Raja Birbal (1528-1586) was a courtier in the administration of the Mughal emperor Akbar and one of his most trusted members along with being a part of Akbar's inner council of nine advisors, known as the 'navaratana', a Sanskrit word meaning 'nine jewels'. Birbal's duties in Akbar's court were mostly military and administrative but he was also a very close friend of the king, who liked Birbal most for his wit as well as his wisdom, as a result of which they frequently had witty and humorous exchanges between them. Events June 19 - Battle of Landriano - A French army in Italy under Marshal St. ... 1586 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ... A courtier is a person who attends upon, and thus receives a privileged position from, a powerful person, usually a head of state. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ... Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (Persian: جلال الدین محمد اکبر), (alternate spellings: Jellaladin, Celalettin) also known as Akbar the Great (Akbar-e-Azam) (October 15, 1542 – October 27, 1605) was the son of Nasiruddin Humayun whom he succeeded as ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605. ... The term Navaratnas is used generally for denoting the group of nine extraordinary people in Akbars darbar. Navaratnas or Nine Gems (nine (nav), jewels (ratnas)) was also the collective title of the nine most valuable members in the court of Emperor Vikramaditya. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is an old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian Subcontinent, the classical literary language of the Hindus of India[1], a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ...

Early Years

Born Mahesh Das, in 1528 in the village Ghoghara of Sihawal tehsil in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. Birbal grew up in an impoverished Brahmin household. He was a poet and author whose wit and wisdom led the Emperor Akbar to invite him to be a part of the royal court and to bestow upon him a new name - Birbal. Akbar also conferred on him the title of "Raja", meaning "king". Ghoghara is a village of Sihawal tehsil in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. ... Sidhi district is one of the districts of Madhya Pradesh state of India. ... Madhya PradeÅ›   (HindÄ«: मध्य प्रदेश, English: , IPA: ), often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. ... A Brahmin (anglicised from the Sanskrit word IAST ; Devanagari ), also known as Vipra, Dvija, Dvijottama (best of the Dvijas), (god on Earth) is the highest caste in Indian caste system within Hindu society. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

How Birbal came to Akbar's court

It is said that Akbar came across a young man named Mahesh Das on one of his hunting trips. In the meeting that occurred, Akbar was highly impressed with the wit of Mahesh Das. The Emperor gave Mahesh Das his ring and asked him to come and visit him in his palace any time. Later on when Mahesh Das went to meet to Akbar's palace to meet him, he was greeted by the fort's guards. Looking at his physical condition and torn clothes, the guards did not believe him and refrained from allowing him to meet the Emperor. When Mahesh Das showed the guards the Emperor's ring, they realized that he must have come to collect some reward, and agreed to let him inside only with the condition that he would share half of the reward with them. Mahesh Das promised to do so and was given access to the court. Mahesh Das went inside to meet Akbar and showed him the ring, who immediately recognized it and immediately offered him any reward he wanted. The young man thought a while, and asked Akbar for fifty lashes of the whip. The Emperor was shocked but knew Mahesh Das by now to realize something mischevious. On probing, he found out about the guard's deal with Mahesh Das, and was both amused with Mahesh Das' wit as well as furious with the guard's attitude. He immediately called to give fifty lashes of the whip for the guard and rewarded Mahesh Das by giving him a permanent place in his court along with a new title of the name Birbal.

ntertainment as his court jester. Akbar, who himself was illiterate, had great interest in interacting with learned people and highly tories about Birbal. In many of these accounts, Akbar would ask Birbal a question on any matter - something philosophical, witty, bizarre, or even unusual - and Birbal would provide a funny, clever, or brilliant answer. Birbal's collections of poetry, published under the pen name Brahma, are preserved in the Bharatpur Museum, Rajasthan, India.HE LIKES TO READ POEMS A pen name or nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted by an author. ... Bharatpur is a city in Rajasthan state of India. ... The Louvre Museum in Paris, one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. ... Rājasthān (DevanāgarÄ«: राजस्थान, IPA: )   is the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area. ...

Death

Raja Birbal died in the battle of Malandari Pass, attempting to quell unrest amongst Afghan or Pashtun tribes in Northwest India. Akbar was said to have mourned for a long time on hearing the news. The death was said to be caused by treachery not because of military defeat. The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, ethnic Afghan, or Pathan) are an ethno-linguistic group consisting mainly of eastern Iranian stock living primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan, and the North West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan. ...

Further reading

• Chhota Birbal animation series on Cartoon Network India

• 50 Wittiest Tales of Birbal (ISBN 81-7806-050-7) by Clifford Sawhney (Publishers: Pustak Mahal, Delhi)

• Solve Your Problems Author: Luis S. R. Vas (ISBN 81-223-0800-7)

Unravelling in the Court of Akbar, the well-known Birbal stories illustrate the minister’s sagacity and problem-solving acumen. For other uses, see Delhi (disambiguation). ...

See also

• Tenali Ramakrishna

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External links

• Birbal Stories
• Chhota Birbal Stories