Akbar

Akbar was one of the greatest Emperor in the Mughal empire. He was a Muslim ruler but was tolerant towards other religions as well. He became the emperor when he was only 14 years old. Under the rule of Akbar the Mughal empire saw a great expansion. He conquered most of the Indian subcontinent states. He ruled from 1556 to 1605 AD for a span of 26 years. During this period India witnessed a significant growth in art, culture and literature.

 

•    His full name was Jalal ud Din Mohammad Akabr. 

•    He was born to the king Humayun and his wife Begum Hamida Banu Begum in 1542.

•    Akbar was born in the Rajput palace of king Rana Prasad who gave them refuge when Sher Shah Suri attacked Humayun.

•    In 1556 Akbar was declared Shashanshah by Bairum Khan in Punjab. 

•    For the first five years Bairum Khan acted as Akbar’s regent. Akbar then removed him and set him to Mecca.

•    Through successful military conquests and smart political marriages with Rajput families, Akbar went on to significantly expand his father's empire.

•    Delhi, Agra, Lahore, Multan, and Malwa were all under his control. From 1561, he concentrated on Rajputana and fought in conflict with the Rajputs. He was able to unite practically all of Rajputana under Mughal rule through conquests. After defeating the Rajputs, he erected a new capital, Fatehpur Sikri. He also seized Bengal and Gujarat, with Kabul, Baluchistan, and Kandahar following later.

 

•    After the death of Islam Shah, the administration system devised by Sher Shah became jumbled. As a result, Akbar had to start over.

•    The system of land revenue administration was one of the most serious issues that faced Akbar.

•    Sher Shah's system was adopted by Akbar. However, it was quickly discovered that setting a central schedule of prices often resulted in significant delays, causing great hardship to the peasantry.

•    As a result, Akbar reverted to an annual assessment system.

•    Following his return from Gujarat (1573), Akbar focused his attention on the land revenue system. All over north India, officials known as karoris were appointed.

•    They were in charge of collecting a crore of dams (Rs. 2,50,000) and double-checking the information provided by the qanungos.

•    In 1580, Akbar instituted a new system known as the dahsala, based on the information they provided about actual produce, local prices, productivity, and so on.

•    The average produce of various crops, as well as the average prices, were calculated using this system over the previous ten (dah) years.

•    The state contributed one-third of the average produce. The state demanded money.

•    The zabti system refers to the measurement system and the assessment that is based on it.

•    This system was introduced by Akbar in the region from Lahore to Allahabad, as well as in Malwa and Gujarat. The zabti system was developed further into the dahsala system.

•    Under Akbar, a variety of other assessment systems were used. Batai or ghalla-bakhshi was the most common and possibly the oldest.

•    The produce was divided in a fixed proportion between the peasants and the state in this system.

•    A third system that was popular during Akbar's reign was It appears that this referred to a rough calculation of the amount due by the peasant based on previous payments.

•    Others believe it meant a rough appraisal based on a crop inspection and previous experience, and thus determining the amount to be paid by the village.

•    The continuity of cultivation was taken into account when determining the land revenue.

•    Polaj - Land that was cultivated almost every year was referred to as polaj.

•    Parati - It was known as parati when it remained uncultivated (fallow). When Parati land was cultivated, it was paid at full value.

•    Chachar - Land that had been fallow for two to three years was referred to as chachar, and land that had been fallow for longer was referred to as banjar.

•    These were assessed at reduced rates, with the revenue demand gradually increasing until, in the fifth or eighth year, the full or polaj rate was paid.

•    Akbar was very interested in cultivating and expanding his lands.

•    He requested that the amil act as a father figure to the peasants.

•    He was to advance money to the peasants in the form of loans (taccavi) for seeds, implements, animals, and other necessities in times of need, and to repay them in easy instalments.

•    The zamindar's right to a share of the harvest was hereditary.

•    Peasants, like farmers, had a hereditary right to cultivate their land and could not be ejected as long as they paid the land tax.

•    The dahsala agreement was not for ten years. It wasn't even a permanent one, with the state retaining the ability to change it. However, with some modifications, Akbar's settlement remained the foundation of the Mughal Empire's land revenue system until the end of the seventeenth century.

•    Raja Todar Mal is associated with the zabti system, which is also known as Todar MaPs bandobast.

•    Todar Mal was an outstanding revenue officer who had previously worked for Sher Shah. However, he was just one of a group of brilliant revenue officials who rose to prominence under Akbar.

 

•    Every officer was given a rank under this system (mansab). For nobles, the lowest rank was 10 and the highest was 5000.

•    Higher mansabs were given to blood princes.

•    The highest rank a noble could achieve was raised from 5000 to 7000 near the end of Akbar's reign, and two of the empire's most prominent nobles, MirzaAziz Koka and Raja Man Singh, were each given a rank of 7000.

•    Until the end of Aurangzeb's reign, this limit was essentially maintained.

•    The ranks were split into two categories: zat and sawar.

•    Personal is the meaning of the word zat. It established a person's personal status as well as the amount of money owed to him.

•    A person's sawar rank indicated how many cavalrymen (sawars) they were required to keep.

•    A person who was required to keep as many sawars as his zat rank was placed in the first category; if he kept half or more, he was placed in the second category; and if he kept less, he was placed in the third category. As a result, each rank had three categories (mansab).

•    The nobles took great pains to ensure that the sawars they hired were both experienced and well-mounted.

