Akbar the Great

Akbar the great

•Second battle of Panipat-1556

Hemu Bairam Khan

Bairam Khan’s legacyManages affairs for 4 years.Conquered Gwalior, Ajmer, Jaipur At the age of 18, in 1560, Akbar assumes absolute power.

Panipat

Conquests of Akbar1. Malwa:- (1561)led by Adham Khan. Baz Bahadur, the Afghan king fled.2 Gondwana:- (1564) Defeated Rani

Durgavati.3 Rajputs:-enters into matrimonial

alliances. Raja of Jaipur(amber)Rana of Mewar(Udai singh) refused.

Led an army to Chittor. Death of Jai Mal, Rajput commander was a blow.

Conflict with Rana Pratap Singh

Udai singh built Udaipur-new capital.Recovers parts of Chittor.

Haldighati

1576

Akbar the greatConquest of Gujarat- 1572Cotton fields, flourishing seaports, trade with European merchants.Conquest of Bengal-1574-76Trade links with south east Asia and China.Rich revenues to Mughal treasuryConquests of North west-1585-95Kashmir, Kandahar, lower Sind(1591)Baluchistan (1595)Deccan Campaigns-1601Berar, Khandesh, part of Ahmadnagar.

His empire stretched from Hind Kush mountains in the west to Brahmaputra in the east, Himalayas in the north to Godavari in the south.

Administration of Akbar1. Central AdministrationDecision was final, word was law.Commander-in-chief of armed forcesSupreme judge on all matters of justice.Sole right in making appointments,

dismissal, promotionCouncil of ministers:-

1Wazir/diwan

Revenue department

2Mir

bakshiMilitary

and head of

mansabdars

3QaziChief judge

4Chief sadr

Supervisor of royal

household

Meetings in Diwan-i-khas

For private

audience

Diwan-i-Aam

Provincial Administration

Subas

sarkars

parganasvillages

Subhedar and diwan

panchayat

Common subjects

The mansabdari system

Mansabdar-holder of a rankEvery officer given a rank or mansab on the nature of job.Salary/jagirs given according to rankAfter his death, back to the kingCavalry, loyal trusted soldiers, royal body guards, palace guards, artillery.

Revenue System-Todar Mal’s bandobast

Use of bamboo jarib to survey land4 categories(times cultivated)Good, bad ,middlingRevenue based on average of past 10 years1/3rd was King’s share.Relief measures for the peasants.

Ibadat Khana – Hall of Prayer(1575)

•Invited leaders of other faiths to have discussions on matters related to religion.•Issues declaration called the mazhar, which gave him the power to chose different interpretation of the Islamic law.

Akbar interacting with religious scholars.

Akbar’s religion• Sulh-i-Kul or universal peace.• Formation of Din-i-llahi belief in one GodEmperor as God’s representative on earthRajput policy Treated them with respectDid not annex their kingdoms, if they

recognized him as their overlord and paid him regular tribute.

Social reforms.Prohibited sati, legalized widow remarriage.Discouraged child marriage. 14 yrs for girls

and 16 for boys.

Educational reformsStudy of secular subjectsTranslation department set up.LiteratureAkbarnama by Abul Fazl-fine Persian

workFaizi, poet-laureateRaja Birbal-hindi Kavi RajRamacharitamanas written by Tulsidas24000 books-written by calligraphists.

PaintingsMiniature paintings

Architecture

-Indo-Islamic style.

Architecture

Music36 top ranking musicians.7 groups for 7 days of the week.Tansen-combined Indian and

Persian styles.

Navratnas.

Akbar’s Tomb

Sikandera, Agra