XIV The empire was still far from commensurate with its ruler’s ambition. All the great region to the south was outside his sway, and to the north and west there…
Tag: laurence binyon
AKBAR – Chapter 13
XIII WHEN, at the gates of Kabul, Monserrate offered the emperor his congratulations, the Jesuit comments on Akbar’s pleasure, with the surmise that, being greedy of glory, he hoped that…
AKBAR – Chapter 12
XII SHAH MANSUR was a petty clerk who showed a remarkable aptitude for accounts and the details of finance. Akbar noticed his ability and raised him to high office. He…
AKBAR – Chapter 11
XI THE real mind of Akbar was perhaps disclosed when, summoning the priests to a private audience, he declared of his own accord that he wished the Christians to come…
AKBAR – Chapter 10
X In the spring of 1574 there arrived at court a young man who was destined to a brilliant career; who was to become Akbar’s closest and most trusted friend,…
AKBAR – Chapter 9
IX AKBAR’S aim was to rule from sea to sea. His eyes were now turned westward. There, between the frontiers of his dominions and the Arabian Sea, lay Gujerat, a…
AKBAR – Chapter 8
VIII WITH all his achievements Akbar lacked and greatly longed for a thing which fortune had so far denied him. He had scores of wives, but he had no son.…
AKBAR – Chapter 6
VI MEANWHILE, the young emperor was called to active efforts in the field. The surrender of Gwalior and the annexation of Jaunpur had strengthened Akbar’s frontiers : he was now…
AKBAR – Chapter 5
V So, like his grandfather before him, Akbar gained a crown while still a boy, but a crown for which he had to fight. There were rival claimants. One was…
AKBAR – Chapter 3
III BUT what of his more immediate ancestry? Once, returning from a campaign, Akbar questioned Monserrate about Sebastian, king of Portugal, who had fallen fighting against the Moors in 1578.…