Akbar
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 son of
Humayun whom he succeeded to become ruler of the
Mughal Empire from 1556 until 1605.
Though only 13 when he ascended to the throne, he is widely considered the greatest of the Mughal emperors.
[Women of the Mughal Dynasty - Deborah Hutton - 2002 - Skidmore College.][History of India The Nine Gems of Akbar - Neria Harish Hebbar, MD - Saturday, April 5 2003] During his reign, he eliminated external military threats from the different Afghan descendants to
Sher Shah (an Afghan who was able to temporarily usurp Humayun from 1540-1555), and at the
Second Battle of Panipat deafeated the
Hindu leader
Hemu.
[The Second Battle of Panipat - Robert W. Martin - about.com.][Abul Fazl - Akbarnama Volume II][The life and times of Humayun, by Ishwari Prasad (1955, rev.1970)[1]] In addition to his military gains, the emperor solidified his rule by repealing the
jizya tax on non-Muslims and courting the favor of the powerful
Rajput caste, to the extent of marrying Rajput princesses.
[Abul Fazl - Akbarnama Volume II][Akbar - The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2006].
However, Akbar's most lasting contributions were to the arts and to
Indian religion. He initiated a large collection of literature, including the
Akbar-nama and the Ain-i-Akbari, and incorporated art from around the world into the Mughal collections. Also, he commissioned the building of widely admired buildings, including the Panj Mahal. Having a greatly tolerant attitude toward religion, Akbar preserved Hindu temples. He also began a series of religious debates where
Muslim scholars would debate religious matters with
Sikhs,
Hindus,
Carvaka atheists and even
Jesuits from the Vatican. Also, he founded his own religion, the "Divine Faith"; the religion, however, amounted only to a form of
personality cult for Akbar, and quickly dissolved after his death.
[Abul Fazl - Akbarnama Volume III][Abul Fazl - Akbarnama Volume II]Akbar was born at
Umarkot in
Sind to the Mughal Emperor
Humayun and his first wife,
Hamida Banu Begum on
October 15 1542. In
1540, Humayun had been driven into exile following decisive battles by the
Afghan leader
Sher Shah.
[S.K. Banjerji: "Humayun Badshah".] Akbar did not go to Persia with his parents, and was raised for a time instead by his uncle Askari and his wife in the rugged country of
Afghanistan rather than in the splendor of the
Persian court. He spent his youth learning to hunt, run and fight, but he never learned to read or write, the sole exception in Babur's line.
[Abul Fazl - Akbarnama Volume I] Nonetheless, Akbar matured into a well-informed ruler, with refined tastes in the arts, architecture and music, a love for literature, and a breadth of vision that tolerated other opinions.
Following the chaos over the succession of Islam Shah (Sher Shah's son), Humayun reconquered Delhi in
1555, leading an army partly provided by his Persian ally
Shah Tahmasb. Only a few months later, Humayun died from an accident. Akbar succeeded his father on February 14,
1556, while in the midst of a war against Sikandar Shah for the reclamation of the Mughal throne. Here, in Kalanaur the 13 year old Akbar donned a golden robe and Dark Tiara and sat on a newly constructed platform, which still stands[
2], and was proclaimed "Shahanshah" (
Persian for "King of Kings").
Early into Akbar's career, he decided that he should eliminate the threat of
Sher Shah's dynasty, and decided to lead an army against the strongest of the three,
Sikandar Shah Suri, in the
Punjab. He left the city of Delhi under the regency of
Tardi Beg Khan.
Sikandar Shah Suri presented no major concern for Akbar, and often withdrew from territory as Akbar approached; however, back in Delhi
Hemu, a low-
caste Hindu warrior, succeeded in launching a surprise attack on the unprepared Tardi Beg Khan, who promptly fled the city. Hemu, who had launched the attack on behalf of
Adil Shah Suri, one of Sikandar's brothers, had won 22 successive battles and appointed himself ruler, or Raja Vikramaditya, instead Adil Shah.
