Early Life

• Akbar was born in Amarkot in present-day Sindh, Pakistan as

the son of Humayun and Hamida Banu Begum on 15th October
1542. He was born in a Rajput fortress where his parents were
living in refuge under the local ruler Rana Prasad. He was
raised by his uncles and aunts in Kabul.
• His full name was Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar.
• Akbar spent his entire childhood learning how to fight and
hunt. He had no interest in learning how to read and write.
However, Akbar was the only Moghul Emperor who was
illiterate and still had a penchant for knowledge.
• Akbar was made king at the age of 13 in 1556 AD, after the
death of his father.
• Bairam Khan was Akbar’s regent until 1560 AD. Akbar decided
to manage his empire individually and asked Bairam khan to
go for the Pilgrimage.
Brief on Akbar’s Early days
• Abū al-Fatḥ Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Akbar was descended from
Turks, Mongols, and Iranians—the three peoples who
predominated in the political elites of northern India in medieval
times. Among his ancestors were Timur (Tamerlane) and
Genghis Khan.
• His father, Humayun, driven from his capital of Delhi by the
Afghan emperor Shēr Shah Sūri, was vainly trying to establish
his authority in the Sindh region.
• Humayun had barely established his authority when he died in 1556. Within a few
months, his governors lost several important places, including Delhi itself, to
Hemu, a Hindu minister who claimed the throne for himself.
• But on November 5, 1556, a Mughal force defeated Hemu at the Second Battle of
Panipat, which commanded the route to Delhi, thus ensuring Akbar’s succession.