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A KAS AKI, a town of Japan, in the province of Mikava. 



AKASI, a town of Japan, in tlie province of Fariina. 



.IKASSEB-ASSELAM, a town of Egypt, marking 

 the boundary of Afia and Afnca. 



AKAST, a town of Arabia, 25 leagues eaft of Jeru- 

 falem. 



AKRARjOr Akuer, Sultan, in B'lngmphy and Hlflory, 

 t[\i fixtli of the defcendants of Tiu\ar Bek or Tamerlane, 

 who reigned in Hiudollan under t!ie ajjiicllalion of Moguls, 

 was born in 1542, and fucceeded his fatlier Ileniaiun in 

 1556. He was proclaimed emperor at Calarior, in ihe pro- 

 vince of Lahore, and aiuimed the title of 'Jilnl (filin, q. d. 

 the aggrandi/.er of reli;'ion. Having overthrown tiie Patans 

 and taken pollefllon of Dehli, he was inaugurated in this 

 city, and alTLinied the government which had been at firft 

 adminiilercd by his tutor, Beyram Klian. He then made 

 himfell mailer of the llrong iortrefsof Chitor, afterafevere 

 engagement with a 'rebel chief, and quelled other infur- 

 reftions ; and having obtained an interval of tranquillity, he 

 made a pilgrimage, barefoot, to Azmir, at tlie dillanoe of 

 200 miles, for the purpofe of viliting tlie tomb of Haji 

 Mondi, and of obtaining children liy the inLerceifion of this 

 faint. During his abode at Fettipur on his return, he was 

 informed of a rebellion at Guzerat, v.hich hallcned his march 

 to this province ; and having fubdued the rebels, reduced 

 the callle of Surat, and fecured the province bv fortifying 

 AhiTied-abad, he returned to Hiudollan. In this year he 

 finifhed the caftle of Agra at an expence of two millions 500 

 thoufand rupees, laid out I5 million on the walls and palace 

 of Fettipur, and began to eredl the fumptuous fepulchres of 

 his family at Schander, iive miles from Agra. At this time 

 he direded his views to the conqueft of Bengal, and having, 

 after a long fiege, taken poifelfion of Patau, he became 

 mafter of the whole countiy. His next acquifitions were 

 Kabtd, Kandahar, Kaihmir and Sindi. Having^ united 

 thefe countries to his empire, he employed a powerful army 

 in the invafion of Dekan, which, notvvithftanding vigorous 

 refiilance on the part of the queen of this counti-y, fubdued 

 feveral provinces and ainiexed them to the Mogul empire. 

 Whilil Akbar was engaged in the profecution of the Dekan 

 ■war, his proiperity was interrupted by a concurrence of do- 

 meilic misfortunes. He was deprived of two of his fons, 

 'c'rz. Sultan Morad, in 1598, and Sultan Danul, in 1604, 

 by intemperance ; and his fon Selim took the advantage of 

 his abfence, for feizing his treafures and marching a nume- 

 rous army towards Agra, in order to take poffefiion of his 

 fatlier's throne. Akbar, as foon as he received intelligence 

 of his fon's rebellion, haftened back to Agra, and having 

 m:(de ineifeftual overtures of accommodation, in enforcing 

 which his Vizir Adul Fazl loft his life, he refolved to 

 turn his arms againll Sehra. But as he had loil his other 

 fons, he once more attempted to perfuade his fon into fub- 

 mifiion. With this view he employed the tutor of Selim 

 to convey letters to him, in which he reproaclicd him for 

 his rebellion ; but at the fame time declared, that, as he was 

 his only fon and heir, he was ready to receive him to favour. 

 The father's letters and the tutor's- arguments p.oduced 

 eiTecl ; Selim returned to Agra and fubmitted. Akbar at 

 firll treated him with autlcnty, but at Icngtii pardoned him, 

 though he iliU retained fufpicions of his fon's lidelity. Tile 

 emperor did not long lurvive this reconciliation. Bei,ig ia- 

 cenfed againft a Mirza, who governed one of his provinces, 

 he rctolved to remove him by poifon ; and for this purpofe 

 he ordered two pills of opium, in one of which there was 

 poifon. Having held tliefe in his hand for fome time, lie gave 

 one to the Mirza, and by millake took the poif ^ned one hi:n- 

 i'elf. Tiie confequence, notvvithltanding the ufe cf remedies as 



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foon as the miftake was difcovercd, was fatal. Wlien Selim paid 

 his dying father a vilit, he put his own turban on the prince's 

 head, and gin him with his father Hcmaiun's fword ; but on 

 the 1 2tli day after he had taken the poifon, Akbar died, 

 A. D. 1605, at the age of 63 years, and was buried in the 

 family lepuiclnc near i\gra. 



