Shaikh Abu al-Fazal ibn Mubarak, also known as Abu’l-Fazl, Abu’l Fadl and Abu’l-Fadl ‘Allami, was born on January 14, 1551. He was the vizier of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, and author of the Akbarnama, the official history of Akbar’s reign in three volumes, (the third volume is known as the Ain-i-Akbari) and a Persian translation of the Bible. He was also the brother of Faizi, the poet laureate of emperor Akbar.
Ancestors
Abul Fazl’s ancestors hailed from Yemen and he was the fifth descendant of Shaikh Musa who lived in Rel near Siwistan (Sehwan), Sindh, till the close of the 15th century. His grandfather, Shaikh Khizr, moved to Nagaur which had attained importance as a sufi mystic centre under Shaikh Hamid-ud-din Sufi Sawali, a khalifa of Shaikh Muin-ud-din Chisti of Ajmer. At Nagaur Shaikh Khizr settled near the tomb of Shaikh Hamid-ud-din.
Abul Fazl’s father, Shaikh Mubarak Nagori, was born in 1506 at Nagaur. Soon after Fazl’s birth Khizr travelled to Sindh to bring the other members of his family but he died on the way. Khizr’s early demise and a famine and plague that ravaged Nagaur caused great hardship to the destitute Mubarak and his mother. Despite these hardships Mubarak’s mother arranged good education for him. One of Mubarak’s earliest teacher was Shaikh ‘Attan’ who was known for his piety. Another important teacher who influenced Shaikh Mubarak was Shaikh Fayyazi, a disciple of Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar. Later, he went to Ahmedabad and studied under Shaikh Abu’l Fazl Gazruni (who adopted him as a son), Shaikh Umar and Shaikh Yusuf.
Yusuf advised Mubarak to go to Agra and set up a madrasa there. Mubarak reached Agra in April 1543 and on the suggestion of Shaikh Alawal Balawal set up his residence at Charbagh, which was built by Babur on the left bank of the Yamuna. Mir Rafi’ud-din Safavi of Inju (Shiraz) lived close by and Mubarak married a near relative of his. Mubarak set up his madrasa in Agra where his special field of instruction was philosophy and he attracted a number of scholars to his lectures such as Mulla Abdul Qadir Badauni. He also spent some time in Badaun, holy land of sufism. The orthodox group of ulama was always dissatisfied with Mubarak and accused him of changing his opinion. Khwaja Ubaidullah who was brought up in the house of Shaikh Mubarak’s daughter opined that Mubarak’s views changed with the change in the political climate and he adopted the religious attitudes of rulers and nobles of those days out of expediency and minionism. Thus he was a bitter Sunni during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi; he became a Mahdavi during the Sur period, was a Naqshbandi during the reign of Humayun and a protagonist of liberal thought under Akbar.
Early Life
At Agra Shaikh Mubarak’s eldest son, poet Abu’l Faizi and his second son Abu’l Fazl, were born. Abul Fazl’s education began with Arabic and by the age of five he could read and write. His father started teaching him with a little of every branch of revealed Islamic sciences (manqulat) but Fazl could not adhere to conventional learning and he sank in a state of mental depression. A friend rescued him from this state and he resumed his studies. Some incidents from his early life reflect on his brilliance. A dictionary of Ishafani, which had been eaten by white ants, came under his observation. He removed the parts that had been eaten and joined blank paper to the rest. He discovered the beginning and end of each fragment and eventually penned a draft text. Subsequently, the entire work was discovered and on comparison to Fazl’s draft the original differed in only two or three places.
He came to Akbar’s court in 1575 and was influential in Akbar’s religious views becoming more liberal into the 1580s and the 1590s. He also led the Mughal imperial army in its wars in the Deccan.
Assassination
Abul Fazl was assassinated while he was returning from the Deccan by Vir Singh Bundela (who later became the ruler of Orchha) between Sarai Vir and Antri (near Narwar) in a plot contrived by the Mughal Prince Salim, who later became the Emperor Jahangir in 1602, because Abu’l Fazl was known to oppose the accession of Prince Salim to the throne. His severed head was sent to Salim at Allahabad. Abul Fazl was buried at Antri. Abu’l Fazl’s son, Shaikh Abdur Rahman Afzal Khan (December 29, 1571—1613), was later appointed governor of Bihar in 1608 by Jahangir.
Works The Akbarnama
The Akbarnama is a document of the history of Akbar’s reign and his ancestors spread over three volumes. It contains the history of Akbar’s ancestors from Timur to Humayun, Akbar’s reign up to the 46th regnal year (1602), and an administrative report of Akbar’s empire, the Ain-i-Akbari, which itself is in three volumes. The third volume of Ain-i-Akbari gives an account of the ancestry and life of the author. The Ain-i-Akbari was completed in the 42nd regnal year, but a slight addition was made to it in the 43rd regnal year on the account of the conquest of Berar.
Ruqat
The Ruqat or the Ruqat-i-Abu’l Fazl is a collection of private letters from Abu’l Fazl to Murad, Daniyal, Akbar, Mariam Makani, Salim (Jahangir), Akbar’s queens and daughters, his father, mother and brothers and several other notable contemporaries compiled by his nephew N?r al-D?n Mu?ammad.
Insh?-i-Abu’l Fazl
The Insh?-i-Abu’l Fazl or the Maqtub? t-i-Allami contains the official despatches written by Abu’l Fazl. It is divided into two parts. The first part contains Akbar’s letters to Abdullah Khan Uzbeg of Turan, Shah Abbas of Persia, Raja Ali Khan of Khandesh, Burhan-ul-Mulk of Ahmadnagar and his own nobles such as Abdur Rahim Khan Khanan. The second part consists Abu’l Fazl’s letters to Akbar, Daniyal, Mirza Shah Rukh and Khan Khanan. This collection was compiled by Abd-us-samad, son of Afzal Muhammad, who claims that he was the son of Abu’l Fazl’s sister as well as his son-in-law.
