Akbar the Great — Conquests, Administration & Religious Policy

Why This Chapter Matters

Akbar is one of the three or four most-asked personalities in the entire Medieval India syllabus. SSC CGL, CHSL, MTS and RRB NTPC all draw questions from his reign almost every year. Expect 2 to 4 questions directly on this chapter in a typical SSC tier-1 paper, and Akbar often shows up again as an option in "which Mughal ruler" type questions on other chapters too.

The sub-topics that repeat most are: the year and location of the Second Battle of Panipat, Bairam Khan's regency and his fall, the mansabdari system (definitions of mansab, zat, sawar), Todar Mal's land revenue settlement (zabti/dahsala system), Din-i-Ilahi and the Ibadat Khana, Akbar's Rajput marriage policy, Rana Pratap and Haldighati (1576), and the list of navratnas. Book names — Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari, both by Abul Fazl — are a favourite one-line question. Learn the dates and the terms exactly; this chapter rewards precision.

1. Accession and the Regency of Bairam Khan

Akbar (born Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, 1542, at Umarkot in Sindh) became the third Mughal emperor after Humayun's death in 1556. He was only 13 years old at accession, crowned on 14 February 1556 at Kalanaur in Punjab.

Since Akbar was a minor, the empire was run by his guardian Bairam Khan as regent (1556–1560). Bairam Khan had been a loyal general of Humayun and played the key role in recovering the throne in 1555.

The most urgent task of the regency was to defeat Hemu (Hemchandra Vikramaditya), a Hindu general who had served the Suri rulers and had captured Delhi and Agra after Humayun's death, proclaiming himself king.

Table: Key events of the regency period

Year	Event	Details
1556	Akbar's coronation	At Kalanaur, aged 13
1556	Second Battle of Panipat	Fought on 5 November 1556, between Akbar-Bairam Khan forces and Hemu
1560	Fall of Bairam Khan	Dismissed by Akbar, later killed at Patan (Gujarat) while going for Haj

The Second Battle of Panipat (1556)

Hemu had won 22 engagements before this battle and briefly held Delhi. At Panipat, Hemu's forces were winning initially, but an arrow struck him in the eye and he fell unconscious. His army broke and fled. Hemu was captured and executed. This victory secured Delhi and Agra for Akbar and is the second of the three historic battles fought at Panipat (1526, 1556, 1761).

Fall of Bairam Khan

By 1560, Akbar was 18 and wanted to rule directly. Court intrigue, led by Maham Anga, the woman who had nursed and raised Akbar as a child, turned Akbar against Bairam Khan. Akbar dismissed him from the regency in 1560. Bairam Khan rebelled briefly, was pardoned, and was later assassinated at Patan in Gujarat by an Afghan while on his way to Mecca.

After 1560, for a few years, palace figures like Maham Anga and her son Adham Khan influenced the young emperor, a period sometimes called the phase of "petticoat government." Akbar took full personal control of administration by around 1562.

2. Territorial Expansion and Military Conquests

Akbar spent nearly his entire 49-year reign (1556–1605) expanding and consolidating the empire. His conquests can be grouped region by region.

North India and Rajputana

• 1561–1562: Malwa conquered from Baz Bahadur.
• 1562 onward: Most Rajput states submitted peacefully through alliance and marriage (see Section 3). Mewar under Rana Udai Singh and later Rana Pratap was the major holdout.
• 1568: Siege and capture of Chittor (Chittorgarh), Mewar's capital, after a prolonged siege; Akbar ordered a general massacre following the fall.
• 1569: Fort of Ranthambore captured.
• 1576: Battle of Haldighati between Akbar's forces (commanded by Raja Man Singh of Amber) and Rana Pratap of Mewar. Rana Pratap was defeated but escaped on his horse Chetak, and never submitted to Akbar. He continued resistance from the hills until his death in 1597. Mewar remained the one major Rajput kingdom that did not accept Mughal suzerainty in Akbar's lifetime.

Gujarat and Bengal

• 1572–1573: Conquest of Gujarat, giving the Mughals access to western seaports (Surat, Cambay) and sea trade.
• 1576: Conquest of Bengal after defeating the Afghan ruler Daud Khan Karrani at the Battle of Rajmahal.

