Rulers of India

Akbar's rise to power takes shape against the fortunes of his grandfather Bábar and his father Humáyún. G. B. Malleson begins this historical biography by tracing their conquests, reverses and methods of government, then turns to the young ruler who inherited their uncertain position in India. His central argument concerns the difference between winning territory and establishing a lasting empire: he credits Akbar's policies of toleration and conciliation with giving Mughal rule firmer foundations.

The account combines questions of administration with closely described military episodes. During the campaign in Gujarát, Akbar arranges provincial government, visits Cambay and encounters the sea, then pursues a rival through country crossed by lanes and cactus hedges. These concrete scenes give readers a way into the political history of sixteenth-century India, while Malleson's stated argument makes the biography useful for examining how a nineteenth-century historian understood imperial power.