CASE STUDY

ON
“Akbar the Great”

SUBMITTED BY:
RISHIKA SINGH
COURSE: B.A – (Hons.) Political Science
SEMESTER: 01
ENROLLMENT NO: A8657420002

FACULTY GUIDE:
Dr. JASPAL KANDARI

AMITY INSTITUTE OF LIBERAL ARTS, LUCKNOW

AMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH, LUCKNOW
CAMPUS
 FACULTY CERTIFICATE

Forwarded here with a Case Study on Akbar The Great submitted by Rishika
Singh Enrollment No A8657420002, student of B.A(H) Political Science first
Semester (2020-23).
This project work is partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of B.A.
(H) Political Science from Amity University Lucknow Campus, Uttar Pradesh.

Dr. Jaspal Kandari

(Assistant professor)
 (Faculty Guide Name with Designation)

Amity University,
Lucknow Campus
 STUDENT CERTIFICATE

Certified that this report is prepared based on the Case Study undertaken by me
in AMITY UNIVERSITY from 21st September to 3rd October 2020, under
the able guidance of Dr. Jaspal Kandari in the partial fulfilment of the
requirement for award of degree of B.A (H)  Political Science from Amity
University, Uttar Pradesh.

Date: 3rd October, 2020

Rishika Singh Dr. Jaspal Kandari Prof (Dr.) Rohit Kushwaha

(Student Name)       (Faculty Guide) (Director, AILA)      
 DECLARATION

Title of project report- Akbar the Great

I understand what plagiarism is and am aware of the Amity University’s policy in this regard

I declare that 

a. The work submitted by me in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of
degree B.A (H) Political Science assessment in this Case Study is my own; it has not
previously been presented for another assessment.

b. I declare that this Case Study is my original work. Wherever work form other source
has been used, all debts (for words data, arguments and ideas) have been
appropriately acknowledged and referenced in accordance with the requirements of
NTCC Regulations and Guidelines.

c. I have not used work previously produced by another student or any other person to
submit it as my own.

d. I have not permitted, and will not permit, anybody to copy my work with the purpose
of passing it off as his or her own work.

e. The work conforms to the guidelines for layout, content and style as set out in the
Regulations and Guidelines.

Date: 3rd October, 2020                        

Name of student: Rishika Singh

      
 Enrolment no: A8657420002 

Programme Name: B.A (H) Political Science

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I Rishika Singh pursuing B.A - (Hons.) Political Science from Amity

Institute of Liberals Arts Lucknow would like to thank my Case
Study faculty guide Dr. Jaspal Kandari for helping and guiding me
through it.

