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Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbár, (alternative spellings include Jellaladin) also known as Akbar the Great (Akbar-e-Azam) (October_15, 1542 – 1605) was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from the time of his accession in 1556 until 1605. He is considered the greatest of the Mughal emperors.
Political career
Akbar was born at Umarkot in Sind on the October 15, 1543. His father, Humayun, was driven from the throne in a series of decisive battles by the Afghan Sher Shah Suri. After more than twelve years' exile, Humayun regained his sovereignty, which, however, he held for only a few months before he died. Akbar succeeded his father in 1556 under the regency of Bairam Khan, a Turkoman noble, whose energy in repelling pretenders to the throne, and severity in maintaining the discipline of the army, helped greatly in the consolidation of the newly recovered empire. Bairam, however, was naturally despotic and cruel. When order was somewhat restored, Akbar took the reins of government into his own hands by a proclamation issued in March 1560.
On November 5, 1556, fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mughal Army defeated Hindu forces of General Hemu to give Akbar the throne of India at the Second battle of Panipat.
When Akbar ascended the throne, only a small portion of what had formerly comprised the Mughal empire was still under his control, and he devoted himself to the recovery of the remaining provinces. He expanded the Mughal empire to include Malwa (1562), Gujarat (1572), Bengal (1574), Kabul (1581), Kashmir (1586) and Kandesh (1601) among others. Over each of these, as power was restored, he placed a governor, over whom he superintended.
Akbar did not want to have his court tied too closely to Delhi. He ordered the court moved to Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra, but when this 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 measured for the purpose of correctly evaluating taxation and he gave strict instructions to prevent extortion on the part of the tax gatherers.
Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbár, (alternative spellings include Jellaladin) also known as Akbar the Great (Akbar-e-Azam) (1542–1605) was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from the time of his accession in 1556 until 1605. He is considered the greatest of the Mughal emperors.
Religion
At the time of Akbar's rule he had both Hindus and Muslims in his empire. Profound differences seperate the Islmaic and Hindu faith. Hindu were polytheistic while Muslims were monotheistic. Muslims ate beef, in which the Hindu religion it is sacred, and the Hindus drank feremented beverages (wine), of which the Muslim faith rejected. The Hindu's firm belief in the caste system contradicted the Muslim sense of equality.
Despite all of this Akbar fostered tolerance for all religions. He tried to reconcile the differences of both religions by creating a new faith called the Din-i-Ilahi, which incorporated both Islam and Hinduism. The tax that non-Muslims had to pay was repealed.
Lover of Arts
Although he was illiterate (and possibly dyslexic), he had a great love for knowledge, inviting men from all different religions to come to discuss matters of the world with him. He was a patron to many men of literary talent, among whom may be mentioned the brothers Feizi and Abul Fazl. The former was commissioned by Akbar to translate a number of Sanskrit scientific works into Persian; and the latter has left, in the Akbar-Nameh, an enduring record of the emperor's reign. It is also said that Akbar employed Jerome Xavier, a Jesuit missionary, to translate the four Gospels into Persian.
Final years
The closing years of Akbar's reign were rendered very unhappy by the misconduct of his sons. Two of them died in youth, the victims of intemperance; and 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, in 1599 as he had to proceed to north to face his son's rebellion. Akbar keenly felt these calamities, and they may even have tended to hasten his death, which occurred at Agra on the 15th of October 1605. His body was deposited in a magnificent mausoleum at Sikandra, near Agra.
See also
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