Greatest mughal emperor
Akbar
Mughal emperor from to
This article is about the third Mughal emperor. For other uses, see Akbar (disambiguation).
| Akbar | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Akbar with a lion and a calf, by Govardhan, c.&#; | |||||
| Reign | 11 February &#;– 27 October [2][3] | ||||
| Coronation | 14 February [2] | ||||
| Predecessor | Humayun Hemu(as ruler of Delhi) | ||||
| Successor | Jahangir | ||||
| Regent | Bairam Khan (–)[4] | ||||
| Born | Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar 15 October [a] Amarkot, Amarkot Kingdom, Rajputana (modern-day Umerkot, Sindh, Pakistan) | ||||
| Died | 27 October () (aged&#;63) Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Subah, Mughal Empire (modern-day Uttar Pradesh, India) | ||||
| Burial | November Akbar's Tomb, Sikandra, Agra, India | ||||
| Consorts | |||||
| Wives |
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| Issue Detail | |||||
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| House | House of Babur | ||||
| Dynasty | Timurid | ||||
| Father | Humayun | ||||
| Mother | Hamida Banu Begum | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam[10][11] Din-i-Ilahi | ||||
| Seal | |||||
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar[9] (()15 October [a] – ()27 October ),[12][13][14] popularly known as Akbar the Great,[15] and also as Akbar I (Persian pronunciation:[ɾ]),[16] was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from to Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains in the Indian subcontinent.
He is generally considered one of the greatest emperors in Indian history and led a successful campaign to unify the various kingdoms of Hindūstān or India proper.[17][18]
Akbar gradually enlarged the Mughal Empire to include much of the Indian subcontinent through Mughal military, political, cultural, and economic dominance.
To unify the vast Mughal state, Akbar established a centralised system of administration and adopted a policy of conciliating conquered rulers through marriage and diplomacy. To preserve peace and order in a religiously and culturally diverse empire, he adopted policies that won him the support of his non-Muslim subjects, including abolishing the sectarian tax and appointing them to high civil and military posts.
Under Akbar, Mughal India developed a strong and stable economy, which tripled in size and wealth, leading to commercial expansion and greater patronage of an Indo-Persian culture. Akbar's courts at Delhi, Agra, and Fatehpur Sikri attracted holy men of many faiths, poets, architects, and artisans, and became known as centres of the arts, letters, and learning.
Timurid and Perso-Islamic culture began to merge and blend with indigenous Indian elements into a distinct style of Mughal arts, including painting and architecture. Disillusioned with orthodox Islam and perhaps hoping to bring about religious unity within his empire, Akbar promulgated Din-i Ilahi, a syncretic creed derived mainly from Islam and Hinduism as well as elements of Zoroastrianism and Christianity.
Akbar was succeeded as emperor by his son, Prince Salim, later known as Jahangir.
Mughal empire akbar biography of barack gas Akbar is considered to be the greatest Mughal emperor of India. He extended Mughal power over most of the Indian subcontinent and he reigned from to He was always considered to be the king of people as he listens to his people. To preserve the unity in his empire, various programs were adopted by Akbar which helped in winning the loyalty of the non-muslim population in his realm. He made sure that the central administration of his kingdom was reformed and strengthened.Early years
After Mughal Emperor Humayun was defeated at Chausa () and Kannauj () by the forces of Sher Shah Suri, Humayun fled westward to modern-day Sindh.[19] There, he met and married the year-old Hamida Banu Begum, daughter of Shaikh Ali Akbar Jami, a Persian teacher of Humayun's younger brother Hindal Mirza.
Jalal ud-din Muhammad Akbar was born to them the next year on 25 October [a] (the fifth day of Rajab, AH)[14] at the Rajput Fortress of Amarkot in Rajputana (in modern-day Sindh), where his parents had been given refuge by the local Hindu ruler Rana Prasad.[21]
During the extended period of Humayun's exile, Akbar was brought up in Kabul by his paternal uncles, Kamran Mirza and Askari Mirza, and aunts, in particular, Kamran Mirza's wife.
