Akbar: Encyclopedia - Akbar

Akbar

Jodhabai (?)
Mariam-uz-Zamani
Ruqayya Sultan Begum
Sakina Banu Begum
Salima Sultan Begum

Jahangir, son
Shah Murad, son
Danyal, son
Shahzada Khanim, daughter
Shakarunnisa Begum, daughter
Aram Banu Begum, daughter
Ximini Begum, daughter

Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (Persian: جلال الدین محمد اکبر), (alternative spellings include Jellaladin, Celalettin) also known as Akbar the Great (Akbār-e-Azam) (October 15, 1542 – October 27, 1605) was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from the time of his accession in 1556 until 1605. He is considered the greatest of the Mughal emperors.

Akbar - Political career

Akbar was born at Umarkot in Sind to Humayun and Hamida Banu Begum on October 15, 1542. His father, Humayun, was driven from the throne of India in a series of decisive battles by the Afghan Sher Shah Suri. After more than twelve years' exile, Humayun regained his sovereignty, though he held it for only a few months before his death in 1556. Akbar succeeded his father the same year under the regency of Bairam Khan, a Turkoman noble whose zeal in repelling pretenders to the throne and severity in maintaining the discipline of the army helped greatly in the consolidation of the newly recovered empire. When order was somewhat restored, Akbār took the reins of government into his own hands with a proclamation issued in March 1560.

It is speculated by historians that Bairam Khan attempted to de-throne or murder Akbar when he came of age, or led an army against Akbar's loyalists. It is also suggested that Akbar, suspicious of Khan's ambitions and loyalties, encouraged him to perform a pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, and had him killed by an agent.

On November 5, 1556, fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mughal army defeated Hindu forces of General Hemu at the Second battle of Panipat, granting the throne of India to Akbar.

When Akbar ascended the throne, only a small portion of what had formerly comprised the Mughal empire was still under his control, and he devoted himself to the recovery of the remaining provinces. Akbar realized that he could never subdue Rajputs and become sole ruler of India. He decided to pursue diplomacy and was able to convince the Kacchwaha Rajput rulers of Amber(modern day Jaipur) about a matrimonial alliance. King of Amber agreed and Jodhabai became Akbar's queen and the mother of Prince Salim, who later became the Mughal emperor Jahangir. Soon other Rajput kingdoms in Rajasthan also gave their daughters to Akbar. This was the darkest period in the history of Rajputs.

Only two kings remained against this. The sisodiyas of Mewar and Hadas of Ranthambore. Hada are Chauhans. Finally Man Singh of Amber and Akbar went and met Surjan Hada to convince him to become friends with Akbar and Surjan agreed but one of the conditions of friendship was that no daughter of Hadas would ever be asked to marry mughals. Akbar agreed. Surjan was very saddened by this friendship with Akbar and the fact that he could not help Maharana Paratap against Akbār. He felt so ashamed that he moved his residence to Banaras and made sure that Hindus in the holy city had no problems at the hands of Muslims.

He expanded the Mughal empire to include Malwa (1562), Gujarat (1572), Bengal (1574), Kabul (1581), Kashmir (1586), and Kandesh (1601), among others. Akbār installed a governor over each of the conquered provinces, under his authority.

Akbar did not want to have his court tied too closely to the city of Delhi. He ordered the court moved to Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra, but when this proved untenable, he set up a roaming camp that let him keep a close eye on what was happening throughout the empire. He tried to develop and encourage commerce, and had the land accurately surveyed for the purpose of correctly evaluating taxation; and he gave strict instructions to prevent extortion on the part of the tax gatherers.

Akbar - Religion

At the time of Akbar's rule, the Mughal Empire included both Hindus and Muslims. Profound differences separate the Islamic and Hindu faith; Muslims are allowed to eat beef, while for those of the Hindu religion it is forbidden to harm cows because they are worshipped as sacred. Hindus are allowed to drink alcoholic beverages (e.g., wine), a practice which is forbidden by Islam. During the period of the Mughal Empire, the majority of the Indian population was Hindu, but the rulers of the empire were almost exclusively Muslim. It was in this polarized religious arena that Akbār commenced his rule.

Despite all of this, Akbar fostered tolerance for all religions. Akbar built a building called Ibadat Khana, where he encouraged religious debate. Originally, this debating house was open only to Sunnis, but later Akbār encouraged Hindus and even Catholics to participate. He tried to reconcile the differences of both religions by creating a new faith called the Din-i-Ilahi, which incorporated both Islam and Hinduism. This faith, however, was not for the masses. In fact, the only "converts" to this new religion were the upper nobility of Akbar's court. Historians have so far been able to identify only 18 members of this new religion.

He also repealed the jizya tax that had been levied on non-Muslims in the empire. Akbar also married several Hindu princesses, though many consider that to be politically motivated rather than a genuine attempt at religious reconciliation.

Akbar - Patron of the arts

Although Akbar was illiterate, he had a great love for knowledge, inviting men from all different religions to come to discuss matters of the world with him. He was a patron to many men of literary talent, among whom may be mentioned the brothers Feizi and Abul Fazl. The former was commissioned by Akbar to translate a number of Sanskrit scientific works into Persian; and the latter produced the Akbar-Nameh, an enduring record of the emperor's reign. It is also said that Akbar employed Jerome Xavier, a Jesuit missionary, to translate the four Gospels of the New Testament into Persian.

Akbar - Marital life

Emperor Akbar was said to have been married many times, his number of wives as many as 300. His first wife was the Hindu Rajput Princess Jodhabai. When Akbar was first married he and his wife seemed unable to have any children. Akbar travelled to meet Hazrat Shaikh Salim-ud-deen Chisti and, along with Chisti, prayed for a son. His wish was fulfilled; his wife gave birth to a son, whom they named Prince Salim in honour of Chisti.

Akbar - Final years

The closing years of Akbar's reign were troubled by the misconduct of his sons. Two of them died in their youth, the victims of intemperance; and the third, Salim, later known as Emperor Jahangir, was frequently in rebellion against his father. Asirgarh, a fort in the Deccan, proved to be the last conquest of Akbar, taken in 1599 as he proceeded north to face his son's rebellion. Reportedly, Akbar keenly felt these calamities, and they may even have affected his health and hastened his death, which occurred in Agra on October 27th, 1605. His body was deposited in a magnificent mausoleum at Sikandra, near Agra.

Akbar - Akbār in media

• Akbar was portrayed in the Hindi movie Mughal-e-Azam, in which he was played by Prithviraj Kapoor.
• Akbar and Birbal were portrayed in the Hindi series Akbar-Birbal aired on Doordarshan in late 1990s.

See also

• Akbar's Navaratnas
• Mughal Emperor
• List of people known as The Great
• The Death of Akbar

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Akbar", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akbar, used and available under the GNU Free Documentation License.