopinatha, and Jugal Kisore.

Such hagiographical accounts of Akbar traversed a wide range of denominational and sectarian spaces, including several accounts by Parsis, Jains, and Jesuit missionaries, apart from contemporary accounts by Brahminical and Muslim orthodoxy.

The, which literally means Book of Akbar, is an official biographical account of Akbar written in Persian.

The work was commissioned by Akbar, and written by Abul Fazl, one of the Nine Jewels of Akbar's royal court.

Akbar was the foster mother of Akbar's second son, Murad Mirza.

Akbar was a poet and actively played a role in the politics of the Mughal court during Akbar's and Jahangir's reigns.

Akbar gradually became one of his influential wives and was said to possess uncommon beauty.

Shortly after marriage, Akbar named her 'Wali Nimat Begum'.

Akbar insisted that the Raja should submit to him personally; it was suggested that his daughter should be married to him as a sign of complete submission.

Akbar's marriage is considered one of the most important events in the history of the Mughal Empire.

Akbar became his first wife to have given birth to Akbar's sons.

Akbar was the foster mother of Akbar's favourite son, Daniyal Mirza.

Akbar commanded a high rank in the imperial harem and was a recipient of many privileges.

Akbar was a great female patron of the architecture of her time.

In 1562, Akbar married the former wife of Abdul Wasi, the son of Shaikh Bada, lord of Agra.

Akbar was enamored with her beauty and ordered Abdul Wasi to divorce her.

Akbar married the daughter of Jagmal Rathore, son of Rao Viramde of Merta in 1562.

Akbar married another Rajput princess in 1570, Raj Kunwari, daughter of Kanha, the brother of Rai Kalyan Mal, the ruler of Bikanir.

The marriage took place in 1570 when Akbar came to this part of the country.

Kalyan made a homage to Akbar and requested that his brother's daughter be married to him.

Akbar married Bhanmati, daughter of Bhim Raj, another brother of Rai Kalyan Mal.

Akbar married Nathi Bai, daughter of Rawal Har Rai, the ruler of Jaisalmer in 1570.

At some point, Akbar took into his harem Rukmavati, a daughter Maldeo Rathore, Rao of Marwar, by his mistress, Tipu Gudi.

Akbar was buried at his mausoleum in Sikandra, Agra, which lies a kilometer next to the tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani, his favourite consort.

Akbar firmly entrenched the authority of the Mughal Empire in India and beyond, after it had been threatened by the Afghans during his father's reign, establishing its military and diplomatic superiority.