ABSTRACT
From the accession of Jalal-ud-din Akbar in 1556 until after the death of Aurangzib in 1707 the Mughal Empire displayed a degree of political and administrative continuity quite unusual in Indian history. By far the most important authority for this period is the Ain-i-Akbari—or Institutes of Akbar—written by the emperor’s wise and devoted counsellor, Abul Fazl ’Allami. His Selections from Histories is an entertaining work, but perhaps its greatest value is that, as Badauni was prejudiced against Akbar and hated Abul Fazl, his work supplies a satisfactory corrective to the Ain and the Akbarnamah. Each of the races was completely foreign to India, and Akbar was as much a non-Indian by birth and early training as were Clive and Hastings. The unsettled state of the outlying districts in much of Akbar’s reign is illustrated by the prominence given in the instructions to the fauzdar’s duty of suppressing rebels.
