Quick Thinking Birbal : Count The Crows One day Akbar was strolling in his palace gardens with his dear minister Birbal. Many crows were flying around. The King enjoyed their flying. Just then he thought, that how many crows could be in his kingdom and immediately posed this question to Birbal. Birbal thought a moment, then said, "They are ninety-five thousand, four hundred and sixty three (95, 463) crows in your kingdom, Huzoor." "How do you know that for sure?" the King asked. "You can get them counted, Huzoor." Birbal said., The king again said, "If there will be less than that, th ... read more

How Birbal Brought Meat Back in the Community? Akbar was famous for his religious tolerance. (Jodhaa Baaee, a Hindu woman, was his wife, he had married other religion's women also) He would help to all those who wanted help even on religious matters. Once it so happened that a group of Braahman appeared in his court and said - "O Great Emperor, You are the one who allowed us to ask you if we had problems. We have stayed silent for long time, but today we wish to speak up. We do not want any slaughtering of animals, it is against our religion." Hearing this Akbar got in a fix as the me ... read more

Akbar once put a question to his court that left everyone puzzled. As they all tried to figure out the answer, Birbal walked and asked what the matter was. And so they told him the question. ‘How many crows are there in the city?’ Birbal immediately smiled, went up to Akbar and announced that the answer to his questions was twenty-one thousand five hundred and twenty-three. When asked how he knew the answer, Birbal replied, ‘Ask your men to count the number of crows. If there are more, then the crows’ relatives from outside the city are visiting them. If there are fewer, then the crows a ... read more

The Blind Saint There lived a blind saint in an ashram in the kingdom of Emperor Akbar. He was believed to prophecy the future correctly. Once he had a visitor who had come to treat their niece. The child's parents were killed in front of the girl's eyes. Once she saw the saint, she started to scream loudly saying that that saint was the culprit. Angered by the girl's words, the saint demanded the couple to get away with their child. The whole day the girl cried which made the couple to realize that the girl was not lying. Therefore, they decided to seek the help of Birbal. ... read more

Full Moon, Quarter Moon Once Birbal went to Persia at the invitation of that country's King. Parties were extended in his honor and rich gifts heaped up near him. On the eve of his departure to home, a nobleman asked him as how he would compare the king of Persia with his own King. Birbal said - "Your King is the full Moon, whereas mine could be like a quarter Moon." The Persians got very happy to hear this analogy. Now Birbal got home and he found that Emperor Akbar was furious with him. He demanded angrily - "How could you belittle your own king? You are a traitor." Birbal said politel ... read more