Mughal Emperor Akbar

Muhammad Akbar was born at Aurangabad in the Deccan to Dilras Banu Begum, Aurangzebs first wife and chief consort. She was a member of the Safavid dynasty and was the daughter of Mirza Shahnawaz Khan, a minister at the mughal court. She died when Akbar was only one month old. For this reason, Akbar was brought up with special care and affection by his take. He was his fathers preferred and most-loved son as Aurangzeb, himself, said in a garner to him, God be my witness that I have loved you more than my other sons. At the age of 15, Akbar was wed to a granddaughter of his paternal uncle, Dara Shikoh, who had been killed at Aurangzebs behest. Salima begum was the daughter of Sulaiman Shikoh, eldest son of Dara Shikoh. Later, Akbar besides married a daughter of an Assamese nobleman. He was the father of two sons and two daughters, including Nikusiyar, who briefly became mughal emperor in 1719. Like other Mughal princes, Muhammad Akbar administered various provinces and fought minor campaigns nether the guidance of experienced officers. His first independent command was during Aurangzebs war of the jodhpur boot succession.The Rajput Waredit Jaswant Singh, who was Maharaja of Jodhpur, was also a high-ranking Mughal officer. He died at his post on the Khyber Pass on 10 declination 1678. He died without leaving staminate issue, alone two of his wives were pregnant at the time of his death. The succession was indeed unclear. When the news of the death reached Aurangzeb, he immediately dispatched a large army (9 January 1679) to occupy the state of Jodhpur. wizard of the division of this army was commanded by Akbar. Aurangzeb occupied Jodhpur ostensibly to secure the succession for any male infant born to Jaswants pregnant widows.He declared that such rightful heir would be invested with his birthright upon coming of age. However, relations between Jaswant and Aurangzeb had not been very happy, and it was feared that Aurangzeb, a notorious bigot, would annex the state for entire on this pretext. Indeed, incumbent officers in Jodhpur state were replaced by mughal officers. Many temples in Jodhpur were unconnected and the idols were carried to Delhi, where they were placed at the entrance of the Jama Masjid so that they could be trampled underfoot and defiled by the Muslims. afterward thus effectively annexing the largest Hindu state in northern India, Aurangzeb reimposed the jaziya tax on the non-Muslim population (2 April 1679), about a century after it had been abolished by his tolerant ancestor Akbar I. All this made the emperor exceedingly unpopular among the Rajputs. One of Jaswants pregnant wives was duly delivered of a son, who was named Ajit Singh. Officers loyal to Jaswant brought his family back to Jodhpur and rallied the clan to the standards of the infant. The Rajputs of Jodhpur (Rathore clan) forged an alliance with the neighboring Rajput state of Mewar (Sisodia clan).Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar withdrew his army to the western portion of his kingdom, marked by the robust Aravalli hills and secured by numerous hill-forts. From this position, the smaller but faster Rajput cavalry units could surprise the Mughal outposts in the plains, loot their cede trains, and bypass their camps to ravage neighbouring Mughal provinces. In the second fractional of 1680, after several months of such setbacks, Aurangzeb decided on an all-out offensive. Nicolao Manucci, an Italian gunner in the Mughal army, says for this campaign, Aurangzeb put in pledge the whole of his kingdom. Three part armies, under Aurangzebs sons Akbar, Azam and Muazzam, penetrated the Aravalli hills from different directions. However, their artillery lost its effectiveness while being dragged around the rugged hills and twain Azam and Muazzam were defeated by the Rajputs and beaten back. Akbars rebellionedit Akbar and his general Tahawwur Khan had been instructed to try to bribe the Rajput nobles to the Mughal side, but in these attempts, they themselves were ensnared by the Rajputs. The Rajputs incited Akbar to rebel against his father and offered all support.They pointed out to him that Aurangzebs attempt to annex the Rajput states was disturbing the perceptual constancy of India. They also reminded him that the open bigotry displayed by Aurangzeb in reimposing jaziya and demolishing temples was contrary to the wise policies of his ancestors. Prince Akbar lent a willing ear to the Rajputs