' AKBAR, iik'ber; Hind. pron. fileker (Ar.
I very great). properly JALAL-uu-DIN MUHAMMAD (1542-1605). Emperor of Hindustan, the great est Asiatic monarch of modern times. His I father, Ilumayun, was deprived of the throne by usurpers, and fled for refuge to Persia. On his way thither, in the town of Amerkole, Akbar I was born in I342. Himmyun recovered the throne of Delhi in 1555, after an exile of 1 years, but died within a year. The prince of fourteen at, first committed the administration to Bahram Khan as regent minister, hut finding this anthorit y &genera Hug into tyranny, he shook it off by a bold stroke and took the power into 1 his own hands (1360). At this time only a few of the nutny provinces once subdued by the Mongol invaders were actually subject to the throne of Delhi: in ten or twelve years Akbar's empire embraced the Whole of Hindustan north of tlie I Deccan. The wisdom, vigor, and humanity with which he organized and administered his vast dominions are unexampled in the East. He pro d traded commerce by constructing roads. estab 1 lishing a uniform system of weights and meas ures, and it vigorous police. Ile exercised the 1 utmost vigilance Oyer his viceroys of provinces and other °Myers, to sec that no extortion was practiced, and that justice was impartially ad to all classes of his subjects. For the adjustment of taxation, the lands were accurately measured. and statistics were taken, not. only of the population, but of the resources of each prov ince. Ile also forbade child-marriage, permitted the remarriage of widows, and endeavored to stop the practice of suttee. In religion Akbar
was exceedingly liberal, largely on account of the influence of the vizier Abu-1 Fazl. Ile was fond of inquiries as to religious beliefs, and invited Portuguese missionaries from Goa to his court to give an account if the Christian faith. He even attempted to pimmilgate a new eclectic religion of his own, wide'', however, never took root. Literature received the greatest en couragement. Schools were established for the education of both 'Hindus and Mohammedans; anl numbers. of 1-1 min works were translated from Sanskrit into Persian. Alm-I F'azl the able minister of Akbar, has left a valuable history of h is master's reign, entitled .1.kber ataiih (History of Akba•) : the third volume, containing a of Akbar's empire, de• rived from the statistivial inquiries above men tioned, and entitled .1 yin-i-Akbtir (Institutes of Akbar), has been translated into English by Gladwin (3 volumes, Calcutta, 1786• and London, 1800), and by Blochmann and Jarett (3 volumes, Calcutta. 1873-94). Akbar's latter days were embittered by the death of two of his sons from dissipation. and by the rebellions conduct of the third, Selim (known as Jehangir). who suc ceeded Ins father in 1605, and was suspected of being the cause of his death. Consult )1:d b-slim _thbar, Rulers of India Series (Oxford, 1891-1901).