Rishika Singh,

B.A – (Hons.) Political Science,

SEMESTER- 01,

A8657420002.
 TABLE OF CONTENT

S.No Items

1.
Introduction

2.
Early Difficulties

3.
Akbar The Great

4.
Akbar’s Rajput Policy

5.
Social and Educational Reforms

6.
Death of Emperor Akbar

7.
Conclusion
 INTRODUCTION

The founding stone of the Mughal Empire in India was laid by Babur.
He had in his veins the blood of Chengis Khan and Tir, the two
world-renowned great conquerors and empire builders.
On the eve of Babur's invasion of India in 1526, India was ruled by
breakaway kingdoms of Delhi sultanate and there was no powerful
Central authority.
Bengal, Jaunpur, Gujarat, Malwa, Mewar had all become
independent. As these states were fighting every now and then it
brought lack of confidence and apprehension all over the country. In
the first battle of Panipat Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodhi and occupied
Delhi and Agra. In the Battle of Khanwa Babur defeated Rana Sanga's
forces. Lastly in the Battle of Ghagra Babur met the combine forces
of the Afghans and Nusrat Shah of Bengal and complled there armies
to retreat however he could not win a decisive victory.
He died in 1530, even before he could stabilize the Mughal Empire.
After Babur, Humayun ascended the throne. Humayun was the eldest
son of Babur. He inherited an ill-organised and unconsolidated
empire. Babur could neither conquer the whole India nor could
consolidate his conquest in a short span of four years the army which
he inherited from his father was devoid of unity and nationality. After
Humayun ascended the throne, all he got was empty capital and it was
tough for him to run the administration effortlessly. Humayun's
relatives were destroyed and selfish since there was no confirmed the
law of succession on the Mughals every one of them considered
himself claimant to Mughal throne. Humayun made efforts to expand
his empire but the Afghan leaders Shershah Suri defeated him and
forced him to leave India. Humayun took refuge in court of thee
Safavid ruler of Iran. In 1555, Humayun recaptured his empire in
India defeating the Sur Afghan. However, he could not enjoy his
success and died a year later falling from stairs. Jalaluddin
Muhammad Akbar became Humayun’s successor.
Akbar was born of Humayun’s shiate wife Hamida Banu Begum on
October 15, 1542 during this time Humayun was on his exile. Akbar
was born at the palace of Raja Virsal of Amarkot in Sindh. Akbar was
engaged in a military operation against Sikander Sur in Punjab with
his guardian Bairam Khan. Bairam Khan while displaying his
farsightedness got a brick platform prepared in the garden and
enthroned Akbar the same day February 14, 1556 when he was just
thirteen then. Akbar enjoys the credit of being a national ruler he was
loved the most by his kingdom. Akbar was the most successful ruler
among all the others be it Babur, Humayun, Jahangir, Shah Jahan or
Aurangzeb, Akbar was the most loved and followed leader among all
of them.
Akbar was succeeded by his eldest son Jahangir. His coronation was
celebrated in the fort of Agra on November 3 1605. He ruled till
16278 Jahangir was succeeded by his son Shah Jahan from 1628-58
AD. After Shah Jahan his son Aurangzeb ascended to the Mughal
throne from 1658- 1707 AD.
All these three emperor of the Mughal dynasty were of miscellaneous
personality. Under them the territorial expansion continued, though its
pace was slow. They did the maintainence and consolidation of the
various instruments of the administration.
More or less all the successors of Aurangzeb were powerless and
unskilful unluckily. As a result of this by the second half of the 18th
century the Mughal Empire was making its way towards anarchy. The
consequent emperors of the Mughal dynasty were so weak that they
failed to keep an eye on the greedy and self-centred nobles, foreign
invaders and the rising Maratha rule. It anyway gave rise to the
formation of various minor independent kingdoms. However, the
prestige of Mughal ruler did not lose its aura symbolically. The
British overthrew the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II also
known as Bahadur Shah Zafar in 1857, thus putting an end to the
Mughal power or rule in India.

EARLY DIFFICUTIES OF AKBAR

After the crowning ceremony Akbar was challenged with many

threatening problems:

1. Akbar inherited of kingdom wherein in anarchy and order

prevailed all around.

2. Most of northern India was under the control of Sur Afghan

chiefs. They were posing an open challenge to Akbar
authorities.

3. The authorities and the assets of Akbar were highly restricted.

He neither had an effective defence forces nor did he have the
funds to organise it. The financial condition of Akbar was
miserable. The royal coffers had become empty because of the
week economic policies of Babur and Humayun.

4. Some of Akbar's relatives and important Mughal nobles were

opposing him. Akbar's stepbrother Mirza Hakim and cousin
Sultan Mirza were thinking of conquering the sovereignty.
 5. Maldev, the ruler of Marwar was perpetually working for the
demolition of Mughal's power.The Rajputs were Akbar staunch
rivals.

6. Besides all the struggles, the most complex obstacle was Hemu
whose real name was Hem chandra or Hem Raj.

THE SECOND BATTLE OF PANIPAT

The Second Battle of Panipat was fought between the forces of
Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, popularly known as Hemu, the
Hindu king who was ruling North India from Delhi, and the army of
Akbar, on November 5, 1556. Akbar defeated Hindu king Hemu.

THE BATTLE OF THANESAR

During the Mughal period the battle of Thanesar which is also known
as Battle of Ascetics took place in 1567. The battle took place on the
banks of Sarsawati Ghaggar River between the Akbar and the Rajputs
near Thanesar. Akbar defeated two rival groups of Sanyasis.