He spent his youth learning to hunt, run, and fight, and although he never learned to read or write, when he retired in the evening, he would have someone read to him.[22][23] On 20 November , Humayun's youngest brother, Hindal Mirza, died in a battle against Kamran Mirza's forces.
Upon hearing the news of his brother's death, Humayun was overwhelmed with grief.[24]
About the time of nine-year-old Akbar's first appointment as governor of Ghazni, he married Hindal's daughter, Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, his first wife.[25] Humayun gave Akbar command of Hindal's troops and conferred on the imperial couple all of Hindal's wealth.[26] Akbar's marriage to Ruqaiya was solemnised in Jalandhar, Punjab, when they were both 14 years old.[27]
Following chaos over the succession of Sher Shah Suri's son Islam Shah, Humayun reconquered Delhi in ,[28] leading an army partly provided by his Persian ally Tahmasp I.
A few months later, Humayun died. Akbar's guardian, Bairam Khan, concealed his death to prepare for Akbar's succession. Akbar succeeded Humayun on 14 February ,[29] while in the midst of a war against Sikandar Shah to reclaim the Mughal throne. In Kalanaur, Punjab, the year-old Akbar was enthroned by Bairam Khan on a newly constructed platform (which still stands[30][31]) and was proclaimed Shahanshah (Persian for "King of Kings").[29] Bairam Khan ruled on his behalf until he came of age.[32]
Ancestry
Military campaigns
Military innovations
Akbar's military campaigns consolidated Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent.[29][34] Akbar introduced organisational changes to the mansabdari system, establishing a hierarchical scale of military and civil ranks.[35]
Organisational reforms were accompanied by innovations in cannons, fortifications, and the use of elephants.[34] Akbar also took an interest in matchlocks and effectively employed them during various conflicts.
He sought the help of the Ottomans, as well as Europeans, especially the Portuguese and Italians, in procuring advanced firearms and artillery.[36][37] Akbar's vizierAbul Fazl once declared that "with the exception of Turkey, there is perhaps no country in which its guns has more means of securing the Government than [India]."[38] Scholars and historians have used the term "gunpowder empire" to analyse the success of the Mughals in India.[39]
North India
Akbar's father Humayun had regained control of the Punjab, Delhi, and Agra with Safavid support, but Mughal rule was still precarious when Akbar took the throne.
When the Surs reconquered Agra and Delhi following the death of Humayun, Akbar's young age and the lack of military assistance from the Mughal stronghold of Kabul—which was in the midst of an invasion by the ruler of Badakhshan, Prince Mirza Suleiman—aggravated the situation.[40] When his regent, Bairam Khan, called a council of war to marshall the Mughal forces, none of Akbar's chieftains approved.
Bairam Khan was ultimately able to prevail over the nobles and it was decided that the Mughals would march against the strongest of the Sur rulers, Sikandar Shah Suri, in Punjab. Delhi was left under the regency of Tardi Baig Khan.[40] Sikandar Shah Suri, his army weakened by earlier lost battles, withdrew to avoid combat as the Mughal army approached.[41][42]
Akbar also faced Hemu, a minister and general of one of the Sur rulers, who had proclaimed himself Hindu emperor and expelled the Mughals from the Indo-Gangetic Plains.[40] Urged by Bairam Khan, who re-marshalled the Mughal army before Hemu could consolidate his position, Akbar marched on Delhi to reclaim it.[43] His army, led by Bairam Khan, defeated Hemu and the Sur army on 5 November at the Second Battle of Panipat, 50 miles (80&#;km) north of Delhi.[44] Soon after the battle, Mughal forces occupied Delhi and then Agra.
Akbar made a triumphant entry into Delhi, where he stayed for a month. Then, he and Bairam Khan returned to Punjab to deal with Sikandar Shah Suri, who had become active again.[45] In the next six months, the Mughals won another major battle against Sikander, who fled east to Bengal. Akbar and his forces occupied Lahore and then seized Multan in the Punjab.
