Being Emperor Akbar’s favorite minister, Birbal used to solve many of his problems.

One day Emperor Akbar and Birbal were taking a walk in the palace gardens. It was a nice summer morning and there were plenty of crows happily playing around . Akbar was enjoying seeing so many crows playing.

Suddenly, while watching the crows, a question came into Akbar’s head. He wondered how many crows were there in his kingdom.

Since Birbal was accompanying him, he asked Birbal this question. Birbal looked at the crows and after a moment’s thought, Birbal replied, “There are ninety-five thousand four hundred and sixty-three crows in the Kingdom”.

Amazed by his quick response, Akbar tried to test him again, “What if there are more crows than you answered?”

Without hesitating Birbal replied, “If there are more crows than my answer, then some crows are visiting from other neighboring kingdoms”.

“And what if there are less crows”, Akbar asked. “Then some crows from our kingdom have gone on holidays to other places”. Akbar was very much impressed at this intelligent answer from Birbal.

As we all know, Birbal was not only Emperor Akbar’s favorite 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 to the king, they asked him to help them get rid of Birbal permanently. And of course, they promised him a huge sum of money in return. The wicked barber readily agreed.

The next time the king called him to trim his beard, the barber started a conversation about the emperor’s father who he also used to serve. He sang praises of his fine, silky-smooth hair. And then as an afterthought he asked the king that as he was enjoying such great prosperity, had he made an attempt to do anything for the welfare of his ancestors?

The king was furious at such impertinent stupidity and told the barber that it was not possible to do anything because they were already dead. The barber mentioned that he knew of a magician who could come of help. The magician could send a person up to heaven to inquire about his father’s welfare. But of course this person would have to be chosen carefully; he would have to be intelligent enough to follow the magicians instructions as well as make on-the-spot decisions. He must be wise, intelligent and responsible. The barber then suggested the best person for the job – the wisest of all ministers, Birbal.

The king was very excited about hearing from his father and asked the barber to go ahead and make the arrangements immediately. He asked him what was needed to be done. The barber explained that they would take Birbal in a procession to the burial grounds and light a pyre. The magician would then chant some ‘mantras’ as Birbal would ascend to the heavens through the smoke. The chanting would help protect Birbal from the fire.

The king happily informed Birbal of this plan. Birbal said that it a brilliant idea and wanted to know the brain behind it. When learning that it was the barber’s idea, he agreed to go to heaven on condition that he be given a large some of money for the long journey as well as one month’s time to settle his family so that they had no trouble while he was gone. The king agreed to both conditions.
As we all know, Birbal was not only Emperor Akbar’s favorite 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 to the king, they asked him to help them get rid of Birbal permanently. And of course, they promised him a huge sum of money in return. The wicked barber readily agreed.

The next time the king called him to trim his beard, the barber started a conversation about the emperor’s father who he also used to serve. He sang praises of his fine, silky-smooth hair. And then as an afterthought he asked the king that as he was enjoying such great prosperity, had he made an attempt to do anything for the welfare of his ancestors?

The king was furious at such impertinent stupidity and told the barber that it was not possible to do anything because they were already dead. The barber mentioned that he knew of a magician who could come of help. The magician could send a person up to heaven to inquire about his father’s welfare. But of course this person would have to be chosen carefully; he would have to be intelligent enough to follow the magicians instructions as well as make on-the-spot decisions. He must be wise, intelligent and responsible. The barber then suggested the best person for the job – the wisest of all ministers, Birbal.

The king was very excited about hearing from his father and asked the barber to go ahead and make the arrangements immediately. He asked him what was needed to be done. The barber explained that they would take Birbal in a procession to the burial grounds and light a pyre. The magician would then chant some ‘mantras’ as Birbal would ascend to the heavens through the smoke. The chanting would help protect Birbal from the fire.

The king happily informed Birbal of this plan. Birbal said that it a brilliant idea and wanted to know the brain behind it. When learning that it was the barber’s idea, he agreed to go to heaven on condition that he be given a large some of money for the long journey as well as one month’s time to settle his family so that they had no trouble while he was gone. The king agreed to both conditions.

In the duration of this month, he got a few trustworthy men to build a tunnel from the funeral grounds to his house.

And on the day of the ascension, after the pyre had been lit, Birbal escaped through the concealed door of the tunnel. He disappeared in to his house where he hid for a few months while his hair and beard grew long and unruly.

In the meantime his enemies were rejoicing as they thought that they had seen the last of Birbal.Then one day after many, many months with his hair and beard grown long and shaggy, he came out of hiding.

"Birbal!" cried the Emperor. "Where have you come from?" The king was extremely pleased to see him.
"From Paradise, Majesty. I spent such a lovely time with your father that he gave me special permission to return to earth." Birbal told the king that his father was in the best of spirits and had been provided with all the comforts except one.

The king wanted to know what was lacking because now he thought he had found a way to send things and people to heaven. Birbal answered, "Do you see my whiskers and long hair? Well, it seems very few barbers make it to Heaven. Your father asks you to send him yours at once."

So the king decided to send his barber to serve his father in heaven. He called both the barber and the magician to prepare to send him to heaven. The barber could say absolutely nothing in his own defense as he was caught in his own trap. And once the pyre was lit he died on the spot.Nobody dared to conspire against Birbal again.

Subramanya Bharathi was a renowned Tamil poet, reformer and freedom fighter during the pre-independence era. He is called Mahakavi, meaning, ‘Great Poet’ in Tamil. His name is counted amongst the most celebrated bards of the country. He was an expert in both prose and poetry and enticed the masses to join the great Indian struggle for Independence with his powerful speeches. His contemporaries included the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sri Aurobindo and V.V.S. Aiyar.  

Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyar was fluent in many languages including Tamil, Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, and English. He often referred to Tamil as 'Tamil Thai ' (Mother Tamil). He started his career in journalism by joining as assistant editor of a Tamil daily 'Swadeshamitran' in 1904. Soon thereafter, he became the editor of a Tamil weekly 'India' and another newspaper 'Bala Bharatham' in 1907.

He was born to Chinnasami Subramanya Iyer and Lakshmi Ammaal as "Subbayya" on December 11, 1882 in Ettayapuram. He was skilled enough to write verse even at the early age of seven. Bharathi lost his mother at the age of 5 and his father at the age of 16. He was brought up by his strict disciplinarian father who wanted him to learn English, excel in arithmetic, become an engineer and lead a comfortable life. However, Bharathi was given to day dreaming and could not concentrate on his studies. In 1897, 14 year old Bharathi, married his seven year younger cousin, Chellamal.

The last years of Bharathi’s life were spent in a house in Triplicane, Chennai. This house was bought and renovated by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1993 and named 'Bharathiyar Illam’. It was opened to public as a museum on October 2, 1993. The museum is open from 09:00-12:30 hrs and 14:00-17:45 hrs on all days except Mondays.  It is a must see tourist spot when visiting Chennai.

The house takes us back to the life and times of Mahakavi Bharathi. Photographs of Bharathiyar and his family and friends are displayed here. Also his hand written verses are framed and displayed. They give us a wonderful glimpse of his powerful writing. In a letter to his brother, we can see his affection where he advices his brother to take oil bath and to use scarfs in cold climate. A letter to his friend Nellaiappar and a letter from Mahatma Gandhi to mark the occasion of the opening of Bharathiyar Mani Mandapam in Ettayapuram in 1947 are also displayed. Bharathi was struck by an elephant at the Parthasarathy temple, Triplicane, Chennai. He used to feed this elephant regularly. Although he survived this accident, a few months later his health deteriorated and he died on September 11, 1921.

The Mughal (Moghul) Empire was established in the Indian subcontinent around 1526 AD. It was founded by Emperor Babur, who was a descendant of the Timurids (from father’s side) and also Genghis Khan (from mother’s side). His full name was Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur and he was originally the ruler of the Ferghana valley in Central Asia (modern day Uzbekistan). Although Babur hailed from the Barlas tribe which was of Mongol (Moghul in Persian) origin, his tribe had embraced the Persian culture and language, and converted to Islam.

Babur encountered a series of setbacks during is reign of Ferghana and after losing his principality there, he wandered towards the Indian subcontinent in hopes of acquiring territories in Hindustan. He raided Kabul in 1504 and started to move southwards with the establishment of a base camp in Peshawar in 1524. In 1526, after his fifth attempt, Babur defeated Ibrahim Shah Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans and annexed Delhi and Agra. This fight is called the First Battle of Panipat.

Upon conquering Delhi and Agra, Babur summoned his son Humayun to secure the treasures and resources looted during the battle. Humayun found that the family of the Raja of Gwalior was seeking shelter in Agra after the Raja himself had died at Panipat. He guaranteed their safety in return for the family's most valuable jewel, a very large diamond, called the Koh-i-Noor or "Mountain of Light'. The conquests of Delhi and Agra were followed by a fight with the formidable Rajputs Rana Sanga of Chittor and Raja Hasan Khan Mewatpati. This fight is popularly known as the Battle of Khanwa in which the Rajputs were defeated and the foundation for the Mughal empire was laid by Babur.

Soon thereafter, Babur fell seriously ill. Humayun, his son, was told of a plot by the senior nobles of Babur's court to bypass him and appoint Mahdi Khwaja, Babur's sister's husband, as his successor. He rushed to Agra and arrived there to see that his father was well again. But Mahdi Khwaja had lost all hope of succession to Babur after arrogantly exceeding his authority during Babur's illness. Upon his arrival in Agra it was Humayun himself who fell ill, and was close to dying. Legend says that Babur is said to have circled the sick-bed, crying to God to take his life and not his son's. Babur soon fell ill with a fever and Humayun began to recover. Babur’s last words were apparently said to his son, Humayun, "Do nothing against your brothers, even though they may deserve it."

Babur died at the age of 47 in 1531 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Humayun. Though he wished to be buried in his favorite garden in Kabul, a city he had always loved, he was first buried in a Mausoleum in the capital city of Agra. Roughly nine years later his wishes were fulfilled and Babur was buried in Bagh-e-Babur (Babur Gardens) in Kabul, Afghanistan. The inscription on his tomb reads – If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this.

Babur wrote his memoirs in a book called Baburnama and this work is considered the first true autobiography in Islamic literature. Babur travelled the country, taking in much of the land and its scenery, and began building a series of structures which mixed the pre-existing Hindu intricacies of carved detail with the traditional Muslim designs used by Persians and Turks. To remind himself of the lands he had left behind, Babur began building exquisite gardens in every palace and province, where he would often sit shaded from the fierce Indian sun. He tried to recreate the gardens of Kabul, which he believed were the most beautiful in the world. Babur is popularly believed to have built the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. However, from the three inscriptions which once adorned the surface of the mosque it becomes apparent that the mosque was constructed during his reign on the orders of Mir Baqi, who was one of the generals of Babur's forces sent towards this region.