It was a matter of time when the fame of Emperor Akbar was spreading all over the world. At the same time, the king of Turkistan thought of testing Akbar’s intelligence. The king of Turkistan sent a message to his messenger and left for Delhi with some soldiers. The emperor wrote in the letter, ‘I have heard that there is such a tree in India, eating whose leaves can help in increasing the life of a human being. If this is true, then do send some leaves of that tree for me.
When Akbar read that letter, he fell into thought. To overcome this worry, Akbar took the support of Birbal. On Birbal’s advice, Emperor Akbar ordered the soldiers and messengers from Turkistan to be imprisoned. Akbar and Birbal went to see them one day after the soldier and the messenger had spent several days in prison. Seeing Akbar and Birbal coming, they started thinking that they would be released, but it did not happen.
When Emperor Akbar reached him, he told the messenger, ‘You will not free the people until one or two bricks of this fort fall. Until this happens, complete arrangements will be made for all of you to eat and drink here. Saying this, Emperor Akbar and Birbal left from there. After his departure, the messengers and soldiers started thinking of ways to get out of prison. When no way was seen, then started praying to God.
Soon his prayers paid off and after a few days a sudden strong earthquake occurred and a part of the fort collapsed due to the earthquake. After this incident, the messenger sent the news of the collapse of the fort wall to Akbar. On hearing this news, Emperor Akbar remembered his promise and he ordered the messengers and soldiers of Turkistan to appear in the court. As soon as he reached his court, Emperor Akbar said, ‘Now you all must have got the answer to the letter sent by your king. If you still don’t understand, let me explain. You are only 100 people and a part of the fort fell on hearing your sigh, so imagine how the life of the king of that country will increase in a country where thousands of people are tortured. His downfall is certain because of the sigh of the people. There is no oppression on any poor in our country of India. This is a tree of longevity.
A few days later, the king sent them all to their country and also gave some money for the expenses on the way. The messenger reached Turkistan and told the king in detail everything that had happened in India. Seeing the intelligence of Akbar-Birbal, the king of Turkistan praised them a lot in the court.
Learning from the story:
It is learned from this story that one should live with love with everyone and should not oppress the weak. At the same time, only that country progresses, where the people remain happy.
