Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar born on 15 October 1542 at Amarkot, Rajputana(present-day Umerkot, Sindh, Pakistan). As his name suggests, the glory of faith, he is known as Akbar the Great. He was a born leader. During his rule, the Mughal empire tripled in size politically, territorially, and economically. He has a powerful military system to establish control all the region. His tolerance towards every religion won the heart of non-muslim citizens. He was the first Mughal ruler to remove sectarian tax on non-muslim and provide them higher posts in his court, military. Tansen, Raja Todar Mal, Raja Man Singh, Birbal were the non-muslim gems of his navratnas of Fathepur Sikri fort.
At the age of 14, on 14 February 1556, under the guardianship of Bairam khan, he ascended the throne after the sudden demise of Humayun. Starting at a very young age, Akbar establishes himself and develops Mughal arts, culture, and religion. Here are some interesting facts during his reign:
He can't read and write, but it is said that his memory was sharp. He can remember things even after listening to them for one time.
His first wife, Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, was his cousin. There is a story behind their marriage. Hindal, the father of Ruqaiya, was with Akbar when Kamran Mirza's force attacked them. The turban(taqiyah) at Akbar's head fall. to cover his head, Hindal gave him, but he died shortly afterward in the attack. To give someone your turban, was like choosing a successor. He didn't have a son, so Humayun decided to marry Akbar with Ruqaiyah and appointed him as Viceroy in the province of Ghazni. He was eight years old.
He started Din-i-llahi, a new religious movement that was the combination of good practices of every religion.
The Akbarnama is an official biography of Akbar written by Abul Fazal, one of the navaratnas. It's written in Persian.
We can learn a lot from the life of Akbar. He was cruel, ferocious, wise, commanding, kind, generous, and a great leader.
