AKBAR – Chapter 15

XV IF the Deccan disappointed Akbar’s last ambition, there were other and worse blows preparing for the last decade of his life, blows at his very heart. There has been…

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.…

AKBAR – Chapter 2

II WHAT was Akbar’s inheritance? What was the background of his mind? We have for a moment to forget the European heritage which is in our blood and to which…