and promised to restore the policies of the illustrious Akbar. On 1 January 1681, Akbar declared himself Emperor, issued a manifesto deposing his father, and marched towards Ajmer to hold him. As the commander of a Mughal division, Akbar had a force of 12,000 cavalry with supporting infantry and artillery.To this, the Maharana of Mewar added 6,000 Rajput cavalry, being half his own army. As this combined army crossed Jodhpur state, numerous war-bands of Rathores joined up and increase its strength to 25,000 cavalry. Meanwhile, various Mughal divisions deployed around the Aravalli hills had been racing to come to Aurangzebs aid. Aurangzeb however resorted to threats and treachery he direct a letter to Tahawwur Khan promising to pardon him but also threatening to have his family in public dishonored by camp ruffians if he refused to submit.The Mughal noble secretly came over to meet his master but was killed in a scuffle at the entrance to Aurangzebs tent. The crafty Mughal Emperor then wrote a false letter to Akbar and arranged it such that the letter was intercepted by the Rajputs. In this letter, Aurangzeb congratulated his son for finally delivery the Rajput guerillas out in the open where they could be crushed by father and son together. The Rajput commanders suspected this letter to be false but took it to Akbars camp for an explanation. Here they discovered that Tahawwur Khan had disappeared. Suspecting the worst, the Rajputs departed in the middle of the night.The next morning, Akbar woke to find his chief adviser and his allies gone and his own soldiers deserting by the second to Aurangzeb. The would-be emperor escaped the prospect of war with his father by hastily departing the camp with a few close followers. He caught up with the Rajputs commanders and mutual explanations followed. Aftermathedit Seeing that Akbar had attempted no treachery and that he could be useful, the Rathore leader Durgadas took Akbar to the court of the Maratha king Sambhaji, seeking support for the project of placing him on the throne of Delhi.For fully five years, Akbar stayed with Sambhaji, hoping that the latter would lend him men and money to strike and seize the Mughal throne for himself. But at that time, Sambhaji was engaged in uncovering the conspiracy against him. After which, he was engrossed in wars against Siddhis of Janjira, Chikka Dev Rai of Mysore, Portuguese of Goa and Aurangzeb. In September 1686, Sambhaji sent Akbar to Persia. In Persia, Akbar was said to pray daily for the sp eedy death of his father, which alone would compensate him another chance to wrest the Mughal throne for himself.On hearing of this, Aurangzeb is said to have remarked, Let us see who dies first. He or I As it turned out, Akbar died in 1704, three years in advance his fathers demise. He died at the town of Mashhad in Persia. Two of Akbars children were brought up by the Rajputs, until as a result of peace negotiations, they were handed over to the old emperor. Akbars daughter Safiyat-un-nissa was sent to her grandfather in 1696 and his son Buland Akhtar was returned in 1698. The latter, when presented in court, shocked his grandfather and nobles by speaking fluently in the Rajasthani language. LegacyeditIn the words of Jadunath Sarkar The rebellion of Prince Akbar, though it was fostered by the Rajputs and originated, grew to fullness, and expired in Northern India, changed the history of the Deccan and hastened the fate of the Mughal conglomerate as well. His flight to Shambhuj i raised a danger to the throne of Delhi which could be met only by Aurangzibs personal appearance in the south. But for this alliance, the Emperor would have left Bijapur and Golconda to be occasionally threaten and fleeced by his generals, while the Maratha king would have been tolerated as a necessary evil and even as a thorn in the side of Bijapur.But Akbars flight to the Deccan forced a smash change on the imperial policy in that quarter. The first task of Aurangzeb now was to crush the part of Shambhuji and render Akbar impotent for mischief. For this he patched up a peace with the Maharana (June 1681) and left for the Deccan to direct the operations of his army. Notesedit According to Tarikh-i-Muhammadi, his death of death is 31 March 1706 (Irvine, William (1922) Later Mughals, Volume I, Jadunath Sarkar ed. , Calcutta M. C. Sarkar & Sons, p. 1) Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1919). Studies in Mughal India. W. Heffer and Sons.