Birbal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Raja Birbal (1528-1586) was a courtier in the administration of the Mughal emperor Akbar and one of his most trusted members along with being a part of Akbar's inner council of nine advisors, known as the 'navaratana', a Sanskrit word meaning 'nine jewels'. Birbal's duties in Akbar's court were mostly military and administrative but he was also a very close friend of the king, who liked Birbal most for his wit as well as his wisdom, as a result of which they frequently had witty and humorous exchanges between them.

1 Early Years
2 How Birbal came to Akbar's court
3 Death
4 Further reading
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Early Years

Born Mahesh Das, in 1528 in the village Ghoghara of Sihawal tehsil in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. Birbal grew up in an impoverished Brahmin household. He was a poet and author whose wit and wisdom led the Emperor Akbar to invite him to be a part of the royal court and to bestow upon him a new name - Birbal. Akbar also conferred on him the title of "Raja", meaning "king".

[edit] How Birbal came to Akbar's court

It is said that Akbar came across a young man named Mahesh Das on one of his hunting trips. In the meeting that occurred, Akbar was highly impressed with the wit of Mahesh Das. The Emperor gave Mahesh Das his ring and asked him to come and visit him in his palace any time. Later on when Mahesh Das went to meet to Akbar's palace to meet him, he was greeted by the fort's guards. Looking at his physical condition and torn clothes, the guards did not believe him and refrained from allowing him to meet the Emperor. When Mahesh Das showed the guards the Emperor's ring, they realized that he must have come to collect some reward, and agreed to let him inside only with the condition that he would share half of the reward with them. Mahesh Das promised to do so and was given access to the court. Mahesh Das went inside to meet Akbar and showed him the ring, who immediately recognized it and immediately offered him any reward he wanted. The young man thought a while, and asked Akbar for 100 lashes of the whip. The Emperor was shocked but knew Mahesh Das by now to realize something mischevious. On probing, he found out about the guard's deal with Mahesh Das, and was both amused with Mahesh Das' wit as well as furious with the guard's attitude. He immediately called to give fifty lashes of the whip for the guard and rewarded Mahesh Das by giving him a permanent place in his court along with a new title of the name Birbal.

Akbar, who himself was illiterate, had great interest in interacting with learned people and highly tories about Birbal. In many of these accounts, Akbar would ask Birbal a question on any matter - something philosophical, witty, bizarre, or even unusual - and Birbal would provide a funny, clever, or brilliant answer. Birbal's collections of poetry, published under the pen name Brahma, are preserved in the Bharatpur Museum, Rajasthan, India.

[edit] Death

Raja Birbal died in the battle of Malandari Pass, attempting to quell unrest amongst Afghan or Pashtun tribes in Northwest India. Akbar was said to have mourned for a long time on hearing the news. The death was said to be caused by treachery not because of military defeat.