Word of the capitulation of Delhi spread quickly to the new Mughal ruler, and he was advised to withdraw to
Kabul, which was relatively secure. However, Bairam Khan differed and urged Akbar to fight the invaders and reclaim the capital. Akbar sided with Bairam, and began to march on Delhi. In order to bolster troop morale, Akbar took the curious step of ordering that someone "prepare
fireworks as a treat for the soldiers" and that one should "make an image of Hemu, fill it with gunpowder, and set it on fire". On the march forward, he was joined by Tardi Beg and his retreating troops, who also urged him to retreat to Kabul, but Akbar refused; later, Bairam Khan had the former regent executed for cowardice, though
Abul Fazl and
Jahangir both record that they believed that Bairam Khan was merely using the retreat from Kabul as an excuse to eliminate a rival.
On
November 5, 1556 Akbar's Mughal army defeated the numerically superior forces of General
Hemu at the
Second Battle of Panipat, fifty miles north of
Delhi, thanks to a chance arrow into Hemu's eye. Hemu was brought before Akbar unconscious, and was beheaded. Some sources say that it was actually Bairam Khan who killed the man, but Akbar certainly did use the term "Ghazi", a term used by both
Babur, his grandfather, and
Timur when fighting the
Kafir (
non-Muslims) in India. Hemu's head was sent to Kabul while his body was displayed on a type of gallows specially constructed to display this dead body. Even more gruesomely Akbar followed an old Khanate tradition, one which pre-dates even
Genghis Khan, and constructed a "victory pillar" made from the heads of the dead soldiers.
The victory also left Akbar with over 1,500
War Elephants which he promptly used to reengage Sikhander Shah at the siege of Mankot. Sikhander surrendered and was as such spared from death, and lived the last remaining two years of his life on a large estate granted to him by Akbar. In
1557 the only other threat to Akbars rule, Adil Shah, brother of Sikhander, died during a battle in
Bengal. Thus, by the time Akbar was 15 his rule over Hindustan was secured.
Akbar was only 13 years old when he became emperor, and so his general ruled on his behalf till he came of age. The regency belonged to
Bairam Khan, a
Shia Turkoman noble and who successfully dealt with pretenders to the throne and improved the discipline of the Mughal armies. He ensured power was centralised and was able to expand the empires boundies with orders from the capital. These moves helped to consolidate Mughal power in the newly recovered empire.
Respect for Bairam's regency was not, however, universal. There were many people plotting his demise in order to assume the apparent absolute rule they saw in him. Much was written, critically, of his religion. The majority of the early court were Sunni Muslims, and Bairam's Shia'ism was disliked. Bairam knew about this, and perhaps even to spite that, appointed a Shia Sheikh,
Gadai to become the Administrator General, one of the more important roles in the empire. Further Bairam lived a rather oppulent lifestyle, which appeared to be even more excessive than that of Akbars.
The most serious of those opposed to Bairam was
Maham Anga, Akbars aunt, chief Nurse and mother of his foster brother,
Adham Khan. Maham was both shrewd and manipulative and hoped to rule herself by proxy through her son. In March 1560 the pair of them urged Akbar to visit them in Delhi, leaving Bairam in the
Capital,
Agra. While in Delhi Akbar was bombarded by people who told him he was now ready to take full control of the empire and to dismiss Bairam. He was persuaded to fund an excursion for Bairam to go on
Hajj to
Mecca, which was to act, essentially, as a form of Ostracism. Bairam was shocked at the news from Delhi, but was loyal to Akbar, and despite Akbars refusal to even meet with the General refused the suggestions by some of his commanders to march on Delhi and "rescue" Akbar.