Akbar was dillinguilhed by his conquefts, and by his 

 fuccefs in reducing almoll the whole of India to obedience. 

 He was alfo one or tiie few fovereigns intitled to the appel- 

 lation both of Great and Good, and tlie only one of the 

 Mohammedan race, whofe mind was fo far divclled of the 

 illiberal prejudices of the fanatical religion in which he was 

 educated, as to be capable of forming a plan wortliy of a 

 monarch who loved his people, and was folicitous to render 

 them liappy. Although he was not attached by profcffion 

 to any form of religion himfelf, he was not a perlecutor of 

 any. In 1582 he wrote a letter to liie king of Portugal, 

 preferved by Frafer, and containing an avowalof fcntimcnts, 

 liberal and enliglitened ; in which he defues that a tranllatiou 

 of tlie Chrillian Icriptures into Arabic or Perfian might be 

 feiit him, and at the fame time a learned perfon to explain 

 the Clirillian rehgion. One Geronimo Xavier was deputed, 

 and with this view learned the Periian language ; but tlie 

 gofpvls, which were tranflated into this language, and pre- 

 fented to the Mogul in r6o2, were fo intermixed with popilh 

 legends, that they were not '-kely to he vei7 intelligible or 

 to produce any very good eli'ett. As in every province of 

 his ey.tenfive dominions, the Hindoos formed the great body 

 of his lubjecls, Akbar endeavoured to acquire a perfetl 

 knowledge of their religion, their fciences, their laws, and 

 their inftitutions ; in order that lie might conduft every part 

 of his government, particularly the adminilh-ation of jullice, 

 in a manner as much accommodated as pofiible to their own 

 ideas. In thefe generous views he was feconded by Abul 

 Fazl, a miniiter v/ho!"e undcrftanding was not lel"s enliglitened 

 than tliat of his mailer. By their affiduous refearches, and 

 conlultations of learned men, fuch information was obtained 

 as enabled this Vizir to puhliih a brief compendium of 

 Hindoo jurlfprudence in the Ayeen Akbeiy, which may be 

 confidered as the firll genuine communication of its prin- 

 ciples to perfons of a different religion. In what cdimation 

 the mild government of Akbar was held by the Hindoos 

 we may learn from a beautiful letter of Jeffwant Sing, Rajah 

 of Joudpore, to Aurengzebe, iiis fanatical and pcrfecuting 

 fucceffor. " Your royal ancellor, Akbar, whofe thnme is 

 now in heaven, condufted the affairs of this empire in equity 

 and firm fecurity for tiie fpace of 52 years, prcfcrving every 

 tribe of men in eaie and happinefs. Whether they were 

 followers of Jefus, or of Mofes, of David, or of Mahomed j 

 were they Brahmins, were they of the fed of Dharians, 

 which denies the eternity of matter, or of that which 

 aiciibes the exillcnce of the world to chance, they all 

 equally enjoyed his countenance and favour ; infomuch that 

 his people, in gratitude for the indiferiminate proteftiou 

 whicii he afforded them, dillinguiflied liim by tlie appellation 

 of "Jug^ot Groiu, guardian of mankind. — If your Majelly 

 places any faith in thofc books, by dillinftion called divine, 

 you will there be inftrutled, that God is the God of all 

 mankind, not the God of Mahomedans alone. The Pagan 

 and the Mu'.fulman are equally in his prcfonce. Dlllinflions 

 of colours are of his ordination. It is He who gives exift- 

 ence. In your temples, to his name the voice is raifed in 

 prayer; in a houfe of images, v.'here the bell is fliakcn. Hill 

 He is tiie objert of adoration. To vilify the religion and 

 cuitonis oi oilier men, is to fet at naught the pleafure of 

 the Almighty. When we deface a pidiure, we naturally 

 incur the refentmeut pf the painter j and julUy has the poet 



laid, 



