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Akbar s Difficulties


What were the diiculties faced by Akbar during the period  1556-1564? How did he overcome them?

"His majesty [Akbar] plans splendid ediices ... Thus  mighty fortresses have been raised, which protect  the timid, frighten the rebellious, and please the  obedient..."

- Abul Fazl, Ain-i-Akbari (Regulations of Akbar), c. 1590

Miracles occur in the temples of every creed.  -Akbar

Humayun’s death had been a blow to the Mughals and it was totally  unexpected. It had only been a year since he had recaptured Delhi and  the kingdom was still young. His son Jalal-ad-din Akbar was then formally  seated on the throne of the Mughal Empire. In the course of the next ten  years of young Akbar’s reign he faced several crises both from internal  threats and from external ones. In this essay we shall look at what some  of those problems were that Akbar had to deal with in the initial years of  his reign.

The major sources which throw light on Akbar’s period are divided into  three categories; oicial, personal and foreign accounts. Abul Fazl’s  akbarnama and ain-i-akbari which are the oicial accounts of the oicial  court chronicler. In these works Akbar is presented as an exalted monarch. Another oicial account was that of Nizamuddin Ahmad. Abdul Qadir  Badauni’s account muntakhab-ut-tawarikh is a personal account which is  highly critical of Akbar. Badauni’s work is important as it provides a  diferent perspective from that of the other historians and provides details that are either missing or avoided in the other accounts. There are also  accounts by foreign travellers and Jesuit missionaries which however  sufer from personal prejudices.

Since Akbar was very young at the time of him becoming the emperor,  Behram Khan who was very close to Humayun and had been a favourite  oicial of Humayun was appointed the khan-i-khana and the vakil of the  empire. He was one of the most powerful nobles of the camp and initially  the nobles agreed to support this decision since the empire facing many  diiculties and a powerful leader was needed to ensure the safety of the empire.

 In 1556, soon after the coronation of the young emperor, Delhi  came under attack by the Afghans from Bihar which was led on the led by  Hemu. Behram khan sent the army to meet him under Tardi Beg but the  Mughal army was defeated. Many of the Mughal army oicials had led  from the battle when they realised that they could not resist the attacks of Hemu and Tardi Beg was one among them. Behram khan then had him  executed as punishment for it. This incident caused much confusion and  resentment in the court and Beharam khan used this as a pretext to rise  to power. 

Iqtadar Alam Khan divides the period of Behram Khan into 4 phases. The  irst phase was up to the period of 1566 when he was Akbar’s tutor and  the other nobles had sanctioned his rise to power based on his promise to  keep the Afghans at bay. The Afghans were still powerful and remained  powerful in many areas within the Indian subcontinent such as Hemu in  Bihar and Bahadur Shah in Gujarat. The second phase was from 1556-57,  when Behram khan rose to prominence and suppressed the other nobles  by sending them away to parts of the empire. The third phase was from  1557-59 when the harem arrives from Kabul. She resents the rise of  Behram khan and with the support of the other nobles tries to curtail his  powers. She states that Akbar needs to consulted on important decision  and they should be presented before him such as in the case of the  decision to execute Tardi Beg. The fourth phase is from 1559-1560 when  Akbar begins to assert his authority and reclaims power from Behram  Khan. 

During the four years of Behram khan’s reign the Mughal Empire faced  many dangers and threats but also showed considerable progress. The  senior nobles had hoped that once he came to power, he would share it  with them too. But when he sent them of to diferent parts of the empire  on various tasks, the realised that he had diferent intentions. Within the  court Behram khan faced much opposition from Akbar’s foster parents and mainly from the Turkish nobles. The dominant Sunni nobility felt that  Behram khan being a Shia Muslim, had undermined their powers and was  creating a nobility that favoured the men of his own creed or men who  were entirely subservient to his will. The execution of Tardi Beg who was a  Turk was considered by these nobles as an act of hostility towards them.  By 1560, Akbar wanted to assert his position, but his views were not  always taken into account by the now very powerful Behram khan. Akbar  knew he had to confront his tutor but at the same time was wise enough  to realise that an open conlict might jeopardise his position. So Akbar  decided to tactfully deal with the situation and so on the pretext of going  for a hunting expedition, Akbar led from Agra to Delhi and there he rallied the nobles and his troops. Behram khan could not entirely understand the situation and he felt that the emperor was acting under the inluence of  the nobles. He decided to then take up arms to punish his enemies. But  this resulted in his defeat which was then followed by Akbar giving him  two options, to either remain in the court as a subordinate to Akbar and  not as a regent or to go to Mecca on holy pilgrimage. Behram khan chose  the latter and decided to go to Mecca, but on his way , while passing  through Gujarat, he was killed by Mubarak Khan Nohani.