•    A descriptive roll (chehra) of the soldier was kept for this purpose, and his horse was branded with imperial marks. The dagh system was the name for this system.

•    As long as the 10-20 rule was followed, the Mughal cavalry force remained effective.

•    The mansabdari system, as it evolved under the Mughals, was a distinct and unique system that had no direct counterpart outside of India.

•    The origins of the mansabdari system may be traced back to Changez Khan, who organised his army into ten divisions, with the highest ten thousand (toman) commanding a commander known as khan.

•    When the mansabdari system was established, there was a lot of debate.

•    According to the evidence, it was started by Akbar in the 19th year of his reign (1577), around the same time that he reformed the revenue system and introduced the zat and sawar.

•    Those with a rank of less than 500 zat were known as mansabdars, those with a rank of 500 to 2500 were known as amirs, and those with a rank of 2,500 or more were known as amir-i-umda or umda-i-azam.

•    As a form of punishment, a person may be demoted.

•    People began their careers at the bottom of the ladder and worked their way up to the position of amir-i-umda. Careers were thrown open to talent to that extent.

•    A mansabdar with a rank of 5000 could earn Rs 30,000 per month, a mansabdar with a rank of 3000, Rs 17,000, and a mansabdar with a rank of 1000, Rs 8,200.

•    The Mughal mansabdars were the world's highest paid service.

•    Horses and elephants were two of Akbar's favourite animals. He also maintained a sizable artillery force. Akbar was particularly fond of firearms. Pe designed detachable guns that could be transported by elephant or camel.

•    Akbar was not a hardline Muslim; instead, he was noted for his tolerance of other religions. This is why he is so well-known among his peers.

•    Akbar formed a number of religious matrimonial connections, sending a message of unity and oneness. His marriage to Jodha, a Rajput princess, speaks much about his generosity.

•    Even though there was considerable opposition, Akbar had a temple built for Jodha in his palace.

•    To bolster his belief in the oneness of all people, Akbar proposed the principle of Din Ai Elahi, through which he propogated the notion that "All Religions are the Same."

    The new religion was based on the belief in a single God.

    It contained all of the positive aspects of all religions.

    It had a well-balanced foundation.

    It didn't advocate for any particular philosophy.

    Its goal was to bridge the gap between different religions.

    Birbal was one of only 15 adherents to the new religion.

    No one was forced to join Akbar's new religion.

    After Akbar's death, however, the new religion proved to be a failure.

•    He desired a group of nobles who would be personally loyal to him and support his vision of a state founded on sulh-i-kul, or equal tolerance and respect for all sections of society, regardless of their religious beliefs.

•    He established a large translation department to translate works into Persian written in Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek, and other languages.

•    As a result, the translation of the Singhasan Battisi, the Atharva Veda, and the Bible came first.

•    The Mahabharata, the Gita, and the Ramayana were written after these.

•    Many other works were translated as well, including the Panchatantra and works on geography.

•    Possibly for the first time, the Quran was also translated.

 

Akbar was a great patron of art and culture in addition to being a dedicated ruler. He enjoyed being in the company of poets, singers, and other artists. His forts and palaces in and around Delhi are magnificent works of art with unsurpassed craftsmanship. Fatehpur Sikri, Allahabad Fort, and Agra Fort are just a few examples. He was a great lover of music and poetry, and his durbar was a unique amalgamation of great artists, scholars, poets, and singers, among others, who kept the atmosphere cheerful. He gathered his "Nine Jewels or Naurattans" who excelled in their fields of art and knowledge as a result of his love for culture. They were as follows:

1. BIRBAL (Mahesh Das) the court Jester.

2. MIYAN TANSEN (Tanna Mishra) the court singer.

3. ABUL FAZL (The chronologist) who wrote An I Akbari.

4. FAIZI  ( The court Poet)

5. MAHARAJA MAN SINGH (Army Consultant)

6. FAKIR AZIAO DIN  (Sufi Singer)

7. MULLA DO-PIYAZA (depicted as Birbal's Muslim counterpart)

8. TODAR MAL   (Finance Consultant)

9. ABDUL RAHIM KHAN I KHANAA (Writer of Hindi Couplets)

 

•    The document Ain-i-Akbari dates from the 16th century.

•    Written in Persian by Abu'l Fazl, Akbar's court historian.

•    The administration of Mughal Emperor Akbar is the subject of this book.

•    Background: Abu'l Fazl worked on the ‘Akbar Nama' for thirteen years, starting in 1589. There are three books in the Akbar Nama:

•    The first book focused on Akbar's forefathers.

•    The events of Akbar's reign were chronicled in the second.

•    The Ain-i Akbari is the third. It covers Akbar's administration, household, army, revenues, and empire's geography. It contains a wealth of information about the Indian people's traditions and culture. Statistics on crops, yields, prices, wages, and revenues were also obtained.

•    Henry Beveridge translated the Akbar Nama into English in the early twentieth century.

Other Literary Works in Akbar’s Rule:

1.    Muntakhab ul-Tawarikh (also known as Tarikh-i-Bidauni)    Abdul Qadir Badaoni

2.    Tabakat-i-Akbari    Nizamuddin

3.    Takmila-i-Akbarnama    Inayatulla

4.    Sursagar (written in Brij Bhasha)    Sur Das

5.    Ramcharitmanas (written in Awadhi- eastern hindi dialect)    Sant Tulsi Das