Akbar’s Military Conquests
Akbar laid the foundation for a great empire through his vast conquests. Malwa was conquered in 1562 by Baz Bahadur who was made a mansabdar in Akbar’s court. The Gondwana region of central India was annexed after a fierce battle with Rani Durgavati and her son Vir Narayan in 1564.
The ruler of Mewar, Rana Udai Singh, put up a great fight before losing Chittor, which was conquered by Akbar after a siege of six months.
Rana Udai Singh retreated to the hills. Yet his generals Jaimal and Patta carried on their fight. Finally, the generals, along with 30,000 Rajputs were killed. Out of admiration for the gallant Jaimal and Patta.
Akbar honored them by erecting statues to their memory outside the chief gate of the Agra fort. The capture of Chittor was followed by the surrender of Rajput states like Ranthambhor, Kalinjar, Bikaner, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer.
After subordinating the regions of central India, Akbar turned his attention to Gujarat, a wealthy province renowned for its maritime commerce.
Akbar conquered Gujarat from Muzaffar Shah in 1573. Gujarat became a launchpad for the annexation of Deccan. After defeating Daud Khan, the Afghan ruler of Bihar and Bengal, both provinces were annexed to the Mughal empire in 1576.
Akbar defeated Mirza Hakim of Kabul with the help of Raja Man Singh and Bhagwan Das. His conquest of Kashmir (1586) and Sindh (1591) consolidated the empire in the northwest. After achieving the political integration of North India Akbar turned his attention to the Deccan.
Akbar’s forces had occupied Khandesh region in 1591.
In 1596 Berar was acquired from Chand Bibi, who, as the regent of her nephew Muzaffar Shah, the Nizam Shahi ruler of Ahmednagar, valiantly defended Ahmednagar against the Mughal forces of Akbar.
By 1600 parts of Ahmed Nagar had fallen into the hands of Mughal forces. Akbar fell sick in September 1604 and died on 27 October 1605.