Bairam left heading for Mecca, but was quickly met by an army sent by Adham Khan, but approved by Akbar, which was sent to "escourt" him from the Mughal territories. With this Bairam saw red, and let an attack on the army, but was captured and sent as a rebel back to Akbar to be sentenced. Now, Bairam Khan, the man whose military genius had seen the Mughals regain their lands in India, who had served loyally both Humayun and Akbar, and laid down the foundations of a strong empire was now before the emperor as a prisoner.
Maham Anga urged Akbar to execute Bairam, but Akbar refused. Instead, in defiance of Anga, he laid down full honours to the General, and gave him robes of honour, and agreed to fund him a proper Hajj excursion. However, shorlty after Bairam Khan's Hajj journey got underway, just before he reached the port city of
Khambhat (
then known as "Cambay") he encoutered an Afghan whose father had been killed five years earlier in a battle led by Bairam. The Afgan saw a chance to reap vengeance, and promptly stabbed Bairam, who died on
January 31,
1561.
With the demise of Bairam Khan, Maham Anga saw an opportunity, and attempted to wrest the control that Bairam had for herself. Her attempts at absolute rule, however, where not particularly successful.
In February 1561, her son Adham was sent to capture
Malwa, which was being incompetently ruled by
Baz Bahadur.
Baz Bahadur was a talented musician but had no ability to govern an area, and many of the people of the area had fled to Mughal territories, alerting the Mughals to the possibility of taking the area. As the army of Adham Khan approached Baz Bahadur fled, leaving behind his wealth and his wives in their
Harem, and instructions that they were to be killed if the city of Sarangpur (
now a part of the Rajgarh District) fell to the Mughals. However, despite the best attempts by the
Eunuch in charge of the Harem, many of the women survived, even
Rupmati, who was famed through many of Baz Bahadurs songs for her beauty, had received multiple slash wounds survived to be captured by the invading Mughals. However, whem Adham Khan came to claim his prize, Rupmati drank poison rather be
raped by Akbar's brother.
|
Akbar as a boy around 1557 |
However, aside from this instance, Adham engaged in some thoroughly grotesque abuses of the captured Harem and populace. The least attractive members of the women were brought before the senior members of the invading army and killed, as they drank Alcohol, took opium pellets, and generally treated the event as if it were a festive occasion. Badauni records that on at least one occasion members present tried to stop the slaughter but were shackled. The slaughter was not only of the women in the harem, and Badauni records that "Sayyids and Sheikhs came out to meet him with their
Qur'ans in hand, but Khan put them all to death and burnt them". Not only that, Adham kept the vast majority of the wealth and captives, instead sending a mere three elephants on to his Emperer. When these Elephants arrived Akbar heard word of what Adham had done, and became enraged. He decided to ride out to Malwar himself, along with a small band of loyal soldiers, racing and beating a group of courtiers sent by Maham Anga to warn Adham of Akbars rage.
Adham was terrified and quickly begged for Akbars fogivness. Akbar forgave him, and received the booty he had seized. However, Adham secretly kept two of the women he decided were the most attractive in his own Harem. When Akbar found out about this, Maham Anga killed the women, fearing what revealations about Adham they might give to Akbar.
These events left Akbar with no option but to begin assuming absolute control for himself. The conflict came to a head when in
1562, Atkah Khan, an Afghan appointed by Akbar to be the equivalent of Prime Minister, was dealing with affairs of his position when Adham burst forth, had Atkah Khan stabbed, and tried to storm the Harem of Akbar. The Eunuch who guarded the section went in, closed the door and locked it from the inside. Akbar became aware of the disturbance, and entered the room. Here Adham laid his hand on his foster brothers arm, a sign of apparent disrespect, to which Akbar replied with by punching him in the face, possibly knocking him unconscious. Seeing his Prime Minister stabbed, Akbar had had enough of Adham and ordered that he be thrown from a height, over parapet. This failed to kill him, so Akbar ensured that the second one succeed by ordering he be dropped head first. Akbar then went straight to Maham Anga and informed her that her son was dead. With this act, the 19 year old Akbar assumed complete control over his empire.
