Akbar

He married his first cousin, Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, in 1551. He is said to have had 12 more wives from different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

A political alliance with the Rajputs culminated in his marriage to Heer Kunwari (also called Harka Bai or Jodha Bai) in 1562, who became one of his main queens. She gave birth to a son, Salim, later known as Jahangir, in 1569.

In October 1605, he fell seriously ill with dysentery and died three weeks later. He was buried in a mausoleum at Sikandra, Agra. He was succeeded by his son.

Akbar was born as Abu’I-Fath Jalal ud-din Muhammad Akbar on October 14, 1542 at the Rajput fortress of Umerkot in Sindh (in present-Pakistan), to Mughal emperor Humayun and his teenage wife, Hamida Banu Begum.

Since Humayun was in exile, little Akbar was raised by his paternal uncles in Kabul, due to which he spent most of his time hunting, horse riding, playing sword, and running, which made him a trained and skilful warrior.

He did not learn to read or write, but got texts on history, religion, science, philosophy and other topics recited.

Soon after Humayun’s death in 1556, he ascended the Mughal throne and became the ‘Shahanshah’ (King of Kings) at the age of 13, in Kalanaur, Punjab, with Bairam Khan as his regent and childhood guardian.

Before his death, Akbar’s father Humayun had succeeded in regaining control of some prominent areas such as Delhi, Punjab and Agra but the Mughal rule in these areas looked precarious. The Surs reconquered Agra and Delhi following the death of Humayun.

While the Mughal army was marching against Sikandar Shah Suri in the Punjab, Hemu, the Hindu general in the Sur Dynasty, proclaimed himself Hindu emperor and drove away the Mughals from some important places in the India-Gangetic plains.

After dealing with Sikandar Shah Suri, the Mughal army marched on Delhi. The Mughal army under Bairam Khan defeated Hemu and the Sur army on November 5, 1556 at the Second Battle of Panipat. Thereafter Akbar captured Agra and Delhi, where he stayed for a month before traveling to Punjab to deal with resurgent Sikandar Shah Suri, who, when pursued, fled to Bengal, leaving Lahore and Multan for the Mughals.

His other conquests in North India included Ajmer and Gwalior Fort, after defeating the Sur forces.

In November 1556, his forces defeated Hemu and the Sur army at the Second Battle of Panipat, where Hemu was shot in his eye and later captured and executed.

Asaf Khan led the Mughal forces and raided the Gondwana kingdom in 1564, defeating its ruler, Rani Durgavati, at the Battle of Damoh, who killed her minor son Raja Vir Narayan and committed suicide to save her honor.

Akbar defeated Daud Khan, the ruler of the only Afghan haven in India – Bengal, at the Battle of Tukaroi in 1575, who was captured and killed by the Mughal forces in another battle, thereby annexing Bengal and parts of Bihar.