In , Akbar took possession of Ajmer, the aperture to Rajputana, after the defeat and flight of its Muslim ruler.[45] The Mughals also besieged and defeated the Sur forces in control of Gwalior Fort, a stronghold north of the Narmada river.[45]
Royal begums (ladies), along with the families of Mughal amirs, were brought from Kabul to India at the time, "so that men might become settled and be restrained in some measure from departing to a country to which they were accustomed", according to Fazl.[40] Akbar made clear that he would stay in India, reintroducing the historical legacy of the Timurid Renaissance, in contrast to his grandfather and father, who reigned as transient rulers.[40][45][46]
Central India
See also: Mughal conquest of Malwa
By , the Mughals had launched a drive to the south into Rajputana and Malwa.[47] However, Akbar's disputes with his regent, Bairam Khan, temporarily put an end to the expansion.[47] The young emperor, at the age of eighteen, wanted to take a more active part in managing the Empire's affairs.
Urged on by his foster mother, Maham Anga, and other relatives, Akbar dismissed Bairam Khan following a dispute at court in the spring of and ordered him to leave on Hajj to Mecca.[48] Bairam Khan left for Mecca, but on his way, was persuaded by his opponents[clarify] to rebel.[44] He was defeated by the Mughal army in the Punjab and forced to submit.
Akbar forgave him and gave him the option of either continuing in his court or resuming his pilgrimage; Bairam chose the latter.[49] Bairam Khan was assassinated on his way to Mecca, by a group of Afghans led by Mubarak Khan Lohani, whose father had been killed while fighting with the Mughals at the Battle of Machhiwara in [50][47]
In , Akbar resumed military operations.[47] A Mughal army under the command of his foster brother, Adham Khan, and a Mughal commander, Pir Muhammad Khan, began the Mughal conquest of Malwa.
The Afghan ruler, Baz Bahadur, was defeated at the Battle of Sarangpur and fled to Khandesh for refuge, leaving behind his harem, treasure, and war elephants.[47] Despite initial success, Akbar was ultimately displeased with the aftermath of the campaign; his foster brother retained all of the spoils and followed through with the Central Asian practice of slaughtering the surrendered garrison, their wives and children, and many Muslim theologians and Sayyids, who were descendants of Muhammad.[47] Akbar personally rode to Malwa to confront Adham Khan and relieve him of command.
Pir Muhammad Khan was then sent in pursuit of Baz Bahadur, but was beaten back by the alliance of the rulers of Khandesh and Berar.[47] Baz Bahadur temporarily regained control of Malwa until, in the next year, Akbar sent another Mughal army to invade and annexe the kingdom.[47] Malwa became a province of the nascent imperial administration of Akbar's regime.
Baz Bahadur survived as a refugee at various courts until, eight years later in , he took service under Akbar.[47] When Adham Khan confronted Akbar following another dispute in late , the emperor threw him from a terrace into the palace courtyard at Agra. Still alive, Adham Khan was dragged up and thrown to the courtyard once again by Akbar to ensure his death.[47]
After Adham Khan's death, Akbar distributed authority among specialised ministerial posts relating to different aspects of imperial governance to prevent any one noble from becoming too powerful.[47] When a powerful clan of Uzbek chiefs broke out in rebellion in , Akbar routed them in Malwa and then Bihar.[51] He pardoned the rebellious leaders, hoping to conciliate them, but they rebelled again; Akbar quelled their second uprising.
Biography of barack obama: Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal emperors of India. He reigned from to and extended Mughal power over most of the Indian subcontinent. In order to preserve the unity of his empire, Akbar adopted programs that won the loyalty of the non-Muslim populations of his realm.
Following a third revolt, with the proclamation of Mirza Muhammad Hakim[clarification needed]—Akbar's brother and the Mughal ruler of Kabul—several Uzbek chieftains were slain and the rebel leaders trampled to death under elephants.[51] Simultaneously, the Mirzas, a group of Akbar's distant cousins who held important fiefs near Agra, rebelled and were defeated by Akbar.[51] In , Akbar moved to meet the forces of his brother, Muhammad Hakim, who had marched into the Punjab with the intention of seizing the imperial throne.
