Akbar; also known as Abu’l­Fath Jalal­ud­Din Muhammad Akbar or Shahanshah Akbar­e­Azam become the third emperor ruling from 1556 to 1605. He was the son of Emperor Humayun and grandson of Emperor Babur who had founded the mughal dyansty in India. They go back to the Timurid family which ruled over 4,400,000km2 for about 130 years. He was born in the year 1542 in Umarkot, Sindh, which is now part of Pakistan. His father had been in exile in Persia by Sher Shah Suri, A Pashtun leader. However, he with his parents did not go to Persia and stayed in a village of Rewa where he was brought up by his uncle. His youth was spent in hunting, running and fighting. He never had the chance of learning how to read and write. Akbar was only 13 years old when he became emperor as his father Humayun died from slipping over their library stairs, and so his general ruled on his behalf till he became 18. The regency belonged to Bairam Khan, a Shia Turkoman noble who successfully dealt with pretenders to the throne and improved the discipline of the Mughal armies. He ensured power was centralised and was able to expand the empire's boundaries with orders from the capital. These moves helped to consolidate Mughal power in the newly recovered empire. Early into Akbar's career, he decided that he should eliminate the threat of Sher Shah's dynasty, and decided to lead an army against the strongest of the three, Sikandar Shah Suri, in the Punjab. He left the city of Delhi under the regency of Tardi Baig Khan. Sikandar Shah Suri presented no major concern for Akbar, and often withdrew from territory as Akbar approached; however, back in Delhi Hemu, a low­caste Hindu warrior, succeeded in launching a surprise attack on the unprepared Tardi Baig Khan in October 1556, who promptly fled the city. Hemu, who had launched the attack on behalf of Adil Shah Suri, one of Sikandar's brothers, had won 22 successive battles and appointed himself ruler, or Raja Vikramaditya, instead Adil Shah. Word of the capitulation of Delhi spread quickly to the new Mughal ruler, and he was advised to withdraw to Kabul, which was relatively secure. However, Bairam Khan differed and urged Akbar to fight the invaders and reclaim the capital. Akbar sided with Bairam, and began to march on Delhi. In order to bolster troop morale, Akbar took the curious step of ordering that someone "prepare fireworks as a treat for the soldiers" and that one should "make an image of Hemu, fill it with gunpowder, and set it on fire". On the march forward, he was joined by Tardi Baig and his retreating troops, who also urged him to retreat to Kabul, but Akbar refused again; later, Bairam Khan had the former regent executed for cowardice, though Abul Fazl and Jahangir both record that they believed that Bairam Khan was merely using the retreat from Kabul as an excuse to eliminate a rival.

On November 5, 1556 Akbar's Mughal army defeated the numerically superior forces of General Hemu at the Second Battle of Panipat, fifty miles north of Delhi. Hemu had won the second battle of Panipat if he hadn’t got unconscious by the arrow in his eye. Hemu was brought before Akbar unconscious, and was beheaded. After which, his army got disturbed and withdrew the battle. Hemu was then captured and brought in front of Akbar where he was told to behead the king. However, some sources say that it was actually Bairam Khan who beheaded Hemu, but Akbar certainly did use the term "Ghazi", warrior for the faith, a term used by both Babur, his grandfather, and Timur. Hemu's head was sent to Kabul while his body was displayed on a type of gallows specially constructed to display this dead body. Even more gruesomely Akbar followed an old Khanate tradition, one which pre­dates even Genghis Khan, and constructed a "victory pillar" made from the heads of the dead soldiers. Not only he had won Delhi back but along with it he was awarded by 1500 war elephants (of Hemu) which he used to re­engage Sikandar Shah at the