________________
NOVEMBER, 1915)
THE DATE OF AKBAR'S BIRTH
233
THE DATE OF AKBAR'S BIRTH
BY VINCENT A. SMITH. ALTHOUGH the remarkable disorepancy in the accounts given of the date of Akbar's birth
as recorded by contemporary writers has been noticed frequently, it has never been thoroughly discussed and elucidated. The matter is worthy of discussion, not only because the date on which Akbar first saw the light is in itself of interest, and a matter which cannot be left indeterminate by any careful historian or biographer, but also because the thorough investigation of the discrepancy helps a critical student of the sources to appreciate the relative value of the Persian histories of Akbar, and at the same time indicates the nature of the motives which in this case and many others tempted the courtly authors to tamper with the truth.
Two distinct and irreconellable statements concerning the date of birth are on record, namely, (1) the official version that the event occurred early in the morning of Sunday, Rajab 5, A. H. 949=Oct. 15, 1542 (old style); and (2) Jauhar's version that it occurred on the night of the full moon (14) of Shâbân in the same year, equivalent to Thursday, Nov. 23. Both statements cannot be true. The contradiction must be due either to mistake or to deliberate lying on one side or the other. The third possible hypothesis that both parties may be in error, although admissible a priori, is excluded by the fact that one version, namely that of Jauhar, can be proved conclusively to be true and accurate, the offcial version being the result of deliberate falsification effected for adequate and ascertainable reasons. That proposition is placed in the forefront of my dissertation in order that the reader may not lose sight of the main issue among a multitude of side issues and petty details. Proof will be giver also that the original title conferred upon the child Akbar was Badru-d-din, not Jalalu-d-din, and satisfactory reasons will be shown for the change of title as well as for the change of date. Incidentally, explanations - will be offered of the reasons for the selection of the name Akbar and the name or title Jalalu-d-din. The discussion must necessarily occupy considerable space; it cannot be compressed if the evidence is to be set forth in full, so that any careful student can appraise it at its real value. The subject has been present to my mind for many months, and the conclusion announced above has been arrived at after careful consideration of all relevant facts and arguments. Mr. Beveridge, who until now has upheld the official view, has kindly examined the manuscripts of Jauhar's work in the British museum on my behalf, while the published essay of Kavi Raj Shyamal Das is based on independent examination of other manuscript copies of the same work. No doubt, therefore, is possible that Jauhar recorded the birth as having taken place at the time of the full moon of Shâbân, the eighth month of the Muhammadan year, equivalent to Shâbân 14, or November 23, 1542, old style, whereas the court chroniclers adupted as the date the 5th of Rajab, the seventh month of the Muhammadan year, equivalent to October 15, 1642. The two statements cannot be harmonized. As observed above, proof can be given that one statement is true, and the other false. The proof seems to my mind so convincing that more could not be required if Adu-l. Fazl were on his trial for forgery.1 It remains for me now to justify those strong assertions.
1 In Abu-l-Fazl the w is pronounced short, although written as if long. The spelling adopted in the text is the bestu