Following a brief confrontation, Muhammad Hakim accepted Akbar's supremacy and retreated back to Kabul.[51]
In , Mughal forces began the conquest of Garha, a thinly populated, hilly area in central India that was of interest to the Mughals because of its herd of wild elephants.[52] The territory was ruled over by Raja Vir Narayan, a minor, and his mother, Durgavati, a Rajput warrior queen of the Gonds.[51] Akbar did not personally lead the campaign because he was preoccupied with the Uzbek rebellion, leaving the expedition in the hands of Asaf Khan, the Mughal governor of Kara.[51][53] Durgavati committed suicide after her defeat at the Battle of Damoh, while Raja Vir Narayan was slain at the Fall of Chauragarh, the mountain fortress of the Gonds.[53] The Mughals seized immense wealth, including an uncalculated amount of gold and silver, jewels, and 1, elephants.
Kamala Devi, a younger sister of Durgavati, was sent to the Mughal harem.[53] The brother of Durgavati's deceased husband was installed as the Mughal administrator of the region.[53]
As with Malwa, Akbar entered into a dispute with his vassals over the conquest of Gondwana.[53] Asaf Khan was accused of keeping most of the treasures and sending back only elephants to Akbar.
When summoned to give accounts, he fled Gondwana. He went first to the Uzbeks, then returned to Gondwana where he was pursued by Mughal forces.
Finally, he submitted and Akbar restored him to his previous position.[53]
Assassination attempt
In January , an assassin shot an arrow at Akbar, which pierced his right shoulder, as he was returning from a visit to the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin near Delhi. The Emperor ordered the apprehended assassin, a slave of Mirza Sharfuddin—a noble in Akbar's court whose recent rebellion had been suppressed—to be beheaded.[54]
Rajputana
Having established Mughal rule over northern India, Akbar turned his attention to the conquest of Rajputana, which was strategically important as it was a rival centre of power that flanked the Indo-Gangetic plains.[53] The Mughals had already established domination over parts of northern Rajputana in Mewat, Ajmer, and Nagor.[45][51] Akbar sought to conquer Rajputana's heartlands, which had rarely previously submitted to the Muslim rulers of the Delhi Sultanate.
Beginning in , the Mughals actively engaged the Rajputs in warfare and diplomacy.[52] Most Rajput states accepted Akbar's suzerainty; however, the rulers of Mewar and Marwar—Udai Singh II and Chandrasen Rathore—remained outside the imperial fold.[51]
Udai Singh was descended from the Sisodia ruler, Rana Sanga, who had fought Babur at the Battle of Khanwa in [51] As the head of the Sisodia clan, he possessed the highest ritual status of all the Rajput kings and chieftains in India.[citation needed] The Mughals viewed defeating Udai Singh as essential to asserting their imperial authority among the Rajputs.[51] During this period of his reign, Akbar was still devoted to Islam and sought to impress the superiority of his faith over what were regarded by contemporaries as the most prestigious warriors in Hinduism.[51]
In , Akbar attacked the Chittor Fort in Mewar.
The fortress-capital of Mewar was of strategic importance as it lay on the shortest route from Agra to Gujarat and was also considered a key to holding the interior parts of Rajputana.
