Statesman (B. 1542, Ömerkut /
Sind [Pakistan] – D. 1605, Agra). His real name is Ebülfeth
Celaleddin Muhammad. He is the third and greatest ruler of Indian-Turkish
Empire. He is the grandchild of Babur, the founder of the dynasty and son of Nasiruddin
Hümayun. After
being appointed commander by his father he defeated İskender Shah in Serhent
(1555) having his first great victory. Upon this he was assigned to Prefecture
of Punjab. When his father died one year later, he came up to the throne at the
age of fourteen. Therefore, the state was ruled by Vizier Bayram Khan in the
first years of his rule. He remained under influence of palace women in his
youth. At the age of twenty, twenty-five
he started to rule the state on his own and with a great intelligence and
skill. One of the Jesuit priests Bartoli in his book in Latin language titled “Baba Ridolfo Akuaviva’nın Büyük Moğol
Yanındaki Görevi” wrote that Ekber Shah organized a large reunion and
invited religious scholars and commanders. He declared his intention to found a
new religion and to be its leader. Ekber Shah attempted to be an emperor sui
generis with his idea to unite the Indian country, which had different
religions under the same religious roof.
When
his father Hümayun died, Delhi and Agrâ was captured by enemies. Therefore, the
young ruler constantly fought battles during the first seven years of his
reign. He recaptured Delhi and Agrâ. He dismantled malicious groups in certain
places of his country. Then he captured two important castles of Rajputs such
as Chittor and Ejmir (1567). Later he captured Gujarat, and Bengal and Ganges
valley from Afghans (1570-72). This united almost the whole India under his
rule. Ekber Shah who continued his conquests annexed Orissa (1578), Kashmir and
Kabul (1581), Sind (1582), Dekkan flatland and Berar (1592), Kandahar and whole
Afghanistan (1594). After extending the state borders as a good fighter, he
started to restructure the state’s administrative, financial and military
organizations as a good ruler. Within
this context, he changed all feuds (territory assigned for a military duty)
into state
territories connected to the ruler. He connected officers to ranks and
grades and granted officers of all ranks and grades the right to benefit from
state incomes and territory.
Ekber
Shah starting from the period of his grandfather Babur adopted India as his
homeland which started to be conquered and sought for ways to be permanent in
this country to where he came as a conqueror. He thought that it was impossible
to maintain unity in this country where various religious members lived such as
Hindu, Muslim, Zoroaster, Buddhist, Sikh, Jainist and Christian, without
exercising spiritual control over his people. His teacher Mir Abdullatif had an
influence on Ekber Shah about his adoption of “universal peace”
idea which meant the coexistence of different religions, sects and races
together in friendship and peace in a tolerant way.
Ekber
Shah reformed the state rule with a declaration he published in Fatehpur Sikri
(1583). He renewed numerous institutions, did not remain attached to traditions
and found the most correct solutions for these. He established numerous new
towns and villages, brought the country to a prosperous state. While he was busy with
these reorganizations, different religious streams within the empire started to
cause an important problem. Hindu-Muslims
relations gradually got tensed up. Although he could not find time to read
books because of fighting, he was an intelligent and skilled person. He learnt
many things from scholars around him and his consultants. He made effort to
avoid conflicts because of superstitions and religious disagreements.
It
is believed that Ekber Shah’s new religion’s archpriest Ebülfazl and his son
Selim (later Cihangir) poisoned and annihilated him. The fabricated religion
claimed to be established by Ekber Shah was forgotten after his death. However
the avoidance of burning Indian women whose husbands were dead and tradition of
marrying off children at early ages was the only positive contribution of this
religion to the Indian society.
Ekber Shah’s son who would later
come up to the throne with the name Cihangir executed in 1602 Ebu-l Fadl whom
he regarded as the cause of all these negativities, dealing a major blow to his
father. All Babur shahs after Ekber Shah tried to recover the harm of their
grandfathers to Muslims. The major reaction against the Hindu pressure, which
appeared as a result of Ekber Shah’s efforts to unite Islam and Hinduism, came
from Naqshbandis and this order in following periods played a great role in
religious and political developments of India.
Ekber Shah’s vizier Ebülfadıl
wrote a chronology titled “Ekbername”
for him. Ekber Shah himself wrote a book titled “Âyine-i Ekberî” on the geography and statistics of India. He ruled
with a great power during approximately fifty years.
He always
looked down on the Ottoman Empire as a Timurid heir and did not establish any
official relations with the Ottoman Empire during his rule. He supported the
Safavids during the Ottoman-Safavid conflict at that time.
When he
died, he was buried according to Islamic rules. He was inhumed around the Behtişabad Mosque
in Sekendere, which is about 5 km distant from his palace, near to Agra. A
magnificent tomb was built by his son on his grave.
KAYNAKÇA: İbrahim Alaeddin Gövsa / Türk Meşhurları (1946), TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi (c. 10, s.
542, 1994), İhsan Işık / “Gülbeden Begüm” / Resimli ve
Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006,
gen. 2. bas. 2007) - İhsan Işık /
Ünlü Devlet Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 1, 2013) -
Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).