| Birth name: |
Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar |
| Family name: |
Timurid |
| Title: |
Emperor of Mughal Empire |
| Birth: |
August 15 or November 23 , 1542 |
| Place of birth: |
Umerkot |
| Death: |
October 12 , 1605 (aged 62) |
| Burial: |
Akbar's Tomb |
| Succeeded by: |
Jahangir |
| Marriage: |
Ruqayya Sultan Begum
Salimah Sultan Begum
Mariam-uz-Zamani or Maan Kunwar
Sakinah Banu Begum
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| Children: |
Shahzada Nuruddin Muhammad Salim
(Jahangir ), son
Shahzada Shah Murad , son
Shahzada Danyal , son
Shahzadi Khanim Sultan , daughter
Shahzadi Shakr-un-Nisa Begum , daughter
Shahzadi Aram Banu Begum , daughter
Shahzadi Jahan Begum , daughter
Shahzadi Ximini Begum , daughter
Shahzadi Khanum , daughter
Shahzadi Begum , daughter
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 Akbar was the grandson of Babur who founded the Mughal rule in India. However, during the time of Humayun, the territory was lost to the Afghans under the Surs. After the interregnum of Afghan rule, it was recaptured in 1555. And it was left to Akbar to rebuild the empire from scratch. Akbar was only fourteen years old when his father Humayun died, and he was crowned on Feb 14, 1556. It was under Akbar, that the Mughals fought and won the second Battle of Painpat (November 5, 1556)
Akbar as a leader was unique to his time. His leadership skills were not limited to war, expansion and consolidation of Mughal Empire. But his most important contribution was the way that he moulded the Mughal Empire and created legitimacy for his rule that was not based on brute force, but on the consent of the governed.
To a large extent the Mughal rule was an extension of his personality. At personal level, he was tolerant to other religions. He married Hindu Rajput princesses, but did not force them to convert to Islam. They were free to practice religion of their choice. Akbar himself was interested to explore the essence of different religions, consequently he built an ibadat-khana to which he would invite spiritual leaders of different faith and question them and listen to their discussions. The most important aspect of his religious policy was that he abolished jizia, and also quashed many of the restrictive laws of religious worship on the non-Muslims that existed from earlier times. His spiritual curiosity later on translated into his founding a faith called din-i-ilahi (also called tahud-i-ilahi), Akbar being its spiritual preceptor. This in many ways was a distillation of teachings of different faiths and exhibited a tolerant attitude. It laid stress on individual purity and ethical behaviour. Akbar never forced anyone to become a member of his din, and according to the Ain-i-Akbari, there were only eighteen full time adherents and no more than a few thousand followers.
Akbar founded the imperial structures through his quality of being a good leader, soldier and a strategist. He conquered nearly the whole of Indian subcontinent except the southern areas. His empire stretched from the present Afghanistan to that of Bangladesh. The most significant aspect of his extension of Mughal rule was that in many of the areas where the Hindu Rajput rulers were ruling, he would not annex their kingdoms, but on their acceptance of Mughal suzerainty, he would let them be rulers of their areas as vassals of Mughals, and also recruit their princes to the Mansabdari ranks. This way he won a willing acceptance to his imperialism. And in many of the campaigns of the Mughals, it was these Rajput princes who were the commanders of the Mughal armies. The support of Rajputs was an equally important bulwark to the conservative Islamic sections in the Mughal court.
For administration, he founded the Mansabdari system of administration by which all the government officials were put under a hierarchy of military ranks. This systematised the government functions and bureaucratised the machinery. This functioned both for military and the civil spheres, going down from imperial level to the local levels. Now it was not rule by whims, but rule by procedures. Procedures were developed regarding recruitment, for communication, and for a system of checks and balance between the government functionaries. The officials were regularly transferred. The land revenue system was systematised and evaluated on a scientific statistical basis. An important aspect of his administration was that the charge was given to the able person irrespective of his religious affiliation. High ranks were accorded to the Hindu Rajputs in the Mansabdari hierarchy.
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 At the political level he provided both imperial and spiritual leadership to his people. He adopted many of the Hindu festivals and rituals like jharokha-darshan, tuladan, and also celebrated festivals like Nauroz etc. All these reflected his spirit of independence and tolerance. The most important aspect of his kingship was that unlike the trend among Muslim rulers in considering the Khalifa as the supreme leader, Akbar did not consider himself subordinate to anyone. Different regimes have usually upheld certain religions Byzantines- Christian Orthodox, Ottomans- Sunni, Safavids- Shia etc. Akbar liberated the Mughal regime from any such religious affiliation and placed his subjects on an equal footing. He created a state of sulh-i-kul ie. a state of peace and reconciliation among all. This was quite in contrast to the orthodox theologians, who would have wished to see the empire as a land of infidels. He himself was a despot and adopted the title of Padshah. In the Islamic kingship, till then the highest title adopted was zil-i-allah-fil-’arz (shadow of God on earth). Akbar went even further and adopted the title of farr-i-izdi (divine effulgence or light of God). Thus Akbar derived his power directly from the will of God, which was quite in keeping with the divine rule of kingship and was also an acceptable means of legitimacy.
Generally, in matters of religion, in a state where the Quranic laws took precedence, Akbar took the most innovative step of assuming to himself the powers of religious interpretation. By a mazhar (proclamation) Akbar was certified to be imam-adil (just ruler), and by being an imam adil, he was declared to be superior to that of the mujtahid (infallible authority). Consequently, it meant that the intellect of the monarch was the source of legislation and for interpreting any dispute as regards the Quranic law. He was thus the temporal as well as the spiritual leader of the regime and also most importantly, able to restrict the unwarranted influence of the orthodox ulemas.
A similar universality of outlook is visible in his patronage to painting, literature, and architecture. It is very interesting to note that areas like painting were totally devoid of religious symbolism. He would patronise artists without being concerned with their religious affiliations. It was in his time that the form of Indo-Islamic architecture became part of the landscape that was a synthesis of Islamic as well as Hindu traditions. We thus see, that Akbar left a deep impact not only on the Mughal Empire, but also on the furthering of a liberal Indian tradition that has led to continuity of the Indian civilization over centuries.
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Early years
Akbar was born on October 15,1542, at the Rajput Fortress of Umarkot in Sind where the Mughal Emperor Humayun and his recently wedded wife, Hamida Banu Begum were taking refuge. Soon they were transferred to State of Rewa (in present day Madhya Pradesh) where Akbar grew up in village of Mukundpur. Akbar and prince Ram Singh who later became Maharaja of Rewa grew up together and stayed close friends forever. In 1540, Humayun had been driven into exile, following decisive battles, by the Afghan leader Sher Shah. 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.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 Tahmasp. Only a few months later, Humayun died from an accident falling down the stairs of his library (probably Feb 9, one of the ascension dates for Akbar; Gregorian date Feb 19). Bairam Khan cleverly concealed the report of Humayun's death in order to prepare for the unopposed succession of Akbar to the throne. Akbar succeeded his father on February 14, 1556 Gregorian Feb 24, while in the midst of a war against Sikandar Shah for the reclamation of the Mughal throne. Here, in Kalanaur(Gurdaspur, Punjab) the 13 year old Akbar donned a golden robe and Dark Tiara and sat on a newly constructed platform, which still stands, and was proclaimed "Shahanshah" (Persian for "King of Kings").The mosque built at the time of Akbar can still be seen and the place where he prayed can be visited.
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Kundali