East and Northwest

• 1581: Campaign against Akbar's own half-brother Mirza Hakim, governor of Kabul, who had rebelled; Kabul was annexed.
• 1586: Kashmir annexed.
• 1590s: Sindh, Baluchistan, and Kandahar brought under Mughal control at various points in the decade.

Deccan

• 1601: Capture of the fort of Asirgarh in the Deccan, one of Akbar's last major campaigns, extending Mughal presence into the Deccan plateau for the first time.

By the end of his reign, the empire stretched from Kabul and Kandahar in the northwest to Bengal in the east, and from Kashmir in the north to the northern Deccan.

3. The Rajput Policy

Akbar's approach to the powerful Rajput clans of Rajputana was different from his predecessors. Instead of only fighting them, he combined conquest with alliance, marriage, and honour.

• Marriage alliances: Akbar married Harkha Bai (also known in popular tradition as Jodha Bai), daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber (Jaipur), in 1562. This was the first of several Mughal-Rajput matrimonial alliances.
• High offices for Rajputs: Rajput nobles were given high mansabs and important posts. Raja Man Singh of Amber became one of Akbar's most trusted generals, later a mansabdar of very high rank, and served as governor of Bengal and Bihar.
• Abolition of jizya: Akbar abolished the jizya (tax on non-Muslims) in 1564, a major departure from Sultanate-era practice.
• Abolition of pilgrimage tax: Akbar also ended the tax pilgrims paid at Hindu religious sites.
• Result: Most Rajput states (Amber, Marwar/Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and others) accepted Mughal overlordship and supplied troops and administrators to the empire. Only Mewar, under Rana Udai Singh and then Rana Pratap, refused submission, keeping its Rajput honour intact through continued resistance even after losing Chittor and Haldighati.

This policy gave Akbar a loyal and militarily useful Rajput nobility and reduced the cost of constant Rajput wars, a major reason for the stability of Mughal rule in north India for the next century.

4. Administration Under Akbar

Akbar built a systematic administrative structure that later Mughals largely retained.

Central Administration

The emperor was the supreme authority, assisted by ministers:

• Wakil / Wazir: chief minister, in charge of general administration and finance.
• Diwan: revenue and finance.
• Mir Bakshi: military pay and the mansabdari records.
• Sadr-us-Sudur: religious and charitable matters, grants to scholars and the pious.
• Qazi: judicial matters.

The Mansabdari System

Akbar organised his nobility and army through the mansabdari system. Every officer (mansabdar) held a rank expressed in two numbers:

• Zat: personal rank, deciding salary and status.
• Sawar: number of cavalrymen the mansabdar had to maintain and produce for the emperor.

Ranks ranged from 10 to 5,000 for nobles (princes could hold higher). Mansabdars were paid either in cash or, more commonly, through the assignment of jagirs (land whose revenue they could collect in place of salary). Mansabdars did not own the jagir land; it was a service assignment, not a hereditary landholding right. This system tied the entire nobility and army directly to the emperor and prevented any single noble from building an independent territorial base, a key reason for stronger Mughal central control compared to the Delhi Sultanate.

Land Revenue System — Todar Mal's Settlement

Akbar's finance minister Raja Todar Mal designed the land revenue system, refining methods already tried under Sher Shah Suri. Key features:

• Zabti system (also called the dahsala system): land was measured, and revenue was fixed based on the average produce and prices of the previous ten years for each crop and locality (hence "dahsala," meaning "of ten years").
• Land was classified by fertility and continuity of cultivation into categories such as polaj (cultivated every year), parauti (left fallow briefly), chachar and banjar (long fallow/uncultivated), each carrying a different revenue rate.
• Revenue demand was typically about one-third of the produce, payable in cash or kind, assessed after careful measurement using a standard measuring rope called the tanab (later improved by Todar Mal's bamboo-jointed rope, the zarib, to reduce fraud).
• This system needed detailed local records and trained revenue officials, and worked best in well-surveyed core areas of the empire; other regions used simpler methods (e.g., crop-sharing or a fixed lump sum).

Todar Mal's system became the model for later revenue administration and even influenced British-era land settlements.