A second major problem that Akbar faced was from his foster family.  Maham Anagam the harem, came to Delhi in 1557 from Kabul. Winston  Smith calls the phase when Akbar was dominated by his foster family as a petticoat government. The wet nurses of the emperor were incorporated  into the foster family which was a practice of central Asian tradition. She  along with the other Turkish nobles had tried to curtail the powers of  Behram Khan. Now that Behram khan was removed, the foster family and  the nobles who had supported Akbar against Behram khan hoped for a  higher share in power. When Akbar tried to centralise his empire and  assert his authority, it led to conlicts with the foster family. This is clearly relected through the actions of Adham khan, the son of Maham Anagam  when after the conquest of Malwa, he refused to send the war booty to  Akbar. Akbar then confronted him, at which Adham khan ofered up  everything to Akbar except for 2 concubines which he kept for himself.  When Akbar came to know of this, Maham Anagam, had the 2 concubines  killed so that it would not cause further problems. Adham khan was  recalled from Malwa and when he killed Shamsuddin who was believed to  be the jure vakil , Akbar had Adham khan killed. This swift action helped  prevent further bloodshed as Shamsuddin’s eldest son was preparing to  take revenge.


The Turnai nobility consisted of 4 main groups; the Chagatai, the Uzbeks,  the Mirza's and the Atka Khayl. All of them revolted at some point or the  other. The Atka Khayl was the foster family and the Chagatai’s were also  part of the Uzbeks. The Uzbek revolts and rebellions were a problem which was actually the beginning of the opposition of the Chagatai’s being  presented. These nobles resented the centralising policies of Akbar and  many of them began to revolt. The Uzbek nobles began asserting regional autonomy and there were several rebellions in the period between 1561- 62. There was growing resentment among them as they believed in the  Chengizi tradition of sharing power among the elites. They resented the  centralising policies of Akbar which prevented them from retaining the war booty and other tributes. However Akbar had many of them sent to  diferent parts of the empire in order to better control them and limit their  powers. The opposition of the Chagatai’s eventually manifested itself in  the form of the Uzbek rebellions. The irst rebellion was that of Abdullah khan Uzbek of Malwa who refused to send Akbar the tribute. He had  earlier recaptured Malwa for the Mughal Empire and had become the  governor of the province. It eventually led to an a conlict between Akbar  and Abdullah khan and the latter was defeated in this in 1564. There  were also other Uzbeks who refused to send the tribute such as Ibrahim  khan Uzbek, Sikander Khan Uzbek and Khan-i-Zaman Uzbek. In 1565  Akbar was informed of the rebellion being planned by Iskandar Khan  Uzbek. The other Uzbek oicials also joined hands in this rebellion but  they were ultimately defeated by Akbar. However, they were pardoned  and given back their jagirs. The inal rebellion was in 1567 when these  Uzbek nobles pledged their loyalty to Mirza Muhammad Hakim who Akbar had driven back to Kabul. They were yet again defeated by Akbar and this  time too they were pardoned. Akbar was constantly on the move  suppressing these rebellions mainly through the use of force.

The Mirzas were a minor threat when compared to the Uzbeks. The Mirza's were a small faction in Akbar’s court and were a part of the Chagatai  nobility and aspired for greater share in power. They were given jagirs in  the Sambal region. The irst Mirza rebellion was in 1560 under Mohammed sultan Mirza who was related to Akbar. They attempted marching to Delhi  to capture power but there were repressed by the local Mughal governor.  Some of them managed to escape and led to Gujarat. All these rebellions  led Akbar to bring about many reforms within the nobility itself in order to  prevent such rebellions. 

