At the time of Humayun’s death, Akbar was only thirteen years old. He was not a ruler of any part of India. Akbar’s first conflict came with Hemu. He was an ambitious general of one of the Afghan princes. A battle of Panipat was fought between Bairam Khan, the Regent of Akbar and Hemu. Hemu was defeated in the battle of Panipat. Akbar captured Delhi and Agra which the Mughals had lost.
In 1560 A.D., Akbar himself took the reigns of the administration. After that his victories are as under :
1. Victories in North India :
- Victories over Rajputs. In 1562 A.D., Akbar attacked the Rajputs. The King of Amber, Raja Bihari Mai accepted the subordination of Akbar and married his daughter to him. Besides, other Rajput rulers also accepted the subordination of Akbar e.g. Kalinjar, Marwar, Jaisalmer, Bikaner etc.
- Struggle of Mewar. The ruler of Mewar Rana Pratap never wanted to . accept the subordination of Akbar. In 1569 A.D. Akbar occupied the capital of Mewar, Chittor. Still Maharana Pratap continued his struggle with the Mughals.
- Victory over Gujarat. In 1572-73 A.D., Akbar got victory over Gujarat, (in) Victory over Bihar-Bengal. In 1574-76 A.D., Akbar defeated the rulers of Bihar and Bengal and occupied those states.
- Other victories. Slowly Akbar got hold of Kashmir, Sindh, Orissa, Balochistan and Kandhar.
2. Victories in South India. After north India, Akbar shifted his attention to south India, then in south India he got the following victories :
- Victory in Bijapur and Golkunda. This was achieved in 1591 A.D.
- Victory over Khandesh. In 1601 A.D. Sultan Ali Khan of Khandesh accepted the subordination of Akbar. •
- Control over Ahmednagar. In 1601 A.D., Akbar’s army defeated Chand Bibi of Ahmednagar and took control of the city.
- Control over Berar. Akbar even took control over the Berar area of south India.