Mughal empire akbar biography of barack Enthroned at age 14, Akbar the Great began his military conquests under the tutelage of a regent before claiming imperial power and expanding the Mughal Empire. Known as much for his inclusive leadership style as for his war mongering, Akbar ushered in an era of religious tolerance and appreciation for the arts. The conditions of Akbar's birth in Umarkot, Sindh, India on October 15, , gave no indication that he would be a great leader. Though Akbar was a direct descendent of Ghengis Khan , and his grandfather Babur was the first emperor of the Mughal dynasty, his father, Humayun, had been driven from the throne by Sher Shah Suri. He was impoverished and in exile when Akbar was born.Udai Singh retreated to the hills of Mewar, leaving two Rajput warriors, Jaimal and Patta, in charge of the defence of his capital.[55] Chittorgarh fell in February after a siege of four months. The fall of Chittor was proclaimed by Akbar as "the victory of Islam over infidels [i.e., non-Muslims]."[56] In his Fathnama (dispatches announcing victory) issued on 9 March conveying his news of victory, Akbar wrote: "With the help of our blood-thirsty sword we have erased the signs of infidelity in their minds and destroyed the temples in those places and all over Hindustan."[56]
Akbar had the surviving defenders and 30, non-combatants massacred and their heads displayed upon towers erected throughout the region to demonstrate his authority.[57][58] Akbar remained in Chittorgarh for three days, then returned to Agra, where, to commemorate the victory, he set up statues of Jaimal and Patta mounted on elephants at the gates of his fort.[59][failed verification] Thereafter, Udai Singh never ventured out of his mountain refuge in Mewar.[60]
The fall of Chittorgarh was followed up by a Mughal attack on the Ranthambore Fort in Ranthambore was held by the Hada Rajputs and reputed to be the most powerful fortress in India.[60] However, it fell only after a couple of months.[60] At that point, most of the Rajput kings had submitted to the Mughals; only the clans of Mewar continued to resist.[60] Udai Singh's son and successor, Maharana Pratap, was later defeated by the Mughals at the Battle of Haldighati in [60] Akbar would celebrate his conquest of Rajputana by laying the foundation of a new capital, 23 miles (37&#;km) west-southwest of Agra, in It was called Fatehpur Sikri, or the "City of Victory".[61] Pratap Singh continued to attack the Mughals and was able to retain most of his kingdom during Akbar's reign.[62]
Western and Eastern India
See also: Mughal conquest of Gujarat
Akbar's next military objectives were the conquest of Gujarat and Bengal, which connected India with the trading centres of Asia, Africa, and Europe through the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.[60] Gujarat had also been a haven for rebellious Mughal nobles.
In Bengal, the Afghans still held considerable influence under their ruler, Sulaiman Khan Karrani. Akbar first moved against Gujarat, which lay in the crook of the Mughal provinces of Rajputana and Malwa.[60] Gujarat possessed areas of rich agricultural production in its central plain, an impressive output of textiles and other industrial goods, and the busiest seaports of India.[60][63] Akbar intended to link the maritime state with the massive resources of the Indo-Gangetic plains.[64]
Akbar's ostensible casus belli for warring with Gujarat was that the rebel Mirzas, who had previously been driven out of India, were now operating out of a base in southern Gujarat.
Moreover, Akbar had received invitations from cliques in Gujarat to oust the reigning king, which further served as justification for his military expedition.[60] In , Akbar moved to occupy Ahmedabad, the capital, and other northern cities, and was proclaimed the lawful sovereign of Gujarat.
By , he had driven out the Mirzas who, after offering token resistance, fled for refuge in the Deccan. Surat, the commercial capital of the region, and other coastal cities soon capitulated to the Mughals.[60] The king, Muzaffar Shah III, was caught hiding in a corn field; he was pensioned off by Akbar with a small allowance.[60]
Akbar then returned to Fatehpur Sikiri, where he built the Buland Darwaza to commemorate his victories.
But, a rebellion by Afghan nobles supported by the Rajput ruler of Idar, as well as the renewed intrigues of the Mirzas[clarify], forced his return to Gujarat.[64] Akbar crossed Rajputana and reached Ahmedabad in 11 days—a journey that normally took six weeks. The outnumbered Mughal army won a decisive victory on 2 September Akbar slew the rebel leaders and erected a tower out of their severed heads.[60] The conquest and subjugation of Gujarat proved highly profitable for the Mughals; after expenses, the territory yielded a revenue of more than five million rupees annually to Akbar's treasury.[60]
After conquering Gujarat, the remaining centre of Afghan power was Bengal.
In , Sulaiman Khan's son, Daud Khan, succeeded him. Daud Khan defined Mughal rule, assuming the insignia of royalty and ordering that the khutbah be proclaimed in his name, rather than Akbar's. Munim Khan, the Mughal governor of Bihar, was ordered to chastise Daud Khan. Eventually, Akbar himself set out to Bengal, and in , the Mughals seized Patna from Daud Khan, who fled to Bengal.[65][66] Akbar then returned to Fatehpur Sikri and left his generals to finish the campaign.
