Akbar and Birbal stories

Akbar and Birbal stories in English — short court tales in which the emperor sets a trap and his minister walks straight through it.

5 stories

Birbal's Khichdi4-6 min read · 13 pagesBirbal's khichdi, an Akbar and Birbal story to read aloud. A poor man earns a reward, and the court finds a reason not to pay it.
The Crow Count2-3 min read · 13 pagesThe crow count, an Akbar and Birbal story to read aloud. How many crows are there in the city? Birbal gives an exact number.
The Longest Line2-3 min read · 12 pagesThe longest line, an Akbar and Birbal story to read aloud. Make this line shorter without touching it, says the emperor.
The Stick That Grew3-4 min read · 10 pagesThe stick that grew, an Akbar and Birbal story to read aloud. A necklace is stolen, and Birbal gives every servant a stick of the same length.
The Wisest Answer3-4 min read · 10 pagesThe wisest answer, an Akbar and Birbal story to read aloud. The emperor asks four impossible questions and gets four short replies.

Akbar ruled most of India from 1556 to 1605, and Birbal was one of his ministers. The stories about the two of them are not history: they are folk tales that grew up round a real court, and they all have the same shape — the emperor asks something impossible, the courtiers flounder, and Birbal answers in one sentence.

They are among the shortest stories on this site and the easiest to tell at a table. A poor man stands all night in a freezing river and is refused his reward because a lamp burned on the far bank; Birbal cooks a pot of khichdi a yard above the fire and lets the court work out the rest for itself.

What makes them worth reading now is that Birbal never wins by being stronger or richer than anybody. He wins by taking the question completely seriously — and a child who has met a few of these starts doing the same thing in arguments, which is either a gift or a warning depending on whose child it is.

Frequently asked

Were Akbar and Birbal real?

Akbar certainly was — a Mughal emperor who ruled from 1556 to 1605. Birbal was a real minister at his court too, though almost nothing in these stories actually happened. They are folk tales attached to real names.

How long are they?

Two to six minutes, which makes them the shortest thing here apart from the nursery rhymes. Birbal's khichdi is the longest of the five.

What age are they for?

From about six. Younger children enjoy the pictures but the point of each story is an argument, and that lands better once a child has started making arguments of their own.

Want to know where the classic fairy tales come from? The articles are here

Akbar and Birbal stories

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