Akbar

Also called: Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar · Topic: The Mughal Empire: Babur to Aurangzeb · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 5 "India, a Home to Many"; Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"

Meaning

Akbar (Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar) was the Mughal emperor who ruled from 1556 to 1605. He grew his empire first by war and sieges, such as the massacre at Chittorgarh. Later he also used Rajput marriage alliances, the abolition of jizya and the policy of sulh-i-kul ("peace with all"). NCERT sums up his reign as "a blend of brutality and tolerance, shaped by ambition and strategy." He matters because his mix of sword and politics held a large empire together, most of whose people were not Muslim. This makes him the standard comparison for Aurangzeb in GS-I answers.

Explanation

A boy king and an early phase of war

• Akbar was declared emperor at age 13 in 1556. His father Humayun had just died in an accident.
• He ruled for about 50 years (1556–1605), one of the longest reigns in Indian history.

• At first he followed an old family saying:

  "A monarch should be ever intent on conquest, otherwise his enemies rise in arms against him."

• Gagron fort (in Rajasthan) was taken in 1561 [4].

• Siege of Chittorgarh, the hill fort that was the capital of Mewar:
• Akbar invaded Chitor in 1567. The fort fell in February 1568 [2][3].
• The siege lasted more than five months. Rajput defenders killed many Mughal soldiers.
• When the wall broke, the defenders died fighting. Hundreds of women performed jauhar, led by their queens and noblewomen.
• Akbar was 25 at the time. He ordered the killing of about 30,000 civilians. The women and children who survived were made slaves.

• Chitor was made a district, and Asaf Khan was appointed its governor [2].

• Jauhar means a mass self-burning by Rajput women. When Turkic or Mughal armies captured a place, they took the women as slaves. To avoid this, the women jumped into fires. People saw it as a brave last act of resistance and a way to save their honour.

• The victory letter: after Chitor, Akbar wrote in the language of holy war:

  "With the help of our bloodthirsty sword, we have erased the signs of infidelity… and have destroyed temples in those places and also all over Hindustan."

The switch to political strategy

• Why he changed:
• As the empire grew, ruling by force alone cost too much.

• He changed his method, not his ambition.

• Effect of Chitor: the shock pushed other Rajput rajas to accept Akbar as emperor in 1570 and to make marriage alliances with him [2].

• The deal offered to a Rajput chief: keep your family lands, but accept Akbar as emperor, pay tribute, send troops when asked, and make a marriage alliance [2].
• His main tools:
• Marriage alliances with princesses from nearby kingdoms.
• Rajput and regional leaders brought into the court as nobles and army commanders.
• Abolition of the jizya (a tax that non-Muslims had to pay).
• Hindu officials given high posts.

• Interfaith dialogues, where scholars of different religions were invited to debate.

• Sulh-i-kul means "peace with all". It was a policy of tolerating every faith. It was a personal belief, but it also held together an empire of many religions.

• Change of heart. His court historian Abul Fazl recorded these words from Akbar:

  "Formerly I persecuted men into conformity with my faith and deemed it Islam. As I grew in knowledge, I was overwhelmed with shame… What constancy is to be expected from proselytes on compulsion?"

• Simple meaning: faith forced on a person is not real faith, so forcing it is useless.

Fatehpur Sikri: tolerance in stone

• Akbar moved his home and court from Agra to Sikri for 13 years, 1572–1585 [6][7].
• He honoured the Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti, who lived in a cave on the ridge there. The saint blessed Akbar with a son, Salim, born 1569 (the future Jahangir) [6].
• He first named the city Fathabad, and later Fatehpur Sikri. "Fatehpur" means "city of victory". The name was added to mark the conquest of Gujarat in 1573 [7].
• It is called the first planned city of the Mughals. It has the Jami Masjid, the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti, and advanced drainage and water-supply systems [6].

Three phases and the result

• Phase 1, conquest: Chittorgarh (1567–68) and Gujarat (1573).
• Phase 2, middle reign: mostly peaceful. The policies of winning people over took root in this phase.
• Phase 3, the last 15 years (roughly 1590–1605): new campaigns in Kashmir, Sindh, the Deccan and Afghanistan.
• Result: he never stopped expanding. He only added politics as a second tool beside the sword.
• Limit: Mewar never submitted. This led to Maharana Pratap's long resistance [2].

