Once upon a time, Akbar and Birbal had an argument over a serious issue. Out of anger, Akbar dismissed Birbal from the post of Deewan. So, he appointed the queen’s brother to the post.
However much the Emperor denied, he missed Birbal and his intellectual conversations. One day, Akbar thought of testing his brother-in-law to see if he had the same wit. So, the same evening he decided to visit mosque. On his way back, Akbar saw a footmark of a gigantic elephant. Right at the moment, an idea struck his mind and he said to his brother-in-law, “Do you see this footmark? I want you to save it for three days.” And, he left for the palace.
The new minister of the Emperor tried every possible way to save it. He was so involved in the task that he forgot food and water for three days. On the last day when he stood before Akbar, he had become very weak. His condition proved that he was not anywhere near Birbal in intelligence.
Now, Akbar had all the more reasons to bring back Birbal. So, he thought of an idea to bring him back. He announced in his kingdom that all the land-owners of closeby villages to be present before the Emperor with their wells. Whosoever fails to do so shall be charged with a fine of 10,000 gold coins.
Land-owners couldn’t help wondering what strange orders the Emperor had given. The announcement reached Birbal’s village too. In no time, he gathered all the land-owners of his village and told them what to do. All of them agreed to do what he said.
The next morning, all of them along with some villagers reached the entrance of the capital. But they did not enter and sent a messenger to the Emperor. “Your Majesty, the land-owners have sent a message for you saying that they have followed your orders and are here with their wells. Now they are asking you to send your wells to welcome their wells.”
After listening to the message, Akbar understood that it was only Birbal’s idea. Later that evening, Akbar happily reinstated Birbal as his favourite minister.
The order of saving the elephant’s footmark was then passed on to Birbal. He reached the location and fixed an iron bar and tied a rope. He then announced in the village that whichever house came in the range of the rope would have to be demolished.
The villagers panicked and they offered Birbal gold coins not to destroy their houses. They also promised to protect the footprint. Hence, Birbal saved the footmark and also made money out of it which he deposited in the capital’s treasury.
