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Chritar or Tale One Hundred and Eighty Five (185) - Emperor Akber Caught in an Act of Debauchery

Chritar 185

One day Emperor Akber proceeded toward jungle for a game, when on the way he saw the trader�s wife, and was allured to see her. He sent a maid servant to her house with the message that the Emperor wanted to see her. The maid went to the house of the lady, and conveyed to her the imperial message. The lady, however, did not go to see the Emperor but called him at her house.

Akber went to her house, took a seat beside her on the bed. The lady then said to Akber, if he could permit her, she would go out to pass the urine. Thus saying, she went out of the house, and firmly locking all the doors of the house. She straight went to her husband and told of the whole matter. The husband was outraged, got hold of his shoe in his hand came to the house, immediately started shoe beating of Akber on his head. After sufficient shoe beating, the husband put Akber in a dungeon underneath the house.

On the following morning the husband went to the police station and reported the case to the police officer. The trader and his wife stated that they did not know the antecedent of man who had entered their house, whether he was a King, or a Big Man, or a Holy Man, or a thief; the Kazi, (Judge) and his clerk, were requested to go to their house and see for themselves the man, who had entered the house. They accompanied by the Kazi and his clerk, came back to the house. Thus saying, both husband and wife hurriedly disappeared from the house.

What the Kazi and his clerk observed that Emperor Akber was sitting there. Akber felt much humiliated, could not utter a word, and hung his head down.

THE GURU�S DICTUM IN THIS REGARD �

After this happening, Akber never went to anybody�s house. He reaped, what he had sown. Therefore, he did not indulge in such actions thereafter.

When Sri Guru Gobind Singh wrote this Tale, the country was then ruled by Emperor Aurangzeb, great grand son of Emperor Akber.

AKBER�S BIG HAREM

�Akbar had a harem, which constituted a town itself. No less than five thousand women dwelt within the walls, and each of them had a separate apartment. The maintenance and control of such a multitude of women necessitated a carefully devised system of internal system and organization of adequate arrangements for discipline. The inmates were divided into sections, each under a female commandant and due provision was made for the supply from the ranks of clerks to keep the accounts. A strict method of check was applied to the expenditure, which was on a large scale. The inside of the enclosure was protected by armed female guards. Eunuchs watched on the outside of it, and beyond them again was companies of faithful Rajputs, while troops of other classes posted at a greater distance gave further security.�
(Akbar, the Great Mughal)

Prof Sant Singh and Prof Waryam Singh have aptly commented -

�Despite all the breadth of vision and solicitude for the welfare of the country, his view of government was essentially one sided. The first thing was the emperor and the contented empire was of course a good thing to rule. Not a fractional part of what was spent on the harem, palace building and other enjoyments of the one super man on earth, was utilized for public works or other means of public welfare. His extra-ordinary luxury combined with his huge treasures only leads to one conclusion that the tax payer was fleeced without being giving anything in return.�
(Mughal India, page 147)