Akbar and Birbal Stories for Kids: 6 Short Stories with Morals

Few stories have been told to Indian children as often as the tales of Akbar and Birbal. The emperor sets an impossible puzzle, the court is stumped, and Birbal, calm and quick, finds an answer so simple that everyone wonders why they did not think of it. Children love them because the hero wins with his wits, not his sword, and because the answers are clever enough to repeat at school the next day.

A word on history first, because older children often ask. Akbar was a real Mughal emperor who ruled in the sixteenth century, and Birbal was a real member of his court, a Hindu minister and poet known as Raja Birbal, born Mahesh Das. But the witty stories about the two of them are folk tales. They grew up in the telling over centuries and are not historical records. It is perfectly fair to tell a child: these are legends about real people.

Here are six of the best, with the moral of each and a question to ask afterwards.

1. The line that grew shorter

One day Akbar drew a line on the floor of his court and challenged his courtiers: make this line shorter without touching or rubbing out any part of it. The courtiers stared at it, scratched their heads and gave up one by one. Then Birbal stepped forward, picked up the chalk and drew a much longer line right beside it. The first line was now the shorter one. He had not touched it at all.

Moral: there is more than one way to solve a problem; sometimes you change what is around it instead of the thing itself. Ask your child: can you think of another problem you could solve this way?

2. How many crows are in the city?

Akbar, in a playful mood, asked Birbal how many crows lived in the city. Without hesitating, Birbal named a number, something like ninety-five thousand four hundred and sixty-three. Akbar laughed and asked what would happen if he had the crows counted and there turned out to be more. Then, said Birbal, some crows must be visiting relatives from out of town. And if there are fewer? Then some of our crows must have gone to visit relatives elsewhere.

Moral: confidence and a quick mind can turn an impossible question into a joke everyone enjoys. Ask your child: was Birbal’s answer right, or just clever? Is there a difference?

3. Birbal’s khichdi

On a freezing winter night, Akbar wondered aloud whether anyone would stand in the cold lake all night for money. A poor man accepted the challenge and stood in the icy water until morning. When he came to claim his reward, Akbar asked how he had survived. The man said he had kept his eyes on a lamp burning in a palace window far away. Then, said the courtiers, he was warmed by the lamp, and should not be paid. Akbar agreed.

The next day Birbal did not come to court. When Akbar sent for him, the message came back that he was cooking khichdi. Hours passed. Finally Akbar went to see, and found a pot hanging high on a pole with a tiny fire burning far below it on the ground. How can it ever cook like that? asked Akbar. The same way, replied Birbal, that a man in a lake is warmed by a lamp in a distant window. Akbar understood at once, and the poor man was paid.

Moral: speak up for fairness, and sometimes the best way to show someone they are wrong is to let them see it for themselves. Ask your child: why didn’t Birbal just tell Akbar he was wrong?

4. The well and the water

A cunning man sold his well to a farmer. But when the farmer came to draw water, the man stopped him. I sold you the well, he said, not the water in it. The farmer took the case to Akbar’s court, and Birbal was asked to judge. Birbal listened and agreed with the seller. Very well, he said, the water belongs to you and the well belongs to the farmer. So you must take your water out of his well at once, or pay him rent for keeping it there. The seller quickly gave up his trick.

Moral: those who try to cheat with clever words can be caught by their own cleverness. Ask your child: how did Birbal use the man’s own argument against him?

5. The thief and the sticks

Something valuable had been stolen from a rich merchant’s house, and one of his servants must have taken it. Birbal gave each servant a stick of exactly the same length and said: these are magic sticks. By tomorrow morning, the thief’s stick will have grown by two inches. The next morning Birbal measured all the sticks. One was two inches shorter than the rest. The thief, frightened that his stick would grow, had cut it down in the night.

Moral: a guilty conscience gives itself away. Ask your child: why did only one servant cut his stick?

6. The most beautiful child

Akbar once asked his servant to search the city and bring back the most beautiful child he could find. The servant searched for days and finally returned with a small, ordinary-looking boy with a runny nose and messy hair. The courtiers laughed. Akbar was annoyed and asked what this meant. The servant replied that he had looked everywhere, and this was the most beautiful child in the world. It was his own son. Birbal smiled and told the emperor that to every parent, their own child is the most beautiful of all.

Moral: love sees beauty that others miss. Ask your child: who sees the best in you, even on your worst day?

Telling Akbar and Birbal stories well

These stories are built around a puzzle, so the best way to tell them is to stop just before Birbal’s answer and ask your child what they would do. Give them time. Children often come up with answers just as clever as Birbal’s, and they remember the story far better because they were part of solving it.

Many of these tales also exist in other forms. Similar stories are told about Tenali Raman at the court of Krishnadevaraya, and about clever advisers in folk traditions around the world, because a good puzzle story travels. In our live storytelling classes, children learn to tell stories like these to an audience, building the pause, the puzzle and the punchline, which turns out to be wonderful practice for confidence and public speaking too.