The Mughal army was subsequently victorious at the Battle of Tukaroi in , which led to the annexation of Bengal and parts of Bihar that had been under the dominion of Daud Khan. Only Orissa was left in the hands of the Karrani dynasty, albeit as a fief of the Mughal Empire. A year later, however, Daud Khan rebelled and attempted to regain Bengal.
He was defeated by the Mughal general Khan Jahan Quli and fled into exile. Daud Khan was later captured and executed by Mughal forces. His severed head was sent to Akbar, while his limbs were gibbeted at Tandah, the Mughal capital in Bengal.[65]
Afghanistan and Central Asia
Following his conquests of Gujarat and Bengal, Akbar was preoccupied with domestic concerns.[clarification needed][citation needed] He did not leave Fatehpur Sikri on a military campaign until , when Punjab was again invaded by his brother, Mirza Muhammad Hakim.
Akbar expelled his brother to Kabul and waged a campaign to remove him from power.
At the same time, Akbar's nobles were resisting leaving India to administer the Empire's holdings in Afghanistan; they were, according to Abul Fazl "afraid of the cold of Afghanistan".[citation needed] Likewise, Hindu officers in the Mughal army were inhibited by the traditional taboo against crossing the Indus. To encourage them, Akbar provided them with pay eight months in advance.
In August , Akbar seized Kabul and took up residence at Babur's old citadel. He stayed there for three weeks and his brother fled into the mountains. Akbar left Kabul in the hands of his sister, Bakht-un-Nissa Begum, and returned to India. He then pardoned his brother, who took up de facto control of the Mughal administration in Kabul; Bakht-un-Nissa continued to be the official governor.
In , after Muhammad Hakim died, Kabul passed into the hands of Akbar and was officially incorporated as a province of the Mughal Empire.[65]
The Kabul expedition was the beginning of a long period of activity over the northern frontiers of the empire.[67] For thirteen years, beginning in , Akbar remained in the north, shifting his capital to Lahore while he dealt with challenges from Uzbek tribes, which had driven his grandfather, Babur, out of Central Asia.[65][67] The Uzbeks were organised under Abdullah Khan Shaybanid, a military chieftain who had seized Badakhshan and Balkh from Akbar's distant Timurid relatives, and whose troops challenged the northwestern frontiers of the Mughal Empire.[65][68] The Uzbeks also subsidised Afghan tribes on the border that were hostile to the Mughals.
The tribes felt challenged by the Yusufzai of Bajaur and Swat and were motivated by a new religious leader, Bayazid, the founder of the Roshaniyya sect.[67][69]
In , Akbar negotiated a pact with Abdullah Khan in which the Mughals agreed to remain neutral during the Uzbek invasion of Safavid-held Khorasan.
In return, Abdullah Khan agreed to refrain from supporting, subsidising, or offering refuge to the Afghan tribes hostile to the Mughals. Akbar, in turn, began a series of campaigns to pacify the Yusufzais and other rebels. Akbar ordered Zain Khan to lead an expedition against the Afghan tribes. Raja Birbal, a renowned minister in Akbar's court, was also given military command.
The expedition failed, and on their retreat from the mountains, Birbal and his entourage were ambushed and killed by Afghans at the Malandarai Pass in February Akbar immediately fielded new armies to reinvade the Yusufzai lands under the command of Raja Todar Mal. Over the next six years, the Mughals contained the Yusufzai in the mountain valleys, forcing the submission of many chiefs in Swat and Bajaur.
Dozens of forts were built and occupied to secure the region.[69]
Despite his pact with the Uzbeks, Akbar nurtured a secret hope of reconquering Central Asia, but Badakshan and Balkh remained firmly part of the Uzbek dominion.[70] Abdullah Khan died in and the last of the rebellious Afghan tribes were subdued by The Roshaniyya movement was suppressed, its leaders were captured or driven into exile, and the Afridi and Orakzai tribes which had risen up under them were subjugated.
