Biography Of Mughal Emperor Akbar

Mughal Emperor Akbar, full name- Abu’l Fath Jalal ud-din Muhammad Akbar, was the third King of the Mughal Empire. He was born on 14th October 1556 in a Rajput Fortress in Umarkot, Sind. Regarded by many historians as the greatest Mughal ruler, he succeeded in almost all of his campaigns and was widely favored among the common people. He was a tolerant, fair and most importantly very intelligent ruler. Akbar learned that the success of being a great leader is not to infuse fear into his enemy but to rather compromise and resolve the matter without a shed of blood. However, his peaceful ways not always worked, he had a well-organized army that he used to lead himself and was a great warrior. Akbar is not only known for his contribution to the expansion of the Mughal Empire but he is also known to initiate the splendid legacy of Mughal art and architecture. He found the solution for ever-lasting Hindu-Muslim conflicts that made not only him a widely acceptable leader, but even his descendants who continued his legacy until the end of the Dynasty.

Akbar’ grandfather Babar was the founder of Mughal Empire, who after his failure to conquer Samarkand set his eyes to conquer India. Originally from the city of Andijan in contemporary Uzbekistan, he marched on to India after he conquered Kabul. Babur expressed his desire in his memoir Bāburnāma in these words, "My desire for Hindustan had been constant. It was in the month of Shaban, the Sun being in Aquarius, that we rode out of Kabul for Hindustan" (1). He conquered northwestern part of India after he defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodi, the then emperor of India under the Lodi Dynasty, in the historical Battle of Panipat. Babur wrote in his memoirs about his victory, "By the grac...

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... Dirk Collier states in an interview with Times Of India, ‘Akbar faced the same difficulty as the one we are facing in today's world: he ruled over a vast, extremely diverse empire, inhabited by people of countless many creeds, castes and ethnic origins. As a matter of principle, but also for pragmatic, "imperialist" reasons, he wanted them to be united – if not in brotherhood, then at least in mutual respect and harmony.’ (4). Akbar had a loyal following, after the defeat of Rajput rulers, he allied with the Rajput and instead of demanding a high “tribute tax” and leaving them with their territories unsupervised, he integrated them into his empire and formed a centralized government to rule over. This practice brought stability to his empire and his rules and sovereignty was embraced by Non-Muslims and Muslims. He abolished Jizya tax in 1562 but reinstated in 1575.