Mughal Emperor Akbar

Jalal-ud-din Akbar was one of the tremendous Mughal emperors of India. He was the third emperor of the Mughal dynasty and ascended the throne of India in 1556 AD after his father, Humayun. His reigning period was 1556 to 1605 AD, and he prolonged his power over most of the Indian subcontinent. For his power and significance, his Mughal kingdom was broadened over the whole Indian subcontinent because of his broad military background and political, cultural and economic superiority. To maintain the unity of his monarchy, Akbar strategies to unite Muslim and non-Muslim populations of his domain.  

Another bright part of Akbar was that he had never been a fanatic. Also, he never withheld Islam. Besides, he took a crucial interest in different religions such as Hindus, Persis, and Christians. He was illiterate but to develop his court as a true center of cultural heritage; he brought on some scholars, poets, musicians, painters. Through this article, we will be discussing the list of important works of Mughal emperor Akbar.

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Early Life of Akbar

Akbar was a descendent of Turks, Mongols, and Iranians who predominated in the political societies of northern parts of India in medieval times. Timur and Gengis Khan were his forefathers of this time. Humayun, the father of Akbar, has been driven away from his capital, Delhi, by the Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri who was trying to organize his Sindh region of the recent province in Pakistan. Humayun left India for Afghanistan and Iran, and he recovered the throne in 1555 AD, 10 years after the death of the Afghan ruler Sher Shah. But in the year 1556, Humayun died when he slipped from the stairs. Within a few months after his death, his governors lost many places, including the capital Delhi. A Hindu minister named Hemu claimed the throne for himself. But on 5th November 1556 AD, Hemu was later defeated by the Mughal force at the Second Battle of Panipat. After that, Akbar clambered the throne of the Mughal empire in the year of 1556 AD at the age of 13.

Imperial Expansion of Akbar

As a ruler, his first seizure was Malwa, a state of economic development including rich agricultural properties in the year of 1561 AD through the Vindya Mountain Range to the Deccan plateau region. At that time, the Hindu independent rulers Rajputs were sanctioning over the Rajputana region. But the Muslim rulers warned him that the Rajputs were very dangerous so that the conflict has been weakened. But in 1562 AD, Raja Bihari Mal, the ruler of Amber  (presently Jaipur), had offered Akbar to marry his daughter Jodha Bai and Akbar accepted the proposal also. Later, he followed the same policy towards the other Rajput rulers too. They also acknowledged Akbar and allowed him to rule over their region as an emperor. After Malwa, he also captured Chittor, which is presently named Chandigarh, in 1568 AD. The fall of Chittor also urged other Rajput rulers to accept Akbar as the ruler. 

He also conquered Ranthambore and Kalinjar in 1569 AD. After that, Akbar conquered Gujarat in 1572 AD, which monopolized many parts of Indian trading centers with western Asia, and in 1576 AD, he apprehended Mewar after defeating Rana Pratap, the ruler of Mewar, in the Battle of Haldighati. And then he started his journey towards Bengal in the east. But Bengal was quite difficult to rule from the center of Delhi because Bengal was located at the network of rivers, and for that, most of the time, many parts of Bengal had been affected by floods. So at the near end of his rule, Akbar overthrew the region of Kashmir in the year of 1586 AD and then conquered Sindh in 1591 AD and later Kandahar, which is currently known as Afghanistan in 1595 AD. And the parts of Khandesh, Berar, and most of Ahmednagar were also added to his kingdom in 1601 AD. After his reign, his son Jahangir had become the ruler of the Mughal dynasty.

Here are the important works of Mughal emperor Akbar:

Administrative Works of Akbar

The Administrative reforms of Akbar were so prominent and effective. He was such an amazing ruler who took the system of the caliber into wholly non-violent acts. In the following, we are going to add some of emperor Akbar's works of administration.

His administrative works were categorized into 5 main divisions as, 

• The centralised government

• The Provincial or State governance

• The Legislative division

• The Military division

• The Financial department

The Centralised Government

Akbar was the ruler who organized all the offices and officials under his rule. To reduce the pressure on his works, he allocated the tasks to different officers in the following, 

• Wakeel: The Wakeel was the chief advisor who assist Akbar.

• Diwan was divided into the following categories, 

• Mansabdar - Who checks the finance depository. 

• Mir Baksh - Who distributed the salaries to the senior officers.

• Mir-i-Atish – Who was in charge of artillery.

• Sadar- I- Sadr: Who maintained religious systems.

• Khan- I - Saman: He promoted the systems of the kitchen, social gatherings, and the palace’s interior settings. 

• Muhatib: He was the social reforms who maintains the Muslim principles and cultures.

• Kotwal: He was the head of the intelligence and postal department.

The Provincial or State Governance

Akbar's kingdom was divided into 15 subas, which were perfectly administered by the efficient officials selected by him. These officials were:

• Subedar:  He was the overall head of Provincial improvement.

• Diwaan: He maintained the matters of finances and bills.

• Sadr: He took supervision of state-level judicial courses and helped poor people. 

• Qazi: He existed as a local judge who took care of minor judiciary courses.

• Kotwaal: He worked for the law and order circumstances of state levels.

• Mir Baksh:  He maintained local taxes and exhibition of revenue for the state.

• Waqr-I-Nawis: They were the secret detectives of Akbar.

Military Administration

Akbar had the most equipped and decorated army set in the Mughal dynasty. The Mansabdars have taken care of the armies prominently by, 

• Paying salaries on time.

• Taking care of injured soldiers.

• Giving tax-free rations.

• Promoted regular health checkups of soldiers.

Financial Administration

Land was the main source of income during the reign of Akbar. The finance officer named Raja Todar Mal was an excellent officer who formulated the idea of measuring land into BIGHA scales. Also, the farmers were given lots of facilities, and their taxes have been removed during any natural disasters.

The Legislative Administration

Akbar was the true Democrat ruler. He values the emotions and ethics of people. The king formulated many courts, and he had the power to enunciate capital punishments to everyone. He took care of the political problems of two religions such as Hindus and Muslims. He also developed the Federal Administrative system, which is also practiced presently.

Some important works of Mughal emperor Akbar were quite admirable. His administration and maintenance proved him to be one of the most valuable rulers of the country who also took care of the emotions of Hindu and Muslims.  Here we included some important Emperor Akbar works for his country. 

Literary Works During Akbar

Additional important works of Akbar were to translate the important Indian epics such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Vedas, Panchatantra, Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit to the Persian language. Ramayana and Singhasan Batisi were translated by Mulla Abdul Qadir Badayuni into Persian. Panchatantra was translated into Persian by Faizi. Atharva Veda was also translated by Ibrahim Sirhindi. Writer Abul Fazl wrote the Ain-i-Akbari, which describes the departments of the royal family and Akbarnama, which deals with the early life of Akbar and his ruling system and notable works. 

List of Important Works of Mughal Emperor Akbar