While previous Muslim rulers, in particular the Mughal founder
Babur, allowed freedom of worship for Hindus and other religious groups, Akbar engaged in a policy of actively encouraging members of the varying religious groups to enter his government. In one instance, he persuaded the
Kacchwaha Rajput rulers of
Amber(modern day
Jaipur) to a matrimonial alliance: The King of Amber's daughter, Hira Kunwari, became Akbar's queen. She took the name
Jodhabai was the mother of Prince Salim, who later became the Mughal emperor
Jahangir. Further, while other Muslim rulers had married Hindu wives, he was the first one to allow to fully practice their religion, not just without hinderance but with everything they needed in that regard. During his reign more Hindus than in any other Mughal ruler, or in any previous Indian administration, were employed in the
Civil Service.
His tolerances of other religions was also displayed taking into account the religions of his wives. he married a hindu
Jodhabai, a muslim and also a christian woman from Goa
Maryam.
The other Rajput kingdoms also married daughters to Akbar, until only two Rajput clans remained against him, the
Sisodiyas of
Mewar and
Hadas (
Chauhans) of
Ranthambore. The Rajputs were a famed group of Hindu warriors, who, like the Afghans took opium prior to battle to ward off fear. Entering into an alliance with these groups helped to secure Akbars control, as for the next 100 years Rajput soldiers served on behalf of the Mughal empire.
Finally
Raja Man Singh of Amber went with Akbar to meet the Hada leader,
Surjan Hada, to effect an alliance. Surjan grudgingly accepted an alliance on the condition that Akbar did not marry any of his daughters. Surjan later moved his residence to
Banaras.
Akbar is recorded as saying "A monarch should be ever intend on conquest, lest his neighbours rise in arms against him", and he went on to expand the Mughal empire to include
Malwa (1562),
Gujarat (1572),
Bengal (1574),
Kabul (1581),
Kashmir (1586), and
Kandesh (1601), among others. Akbar 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 site 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. He had the land accurately surveyed for the purpose of correctly evaluating taxation; and he gave strict commands to prevent extortion on the part of the
tax gatherers.
Akbar is said to have been a benevolent and wise ruler, a man of new ideas, and a sound judge of character. As a ruler, he was able to win the love and reverence of his subjects.
|
The court of Akbar, an illustration from Akbarnama |
Abul Fazal, and even the hostile critic
Badayuni, described him as having a commanding personality. He was fearless in the chase as well as in the field of battle, and, "like
Alexander of Macedon, was always ready to risk his life, regardless of political consequences". He often plunged his horse into the full-flooded river during the rainy seasons and safely crossed over to the other side. Though a mighty conqueror, he did not usually indulge in cruelty. He is said to be affectionate towards his relatives. He pardoned his brother Hakim, who was a repented rebel. However, on some rare occasions, he dealt cruelly with the offenders, as is shown by his behavior towards his maternal uncle, Muazzam, and his foster-brother, Adam Khan.
He is said to have been extremely moderate in his diet. According to records, he was fond of fruits and had little liking for meat, which he ceased to take altogether in his later years.
Many of the historians are of the opinion that Emperor Akbar possessed inordinate "lust" for women. It is also believed that he was a hard alcoholic as well. : ... Akbar habitually drank hard. The good father had boldly dared to reprove the emperor sharply for his licentious relations with women. Akbar instead of resenting the priests audacity, blushingly excused himself.
