Akbar the Great (1542-1605)

This monarch is of the linage of the great Tamerlane, the Tartar king whom men have called the scourge of God; the same who, having made war upon Bajazid, the emperor of the Turks.

He was the seventh descendant of Tamerlane.

His wars were like other Indian wars, only mitigated by his sovereign quality of mercy to those who submitted and by his scrupulous care that the peasant should not suffer by the passage of his troops.

Akbar’s empire included the whole of northern India from the Afghan region in the north-west to Assam in the east, and from Kashmir in the Himalayans to the frontier of Bijapur and Golconda in the Deccan.

Battle of Panipat in 1556 was the first battle for Akbar the Great. Hemu, the Hindu general of Afghan King of Bengal marched towards Agra on hearing the news of the death of Humayun, father of Akbar. He captured Agra and later move to Delhi.

The battle happened in Panipat and Hemu was captured and brought before Akbar who refused to kill an already dying man.

After the war, the Afghan King, Muhammad Adil Shah, was killed in a conflict with the governor of Bengal, Sikandar Sur, another claimant to the throne of Delhi, lost heart and surrendered.

Gwalior (1557), Ajmer, Alwar and Kalpi, later brought under imperial control. The Mughal empire was reestablished in India.

In 1569, the conquest of Ranthambhor and Bundelkhand added of the territory under Mughal rule. The conquest of Gujarat in 1573 was another important victory despite the subsequent rebellion.

In 1586, Akbar conquest Kashmir and in 1592, he annexation Sind added to the Mughal Empire.

Akbar was a good military leader who equipped his army with heavy artillery and was able to unite northern India under his rule.

He govern his empire efficiently by divided it into twelve provinces and invited the support of Hindus and Rajput prices to help rule.
Akbar the Great (1542-1605)