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Raja Birbal
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Raja Birbal

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Mahesh Das (; 1528 16 February 1586), popularly known by his title Rajah Birbal (), was an Indian minister and commander of the Mughal Empire. He is mostly known in the Indian subcontinent for the folk tales which focus on his wit. He was appointed by Akbar and was one of his most important courtiers, part of a group called the navaratnas (nine jewels). In February 1586, he led an army to crush an unrest in the north-west Indian subcontinent now modern day Swat District Pakistan where he was killed along with many troops in an ambush which turned into a full-scale battle against rebelling Yusu

Key facts

Royalty.title
Mantri, Mukhya Mantri, Raja
Royalty.image
Birbal.jpg
Royalty.alt
Birbal
Royalty.caption
Birbal
Royalty.birth_name
Mahesh Das
Royalty.birth_date
1528
Royalty.birth_place
Kalpi, Mughal Empire
Royalty.death_date
16 February 1586 (aged 58)
Royalty.death_place
Malandari Pass, Kabul Subah, Mughal Empire
Royalty.mother
Anabha Davito
Royalty.father
Ganga Das
Royalty.religion
HinduismDin-e-Ilahi
Military person.embed
yes
Military person.allegiance
Mughal Empire
Military person.branch
Mughal Army
Military person.branch_label
Service
Military person.serviceyears
1572–1586
Military person.battles
Mughal–Afghan Wars Malandari Pass (1586)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Gender
male
Place of birth
Sidhi district
Place of death
Swat District
Occupation
poet
Religion
Din-e Ilahi
Image
Birbal.jpg
Show 3 more facts
date of birth
1528-00-00
Commons category
Raja Birbal
date of death
1586-01-01
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~11 min read

Encyclopedic overview

11 sections
Contents
  • Early life
  • At the imperial court
  • Titles and name origin
  • Position and association with Akbar
  • Death
  • Folklore and legacy
  • Origins
  • Historic role versus folklore
  • In popular culture
  • References
  • Further reading

Mahesh Das (; 1528 16 February 1586), popularly known by his title Rajah Birbal (), was an Indian minister and commander of the Mughal Empire. He is mostly known in the Indian subcontinent for the folk tales which focus on his wit. He was appointed by Akbar and was one of his most important courtiers, part of a group called the navaratnas (nine jewels). In February 1586, he led an army to crush an unrest in the north-west Indian subcontinent now modern day Swat District Pakistan where he was killed along with many troops in an ambush which turned into a full-scale battle against rebelling Yusufzai and adjoining tribes. He was the only Hindu to adopt Din-i Ilahi, the religion founded by Akbar.

Local folk tales emerged primarily in 19th century involving his interactions with Akbar, thus became even more of a semi-fictional legendary figure across the Indian subcontinent. However, these stories have generally been described as fictional by modern historians.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Raja Birbal” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)