It was these rebellions that led Akbar to broaden the base of the nobility  and look for new alliances. There was a need to transform those chieftains who saw themselves as autonomous or semi-autonomous. Even during  the time of Babur, we see his conlict with Rana Sangha of Sissodiya, in  which he faced defeat. Babur was also advised by the Safavid ruler to ally  with the Rajputs. The Rajput policy of Akbar can be traced to 1562 when  Akbar marries the daughter of raja Bara Mal of Amer. Although popular  legend refers to this princess as Jodha Bhai, there is no clear evidence  regarding this. The Kachwahas were a very minor group among the  Rajputs but this did not concern Akbar much as he saw this alliance as an  inroad to other Rajput relations. In 1562, the raja Bara Mal came to meet  Akbar on his way back from Ajmer, to pay homage and also to seek  protection as his brother Askaran was trying to build an alliance with the  Afghans and claim the throne of Amer. The Kachwaha land was very near  to Agra and Delhi and also their lands were lat plains which left them  open to attacks from these diferent areas. So the Kachwaha family was  sinking into ruin. Akbar however did not consider this too much and  considered an alliance with them as the way into dealing with the rest of  the Rajputs. Besides the Kachwahas were very good warriors.

In 1563, Akbar abolished the jaziya in order to better the relations with the Rajputs even though this tax had existed only in paper and was not really  implemented. But this act did not really help to improve the relations with  them as only the Kachwahas were willing to enter into alliance with the  Mughals. Akbar faced much criticism from his nobility and the ulema for  his attempts to include new members in the nobility as they felt that he  was not taking up the cause of Islam as a true Muslim ruler should. But  despite this Akbar continued to try and build up his relations with the  Rajputs and there were some advantages that were ofered with an  alliance with them. Rajputana was very strategically located and provided  the shortest route to the Deccan. In addition they provided access to the  rich mercantile ports of Gujarat and Malwa. Also the Rajputs were known  for their bravery and valour in battle and Akbar realised that they would  be a good addition to his forces.

R.P. Triparti, C.A. Bayly and I.A. Khan talk about neo-liberalism and talk of  Akbar’s attempt to create a composite culture and a cohesive empire.  According to A.L.Srivastav, Akbar was the only Muslim ruler who dreamt of Indian unity and the alliance formed an integral part of his religious policy  of building a state that was not based and supported by Muslims alone.  Badauni blames the Rajput relations as the reason for the change in the  ideological outlook of Akbar. I.A.Khan says that these alliances were an  attempt on the part of Akbar to create a heterogeneous nobility as the  Uzbek and Mirza rebellions led him to believe that they could not be  entirely depended on. 

Akbar soon realised that his liberal policy with the Rajputs had not helped  in creating new alliances and so he decides to shift to a more harsher  policy involving military force. So in 1568, Akbar attacks chittor and lays  siege to it. Since chittor was the capital of the Sissodiyas, Akbar hoped  that its conquest would lead to the Rajputs accepting Mughal sovereignty.  Abul Fazl claims that it was the arrogant nature of the Rana of Sissodiya  that led to the attack. The siege of Chittor lasted for over four months  from October 1567-february1568. There was a lot of bloodshed and after  the Mughals had captured it, the fathnama(declaration of victory) was  read in the name of the Mughal rulers. In the following years most Rajput  houses accepted Mughal alliance and were inducted into Mughal nobility. 

So we see that during the irst phase of Akbar’s reign as emperor of the  Mughal Empire, he had to face several diiculties which he had to  overcome. He had to initially shake of all the power and other ties which were trying hard to control him and gain access to power such as his  regent and his foster family. He also then had to deal with the external  threats that he faced from the diferent parts of the empire. In addition to  all this he had to face the several rebellions and revolts from the various  nobles who were always trying to carve out independent spheres of power for themselves. And inally, Akbar had to deal with the Rajputs and  relations with them, both through his liberal policy and also through  military force. While Akbar had to use force in many instances, we also  see that he often pardoned the rebels and those who went against him. In  these ways Akbar managed to deal with the several problems that he  faced mainly during the initial phase of his reign from 1556-1564.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

> Iqtidar Alam Khan - The Political Biography of a Mughal Noble: Munim  Khan Khan-i Khanan, 1497-1575, Orient Longman for the Department of  History, Aligarh Muslim University, 1973.

> Douglas E. Streusand, The Formation of the Mughal Empire, Oxford  University Press, 1989.

> Irfan Habib, Akbar and his India, Oxford University Press, 1997.

> Satish Chandra, Essays on medieval Indian history, Oxford University  Press, 2003.

> John F. Richards, The Mughal Empire, Cambridge University Press, 1995. > Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, Akbar and his Religion, 1989.

> Satish Chandra, Essays on medieval Indian history, Oxford University  Press, 2003.

Arpith Isaac

III History

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