THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Death of Mughal Emperor Akbar - [October 27, 1605]

• He was the son of Humayun and Hamida Banu Begam, born at Amarkot in c.1542 CE. When Humayun fled to Iran, young Akbar was captured by his uncle Kamran, but he treated him well. Akbar was re-united with his parents after the capture of Qandahar.
• When Humayun died, Akbar was at Kalanaur in the Punjab, commanding operations against the Afghan rebels there. He was thus crowned at Kalanaur (Punjab) in c.1556 CE
• He built Fatehpur Sikri ( City of Victory ) near Agra and a palace-cum-fort complex in it. Many buildings in Gujarati and Bengali styles are found in this complex.
• The most magnificent building in it is the Jama Masjid and the gateway to it called Buland Darwaza ( the Lofty Gate ), the height of which is 176 ft. It was built in c. 1572 CE to commemorate Akbar’s victory over Gujarat.
• Akbar introduced the Mansabdari system in his administration. Under this system, every officer ( Mansabdar ) was assigned a rank ( mansab ). The lowest rank was 10 and the highest was 5,000 for the nobles.
• In c.1605 CE, Akbar died of dysentery and was buried at Sikandra.