The Real Akbar. - Page 6

This article on Kiran Devi is so full of blatant lies, I don't even know where to begin.

First of all, the festival of Navroz is a famous Parsi festival, why wouldn't men be there?

"According to Father Monserrate, it was celebrated as a nine-day festival where all subjects were invited to participate in singing, dancing, playing games, and distribution of gifts."

Notice the "all subjects" part.

Here's an excellent article on Akbar's celebration of Nauroz - https://map.sahapedia.org/article/Akbar-and-the-Magnificence-of-Nauroz-Celebrations/11286

This was a proper open celebration, I don't know where the bullshit imagination of "Akbar disguising himself to find women" comes from. Why would the all-powerful Emperor need to disguise himself for some women? He could simply take whatever women he desired, and none could object.

Second, Navroz was never stopped. It was celebrated with pomp throughout Akbar's reign, unlike what this article says.

Anyone who has the slightest idea about Navroz would know that it has nothing to do with men/women, or some women-only fantasy fair.. it's a plain and simple celebration of the Parsi new year. Not even a Mughal tradition, it's Akbar respect to the Parsis that he decided to celebrate it with such pomp!

Third, the only source this article gives is a book called "Sagat Raso" - written in 1987. I just downloaded the book and went through it, no mention of this incident at all. Even if it had mentioned it, the amount of delusional inconsistencies in this story itself falsifies it.

1) Navroz was celebrated by EVERYONE, including Akbar. Paintings exist of him being seated on the throne among festivities. Men were all around, and Akbar was where he should be - no disguises.

2) As said before, he won't even need a disguise for women.

3) What was Maharana Pratap's niece doing at Akbar's festival? The same MP who himself always declined Akbar's invitation to visit the court... would allow his niece, the honour of the family, to visit a mere Turk's (in his words) place? That's honestly laughable.

4) As said before, Navroz was never stopped.

I didn't get the context of the Fundamental Rights/Duties response. What were you replying to, there?

Meera Bai/Krishna:

Here's the hauntingly beautiful documentary. I wish it was more popular, it's pretty much a hidden gem right now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg5rbQl9SKM

As for my writing, I'm both embarrassed and honoured at the same time. Unfortunately, the twitter account I used for most of my writing got deleted.. and I've very little of it now. Sharing:

This is a collection of one shots on Him: https://www.wattpad.com/story/253340873-blue

Poem one: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca2d-URvy_J/

Poem two: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQBEtx4HUmx/

I'll share if I find anything fascinating about all the people you mentioned. The meeting of Akbar and MeeraBai is a legend only as far as I know, might or might not be true. Meera being a Saint, very written historical details are available. Wiki says she died in 1546, Akbar would've been four years old then. Highly unlikely, then.

One interesting thing is that MUZ and Ajabde Baisa were both disciples of the same Saint Vithai Rai - the same person for whose protection and maintenance Akbar had issued a farmaan. For more on this event, refer to the blog post link I shared in my separate Janmashtami post.

And I've heard both the stories by Neelesh Misra.. he's such an eloquent speaker! Thanks for sharing again.

If nothing else then this makes the most amount of sense- what would Maharana Pratap's niece be doing in Akbar's Kingdom/Festival.

Omg, 😹, I took it a bit sideways perhaps.
You said-
Even today, how many living in India are truly Indians? I see so many citizens having 0 regard for their own people/country/culture.. are they Indians or are they not?

I have this habit of drawing parallels in my head and typing them down as notes so that I remember them better.
Regard for Country and culture and people and flag is part of the Fundamental Duties whereas citizenship is what decides many of the Fundamental Rights...hence that parallel formed in my head.
That if people were to not observe FD's they would be denies FR's but we know that's not the case.

On Harka Bai:

Same, I too love the name Jodha, never mind the inaccuracy. Names after all, have only symbolic value, and 'Jodha' now symbolizes the awesome princess of Amer, whether correct or incorrect. I personally don't see it as a problem, except that this fact is constantly used to deny her existence and malign Akbar's image. (I've read such vile things.. saw a youtube comment saying that Akbar must've raped his daughter-in-law (Jodha)). To avoid such filth, I would rather people use the correct name wherever possible.

Among the correct ones, I adore 'Heer Kunwar'. I wish the show would've been called 'Heer-Jalal', sounds so dreamy! Someday if I write a fic on them, this will be the title.

I'm glad I helped retain some of your good views about Akbar. It disheartens me how the current discourse is so squarely against him.. what can a lone defender like me do, anyway? I look forward to reading your interpretation of him someday, in Fitoori.

Unfortunately, we don't have the exact discussions - just the fact that they happened often. The blog I mention, there in one of the comments the owner had mentioned the author who said so.. he was looking for them, but never posted, and the blog is inactive now. I'm trying to remember the author's name, will share if I can find anything.

