Akbar the Great!

The Mughal episode of our country has always fascinated me,and history was my favourite subject in school.Though much wasn't taught about Babar and Humayun,which I would say as pre Akbar era,and there was a seperate chapter on Akbar,that is why it interested me.I wouldn't hesitate to compare Akbar the great with Alexander or Genghis Khan or any other emperors,all emperors have won large territories,Akbar didn't win territories equal to the great emperors but he definitely won the heart of indians,especially at the time when mughal rulers were considered foreigners by hindustanis.History claims that Akbar was only 13 when he was crowned the emperor and unlike his ancestors,he had interest in learning the hindu culture and traditions and that was the main reason for abolishing religious taxes.Akbar always wanted to be approved as hindustani(Indian) and the movie Jodha Akbar claims that the name Akbar itself was given by the hindus.Any talks on Akbar isn't complete without mentioning Birbal.Birbal was known to be wise and witty,and Akbar and Birbal pair are an integral part of indian folklore.Communal harmony was one of the achievement of Akbar,he even went to the extent of establishing Din-i-ilahi,a cult which was derived from various religions and yet had a monolithic belief,and all religious people were free to follow,but wasn't a success though.Akbar is also credited for introducing indo persian architecture which can also be considered as the founding stone for the beautiful Taj Mahal.Pre Akbar era emperors were busy expanding their empire and the post Akbar era empires were either busy extending their empires or building forts\memorials but Akbar perfectly balanced everything.But,it is ShahJahan who is universally famous,famous for TajMahal,Akbar wouldn't have wasted so much of resource or labour and the time taken to build Taj Mahal.And Aurangzeb was also wise that he didn't waste any resource or funds to erect any building,and it is believed that he overthrew ShahJahan,luckily before he started constructing Black TajMahal.Oh! and most importantly,mughal cuisines!Mughal cuisines have become a part of Indian cuisine,especially biriyani:-)

P.S.Does anyone realize,Akbar still rules our country,(24,Akbar road,New Delhi)!