World History Project

Oxford School of English

World History

“Akbar The Great”

Regina Ramos

9ºA

Escobedo, NL 26.09.12

Akbar The Great

One of the greatest Mughal emperors to have ruled India was Akbar. He was popularly known as Akbar the Great because of his ability to rule efficiently and skillfully.

Akbar was born on 23rd November, 1542 when his father Humayun and mother Hamida Bano werewandering in Iran. It is said that when Akbar was born, Humayun had nothing to distribute as a token of happiness.
All he had was some musk, which he broke into small pieces and gave to his well-wishers. Humayun predicted that the fame of his son would spread everywhere like the smell of musk. Check out this biography of Akbar which sums up the life history of the Mughal Emperor.

Akbar spent hischildhood in the rough terrain of Afghanistan. His early years were spent learning how to hunt, fight and mature into a skillful warrior. He did not find time to read and write and was illiterate. But his illiteracy did not hamper his quest for knowledge and desire to know about new things. Akbar had a huge library and a vast collection of books and scriptures. His courtiers read out the books forhim.
Akbar had the knowledge equivalent to some of the most learned scholars. He also was an admirer of fine arts and always encouraged, poetry, music and dance in his court.
Akbar Takes Power:

In 1555, Humayan died just months after retaking Delhi. Akbar ascended the Mughal throne at the age of 13, and became Shahanshah ("King of Kings"). His regent was Bayram Khan, his childhood guardianand an outstanding warrior/statesman.
The young emperor almost immediately lost Delhi once more to the Hindu leader Hemu. However, in November of 1556, Generals Bayram Khan and Khan Zaman I defeated Hemu's much larger army at the Second Battle of Panipat. Hemu himself was shot through the eye as he rode into battle atop an elephant; the Mughal army captured and executed him.
When he came of ageat 18, Akbar dismissed the increasingly overbearing Bayram Khan and took direct control of the empire and army. Bayram was ordered to make the hajj to Mecca; instead, he started a rebellion against Akbar.
The young emperor's forces defeated Bayram's rebels at Jalandhar, in the Punjab; rather than executing the rebel leader, Akbar mercifully allowed his former regent another chance to go toMecca. This time, Bayram Khan went.
Intrigue and Further Expansion:
Although he was out from under Bayram Khan's control, Akbar still faced challenges to his authority from within the palace. The son of his nursemaid, a man called Adham Khan, killed another adviser in the palace after the victim discovered that Adham was embezzling tax funds. Enraged both by the murder and by the betrayal of histrust, Akbar had Adham Khan thrown from the parapets of the castle. From that point forward, Akbar was in control of his court
and country, rather than being a tool of palace intrigues.
The young emperor set out on an aggressive policy of military expansion, both for geo-strategic reasons and as a way to get troublesome warrior/advisers away from the capital. In the following years, the Mughal armywould conquer much of northern India (including what is now Pakistan) and Afghanistan.

Akbar's Governing Style:
In order to control his vast empire, Akbar instituted a highly efficient bureaucracy. He appointed mansabars, or military governors, over the various regions; these governors answered directly to him. As a result, he was able to fuse the individual fiefdoms of India into a unifiedempire that would survive until 1868.
Akbar was personally courageous, willing to lead the charge in battle. He enjoyed taming wild cheetahs and elephants, as well. This courage and self-confidence allowed Akbar to initiate novel policies in government, and to stand by them over objections from more conservative advisers and courtiers.
Matters of Faith and Marriage:
From an early age, Akbar...