The court of Akbar had nine gems who shine bright like stars in the dark sky. They were men of great talent, the biggest assets of Akbar’s period who were partially responsible for the glory of the emperor. They were namely—Abul Fazal, his elder brother Faizi, Raja Todarmal, Raja Man Singh, Mirza Aziz Koka, Abdur Rahim Khankhana, Raja Birbal, Tansen and Mulla-Do-Pyaza.
Abul Fazal
Abul Fazal was born of January 14, 1551 in Charbagh area across Yamuna river in Agra. He was the son of Sheikh Mubarak who became the preacher of the faith ‘Deen-e-Ilahi’. initiated and authored by Akbar.
When Akbar had been on the throne for 18 years Abul Fazal made his entry into his court. According to Mulla Badayuni—”The emperor was camping at Fatehpur on his way back from Ajmer during 1574-75. He had got a four pillar prayer hall constructed near the masolium of Saleem Chisti. There Sheikh Abul Fazal, the son of Sheikh Mubarak Nagauri joined the service of Emperor Akbar and became famous as literateur.”
Faizi
Faizi was the elder brother of Abul Fazal. Both the brothers were born at the same place. He was contemporary of Surdas and Tulsidas. Faizi was known as the Poet Sublime of Akbar. Very few people knew about his literary works as he wrote in Persian language (Pharsi). Technically he was the best bard of his period. Besides being a poet he had other qualifications as well. Once Akbar sent him to the south as his envoy on a mission.
Although he was a dear of Akbar yet his end time was full of woes and pain.
On October 15, 1595 Faizi died at the age of 48.
Todarmal
The exact date of birth of Raja Todarmal is not known. He was born at Laharpur village of district Sitapur of Avadh. He lost his father in childhood. Somehow his mother brought him up and got educated.
He joined the court of Akbar at the lowly post of a clerk. Todarmal worked under Amir Muzaffar Khan. Then he got a chance to work in the office of Akbar. This promotion he earned due to his proficiency in ledger keeping and accurate accountancy. Akbar appreciated his work and endearingly call him ‘Raja’, the raja of ledger work.
Todarmal had worked out the land revenue system of the Moghul empire. We can say that he was an economic administrative system planner.
Man Singh
Man Singh was born in 1530 in the fort of Amber. He was the grandson of Raja Bharmal. After Bharmal his son Bhagwandas inherited the throne. Bhagwandas had no issue of his own. Man Singh was his adopted son. At the age of 14-15 year Man Singh happened to come in the contact of Akbar who already had married his aunt. Later, Raja Man Singh got his daughter married to the son of Akbar, the prince Saleem. These marital alliancese brought him very close to Akbar who trusted him with several assignments. He fought many wars for empire and won them.
Mirza Aziz Koka
Aziz Koka was the milk-brother of Akbar which meant his mother was milk-mother (nurse) of the emperor as well. They had spent childhood together and hence Akbar always kept him close as buddy.
Later, Akbar initiated his new faith ‘Deen-e-Ilahi’ and Aziz Koka became its follower. He lost importance when Jahangir descended on the throne. Jahangir had his own priorities and perspective. 19 years after the demise of Akbar, Aziz Koka died neglected, disappointed and hopeless.
Rahim Khankhana
Bairam Khan was the father of Rahim. As already mentioned his father had been long time guardian, advisor and administrator of the emperor Akbar. His real name was Abdul Rahim and ‘Khankhana’ was his title. Rahim was 13 years junior to Akbar. He was born in Lahore on December 17, 1556. When Rahim was only 4 year old kid his father Bairam Khan got assasinated. His mother brought him to Agra and Akbar made excellent arrangement for his education. From the very childhood Rahim showed keen interest in music and literature. He had learnt Turkish besides Persian. Hindi he naturally knew.
It is said that Rahim was exceptionally handsome. Rahim personally knew all the bards, poets and the men of letters of his time.
When he was yet a 9 year old kid Akbar granted him the title of ‘Munam Khan’. When Akbar went on his Gujarat campaign he took 16 year old Rahim along as a military officer. When Rahim was 19 year old the emperor sent him to Gujarat to serve as the governor. At that raw age Rahim gave good account of his administrative talent and general intelligence.
In 1581 Rahim was awarded Ranthambhor as his personal estate. 26 year old Rahim was appointed as teacher and coach of Prince Saleem. When a rebellion rose in Gujarat Akbar sent him to deal with the problem. Rahim succeeded in his mission and earned the title of ‘Khankhana’ from Emperor Akbar.
Rahim was a good Hindi poet. His prominent works in Hindi are—’Dohawali’, ‘Barvai Nayika Bhed’, ‘Shringar-Sorath’, ‘Madanashtaka’, ‘Raas Panchadhyayi’, and ‘Dampati Vilaas’. Raas Panchadhyayi recounts the spectacles of Lord Krishna. He had become an ardent devotee of Krishna. His couplets can be heard even today being quoted as axioms or wise sayings. On February 1, 1627 Rahim died but gained immoratality through his evergreen literary works.
Birbal
The real name of Birbal was Mahesh. He came from Kalpi. He used to work for certain Ramchandra Bhatt before joining the service of Emperor Akbar. It is said that after joining the service of the Emperor he could meet Akbar only after one year.
Akbar liked to hear poems written in lighter vein that tickled and made one laugh. He heard the ticklish poems written by Maheshdas. They were full of wit and humour. Akbar decided to keep him in close attendence. Later, the emperor elevated him to the position of the ‘Royal Bard’.
There was no courtier in the service of Akbar who had not been assigned battle duties. Birbal also fought wars and won many. It is not clear how he became ‘Birbal’ from Maheshdas but the word became synonym of wit and intelligence. At last Birbal died fighting a battle against the Yusufzai Afghan rebels. Birbal is considered to be a humorous bard but no authentic book created by him came to light.
Tansen
Tansen is famous for being an accomplished classical singer and not for being one of the gems of Akbar’s court.
The date of birth of Tansen is not known. Formally his anniversary is celebrated in India as a musical fete. It is believed that he was from brahmin family of Behat village about 40 kms off Gwalior in the time between 1531-32. About his calculation and upbringing nothing is known. As far as his musical training is concerned he did get it in Gwalior. Some people believe that the classical music master of Vrindavana, Swami Haridas Maharaj taught Tansen singing in classical form.
After his training he joined the court of Raja Ramchandra of Rewa as a musician. He was a singer of the sublime quaity. Raja recognised his talent and gave him the title of ‘Tansen’. Thus, that was not his real name but a title.
In 1562, Akbar launched an attack on Rewa and conquered it. He took Tansen in his service.
Tansen served in the court of Akbar for 26 years and died in 1588.
About Tansen Abul Fazal once wrote—”For the past 1000 years a musical talent like Tansen has not been born.”
mulla do piaza
There is no unanimity about the 9th gem of the court of Akbar. Some say the chief of the personal kitchen of the emperor called Hakim Humam was the one. Others claimed that Mulla Do Piaza, an Arab who came to India with a commander of Humayun was the real 9th gem of the court of Akbar.
The claim about Mulla-Do-Piaza sound more plausible and qualifies to be a gem of the court. Hakim Humam was a cook whose job was to cook various recipes for the pleasure of Akbar.
Mulla-Do-Piaza was a court jester. In the lives of Hindustani rulers the court jester hold a special place. They were not merely jokers but the men of learning, wit, humour, intelligence and fast brains. In the ancient books and plays the jester always stood close to the king for the same reason. The king depended on his presence of mind.