Table: Key officials and their roles under Akbar

Official/Post	Function	Well-known holder
Wazir/Wakil	Chief minister, general administration	—
Diwan	Revenue and finance	Raja Todar Mal
Mir Bakshi	Military pay, mansab records	—
Sadr-us-Sudur	Religious grants and charity	—
Qazi	Justice	—
Mansabdar	Military-cum-civil officer, rank in zat and sawar	Raja Man Singh, various nobles

5. Religious Policy — Ibadat Khana and Din-i-Ilahi

Akbar took a deep personal interest in religion and comparative theology, unusual for a ruling emperor of his time.

• 1575: Akbar built the Ibadat Khana ("House of Worship") at his new capital Fatehpur Sikri. Initially meant for discussions among Muslim theologians of different schools, it was later opened to scholars of other faiths too — Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians (Parsis), and Jesuit Christian missionaries from Goa.
• These debates often turned bitter, with theologians accusing each other of errors, which disillusioned Akbar with rigid religious orthodoxy.
• 1579: Akbar issued the so-called "Mahzar" (a formal declaration signed by leading ulema), which gave him authority to interpret religious law among conflicting opinions of Islamic jurists in cases of dispute. This is sometimes loosely called the "Infallibility Decree," though it did not make him a prophet or above Islam.
• 1582: Akbar promulgated Din-i-Ilahi ("Divine Faith"), a syncretic ethical order drawing on ideas from Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism and Christianity. It emphasised morality, tolerance and loyalty to the emperor over ritual and dogma. It had very few actual followers, mainly courtiers such as Birbal, and had no lasting religious impact after Akbar's death.
• Akbar's religious policy overall is remembered for practical tolerance: abolition of jizya (1564) and the pilgrimage tax, patronage of Hindu, Jain and Parsi scholars, and translation of Sanskrit texts like the Mahabharata (translated into Persian as the Razmnama) and the Ramayana into Persian.

6. Akbar's Court — The Navratnas

Akbar's court at Agra and later Fatehpur Sikri became famous for hosting nine distinguished figures known as the Navratnas ("nine jewels"), each excelling in a different field. This list is a favourite match-the-following question.

Table: The Navratnas of Akbar's court

Name	Known for
Abul Fazl	Chief chronicler; wrote Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari
Faizi	Poet and scholar, Abul Fazl's brother; headed translation work
Raja Todar Mal	Finance minister; designed the land revenue (dahsala) system
Raja Man Singh	Rajput general from Amber; military commander, governor of Bengal
Raja Birbal	Courtier known for wit; close personal confidant of Akbar
Tansen	Legendary classical musician at Akbar's court
Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana	Poet, scholar, and general; son of Bairam Khan
Fakir Aziao-Din	Religious advisor
Mullah Do Piaza	Advisor, remembered in popular folk tales alongside Birbal

7. Fatehpur Sikri and Akbar's Capital

Akbar built a new capital, Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra, to honour the Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti, who had blessed him with the prediction of a son (the future Jahangir, born 1569 at Sikri). Construction began around 1571. The city had grand structures such as the Buland Darwaza (built to mark the Gujarat victory of 1573) and the Panch Mahal. Fatehpur Sikri was abandoned as the capital by around 1585, likely due to water shortage, though it remains an important architectural and administrative-history site for exams.

8. Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari

Akbar's court historian Abul Fazl wrote the Akbarnama, a three-volume official history of Akbar's reign, in Persian. The third volume is the Ain-i-Akbari, a detailed administrative report covering Akbar's court, army organisation, revenue regulations, provinces (subas), and the social and economic conditions of the empire. Ain-i-Akbari is one of the most valuable primary sources for studying Mughal administration and is frequently referenced in "who wrote what" questions. Abul Fazl was assassinated in 1602, reportedly on the instigation of Prince Salim (later Jahangir), who resented his father's growing closeness to Abul Fazl.

9. Death and Legacy

Akbar died in 1605 at Agra and was succeeded by his son Prince Salim, who took the throne name Jahangir. Akbar's tomb is at Sikandra, near Agra, built by Akbar himself and completed by Jahangir.

Akbar's reign of 49 years (1556–1605) is considered the period when the Mughal Empire became a genuinely pan-Indian, institutionally strong state rather than just a conquest dynasty. The administrative and revenue systems he built, along with the alliance-based Rajput policy, gave the empire the stability that lasted through Jahangir and Shah Jahan's reigns, before the strains reappeared under Aurangzeb.