Time, place and evidence

• Period: 1556–1605, the Mughal dynasty. Akbar was Humayun's son and the father of Salim (Jahangir).
• Key places:
• Agra, his earlier seat of court.
• Fatehpur Sikri, his court from 1572 to 1585 [6].
• Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, the capital of Mewar.
• Gagron, taken in 1561 [4].
• Gujarat, conquered in 1573 [7].

• In his last years: Kashmir, Sindh, the Deccan and Afghanistan.

• Key people:

• Humayun, his father.
• Abul Fazl, his court historian and biographer.
• Asaf Khan, governor of Chitor [2].
• Sheikh Salim Chishti, the Sufi saint of Sikri.
• Salim, his son and later the emperor Jahangir.

• Maharana Pratap, ruler of Mewar, who kept up the resistance.

• Heritage status:

• Chittorgarh is one of the six "Hill Forts of Rajasthan", a UNESCO World Heritage site inscribed in 2013 [4][5].
• The other five are Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore (Sawai Madhopur), Gagron (Jhalawar), Amber (Jaipur) and Jaisalmer [4][5].

• These forts stand for Rajput courage and feudal power from the 8th to the 18th centuries. Some have walls up to 20 km around [4].

• How we know:

• Akbar's own victory letter after Chitor (holy-war language, boasts of destroying temples).
• Abul Fazl's court writings, which record Akbar's words of shame and change of heart.
• The buildings of Fatehpur Sikri [6].
• NCERT Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map".

Don't confuse with

• Aurangzeb: Akbar abolished the jizya. Aurangzeb brought it back.
• Salim (Jahangir): Salim was Akbar's son, born 1569, named after Sheikh Salim Chishti. He was not the saint himself, and he was not the founder of Fatehpur Sikri.
• Fathabad / Fatehpur Sikri: Fathabad was Akbar's first name for the city. The prefix "Fatehpur" (city of victory) marks the Gujarat conquest of 1573, not the fall of Chitor.
• Chittorgarh vs Gagron: both are UNESCO hill forts that Akbar took. Gagron fell in 1561, and Chittorgarh fell in February 1568 after the 1567 invasion [2][4].

Prelims Hooks

• Akbar became emperor at age 13 in 1556, after Humayun's accidental death. He ruled until 1605.
• Siege of Chittorgarh: invaded 1567, fell February 1568, lasted more than five months. About 30,000 civilians were killed. Asaf Khan was made governor [2].
• Sulh-i-kul = "peace with all". Abul Fazl = Akbar's court historian and biographer.
• Order of events: Gagron (1561) → Chitor falls (1568) → Salim born (1569) → Rajput rajas submit (1570) → court moves to Sikri (1572) → Gujarat conquered (1573) → court leaves Sikri (1585).
• Trap: Chittorgarh is one of the six Hill Forts of Rajasthan (UNESCO, 2013). Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore, Gagron, Amber and Jaisalmer are in the list [4][5].
• Trap: the Rajput rajas who submitted in 1570 did not include Mewar, which never submitted [2].

Mains Points

• Conquest and conciliation were one strategy, not two.
• Chittorgarh (1568) showed what refusing Akbar would cost.
• Marriage alliances and court posts showed what accepting him would pay.

• So the Rajput rajas submitted in 1570 largely because Chitor had fallen [2]. Mewar's refusal shows the deal was a bargain, not a total conquest. Even in the last 15 years, expansion went on.

• Sulh-i-kul was a way of ruling as much as a belief.

• A small Turco-Mongol ruling group could not rule a vast land, where most people were not Muslim, by force alone.
• Abolishing jizya, giving high posts to Hindu officials and holding debates between faiths turned possible rebels into partners in the empire.
• Fatehpur Sikri expressed this in stone: a Sufi shrine, a Jami Masjid and a palace in one planned city (1572–1585) [6]. It joined military victory (Gujarat, 1573) with the blessing of a saint [7].

• Contrast with Aurangzeb's return of the jizya.

• Evidence and its limits.

• Akbar's words of shame survive only through Abul Fazl, a court insider paid to praise him.
• So read the court chronicles beside harder evidence, such as the victory letter after Chitor and its boast of destroying temples.
• The same ruler wrote both. That contrast is the whole story of the reign.

Related concepts

• Sulh-i-kul
• Mahzar
• Abul Fazl
• Akbarnama

Read more

• Akbar: conquest to conciliation (1556–1605)