Mohammad Jalal od-Din Akbar, the Third Mughal Emperor of the Subcontinent

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On October 27, 1605 AD, Mohammad Jalal od-Din Akbar, the Third Mughal Emperor of the Subcontinent, died at the age of 63 after a reign of 50 years. Akbar, whose ancestors included the fearsome Turkic conquerors Amir Timur and Genghis Khan, ascended the throne as a youth of 13 years, following the death of his father, Humayun, shortly after his return from exile in Iran and re-conquest of northern India with the military help provided by Shah Tahmasp Safavi.
His mother was the Iranian lady, Hamida Banu, the daughter of Ali Akbar Jami, a descendent of the famous mystic Shaikh Ahmad Jaam of Khorasan. Initially, Akbar's rule extended only over the Punjab, Kabul and the area around Delhi. His decisive victory, however, with the help of his guardian, Bairam Khan Baharlou, at the famous Battle of Panipat in 1556 over the self-styled Hindu king, Hemu, made the Rajput chiefs acknowledge his suzerainty.
He continued his conquests by taking over the Muslim sultanates of Gujarat in the west in 1573 and Bengal in the east in 1576. In 1586 he added more Muslim sultanates, such as Kashmir and Sindh to his empire, before moving south into the Deccan, where he did not have much success against the Nizamshahi kingdom, although he took over the Afghan-ruled region of Khandesh and Malwa.
Akbar was a patron of arts and attracted scholars, poets, painters, and musicians, to his court from India, Iran and central Asia. He had Sanskrit classics translated into Persian and was enthusiastic about the European paintings presented to him by Jesuit missionaries. He respected religious figures, and his Chief Judge was the famous Iranian scholar, Seyyed Nourollah Shushtari, the author of several books, including the famous "Ahqaq al-Haq" – later martyred by Emperor Jahanagir, and famous ever since as Shahid Sallis (Third Martyr) with his shrine in Agra.