Jalaluddin, the son of the Roshaniyya movement's founder, Bayazid, was killed in in a fight with Mughal troops near Ghazni.[68][69]
Indus Valley
Main article: Mughal conquest of Kashmir
While Akbar was in Lahore dealing with the Uzbeks, he sought to subjugate the Indus valley to secure the frontier provinces.[69] In , he sent an army to conquer Kashmir in the upper Indus basin after Yousuf Shah, the reigning king of the Shia Chak dynasty, refused to send his son as a hostage to the Mughal court.
Yousuf Shah surrendered immediately to the Mughals, but another of his sons, Yaqub Shah, crowned himself as king, leading a resistance against the Mughal armies. In June , Akbar travelled from Lahore to Srinagar to receive the surrender of Yaqub and his rebel forces.[69]Baltistan and Ladakh, which were Tibetan provinces adjacent to Kashmir, pledged their allegiance to Akbar.[71] The Mughals also moved to conquer Sindh in the lower Indus valley.
Since , the northern fortress of Bhakkar had remained under imperial control. In , the Mughal governor of Multan tried and failed to secure the capitulation of Mirza Jani Beg, the independent ruler of Thatta in southern Sindh.[69] Akbar responded by sending a Mughal army to besiege Sehwan, the river capital of the region.
Jani Beg mustered a large army to meet the Mughals.[69] The outnumbered Mughal forces defeated the Sindhi forces at the Battle of Sehwan. After suffering further defeats, Jani Beg surrendered to the Mughals in , and in , paid homage to Akbar in Lahore.[71]
Baluchistan
As early as , about half a dozen Baluchi chiefs, under nominal Pani Afghan rule, had been persuaded to subordinate themselves to Akbar.
In preparation for taking Kandahar from the Safavids, Akbar ordered the Mughal forces to conquer the rest of the Afghan-held parts of Baluchistan in [71][72] The Mughal general Mir Masum led an attack on the stronghold of Sibi, which was northeast of Quetta, and defeated a coalition of local chieftains in battle.[72] They were required to acknowledge Mughal supremacy and attend Akbar's court.
As a result, the modern-day Pakistani and Afghan parts of Baluchistan, including the Makran coast, became a part of the Mughal Empire.[72]
Safavids and Kandahar
Kandahar (also known as the ancient Indian kingdom of Gandhara)[73] had connections with the Mughals from the time of the Empire's ancestor, Timur, the warlord who had conquered much of Western, Central, and parts of South Asia in the 14th century.
However, the Safavids considered it to be an appanage of the Persian-ruled territory of Khorasan, and declared its association with the Mughal emperors to be a usurpation. In , while Akbar was consolidating his rule over northern India, Safavid Shah Tahmasp I seized Kandahar and expelled its Mughal governor. The recovery of Kandahar had not been a priority for Akbar, but after his military activity in the northern frontiers, he moved to restore Mughal control.
At the time, the region was also under threat from the Uzbeks, but the Emperor of Persia, himself beleaguered by the Ottoman Turks, was unable to send reinforcements.[71]
In , Akbar received the exiled Safavid prince, Rostam Mirza.[74] Rostam Mirza pledged allegiance to the Mughals; he was granted a rank (mansab) of command over 5, men and received Multan as a jagir.[74] The Safavid prince and governor of Kandahar, Mozaffar Hosayn, also agreed to defect to the Mughals.
Hosayn, who was in an adversary relationship with his overlord, Shah Abbas, was granted a rank of 5, men, and his daughter Kandahari Begum was married to Akbar's grandson, the Mughal prince Khurram.[71][74] Kandahar was secured in with the arrival of a garrison headed by the Mughal general, Shah Bayg Khan.[74] The reconquest of Kandahar did not overtly disturb Mughal-Persian relations.[71] Akbar and the Persian Shah continued to exchange ambassadors and presents.
