Birbal, or Raja Birbal, was a Hindu advisor and main commander of army in the court of the Mughal emperor, Akbar. He is mostly known in the Indian subcontinent for the folk tales which focus on his wit. Birbal was appointed by Akbar as a Minister and used to be a Poet and Singer in around 1556–1562. He had a close association with Emperor Akbar and was one of his most important courtiers, part of a group called the navaratnas. In 1586, Birbal led an army to crush unrest in the north-west Indian subcontinent where he was killed along with many troops in an ambush by the rebel tribe. He was the only Hindu to adopt Din-i Ilahi, the religion founded by Akbar.
By the end of Akbar’s reign, local folk tales emerged involving his interactions with Akbar, portraying him as being extremely clever and witty. As the tales gained popularity in India, he became even more of a legendary figure across the Indian subcontinent. These tales involve him outsmarting rival courtiers and sometimes even Akbar, using only his intelligence and cunning, often with giving witty and humorous responses and impressing Akbar.
Birbal was born as Mahesh Das Brahmbhatt in 1528, to a Hindu Brahmin family in Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh, India; in a village called Ghoghra. His father was Ganga Das and mother, Anabha Davito. He was the third son of the family which had a previous association with poetry and literature.
Educated in Hindi, Sanskrit and Persian, Birbal wrote prose, specialised in music and poetry in the Braj language, thus gaining fame. He served at the Rajput court of Raja Ram Chandra of Rewa (Madhya Pradesh), under the name “Brahma Kavi”. Birbal’s economic and social status improved when he married the daughter of a respected and rich family, contrary to the notion that he was on poor economic terms before his appointment at Mughal Emperor Akbar’s imperial court.
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