The position of Birbal was different among the nine gems of Mughal Emperor Akbar’s court. He was also a wizard and one who would remove the toughest and toughest problems in a moment. He was also the best friend of Emperor Akbar. Birbal’s death severely broke Akbar.
There are many stories of Emperor Akbar and his minister Birbal (Akbar-Birbal). In these stories, Birbal’s spotlight and sharp mind come to light, from which he used to find the trick to avoid difficult questions and situations. Birbal had made a special place in Akbar’s heart with his strengths. These two were such close friends that after the death of Birbal, there was a big change in Akbar’s life. He used to remain depressed. Food and drink reduced. He started losing interest in court work. Birbal became special for Akbar due to his ability
Birbal joined Akbar’s court during the year 1556. Then he was around 28 years of age. Birbal had a bright mustache on his face, which was similar to Akbar. Soon he became a favorite of the emperor due to his ability in royal affairs. He was awarded the rank of king.
It is said that then Birbal also had 2000 soldiers. He had a sharp mind and the ability to not lose balance even in difficult situations, as well as he was a well-versed and poet of Braj language. According to a report in “The Print”, the relationship between Birbal and Akbar is found in great detail in Ira Mukhoti’s book “The Great Mughal”.
Birbal never faced the emperor’s anger.
When Fatehpur Sikri was being built, Akbar also asked to build a fort for Birbal so that his meetings could be held daily. It is also believed that even once working as a special wazir of Akbar for more than 30 years, Birbal was not punished for not coming to the court even once.
Portuguese clergyman Antonio Monserrate came to India during the Mughal period. He wrote about the friendship of Akbar-Birbal. According to him, almost all the courtiers had to face the emperor’s anger when they made a mistake. This anger was often seen in things like symbolic punishment such as refusal to visit the court. Even the courtiers close to Akbar were punished, such as Man Singh, who had to face Akbar’s anger when Maharaja Rana Pratap could not chase him. But this never happened with Birbal. By the way, poets Faizi and Tansen also survived Akbar’s anger. Birbal has become increasingly reliable
The Mughal Empire historian Abdul Qadir Badayunni, while expressing some jealousy over Akbar-Birbal’s friendship, wrote that due to his unique nature, Birbal became a favorite of the king day by day and became his most reliable.
When Akbar saved the life of Birbal,
usually the Bahash is known for keeping a considerable distance from his courtiers and subjects. The same parts of his life were revealed which were documented at his behest. Even after meeting every day, there was distance between the courtiers and the emperors. However, this distance is not seen in the relationship between Akbar and Birbal.
There was also an incident, which opened up the mystery to the whole court and subjects about what Birbal meant to the emperor. In the year 1583, elephant fighting was organized in Fatehpur Sikri. All the courtiers with the king were enjoying the wrestling of elephants when only one of the most dangerous elephants reached Birbal. On seeing him, he picked him up in his trunk. Before the commander or soldier could take any action, Akbar rode on a horse. He started provoking the elephant. Now the elephant left Birbal and headed towards Akbar, then suddenly collapsed and Birbal’s life was saved. Akbar was deeply shocked by Birbal’s death
In the year 1585, Baashah Akbar came out to handle the upheaval of Punjab province but at that time no one had any idea that he would never want to return to Fatehpur Sikri. Actually, Akbar had to go through two very personal problems during his visit to Punjab. The first was the death of his half-brother Mirza Hakeem. Mirza Hakim was very strange to the emperor even after being half-stepping. He was very fond of drinking alcohol and eventually lost his life due to this reason. But historians believe that Akbar was more shocked by the death of Birbal.
The corpse was not recovered in the
year 1586. Birbal and Zain Khan Koka were sent on an expedition against Pashtun Yusufzai in the Swat and Bajaur regions. Due to disagreement between the two leaders, a trap was woven against Birbal and was tricked down from the gray hills of Kabul.
Birbal’s corpse could not be found. This was the biggest defeat of the Mughals during the reign of Akbar, in which more than 8000 Mughal soldiers lost their lives. There was also a Birbal among them. On receiving the news, the king’s condition became like a child. He neither ate nor drank for two days. Always in strict discipline, Akbar refused to see any court work during this period. At that time, the ambassador of Turan also came to Akbar for a royal discussion, but he also refused to meet him. The misery of losing his most trusted and close person was so much that he would keep looking out of the window day by day. Birbal’s death made him very sad
The entire Mughal family was involved in Akbar’s misery after Birbal’s death. The entire kingdom was halted for a few days. Then one of the nine jewels, seeing the emperor’s condition, Abul Fazl wrote in Akbarnama that the death of Wazir caused him so much grief that his heart was awakened by everything.
Badayunni, who was jealous of Kabul Birbal who wanted to go to search, also writes that the emperor was not shown as shocked at the death of anyone as he had been with the death of this friend. The emperor, who was handling the entire country, used to imagine that his favorite Wazir’s mutilated, blood-soaked corpse must have been lying somewhere in the hills. Even after recovering from the shock, Akbar was adamant on going to Kabul to find Birbal’s corpse. They wanted the body to be cremated properly. However, after the courtiers said that Birbal’s body must have been sanctified by the rays of the sun, Akbar gave up his intention to go to Kabul. Many times rumors of Birbal being alive have cropped up
Due to non-receipt of Birbal’s corpse, the king remained very unstable for almost a year. Many a time rumors spread that Birbal is alive. Many places have been seen. Somebody says that they are living in such and such a place as a ascetic. As soon as these things reached Akbar’s ears, he would immediately send his army to that place so that Birbal could find out something. This went on for a year. Fatehpur Sikri never returned
After this, though Akbar courtiers started doing the usual work, but something was broken within them. He could not muster the courage to return to the Fatehpur Sikri where he had memories of his trusted wazir and close friend Birbal. He went further and further north and went to Kabul and then Kashmir. Once in front of Abul Fazl himself, Akbar had distributed the trouble of losing Birbal, which is also mentioned in Akbarnama.
