The series Jodha and Akbar is a story of incredible Indian love. Truth and fiction.

Who could have imagined that a marriage of convenience could be the beginning of a beautiful love story?

In 2008, an Indian series was released, which surpassed the ratings of the Turkish series “The Magnificent Century” – “Jodha and Akbar: The Story of Great Love”. It tells the story of the love between the great emperor Akbar and the Rajput princess Jodha. We will try to reconstruct the chronology of events and find out why this story is so unique.

Great Mongol Sultan

The story goes that Abul-Fath Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (Akbar I the Great) became a shahinshah at the age of 13 after the death of his father, Padishah Humayun. Until Akbar came of age, the country was ruled by the regent Bayram Khan.

Akbar’s reign was marked by numerous conquests. It took Akbar almost twenty years to strengthen his position, to subdue the rebellious rulers of North and Central India.

Rajput princess

The princess is mentioned in historical sources under different names: Hira Kunwari, Harkha Bai and Jodha Bai, but she is mainly known as Mariam uz-Zamani.

Manish Sinha, professor and historian at Mahadh University, said that “Jodha, Princess of Rajput, came from a noble Armenian family. This is evidenced by the large number of documents that were left to us by the Indian Armenians who moved to India in the 16-17 centuries ”.

Wedding of choice

The marriage of Akbar and Jodhi was the result of calculation, Akbar wished to consolidate his power in India.

On February 5, 1562, the wedding took place between Akbar and Jodha at the imperial military camp at Sambhar. This meant that the marriage was not equal. The marriage with the Rajput princess showed the whole world that Akbar wants to be the badshah or shahenshah of all his people, that is, both Hindus and Muslims.

Akbar and Jodha

Jodha became one of the two hundred wives of the padishah. But, according to sources, she became the most beloved, in the end the main wife.

Professor Sinha notes that “Hira Kunwari, being a beloved wife, had a special character. We can say that Jodha was overly cunning: she presented the heir Jahangir to the padishah, this undoubtedly strengthened her position on the throne. “

It was thanks to Jodha that the padishah became more tolerant, calmer. Indeed, only his beloved wife was able to give him the long-awaited heir.

Akbar died after a long illness in 1605, and Jodha outlived her husband by 17 years. She is buried in a tomb built by Akbar during his lifetime. The tomb is located a few kilometers from Agra, near Fatezpuri Sikri.