Birbal (1528-16 February 1586) was a Mughal general who served as the main commander of Emperor Akbar's armies.
Biography[]
Mahesh Das Brahmabhatt was born in Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh to a Hindu brahmin family, and he was educated in Hindi, Sanskrit, and Persian. He served as a musician and poet at the Rajput court of Raja Ram Chandra of Rewa, and he married a wealthy woman before entering the service of Emperor Akbar during the late 1550s. He was nicknamed Birbal, meaning "quick thinker," and he became one of Akbar's nine advisors and served as a religious advisor, military figure, and close friend of the emperor for 30 years. In 1572, he participated in the campaign against Akbar's rebellious brother Mirza Muhammad Hakim before accompanying the emperor during his Gujarat campaigns. He came to hold 25 honorific titles and commanded 2,000 men, but he was disliked by Akbar's other orthodox Muslim advisors because of his Hindu faith. Birbal became a follower of Akbar's Din-i-Ilahi syncretic faith, and he was slain in an Afghan ambush at the Battle of Malandari Pass in 1586. Akbar grieved Birbal's loss and fasted for two days.