The Jealous Courtiers King Akbar was very fond of Birbal. This made a certain courtier very jealous. Now this courtier always wanted to be chief minister, but this was not possible as Birbal filled that position. One day Akbar praised Birbal in front of the courtier. This made the courtier very angry and he said that the king praised Birbal unjustly and if Birbal could answer three of his questions, he would accept the fact that Birbal was intelligent. Akbar always wanting to test Birbals wit readily agreed. The three questions were 1. How many stars are there in the sky 2. Where is t ... read more

The Well Dispute Once there was a complaint at King Akbar's court. There were two neighbours who shared their garden. In that garden, there was a well that was possessed by Iqbal khan. His neighbour, who was a farmer wanted to buy the well for irrigation purpose. Therefore they signed an agreement between them, after which the farmer owned the well. Even after selling the well to the farmer, Iqbal continued to fetch water from the well. Angered by this, the farmer had come to get justice from King Akbar. King Akbar asked Iqbal the reason for fetching water from the well even after selling i ... read more

Birbal Problem Solver Several courtiers were vying to be the Royal Advisor of Emperor Akbar. So one day, when they came to the court, they said to the Emperor, "We want to be your Royal Advisor." Akbar said, "No problem, but you will have to pass the test before you could be my Royal Advisor. And whoever would pass the test will be appointed my Advisor." They agreed. The King unfastened his waist cloth and lay down on the floor, and asked the candidates to cover him with that cloth from head to toe. Now everybody tried to cover him, but in vain. If one wanted to cover the head, then feet ... read more

The Sharpest Shield and Sword A man who made spears and shields once came to Akbar's court. "Your Majesty, nobody can make shields and spears to equal mine," he said. "My shields are so strong that nothing can pierce them and my spears are so sharp that there's nothing they cannot pierce." "I can prove you wrong on one count certainly," said Birbal suddenly. "Impossible!" declared the man. "Hold up one of your shields and I will pierce it with one of your spears," said Birbal with a smile.

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