But on Akbar-MUZ in general, you can read LOTS of stuff. There's also this one instance of her taunting him for not being able to punish wrongdoers Head over to this goldmine: https://mariam-uz-zamani.blogspot.com/

Akbar:

Yes, he did have a pet dog, if we go by the painting. Don't know of the name yet, will let you know if I come across it. He also loved elephants, as was seen in the show as well. I remember reading that he loved naming them himself, and could remember the individual names of hundreds of different elephants, birds, horses etc that he owned. That was one lovely article.. if only I could find it again.

Oh I have so, so many instances and dialogues.. I don't know how many pages would be spent sharing of all these. Will keep posting here as and when I remember them. One such that I read recently, of Ammijaan's death, I've mentioned a few pages before.. did you read it?

There's this insta page which will give you several anecdotes with proper sources: https://www.instagram.com/nawabchatterjee/

You're so right in remembering Rajat... he embodied Akbar so perfectly that it's hard not to think of him when talking of the Emperor. I wish they had utilised him better though, so many facets of Akbar not shown, and how dumb they made him ultimately. Far from possible, but I hope Rajat as Jalal is back someday in a better written, properly researched series.. he would slay!

Yes, that's a 3-part series (this was part 1) on his death and it's incredibly sad. I loved the fact that he continued holding court, working late at night, and visiting the jharokha till the very end - all hallmarks of dedicated leaders!

Originally posted by: IshqHaiWoEhsaas

I'm absolutely thrilled that we share similar interests, may I also know your name if you don't mind?

Same here

Actually no, he didn't shave his hair and moustache for Maham Anga. The only people he did it for were Hamida Banu, and Jiji Anga. He was very close to both of them, and also to Gulbadan Begum and Bega Begum (chief wife of Humayun, step-mother of Akbar). Quite a lot of mother figures he had, apparently!

Did I write Maham Anga 🙈? Where are my thoughts, still in holiday mode . It's mentioned in the Akbarnama. Badauni writes that Akbar shared a very good relationship with Bega Begum. He supported her in building the tomb for her husband, his father Humayun

Also, I loved the Dussehra line for reasons beyond secularism. One, I think it was remarkable of him to have controlled his emotions and be all dignified in front of his soldiers. Two, the fact that even in all that grief, he could care about his subjects and their religious sentiments! To have thought of another community's well-being, in the face of such tremendous personal loss, and to have made sure that his own grief does not become a barrier to their celebrations - the mark of a true leader and Shehenshah!

Agree 100 %. It's a sign of greatness

(Also shows how this 'another community' was not 'another' for him, this community was his own, he considered them all his very own people and cared like a King should!)

Will write more when I'm at home.

Replies in bold.

Really?! No one would have cared about Nalanda-- what-- but the entire world cared about Nalanda! Students came from far away to study here and I am sure many Indian students wished to go there as well! They would have cared yar...I hope.

I hope too, but this wasn't the kind of world we live in today. Yes in its hey-day, Nalanda was of great importance to scholars, both Indian and foreign. But what % of the population were scholars? Especially in medieval times, majority would have nothing to do with education and centres of learning. Barely a few would even know that such a university had ever existed, outside the immediate region, I don't think anyone knew of it - how would they? Those who did know, they couldn't care less who destroyed what, since everyone destroyed everything those days. People cared only for things that affected them directly - like food, water, and tax.

This library of Akbar's...has it survived?

No, it hasn't. I mentioned it in one my replies here, barely 1% of the manuscripts have survived, that too scattered all around the world and in God knows what condition.

Nah, that's almost like saying that people who don't observe Fundamental Duties are not to be given Fundamental rights but that's not the case. Unfortunately. But perhaps it should be.

It should be, yeah. In that ideal world, and in my mind, Akbar would be an Indian.

Originally posted by: So-So

Did I write Maham Anga 🙈? Where are my thoughts, still in holiday mode . It's mentioned in the Akbarnama. Badauni writes that Akbar shared a very good relationship with Bega Begum. He supported her in building the tomb for her husband, his father Humayun

Oh it's fine, happens to the best of us! Yes, apparently Badauni also called her "second mother" to Akbar, and Akbar himself confirmed that people often mistook her to be his biological mother. Sounds like an awesome relationship, and like all other awesome things, it was not there in our show!

Originally posted by: IshqHaiWoEhsaas

Oh it's fine, happens to the best of us! Yes, apparently Badauni also called her "second mother" to Akbar, and Akbar himself confirmed that people often mistook her to be his biological mother. Sounds like an awesome relationship, and like all other awesome things, it was not there in our show!

You're right! There was so much not in the show that would have been interesting for the plot. Jiji Anga should also have been mentioned more. Also Aziz Koka, her son, Akbar's milkbrother and also one of his childhood friends.