I will pass over with but few comments his military expeditions which can have no interest for the general public.  When Akbar ascended the throne his realm comprised only a very small portion of the possessions which had been subject to his predecessors.  With the energy which was a fundamental characteristic of his nature he once more took possession of the provinces which had been torn from the empire, at the same time undertaking the conquest of new lands, and accomplished this task with such good fortune that in the fortieth year of his reign the empire of India covered more territory than ever before; that is to say, not only the whole of Hindustan including the peninsula Gujerat, the lands of the Indus and Kashmir but also Afghanistan and a larger part of the Dekkhan than had ever been subject to any former Padishah of Delhi.  At this time while the Emperor had his residence at Lahore the phrase was current in India, “As lucky as Akbar."[8]

  [Footnote 8:  J.T.  Wheeler, IV, I, 180.]

It was apparent often enough in the military expeditions that Akbar far surpassed his contemporaries in generalship.  But it was not the love of war and conquest which drove him each time anew to battle; a sincere desire inspired by a mystical spirit impelled him to bring to an end the ceaseless strife between the small states of India by joining them to his realm, and thus to found a great united empire.[9]

  [Footnote 9:  Noer, II, 8, 390, 423.]

More worthy of admiration than the subjugation of such large territories in which of course many others have also been successful, is the fact that Akbar succeeded in establishing order, peace, and prosperity in the regained and newly subjugated provinces.  This he brought about by the introduction of a model administration, an excellent police, a regulated post service, and especially a just division of taxes.[10] Up to Akbar’s time corruption had been a matter of course in the entire official service and enormous sums in the treasury were lost by peculation on the part of tax collectors.

  [Footnote 10:  For the following compare Noer I, 391 ff.; M.
  Elphinstone, 529 ff.; G.B.  Malleson, 172 ff., 185 ff.]

Akbar first divided the whole realm into twelve and later into fifteen viceregencies, and these into provinces, administrative districts and lesser subdivisions, and governed the revenues of the empire on the basis of a uniformly exact survey of the land.  He introduced a standard of measurement, replacing the hitherto customary land measure (a leather strap which was easily lengthened or shortened according to the need of the measuring officer) by a new instrument of measurement in the form of a bamboo staff which was provided with iron rings at definite intervals.  For purposes of assessment land was divided into four classes according to the kind of cultivation practiced upon it.  The first class comprised arable land with a constant