THE BATTLE OF TURKOI

This battle which is also known as the Battle of Mughulmari was
fought between Akbar and the Sultanatte of Bengala and Bihar. It
took place on March 3, 1575 near the village of Turkoi now Balasore
district of Odisha. Akbar brought great victory for the Mughal Empire
defeating the Sultanatte of Bangala and Bihar.
THE BATTLE OF HALDIGHATI
The Battle of Haldighati was fought between Rana of Mewar,
Maharana Pratap and Akbar’s forces which was led by Man Singh 1
on June 18, 1576. The battle was fought at a narrow mountain pass at
Haldighati near Gogunda in Rajasthan.

AKBAR THE GREAT

Why Akbar is called ‘Akbar the Great’?

Akbar was born as Abu'l - Fath Jalal ud - in Muhammad Akbar in

Amarkot, which is in today's Pakistan on October 15, 1542. Young
Akbar was made to learn how to hunt, run and fight. These skills
made him a powerful and brave warrior.In history, Akbar is called as
a man who espoused liberal values, religious tolerance. He has been
known to appreciate art, music and poetry.
His empire stretched across the northern, central and Western India.
He was fascinated by the various Indian's religions, castes, ethnicities
and tribal affinities.Akbar liberal thinking helped him gain the support
of many Hindu rulers.
There are many instances written, where Akbar was known for
rewarding talent, intellect and loyalty without any forms of
discrimination.He was very successful in expanding and
magnificently creating his empire. It was due to his ability to appease
people as well as the rulers of the land he gained.
For instance, he made an alliance with Rajput rulers who were
defeated by him.His Noble acts of not demanding high Texas, his
norms allowing them to rule their territories autonomously by creating
Central governance system, made him win the hearts of my people.
It was due to his practice that he had brought stability, not only for his
dynasty but also for the entire region. In the past years, it has
witnessed bloody battles between ambitious Kings and the rulers of
the lands.
Many historians has described Akbar as illiterate. Though he
cultivated the arts, culture and appreciated all intellectual efforts .He
sponsored many poets, musicians and artist's and engineers in his
court which was situated in Delhi.
He is often called the National ruler of India. During his reign, he
established unity and Harmony in various spheres. In the medieval
Indian history, Indian emerged as a nation rather than a group of
states. Akbar provided a strong administrative base and a uniform
administrative system to his empire.
His provincial administration, revenue system, land revenue system
and judiciary .He never discriminate on high military and civilian
posts based caste and Creed. He through his liberal thinking gained
the active cooperation of many Rajputs. He made matrimonial
alliances with important Rajput states on the basis of equality.
Another significant achievement of Akbar as a great ruler was the
establishment of social and economic unity in India. He made sure
that all his subjects have equal rights of citizenship and other facilities
without any form of discrimination.
The reason why he was belovedby all lies in the very fact that he
never discriminated between Hindus and Muslim in any field.
Akbar took all significant step in the direction of social unity by
celebrating all the festivals like Holi, Deepawali, Dushera, Basant,
and Nauroj with equal fervour in the royal Court. He through his
efforts, established a religious unity with utmost importance on
building India as a strong independent nation.
He was established a secular state separating religion from any sorts
of politcs. Though being a Muslim himself, he respected the ideas and
principles of all the religions. Not only this much, in order to create an
atmosphere of religous unity in the country, Akbar established a
socio-religious association of brotherhood namely Din-i-Illahi which
included the admirable elements of all religions. Its doors were open
to all castes and creeds without any distinction.
Another important need to make India a strong nation was the
establishment of cultural unity. In order to establish approximity
between the Hindus and the Muslims in the cultural sphere, he made
Persian the official language of his empire. Akbar established a
translation department. It undertook the translation of many religious,
literary and historical books of the Hindus into the Persian language.
Nationalistic feelings and ideals made their sway in architecture,
painting, and music etc. as well during the rule of Akbar.
Undoubtedly, Akbar remained busy throughout his life in creating
unity and goodwill among different races and communities of India in
order to transform the country into a united nation. Therefore, he must
be regarded as a great national emperor of India.

