Akbarnama

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The Akbarnāma (Persian: اکبر نامہ), which literally means History of Akbar, is a biographical account of Akbar, the third Mughal emperor, written in Persian. It includes vivid and detailed descriptions of his life and time.

The book was commissioned by the Akbar, and written by Abul Fazl, one of the Nine Jewels (Hindi: Navaratnas) of Akbar’s royal court. It is stated that the book took seven years to be completed and the original manuscripts contained a number of paintings supporting the texts, and all the paintings represented the Mughal school of painting. The Akbarnama consists three volumes or parts. The first volume deals with the genealogy of the descendants of Timur, and detailed information from the birth of Akbar, his accession to the throne, and reign until the seventeenth year from his accession to the throne. The second part narrates the reign of Akbar from the eighteenth year of his reign to the forty sixth year of his reign.

The third volume is named Āīn-e Akbari and details the administrative system of the Empire as well as containing the famous "Account of the Hindu Sciences". Here Abu'l Fazl's ambition, in his own words, is: "It has long been the ambitious desire of my heart to pass in review to some extent, the general conditions of this vast country, and to 22record the opinions professed by the majority of the learned among the Hindus. I know not whether the love of my native land has been the attracting influence or exactness of historical research and genuine truthfulness of narrative..." (Ā’in-i Akbarī, translated by Helen Blochmann, Volume III, pp 7). In this section, he expounds the major beliefs of not the six major Hindu philosophical schools of thought, and those of the Jains, Buddhists, and Nāstikas. He also gives several Indian accounts of geography, cosmography, and some tidbits on Indian aesthetic thought. Most of this information is derived from Sanskrit texts and knowledge systems. Abu'l Fazl admits that he did not know Sanskrit and it is thought that he accessed this information through intermediaries, likely Jains who were favored at Akbar's court.