Akbar the Great

(Deen-E-Ilahi)At the end we shall discuss the new faith that Akbar introduced to seed the idea of secularism. As already mentioned Akbar used to interact with the scholars of different faiths to learn about various religions strains of thought.He pondered over the feed back he had got from them and realised that no faith was […]

The court of Akbar had nine gems who shine bright like stars in the dark sky. They were men of great talent, the biggest assets of Akbar’s period who were partially responsible for the glory of the emperor. They were namely—Abul Fazal, his elder brother Faizi, Raja Todarmal, Raja Man Singh, Mirza Aziz Koka, Abdur

Akbar had respect and reverence for religion. But he did not entertain blind faiths. Some historians said he was a non believer, an athiest. In this respect Du Jerik wrote—”He could not be called an athiest. He believed in the creator of the earth, sky and the celestial bodies. He offered Namaz four times a

There are many examples of the kindness and generosity of Akbar.In this context Du Jerik writes—”He used to receive happily the humble gifts of the common folk.”According to Mansrett—”Anyone who wished to meet the emperor could easily do so.”It may be pointed out that generosity and the graciousness are two key factors that gain a

For the members of the family he was extremely affectionate. The death of his father at his early age always saddened him. He often used to say—”Alas! Had he lived longer I would have got chance to serve him!”All his life he took great care of his mother, Hamida Begum. Akbar had profound respect for

About food Akbar had straight forward views in his own words—“Sleep and food are for regaining power to accomplish the will of God.”About eating habits of Akbar Du Jerik writes—“He ate light food and only for 3-4 months of the year he would eat non-vegetarian food. Rest of the time he consumed milk, rice and

So far we have discussed the politicaly upheavals, events and the empirical ambitions of Jalaluddin Akbar. About time we took a look at Akbar the individual, his interests, preferences, food habits, dressing choices and innate habits. What was his own living style? Physical shape and dressingAccording to the details provided by historians of that period

On March 11, 1605 the 50th year Akbar of being in power began. By now he was getting old and had a poor health condition. The politics of empire and relentless campaigns had taken their toll on his mind and the body. Meanwhile, he received the news of the death of his third son Daniyal

Akbar loved his elder son very much. Compared to other princes he had been entrusted with higher positions. From time to time magnanimity shown to Saleem by the emperor, the rewards and titles awarded to him clearly showed Akbar had chosen him to succeed him.But Saleem was showing the traits of a spoilt royal brat

Just as Akbar began to lay siege around the Chittaur fort Rana Udai Singh left the fort and he retreated into the hills at the advice of his chieftains and commanders. He left behind 8,000 battlers under the command of Jaimal and Fatta Singh to defend the fort. There also were 1000 gunmen of Kalpi

Delhi or Agra had been the capital of Moghuls but Akbar chose Fatehpur Sikri. There could have been some reason.Before the birth of his son Saleem, Akbar had become an ardent devotee of Peer Saleem Chisti who had his abode at Sikri. So, he made Fatehpur Sikri his capital instead of Agra. In 1564 while

After taking over Ahmedabad, Akbar set his sights on Surat. The port of Khambhat was already in his control. But Surat was also no less in the importance. Akbar got the army strength of the Sultan of Surat assessed by Raja Todarmal. Soon he had all the information on the enemy he needed. On January

After taking control of Chittaur and Ranthambhor forts Akbar set his eyes on the third prestigious fort of north India considered as impregnable. And that was Kalinjar Fort. Once Shershah Suri had launched an attack on this fort. He got burnt in gun powder fire accident and died. In 1569, when Akbar turned his attention

After Gondwana the commanders of Akbar won several other small kingdoms to make them the part of the Moghul empire. Against some force was applied while the diplomatic approach also worked. Several of the small rulers meekly accepted the domination of Emperor Akbar out of fear of great military might of Moghuls and to save