A historian reading Abu'l Fazl's own account of how he gathered material for the Akbar Nama observes that royal commands were issued to the provinces. What did these commands ask for?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Those who remembered past events were to copy out notes and memoranda and send them to the court.
Option (1) Provincial governors were to send yearly revenue accounts of their villages to the court. — Incorrect. Revenue figures do fill the Ain, but the command Abu'l Fazl mentions asked for memories of past events.
Option (2) Local poets were to compose verses on the emperor's victories for the history. — Incorrect. Poets appear in the Ain's biographical sketches, yet no command asked them for verses for the history.
Option (3) Zamindars were to report their castes and troops to the imperial officials. — Incorrect. Zamindars' castes and troops are columns of the Ain's sarkar tables, a separate record.
Option (4) Those who remembered past events were to copy out notes and memoranda and send them to the court. — Correct. The command asked people who remembered past events from long service to copy out their notes and memoranda and send them to court, as material for the history.
NCERT (2026-27): “8. The Ain-i Akbari of Abu’l Fazl Allami … |