AKBAR’S RAJPUT POLICY

One of the greatest achievements of Akbar proven till date was the
Rajput Policy. He entered into marriage alliances with the Raiputs
Bhara Mal, the ruler of Amber, married his younger daughter, Harkha
Bai to Akbar. In accordance with the Rajput policy, complete freedom
was provided to the wives of Akbar to follow Hinduism as well as
their relatives were provided with honoured positions in the court.
Thus, the Rajput policy of Akbar ended the centuries-old animosity
between the Muslim rulers and the Rajputs. Since the Rajputs were
made equal partners in the Mughal government, it considerably
affected the public policies of the Mughals and greatly helped in the
growth of a composite culture.
STEPS TOWARDS INTEGRATION:
Many measure were taken by Akbar in order to develop friendly
relations as well as greater understanding among the Hindus and the
Muslims.
Through these measures he created an atmosphere in which liberal
views could grow i and finally cultural and emotional integration of
the people could develop. Some of these measures were the
following:
1. .The tax paid by non-Muslims known as jizyah or poll tax was
abolished. He also abolished the pilgrim tax on bathing at holy
place such as Prayag and Benaras. He abolished the forceful
conversion of war refugees into Islam. All these measures
helped Akbar in creating a society of equal rights irrespective of
the religions.

2. To strengthen his liberal principles Akbar gave places to many

Hindu nobles in his court. While most of these were Rajput
rajas, many of whom entered-into matrimonial alliances with
Akbar, mansabs (position or rank) were given to others on the
basis of their competence.

3. In 1575, Akbar built a hall called lbadat Khana or the Hall of

Prayer at Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar used to call some of the great
 scholars, theologians from different religions and discuss
spiritual matters with them.

4. In 1579, Akbar issued a ‘Declaration’ or mahzar, which made

Akbar the supreme or final arbiter in religious matters and
replaced the power of the ulema by the power of the Emperor.

5. In 1580, Akbar promulgated a new religion called Din-i-Illahi.

Din-i-Illahi was based on the integrity of God. The new religion
focused on being courageous and loyal and promoted justice. It
also demanded loyalty to the Emperor. The main reason of
forming Din-i-Illahi was Sulh-kul or universalharmony so asto
govern the public with the feeling of unity.

6. Akbar set up a big translation department or translating works in

Sanskrit, Arabic and Greek into Persian hus, the Singhasan
Battist, the Atharv Veda and the Bible were taken up for
translation. Along with the Quran, the Gita, the Mahabharata
and the Ramayana.

SOCIAL AND EDUCATION REFORMS

Akbar introduced a number of social and educational reforms they

were:
1. Akbar issued orders to the kotwals to check the forcible practice
of Sati or the burning of a widow on the funeral pyre o her
husband. Women who performed sati pratha on their own will
or if they desire to follow sati they were allowed to do so.
 2. Akbar legalised widow remarriage.

3. Having more than one wife was something which Akbar

opposed unless the first wife failed to conceive.

4. Akbar raised the age of marriage to 14 for girls and 16 for boys.

5. Akbar revised the educational syllabus, laying more emphasis

on moral education and mathematics and on secular subjects
such as agriculture, geometry, astronomy, logic and history.

DEATH OF EMPEROR AKBAR

The Great Mughal Emperor died in 1605. By the time Akbar died his
authority had extended from Assam in the east to the areas beyond the
north-western frontier, i.e, Kabul and Kandahar in the west. In the
Deccan his dominions included Ahmadnagar, Deccan his dominions
included Ahmadnagar, Khandesh and Berar. The Kingdoms of
Multan, Sindh, Gujarat, Kashmir and Bengal came to an end.
 CONCLUSION

Akbar was considered the most important and successful ruler of the
Mughal period. He played an extremely significant role in the
expansion of the Mughal territory and the welfare of the people of his
kingdom. We saw the story of Akbar. It highlights why Akbar is
called ‘Akbar the Great’, how through its different social and
educational reforms he not only brought equality among its citizens
but also uplifted them in all fields. Akbar maintained a large army and
paid them well. His army was loyal to him. Akbar encouraged to
build good relationship with the Rajputs with different alliances.
Akbar in true sense was people’s leader he was loved by his kingdom.
It is during his rule that the Mughal dynasty tripled in size and wealth.
Though he was a fierce fighter of the Mughal era, Akbar was a wise
ruler. All these qualities made him AKBAR THE GREAT.
 REFERENCE

www.historytoday.com
www.britannica.com
www.biography.com
www.trtworld.com
ICSE History Class 9th
H.M. History Class 12th