151 Akbar Birbal Stories

One day, Akbar’s servant, Sevakram, rushed to visit Birbal. He looked scared. Birbal asked, “What is the matter, Sevakram?” Sevakram said, “A holy man had gifted a parrot to the emperor. His Majesty had asked me to take care of the bird. But he had also said whoever would inform him about its death would […]

One evening, Akbar, Birbal and several courtiers went for a boat ride. Akbar saw a twig floating by. He picked it up and said, “If any of you crosses this river just by holding this twig, I will make him emperor for a day.” The courtiers felt this was impossible. But Birbal said, “I will

Birbal’s wisdom was famous all over the world. Once, a king from another kingdom wanted to meet Birbal. He invited Birbal to his palace. Birbal visited the king. The king was very impressed with Birbal’s wit and wisdom. When Birbal’s stay came to an end, the king gave him many gifts. As he left the

One day, Akbar said, “Birbal, I have a challenge for you.” Birbal asked, “What is it, Your Majesty?” Akbar said, “Bring two persons to the court tomorrow. The first person should be extremely grateful and loyal.” Birbal said, “How should the second person be?” Akbar smiled and said, “The second person should be the exact

One day, a woman came to Akbar’s court with a man. She said, “Your Majesty, this man snatched all my ornaments.” The man said, “I’m a visitor, Your Majesty. This woman brought me here to meet you.” Birbal asked the woman, “How much were your ornaments worth?” She said, “Six thousand gold coins.” Birbal knew

Birbal was Akbar’s favourite courtier and this caused resentment among many other courtiers. They told Akbar, “Your Majesty, Birbal is not the only intelligent courtier. Please give us a chance to prove ourselves.” Akbar controlled his anger and said, “Get a shawl that is two metres long.” The courtiers rushed out and brought a shawl.

When Akbar was young, his nurse took care of him like her son. She would feed him her milk when his mother was away. Akbar respected her a lot and treated her like his mother. He considered the nurse’s son as his half-brother. Akbar loved his half-brother and made lavish arrangements whenever his half-brother came

One morning, Akbar looked into the mirror. Suddenly, he called his servant and said, “Go and call him now.” The obedient servant rushed out but soon realised that he didn’t know who he was supposed to call. But he was terrified of asking Akbar lest the emperor should be furious. So he went to Birbal

One day, one of Akbar’s courtiers told him about a man named Manohar. He said, “Your Majesty, whoever sees Manohar’s face gets into trouble.” Akbar said, “I don’t believe you. I want to see Manohar tomorrow.” Next day, Manohar entered the court. Akbar had barely seen him when he received news that one of his

It was the season of mangoes. Akbar’s subjects gifted him with many boxes of the fruit. After Akbar and Birbal had lunch together, they sunk their teeth into the juicy mangoes and relished their taste. They were having a good time, chatting and eating mangoes. When they would finish eating mangoes, they would throw the

One day, Akbar and Birbal went for a long walk. They passed by many lush fields. As they continued to walk, enjoying the beautiful weather, they passed a tobacco field. Just then, a hungry donkey walked into the tobacco field. But when the donkey went near the tobacco plants, it turned away in disgust. Since

One day, during lunch, Akbar and Birbal were served a dish made of brinjal. Akbar liked it very much. He said, “Birbal, there is nothing tastier than this dish, is there?” Birbal said, “You are right, Your Majesty.” Akbar called his chef and said, “This dish is very tasty. Please give Birbal some more brinjal.”

One day, when the court was in session, Akbar’s favourite queen sent word that she wanted to see him. Akbar wanted to finish his work before he left. Soon, the queen sent another messenger asking for the emperor. As Akbar got up to leave, he saw Birbal smiling in a silly manner. Furious, he said,

One day, Akbar asked, “What is the whitest and brightest of all?” All the courtiers began discussing what it could be. Some of them felt cotton is the brightest and whitest, while others said it is milk. When Akbar asked Birbal, he replied, “Sunlight, Your Majesty.” Akbar asked Birbal to prove it. When Akbar went

Akbar was in the royal court, listening to the complaints of the people of his kingdom. Birbal was also near him. Just then, a farmer and his neighbour entered the court. The farmer said, “Your Majesty, I am a poor farmer. My neighbour sold me his well a few months ago. But now he also