Question map
Towards the end of his reign, Akbar added three provinces in the Deccan to his empire. Which of the following was not among these?
Explanation
Towards the end of his reign, Akbar expanded the Mughal Empire into the Deccan, successfully annexing three specific provinces: Berar, Khandesh, and Ahmadnagar. The process began with the acquisition of Berar in 1596 from Chand Bibi [c1]. This was followed by the fall of Ahmadnagar in 1600 after a prolonged siege [t1, t3]. Finally, the kingdom of Khandesh was annexed in 1601 following the capture of the strategic Asirgarh fort [t1, t5]. These three territories—Berar, Khandesh, and Ahmadnagar—are consistently cited as the three Deccan provinces added by Akbar [t3, t6]. In contrast, Bidar remained an independent Deccan Sultanate during Akbar's time. Although it had been weakened and partially annexed by Bijapur earlier [c4], Bidar was not incorporated into the Mughal Empire until much later, specifically during the reign of Aurangzeb in 1657. Therefore, Bidar was not among the provinces added by Akbar.
Sources
- [1] History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 14: The Mughal Empire > Akbar's Military Conquests > p. 206
- [2] History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 12: Bahmani and Vijayanagar Kingdoms > Decline of the Bahmani Kingdom > p. 179