Akbarnamah  written by Abul Fazl Allami, a friend, courtier and a court-historian of Emperor akbar (1556-1605 AD), is by far the greatest work in the whole series of historical literature in India. This gigantic work has come down to us in three big volumes: the first volume contains the history of Timur's family, the reigns of babur and humayun and the Sur Sultans of Delhi; the second volume contains the detailed history of Akbar until the 46th year of his reign (in which year Abul Fazl died); and the third volume is the ain-i-akbari, dealing with rules, regulations and other related matters.

Akbarnamah is the principal source of information for reconstructing the history of Mughal campaigns in Bengal in the reign of Akbar. The history of the Mughal warfare in Bengal is found only in the Akbarnamah. The author, Abul Fazl, had never visited Bengal, but as the court historian, had access to relevant documents about the region. In this book we get a good picture about Akbar's various attempts to subjugate Bengal and the activities of the generals sent by him for the purpose, together with the resistance offered by the zamindars, bhuiyans and chiefs of Bengal. Akbarnamah relates the mutiny of Mughal captains in Bengal, which continued for about two years for several reasons, particularly the introduction of the Din-i-Ilahi, and the reduction in allowances of Bengal military chiefs. The mutineers, we gather, even formed a rebel government.

In presenting his narratives about Bengal affairs, Abul Fazl usually starts with 'one of the occurrences', 'reports received from Bengal', or 'joyful news was received from Bengal' etc implying that he based his account on reports received from other sources. The subahdars, army chiefs, and other officers sent these reports. Akbar posted in the provinces one officer called waqia-navis (news-reporter) whose duty was to send news of all important events to the imperial capital. These reports also formed important sources of information used by Abul Fazl in writing his books.

Abul Fazl's father Shaikh Mubarak and elder brother Shaikh Faizi exerted influence upon the emperor. Abul Fazl, himself a friend of the emperor, was sometimes biased in giving accounts of the conquests and other achievements of Akbar. In Abul Fazl's eyes Akbar was a Khediv and all his successes were due to his good fortune.

As the author had never visited Bengal and had no first-hand knowledge of the geography of the country, at times, he made confusing remarks about the location of places. While giving the account of Mughal warfare in Bengal, he did not, however, fail to give the causes of success and failures and the intrigues and dissension among Mughal officers.

The Akbarnamah is an important source about the political condition of Bengal on the eve of Mughal conquest and the identification of the bhuiyans and zamindars, who put up resistance against the imperial Mughals. The early career and rise of isa khan, kedar rai, Khwaja Usman and other Bengal chiefs are available in this book. Though the information is short and sketchy, it is most dependable. Read with other indigenous and local sources, like inscriptions, coins, and traditions, the history of the Bengal chiefs and zamindars may be reconstructed from this book with considerable accuracy. The Akbarnamah is also the most reliable source for preparing the chronology of the period.

At the instance of Prince Salim (later Emperor jahangir), Bir Singh Bundela killed Abul Fazl, on his way back from the Deccan, in 1602, ie in the 46th year of Akbar's reign. So Abul Fazl's narrative ends that year. Inayetullah brought the Akbarnamah down to 1605, the year of Akbar's death. [Abdul Karim]

Bibliography  Abul Fazl, Akbarnamah, Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta; H Beveridge (Tr) Akbarnamah, III, Calcutta Reprint 1973; A Karim, History of Bengal, Mughal Period, I, Rajshahi, 1992.