Akbar was born at Umerkot (Sindh) in the palace of Rajput chieftain Rana Prasad on 15th October, 1542. He succeeded his father Humayun at the age of 13. At the time of the death of Humayun, Akbar was fighting in the Punjab against the Afghans. Akbar was hastily crowned at Kalanaur in the district of Gurdaspur. Bairam Khan, the tutor of the prince, became the wakil of the kingdom with the title of Khan-i-Khana and rallied the Mughal forces. Akbar could consolidate his position only after the Second Battle of Panipat, which was fought in 1556 AD.
THE SECOND BATTLE OF PANIPAT (1556 AD)
At the time of the recapturing the throne, Humayun had defeated the Afghans in the Battle of Sir Hind in 1555 AD. But after his death, the Afghans raised their head again and an Afghan force led by a Hindu General Hemu (Vikramaditya) captured Delhi.
Hemu was the General of Muhammad Adil Shah Mughal force led by Akbar marched towards Punjab against Hemu’s army and defeated the latter at Panipat in 1556 AD. Bairam Khan proved a power of strength to Akbar. Akbar occupied Agra and Delhi. He got rid of all his our rivals and was firmly seated on the throne of Delhi.
EARLY REVOLTS: MALWA (1561 AD)
The Revolt in Malwa was led by Baz Bahadur. Akbar sent Adham Khan to suppress the revolt, but he betrayed the Mughal cause and raised the standard of revolt. Another Mughal force was sent to Malwa. Adham Khan was defeated and killed and Malwa was annexed to the Mughal Empire.
JAUNPUR
Two revolts by Uzbek chiefs Khan Zaman and Abdullah Khan were raised. Both these revolts were successfully suppressed.
AKBAR’S CAMPAIGNS
CAMPAIGNS AGAINST THE RAJPUTS
Akbar undertook campaign against the State of Gondwana in 1564. Rani Durgawati and her minor son Bir Narayan fought heroically, but were C defeated and Gondwana became a vassal state of the Mughals. The T Mughal army was led by Asaf Khan.
The next campaign was against Rana Udai Singh of Chittor which became a part of Mughal Empire in 1567.
Deeply impressed by the valour of the defenders of Chittor, Akbar commemorated their heroism by installing the stone statues of Rao Jaimal and Patta (two brave chieftains of Mewar) seated on elephants on either side of the inner entrance of the main gate, fort of the Agra.
After the victory of Chittor, Akbar went on foot to the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. Ranthambore which was ruled by Rai Surjan Hada came under Mughal rule in 1569 AD. The rulers of Bikaner and Jaisalmer surrendered and offered their allegiance to the Mughals.
Akbar now looked forward towards the state of Mewar, which was under Rana Pratap. It resulted into the Battle of Haldighati (1576 AD) where in Rana Pratap, the son of Udai Singh was severely defeated by the Mughal army under Man Singh and Asaf Khan. The battle ended in the complete defeat of the Rajputs.
GUJARAT (1572-73 AD)
In 1572 AD, Akbar marched to Gujarat. After some resistance, Muzaffar Shah, the ruler of Gujarat offered submission and Surat was captured. But a revolt broke out in 1573 AD. At the Battle of Ahmedabad in 1573 AD, the rebels were defeated.
Gujarat was annexed to the Mughal Empire. Akbar built the famous Buland Darwaja at Fatehpur Sikri, in commemoration of his victory over Gujarat.
BENGAL (1574-76 AD)
Mughal forces under General Munim Khan invaded Bengal in 1574 AD. In 1575 AD, a confrontation between Mughals and forces of Bengal took place at the battle field of Tukaroi, in which the latter was defeated.
Bengal was annexed by Mughals. Daud Khan, the former Afghan ruler revolted again. The Mughals left Bengal to Afghans and withdrew their forces to Bihar. In 1576 AD, Mughal forces under Khan Jahan Quli Beg fought against the Afghans and defeated them. Bengal became a province of the Mughal Empire.
NORTH AND NORTH-WEST
Kashmir was invaded in 1585 AD by Mughals. The ruler of Kashmir was defeated and was annexed to Mughal Empire. The Yusufzais in the North-West frontier province in Pakistan were subdued in 1588 AD.
In 1591 AD, Mirza Jani Beg, the ruler of Sindh was defeated and it became a part of Mughal Empire. Baluchistan and Qandhar were annexed in 1594 AD and 1595 AD respectively.
CONQUEST IN DECCAN
The Mughals besieged Ahmednagar in 1593 AD, which was defended by Chand Bibi. Peace was restored with the signing of the treaty, but later Chand Bibi was killed by her own people and the terms of the treaty were violated. Ahmednagar was finally annexed in 1600 AD. The fort of Asirgarh was captured and Khandesh was annexed in 1601 AD, which marks the climax of Akbar’s career of conquest.