That the qualities appreciated by Akbar included a lively intellect and pleasant, charming manners are evident, yet he also demanded complete devotion and loyalty. On another occasion, when Shaikh Mubarak had berated the emperor for being too extravagant, Faizi had tried to make excuses for his father saying ‘our Shaikh is not much of a courtier’, whereupon Akbar had teased him saying ‘no, he has left all those fopperies to you’.
When the poet Faizi happened to boast in Akbar’s presence that no one surpassed him in the three Cs-Chess, Combat, and Composition-the emperor retorted that he had forgotten a fourth, Conceit. While there is very little evidence that any of these anecdotes were based on actual events, there is no doubt that Akbar enjoyed witty and sharp observations. Naim has shown that while often subversive, these stories also tend to try and ‘humanize’ Akbar and to transform him into someone who was accessible and approachable. So celebrated was the friendship between the two men that long after the Mughal Empire was history, a veritable tsunami of anecdotes of the so-called Akbar–Birbal variety lived on, lampooning the Padshah as a somewhat dim-witted though well intentioned character, regularly put in his place by Birbal. When Akbar was building his new city at Fatehpur Sikri, he had ordered ‘the erection of a stone palace for ’. He also had a naturally generous nature and all these traits combined-elegant repartee, largesse, and poetical talent-made Birbal the ideal Mughal courtier. He was a fine poet of Braj, and his poems were much appreciated at court. Another title that Birbal earned early on in his career, which gives some indication of the talents he possessed, that would have attracted the attention of the Padshah, was that of Kavi Rai, King of Poets. In Birbal the Padshah found a quick and adaptable mind, a lively intelligence, and an engaging wit and, above all, a complete and sincere devotion to Akbar himself. He was honoured with the title Raja and a high rank of 2,000 soon after he joined imperial service. A pleasant-faced man, with a glossy moustache just like the Padshah’s, Birbal’s increasingly privileged place at court would be reflected by his spreading girth, resulting in his qaba settling in comfortable, voluminous folds around his form. But there was also the death of a courtier and a friend who had held a unique place in the Padshah’s affections-Birbal.īirbal was one of the first officers to join Akbar’s court, possibly as early as 1556, when he was twenty-eight years old. There was the death of Mirza Hakim, for one, which immediately caused turmoil in the north-west frontier. There has been a lot of conjecture about the reason why Akbar left Fatehpur Sikri at this point. In the next few years, between 15, the trajectory of Akbar’s life would unexpectedly swerve away from what had been the glowing heart of his empire for so many years-Fatehpur Sikri and the ibadat khana.
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