The mighty monarch

Aradhika Sharma

Anyone who said that history is ‘dry as dust’ should read this fascinating book full of heroic characters, battles won and lost, hunts, glorious feasts, beautiful women and battle-hardened heroes. Tales of treachery, loyalty, bravery, statesmanship and love abound in this thoroughly modern and vivid narration of this Indian ruler from the medieval period (late 16th century), imparting examples from a reign so glorious that current leaders would do well to emulate them.

Towering amongst the characters is the grand emperor, Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar of Timurid-Changezi descent, who spent his childhood as a refugee prince. Crowned at the age of 13 on a hastily constructed brick podium after the death of his father, he rose to become a great warrior, romantic hero, able administrator, popular ruler and patron of artists, scholars, architects, engineers and scientists from various parts of the world. To track the clear evolution of Akbar from a military man and empire builder to one of the greatest emperors of the world, Mukhoty has used the technique of dividing the book into six distinct, chronological parts.

A young Akbar embarked on the task of nation building and restored, expanded and regenerated the Mughal Empire established by his grandfather, Babur, and lost by his father, Humayun. Master of the battlefield, he upturned the old rules of warfare and made several innovations like the “ingenious rockets” and “lightweight canon”. He “used speed, fury and firepower in such a manner that it appeared as though he was able to bend the very forces of nature to his will.” Yet Akbar, to the dismay of his father, was “effectively unschooled and practically illiterate”. As a child he was “distracted, undisciplined and rambunctious”. Historians have said he was dyslexic.

Among the noteworthy highlights of Akbar’s reign was his success in bringing together people of all faiths, creeds and talents and meshing them together to make a strong and vibrant empire which would be a shining beacon of light in our history. Akbar’s vision of statesmanship was remarkably contemporary and he envisaged an affluent, diverse, educated and tolerant India. Women were given immense value. His favourite aunt, Gulbadan, writes in her memoir “of women on horseback, of women journeying and living in tents, and sharing the struggles and victories of their men”. Later, Akbar, aware of the coercive nature of marriages in India, decreed that before a couple was married, the “consent of the bride and bridegroom, and the permission of the parents, are absolutely necessary in marriage contracts”. He sanctioned widow remarriage and insisted that the birth of daughters be celebrated as gladly in his court as that of sons.

Akbar’s “determination, in a complex and complicated land, to negotiate a place of dignity for each person and every creed” was exceptional. His deep desire was to mould India into a cohesive nation that would transcend any one religion, lead to him propounding the din-e-ilahi or Divine Faith, which was an eclectic religious movement intended to emphasise morality, piety and kindness. Akbar’s most valuable bequest was his philosophy of sulh kul or peace for all. And too this end, he abolished the divisive jizya tax and incorporated the Rajputs in the Mansabdari nobility.

Mukhoty’s division of the book is based on a select sequence of events beginning with the Prince and his Regents (1526-61), which covers his ancestry and, briefly, the reigns of Babur and Humayun. This is followed by the account of The Young Padshah (1561-69), wherein he made important alliances with the Rajputs, and consolidation of his empire. The World is a Bridge (1569- 78) describes the making of a ‘complicated harem’ and statesmanship when he carefully forged a composite entity for the Mughal nobles. This is followed by The Year of the Lion (1579-85), Paradise on Earth (1585-98) and, lastly, Crouching Lion, Rising Son (1598-1605), which deals with Akbar’s last years that saw rebellions by his sons, the loss of Abu’l Fazal and the deaths of his aunt and his mother, Hamida Banu. Finally, on the night of October 26, 1605, the mighty emperor passed away. “A long aching lamentation” from the women’s quarters announced the death of Akbar.

Down the centuries, Akbar’s life has been documented in lucid detail countless times, starting with Akbar’s court historian and biographer, Abu’l Fazal’s Akbarnama, commissioned by the emperor himself. Mukhoty’s modern spin on history succeeds in drawing examples, contrasts and lessons to the political and social governance in India today and herein lies the value of her work.