Quick Revision — One-Line Facts

• Akbar born 1542 at Umarkot, Sindh; crowned 14 February 1556 at Kalanaur, aged 13.
• Bairam Khan was Akbar's regent, 1556 to 1560.
• Second Battle of Panipat fought on 5 November 1556 between Akbar's forces and Hemu.
• Hemu was struck in the eye by an arrow and captured; his army broke and fled.
• Bairam Khan was dismissed in 1560 and assassinated at Patan (Gujarat) in 1561.
• Malwa was conquered from Baz Bahadur in 1561–62.
• Chittor (Mewar's capital) fell to Akbar's siege in 1568.
• Ranthambore fort was captured in 1569.
• Battle of Haldighati fought in 1576 between Raja Man Singh and Rana Pratap.
• Rana Pratap escaped Haldighati on his horse Chetak and never submitted to Akbar.
• Gujarat was conquered in 1572–73, giving access to Surat and Cambay ports.
• Bengal was annexed in 1576 after defeating Daud Khan Karrani at Rajmahal.
• Kashmir was annexed in 1586.
• Asirgarh fort in the Deccan was captured in 1601.
• Akbar married Harkha Bai, daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber, in 1562.
• Akbar abolished jizya in 1564 and the pilgrimage tax on Hindus.
• Mansabdari system used two ranks: zat (personal status/salary) and sawar (cavalry to be maintained).
• Raja Todar Mal designed the dahsala (zabti) land revenue system, based on 10-year average produce and price data.
• Land revenue was typically fixed at about one-third of the produce.
• Ibadat Khana was built in 1575 at Fatehpur Sikri for religious debates.
• The 1579 Mahzar gave Akbar authority to settle disputes among conflicting Islamic legal opinions.
• Din-i-Ilahi was proclaimed in 1582; it had very few followers, mainly Birbal.
• Akbar's Navratnas included Abul Fazl, Birbal, Todar Mal, Man Singh, and Tansen.
• Abul Fazl wrote the Akbarnama; its third volume is the Ain-i-Akbari.
• Abul Fazl was assassinated in 1602, allegedly at Prince Salim's instigation.
• Fatehpur Sikri was built near Agra in honour of Sheikh Salim Chishti; construction began around 1571.
• Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri was built to commemorate the 1573 Gujarat victory.
• Akbar died in 1605 at Agra; his tomb is at Sikandra.
• Akbar was succeeded by his son Jahangir (Prince Salim) in 1605.
• Mewar remained the only major Rajput kingdom not to submit to Akbar in his lifetime.

Memory Tables

Table A: Chronology of major events in Akbar's reign

Year	Event
1542	Akbar born at Umarkot, Sindh
1556	Coronation at Kalanaur; Second Battle of Panipat (defeat of Hemu)
1560	Fall of Bairam Khan
1562	Marriage to Harkha Bai of Amber
1564	Abolition of jizya
1568	Fall of Chittor
1569	Fall of Ranthambore
1572–73	Conquest of Gujarat
1575	Ibadat Khana built at Fatehpur Sikri
1576	Battle of Haldighati; conquest of Bengal
1579	Mahzar declaration
1582	Din-i-Ilahi proclaimed
1586	Annexation of Kashmir
1601	Capture of Asirgarh
1602	Assassination of Abul Fazl
1605	Death of Akbar at Agra

Table B: Person to contribution

Person	Contribution
Bairam Khan	Regent 1556–60; won Second Panipat for young Akbar
Hemu	Suri-era general defeated at Second Panipat, 1556
Raja Todar Mal	Designed the dahsala/zabti land revenue system
Raja Man Singh	Rajput general; commanded Mughal forces at Haldighati
Rana Pratap	Ruler of Mewar; resisted Akbar after Haldighati (1576)
Abul Fazl	Wrote Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari; Akbar's court chronicler
Sheikh Salim Chishti	Sufi saint after whom Fatehpur Sikri was founded
Birbal	Courtier; among the few actual followers of Din-i-Ilahi

Practice MCQs

Q1. In which year was Akbar crowned emperor at Kalanaur? (a) 1555 (b) 1556 (c) 1560 (d) 1526

Q2. Who served as Akbar's regent from 1556 to 1560? (a) Todar Mal (b) Bairam Khan (c) Raja Man Singh (d) Abul Fazl

Q3. The Second Battle of Panipat (1556) was fought between Akbar's forces and which ruler? (a) Rana Pratap (b) Hemu (c) Daud Khan Karrani (d) Baz Bahadur