[ Page 81, "Akbar, The Great Mogul" by V.Smith Second Edition. Publishers S.Chand and Company Delhi 1958]Even Abul Fazl has highlighted his majesty's love for wine and women. Historians have different opinion on the text mentioned in Ain-i-Akbari. Many refer it as the mention of Emperor's care and affection to protect women, especially virgins. It was his administrative excellence to manage the affairs even though he had permitted wine and prostitution near the palace. His critics do not subscribe to these views, many consider him otherwise.:.. His majesty has established a wine shop near the palace ... The prostitutes of the realm collected at the shop could scarcely be counted, so large was their number .. The dancing girls used to be taken home by the courtiers. If any well-known courtier wanted to have a virgin they should first have His Majesty's [Akbar's] permission. In the same way, boys prostituted themselves, and drunkenness and ignorance soon led to bloodshed ... His Majesty [Akbar] himself called some of the prostitutes and asked them who had deprived them of their virginity. (Translation of selected text from
Ain-i-Akbari written by Abdul Fazal in
Persian. Translated by H. Blochmann)
[ "Ain-e-Akbari," Translation of Abul Fazal's Persian text. 2nd Edition of Bibliotheca Indica Series. Author:H. Blochmann. Published by the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal.]At the time of Akbar's rule, the Mughal Empire included both
Hindus and
Muslims. Profound differences separate the Islamic and Hindu faith. When Akbar commenced his rule, a majority of the subjects in the Mughal Empire were Hindus. However, the rulers of the empire were almost exclusively Muslim. In this highly polarized society, Akbar fostered tolerance for all religions. He not only appointed Hindus to high posts, but also tried to remove all distinctions between the Muslims and non-Muslims. He abolished the pilgrim tax in the eighth year and the
jizya in the ninth year of his reign, and inaugurated a policy of universal toleration. He also enjoyed a good relationship with the
Catholic Church, who routinely sent
Jesuit priests to debate, and at least three of his Grandsons were baptized as Catholics (though they did become Muslim later in life).
Akbar built a building called
Ibadat Khana (House of Worship), where he encouraged religious debate. Originally, this debating house was open only to
Sunnis, but following a series of petty squabbles which turned ugly Akbar encouraged Hindus,
Catholics and even
atheists to participate. He tried to reconcile the differences of both religions by creating a new faith called the
Din-i-Ilahi ("Faith of the Divine"), which incorporated both 'panthiestic' versions of Islamic Sufism (most notably the Ibn Arabi's doctrine of 'Wahdat al Wajood' or Unity of existence )and 'bhakti' or devotional cults of Hinduism. Even some elements of
Christianity - like crosses,
Zoroastrianism- fire worship and
Jainism were amalgamated into the new religion. 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 married several Hindu princesses, though many consider that to be politically motivated rather than a genuine attempt at religious reconciliation.
His moves from Islam, while welcomed by the Hindu majority, where not appreciated by the Muslim faithful. Rumours were rife that Mosques were being closed and destroyed, that those who entered his
Harem were required to say "There is no God but Allah, and Akbar is his messenger" a bastardised version of the traditional Muslim
Shahada, or declaration of faith. When Akbar opened a wine shop, it was believed he also ordered pigs blood to be mixed with the mixture. Many members of the ulema began to protest his actions, and Ahmad Sarhindi (Who had been nick-named "Mujaddid" or "Renovator" [of islam]) wrote tracts rejecting the
Shirk that he believed Akbar was guilty of. He was to be arrested by
Jahangir upon his successon. Ultimately, despite Akbar's attempts at reconciling the two major faiths, by the end of the
16th Century community relations were to be worse than when Akbar ascended to power.
Akbar passed
decrees against
child marriage and
sati.
