Akbar's Ring Once Akbar went for hunting, and there his ring fell in a dry well. Now how to take that ring out. They did not have any means to take it out. Then Birbal said, "Huzoor, if you give me some time I can take your ring out of this well. Akbar had no alternative, so he permitted him. Birbal went around and brought some fresh cow dung and threw it on the ring. He then tied a stone on one end of a string, and holding the other end in his hand threw the stone on the cow dung. He waited for a long time - for the cow dung to be dried, and then pulled the string out of the well. The s ... read more

The Wicked Barber's Plight As we all know, Birbal was not only Emperor Akbar’s favourite minister but also a minister dearly loved by most of the commoners, because of his ready wit and wisdom. People used to come to him from far and wide for advise on personal matters too. However, there was a group of ministers that were jealous of his growing popularity and disliked him intensely. They outwardly showered him with praise and compliments, but on the inside they began to hatch a plot to kill him. One day they approached the king’s barber with a plan. As the barber was extremely close ... read more

Just One Question One Day a scholar came to the court of Emperor Akbar and challenged Birbal to answer his questions and thus prove that he was as clever as people said he was. He asked Birbal: "Would you prefer to answer a hundred easy questions or just a single difficult one?" Both the emperor and Birbal had had a difficult day and were impatient to leave. "Ask me one difficult question," sad Birbal. "Well, then, tell me," said the man, "which came first into the world, the chicken or the egg?" "The chicken," replied Birbal. "How do you know?" asked the scholar, a note o ... read more

The Cock and the Hen Since Birbal always outwitted Akbar, Akbar thought of a plan to make Birbal look like a fool. He gave one egg to each of his ministers before Birbal reached the court one morning. So when Birbal arrived, the king narrated a dream he had had the previous night saying that he would be able to judge the honesty of his ministers if they were able to bring back an egg from the royal garden pond. So, Akbar asked all his courtiers to go to the pond, one at a time and return with an egg. So, one by one, all his ministers went to the pond and returned with the egg which he ... read more

Noble Beggar One day the Emperor asked Birbal, "Birbal, is it possible to be the both "noblest" and the "lowest" together?" Birbal said, "Yes, Jahaanpanaah" "Then bring me such a person." Birbal went and returned next day with a beggar and presenting him to Akbar said, "This is the lowest among all of your subjects, Jehanpanah" Akbar asked, "Good, that may be true, but I don't see that how he can be the noblest?" "He has been given the honor of having an audience with the Emperor, that makes him the noblest among the beggars, Jahaapanaah."