The Birbal Tales

Birbal is surely one of the best-loved figures in the folklore of India. For generations the Birbal stories have delighted children and grown-ups alike, from one end of India to the other. Jalaludin Mohammed Akbar Padshah Ghazi, Emperor of India, ruled from 1560 to 1605. Akbar was great in an age of great rulers: Elizabeth I of England, Henry IV of France, Philip II of Spain, Suleiman the Magnificent of Turkey, and Shah Abbas the Great of Persia.Akbar was chivalrous and just to all, but he could be violent and overmastering, if needed. His magnetic personality won the love and affection of his people and the respect and admiration of his enemies. Akbar was superb at riding, polo and swordsmanship, and he was a crack shot with a musket. He was courageous, often fighting personally in the heat of battle. He was a brilliant general, a master of speed, surprise, and minute details. His lightening conquests of India, from the Hindu Kush to Bengal, were feats of military genius.Akbar worked hard at the trade of king, sleeping only three hours a night. Although he could neither read nor write (he was probably dyslexic), he had legions of scholars who read to him. His son, Prince Sultan Salim, later the Emperor Jahangir, wrote that no one could have guessed that Akbar was illiterate. He loved religion, philosophy, music, architecture, poetry, history and painting. He forged an Empire that enjoyed long-lasting peace and high cultural refinement.The Empire of the Mughals was vast and fabulously rich. Akbar's lower taxes and rising conquests created prosperity for the people and floods of treasure for the Crown. European visitors estimated that just one province of Akbar's Empire, Bengal, was wealthier than France and England combined. Birbal was born to a poor Brahmin family of Tikawanpur on the banks of the River Jumna. He rose to the exalted level of minister (or "Wazir") at Akbar's court by virtue of his razor-like wit. He was a good poet, writing under the pen-name of "Brahma," and a collection of his verse is preserved today in the Bharatpur Museum. Birbal's duties at court were administrative and military, but his close friendship with the Emperor was sealed by Akbar's love of wisdom and subtle humor. In Birbal the young King found a true sympathizer and companion. When, in an attempt to unify his Hindu and Muslim subjects, Akbar founded a new religion of universal tolerance, the Din-I-Ilahi, or "Divine Faith," there was only one Hindu among the handful of his followers, and that was Birbal. Many courtiers were jealous of Birbal's star-like rise to fortune and power, and, according to popular accounts, they were endlessly plotting his downfall.The character of Akbar in these stories is rather fanciful, and, historically, Birbal is scarcely heard of. Village storytellers probably invented many of these tales over the ages, simply attributing them to Birbal and Akbar because their characters seemed to fit. Akbar's court was mobile, a tradition handed down from his nomadic ancestors, the Mongols of Central Asia. (Mughal is Urdu for Mongol.) The Emperor ruled sometimes from the fortress of Agra, sometimes from the noble city of Lahore. In the period of these tales, 1571 to 1585, Akbar held court in the shimmering pleasure city which he had built for himself - Fatehpur Sikri.