Although Akbar was
illiterate, he had a fine literary taste. He took interest in
philosophy,
theology, history, and politics. He maintained a library full of books on various subjects, and was fond of the society of scholars, poets and philosophers, who read books to him aloud, and thus enabled him to be conversant with
Sufi, Christian,
Zoroastrian, Hindu and Jain literature. He used to invite scholars from different
religions for discussions with him. In his book, "Akbar, The Great Mogul" Vincent Smith wrote that "anybody who heard him arguing with acuteness and lucidity on a subject of debate would have credited him with wide literary knowledge and profound erudition and never would have suspected him of illiteracy". He was a patron to many literary figures, including the brothers
Feizi and
Abul-Fazel. The former was commissioned by Akbar to translate a number of
Sanskrit scientific works into
Persian; and the latter produced the
Akbarnama, an enduring record of the emperor's reign. It is also said that Akbar employed
Jerome Xavier (nephew of
Francis Xavier) , a
Jesuit missionary, to translate the four
Gospels of the
New Testament into Persian. He commissioned the Tarikh-i-Alfi, or "The History of a Thousand Years" to celebrate the year 1000 (1591-92CE) on the Muslim calendar, though only about thirty of the original hundreds of paintings and pages of the manuscript now remain.
Akbar also possessed a fair taste of art, architecture and mechanical works. Many pieces, including the magnificent
Hamzanama, was produced under Akbar. Akbar is also credited with many inventions and improvements in the manufacture of
matchlocks. He erected a vast administrative machinery on a comprehensive plan, He looked, as we know from the
Ain-i-Akbari, "upon the smallest details as mirror capable of reflecting a comprehensive outline''.
As with many Indian rulers Akbar's court had
Navaratnas ("Nine Jewels"), a term denoting the group of nine extraordinary people. Akbar's Navratnas were:
*
Abul-Fazel - Akbars's chief advisor and author of
Akbarnama, Akbar's biography
*
Faizi*
Mian Tansen - known for his voice and music
*
Birbal - known for great wit
*
Raja Todar Mal*
Raja Man Singh*
Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana*
Fakir Aziao-Din*
Mullah Do PiazaThe last few years of Akbar's reign were troubled by the misconduct of his sons. Two of them died in their youth, the victims of
intemperance. 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. His body was interned in a magnificent mausoleum at Sikandra, near Agra.
*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
Zee TV in late 1990s.
*A television series, called
Akbar the Great, directed by
Sanjay Khan was aired on
Doordarshan in the 1990s.
*
Ashutosh Gowariker is making a film on Akbar and his wife Jodha bai entitled
Akbar-Jodha.
* A fictionalized Akbar plays an important supporting role in Kim Stanley Robinson's 2002 novel,
The Years of Rice and Salt.
*
Amartya Sen uses Akbar has a prime example in his books
The Argumentative Indian and
Violence and Identity.
*
Bertrice Small is known for incorporating historical figures as primary characters in her romance novels, and Akbar is no exception. He is a prominent figure in two of her novels, and mentioned several times in a third, which takes place after his death. In
This Heart of Mine the heroine becomes Akbar's fortieth "wife" for a time, while
Wild Jasmine and
Darling Jasmine centre around the life of his half-British daughter.
*
Mughal Emperor*
List of people known as The Great*
The Death of Akbar*
The Akbarnama
* Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak
Akbar-namah Edited with commentary by Muhammad Sadiq Ali (Kanpur-Lucknow: Nawal Kishore) 1881-3 Three Vols. (
Persian)
* Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak
Akbarnamah Edited by Maulavi Abd al-Rahim. Bibliotheca Indica Series (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal) 1877-1887 Three Vols. (
Persian)
* Henry Beveridge (Trans.)
The Akbarnama of Ab-ul-Fazl Bibliotheca Indica Series (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal) 1897 Three Vols.
* Haji Muhammad 'Arif Qandahari
Tarikh-i-Akbari (Better known as Tarikh-i-Qandahari) edited & Annotated by Haji Mu'in'd-Din Nadwi, Dr. Azhar 'Ali Dihlawi & Imtiyaz 'Ali 'Arshi (Rampur: Raza Library) 1962 (
Persian)
*
Akbar*
Akbar's Reign*
Free ebook of Akbar, Emperor of India, by Richard von Garbe, translated by Lydia G. Robinson at
Project Gutenberg*
The Mughals: Akbar*
- The Mughal Emperor:Akbar World of Biography*
Dastoor Meherji Rana Genealogy