However, the power equation between the two had now changed in favour of the Mughals.[71]
Deccan Sultans
Main article: Deccan sultanates
In , Akbar began military operations against the Deccan Sultans, who had not submitted to his authority. He besieged Ahmednagar Fort in , forcing Chand Bibi to cede Berar.[citation needed] A subsequent revolt forced Akbar to take the fort in August Akbar occupied Burhanpur and besieged Asirgarh Fort in , and took it on 17 January , when Miran Bahadur Shah of the Khandesh Sultanate refused to relinquish Khandesh.
Akbar then established the Subahs of Ahmadnagar, Berar, and Khandesh under Prince Daniyal. "By the time of his death in , Akbar controlled a broad sweep of territory from the Bay of Bengal to Qandahar and Badakshan. He touched the western sea in Sind and at Surat and was well astride central India."[77]
Administration
Political structure
Akbar's system of central government was based on the system that had evolved since the Delhi Sultanate.
Akbar reorganised the sections with a detailed set of regulations. The revenue department was headed by a wazir, responsible for finances and management of jagir and inam land. The head of the military was called the mir bakshi, appointed from among the leading nobles of the court. The mir bakshi was in charge of intelligence gathering, and made recommendations to the emperor for military appointments and promotion.
Mughal empire akbar biography of barack obama He was born on 15th October in Umarkot, presently in Pakistan, and died on 25th October in Agra. He was responsible for extending power over most of the Indian subcontinent and reigned from to Various measures were adopted by Akbar to win the loyalty of the Hindu population and other non-Muslim populations. He is one of the most successful rulers from Mughal empire and extend the empire to almost all over Indian subcontinent and reigned between to Akbar focused on the centralization of his financial system and reorganization of tax and had a keen interest in various religions.The mir saman was in charge of the imperial household, including the harems, and supervised the functioning of the court and royal bodyguard. The judiciary was a separate organisation headed by a chief qazi, who was also responsible for religious beliefs and practices.[78]
Taxation
Akbar reformed the administration land revenues by adopting a system that had been used by Sher Shah Suri.
The village continued to remain the primary unit of revenue assessment.[79] Cultivated areas were measured and taxed through fixed rates—on the basis of prices prevailing the imperial court—based on the type of crop and productivity. This system burdened the peasantry because prices at the imperial court were often higher than those in the countryside.[80] Akbar also introduced a decentralised system of annual assessment, which resulted in corruption among local officials.
The system was abandoned in and replaced with the dahsala (also known as zabti), under which revenue was calculated as one-third of the average produce of the previous ten years, to be paid to the state in cash.[81] This system was later refined, taking into account local prices and grouping areas with similar productivity into assessment circles.
Remission was given to peasants when the harvest failed during times of flood or drought.[81] The dahsala system was set out by Raja Todar Mal, who also served as a revenue officer under Sher Shah Suri, in a detailed memorandum submitted to the emperor in –[82][83] Other local methods of assessment continued in some areas.
Lands which were fallow or uncultivated were assessed at concessional rates.[84]
Akbar also encouraged the improvement and extension of agriculture. Zamindars were required to provide loans and agricultural implements in times of need, and to encourage farmers to plough as much land as possible and sow high-quality seeds.
Mughal empire akbar biography of barack trump
Akbar the Great, born on October 14, , was the third Mughal emperor of India. As the grandson of Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, Akbar ascended to the throne at the tender age of 14 in AD. Despite his youth, he displayed remarkable leadership and quickly suppressed rebellions and expanded his territories. Akbar embarked on a comprehensive program of conquests, securing Rajputana, Gujarat, Bengal, and Kashmir. His military prowess and administrative acumen enabled him to establish a centralized and well-governed state.In turn, the zamindars were given a hereditary right to collect a share of the produce. Peasants had a hereditary right to cultivate the land as long as they paid the land revenue.[84] Revenue officials were guaranteed only three-quarters of their salary, with the remaining quarter dependent on their full realisation of the revenue assessed.[85]
Military organisation
Main article: Mansabdari
Akbar organised his army and the nobility by means of a system called the mansabdari.
Under this system, each officer in the army was assigned a rank (a mansabdar) and assigned a number of cavalry, which he was required to supply to the imperial army.[83] The