Q4. Which fort in Mewar fell to Akbar's forces in 1568 after a prolonged siege? (a) Ranthambore (b) Chittor (c) Asirgarh (d) Gwalior

Q5. The Battle of Haldighati (1576) was fought between Rana Pratap and which Mughal commander? (a) Bairam Khan (b) Raja Man Singh (c) Todar Mal (d) Abul Fazl

Q6. Akbar abolished the jizya tax on non-Muslims in which year? (a) 1562 (b) 1564 (c) 1568 (d) 1576

Q7. Who designed the dahsala (zabti) system of land revenue for Akbar? (a) Abul Fazl (b) Raja Todar Mal (c) Raja Birbal (d) Faizi

Q8. In the mansabdari system, the term "sawar" referred to: (a) personal rank and salary of the officer (b) the number of cavalry troops the officer had to maintain (c) the amount of land revenue collected (d) the officer's religious title

Q9. The Ibadat Khana, where Akbar held religious discussions, was built at: (a) Agra (b) Delhi (c) Fatehpur Sikri (d) Lahore

Q10. Who wrote the Akbarnama and its concluding volume, the Ain-i-Akbari? (a) Faizi (b) Abul Fazl (c) Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana (d) Badauni

Q11. Which of the following was NOT one of Akbar's Navratnas? (a) Raja Birbal (b) Tansen (c) Raja Man Singh (d) Guru Amar Das

Q12. Fatehpur Sikri was built in honour of which Sufi saint? (a) Nizamuddin Auliya (b) Sheikh Salim Chishti (c) Baba Farid (d) Moinuddin Chishti

Q13. Arrange the following events in chronological order:

1. Battle of Haldighati
2. Conquest of Gujarat
3. Fall of Chittor
4. Proclamation of Din-i-Ilahi (a) 3, 2, 1, 4 (b) 2, 3, 1, 4 (c) 3, 1, 2, 4 (d) 1, 2, 3, 4

Q14. Which of the following statements about Din-i-Ilahi is correct? (a) It was a new religion that replaced Islam in the empire (b) It was an ethical order with very few followers, mainly courtiers like Birbal (c) It was compulsory for all Mughal officials (d) It was abolished by Akbar himself within a year

Q15. Akbar died in 1605 at Agra and was succeeded by: (a) Shah Jahan (b) Jahangir (c) Murad (d) Daniyal

Answer Key

Q	Answer	One-line reason
Q1	(b) 1556	Akbar was crowned at Kalanaur on 14 February 1556.
Q2	(b) Bairam Khan	He acted as regent for the minor Akbar from 1556 to 1560.
Q3	(b) Hemu	Hemu, the Suri-era general, was defeated at Second Panipat, 5 November 1556.
Q4	(b) Chittor	Chittor, Mewar's capital, fell after siege in 1568.
Q5	(b) Raja Man Singh	Man Singh commanded Mughal forces against Rana Pratap at Haldighati, 1576.
Q6	(b) 1564	Akbar abolished jizya in 1564 as part of his Rajput and religious policy.
Q7	(b) Raja Todar Mal	Todar Mal designed the dahsala/zabti revenue system based on 10-year averages.
Q8	(b) cavalry maintained	Sawar denoted the number of cavalrymen a mansabdar had to maintain; zat was personal rank.
Q9	(c) Fatehpur Sikri	The Ibadat Khana was built there in 1575 for interfaith debates.
Q10	(b) Abul Fazl	Abul Fazl wrote the Akbarnama; its third part is the Ain-i-Akbari.
Q11	(d) Guru Amar Das	Guru Amar Das was a Sikh Guru, not part of Akbar's court; the other three were Navratnas.
Q12	(b) Sheikh Salim Chishti	Akbar built Fatehpur Sikri to honour this Sufi saint who blessed him with an heir.
Q13	(a) 3, 2, 1, 4	Chittor (1568), Gujarat (1572–73), Haldighati (1576), Din-i-Ilahi (1582), in that order.
Q14	(b) few followers, Birbal included	Din-i-Ilahi was a syncretic ethical order with a very small following, chiefly courtiers like Birbal.
Q15	(b) Jahangir	Prince Salim succeeded Akbar in 1605, taking the title Jahangir.