Akbar's Hasty Judgement Once the Emperor Akbar was riding near a mango grove. An arrow whizzed past him. His soldiers rushed to the grove and caught the person who did this. He was a young boy. On asking why did he want to kill the Emperor, he said that he did not want to kill the Emperor, he just wanted to knock down a mango from a high branch. The Emperor was too angry to listen to him. He ordered to put him to death in the same way as the boy wanted to kill him. A soldier tied the boy with a tree stump and steadied his arrow to kill him. Birbal, who was watching all this process qu ... read more

Birbal Shortens Road Once the Emperor Akbar was traveling to a distant place along with some of his courtiers. It was a hot day and the Emperor was tired of his journey. He asked querulously - "Can't any shorten this road for me?" Birbal said - "Yes, I can." The other courtiers looked at one another perplexed. All of then knew that there was no other path through the hilly terrain. The road on which they were traveling, was the only one that could take them to destination. So they were surprised to hear Birbal that he could shorten the road. The Emperor said - "You can shorten the road? ... read more

Fear is the key One day King Akbar said to Birbal, "Birbal, my people are very obedient to me. They love me very much." Birbal smiled and replied, "This is true, but they fear you too, Jahaanpanaah." Akbar could not agree on this, so it was decided that Birbal's statement should be tested. Next day, according to Birbal's instructions, the King announced that he would be going for hunting, and people should pour a pot of milk in a tub kept in the courtyard. Next day when Akbar returned from hunting, he found that there was no milk in the tub, instead there was only water. Akbar got very d ... read more

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

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