Akbar and Birbal were walking in the palace grounds. Akbar said, 'Birbal, can you make me a throne out of nothing?' Birbal replied, 'Your Majesty, I can't make a throne out of nothing, but I can make you see a throne where there seems to be nothing.' He then led Akbar to a pool of water and showed Akbar the reflection of the grand throne in the water. Akbar realized Birbal's cleverness once again.
One day, Akbar asked Birbal, 'How many crows are there in my kingdom?' Birbal quickly replied, 'There are 99,463 crows in the kingdom.' Akbar was surprised and said, 'How can you be so sure?' Birbal said, 'If there are more, then some crows must be visiting from other kingdoms. If there are less, then some of our crows must be visiting other places.'
One day, Akbar lost his ring in the palace garden. He was very upset. He called Birbal and told him about it. Birbal went to the garden, came back and said, 'Your Majesty, the ring is not lost. It is just that the garden has swallowed it for a while.' Akbar was confused. Birbal then ordered the gardener to dig at a particular spot. There, they found the ring. Birbal had noticed the gardener acting suspiciously and guessed he might have found the ring and hidden it.
One story is about Akbar asking Birbal how many crows are there in the city. Birbal quickly replied that there are 99,999 crows. When Akbar questioned how he was so sure, Birbal said if there were more, then some crows from other cities must be visiting, and if there were less, then some of our crows must be visiting other cities.
One day, Akbar asked Birbal, 'How many crows are there in my kingdom?' Birbal quickly replied, 'There are 99,465 crows, Your Majesty.' Akbar was puzzled and asked how he knew. Birbal said, 'If there are more, some must be visiting from other kingdoms. If there are less, some must be on a journey.'
Akbar once told Birbal that he wanted to know what the most precious thing in the world was. Birbal thought for a while and said, 'Your Majesty, knowledge is the most precious thing. Because with knowledge, one can gain all other things like wealth, power and respect.' Akbar was very impressed with this answer and rewarded Birbal. This shows how Birbal's wisdom was not only in solving puzzles but also in giving profound thoughts.
One story is that Akbar once asked Birbal how many crows were in his kingdom. Birbal quickly replied, 'There are ninety - five thousand four hundred and sixty - three crows in the kingdom.' When Akbar was surprised and asked how he could be so sure, Birbal said, 'If there are more, then some crows must have come from other kingdoms to visit. If there are less, then some of our crows must be visiting other kingdoms.'
There was a time when Akbar got angry with Birbal and banished him from the court. After a while, Akbar missed Birbal's company. So he sent a message to Birbal saying that he should return if he could bring a gift that satisfies three conditions: it should be something that can be seen but not touched, it should be something that can be eaten but not digested, and it should be something that can be felt but not held. Birbal came back with a lighted lamp. Akbar could see the light but not touch it, the heat from the lamp could be felt but not held and the oil in the lamp could be 'eaten' by the flame but not digested. Akbar was so impressed that he welcomed Birbal back with great joy.
There was a time when Akbar lost his ring. He suspected that one of his servants had stolen it. He called Birbal and told him about the situation. Birbal thought for a while and then said that he would find the thief. He asked all the servants to come to the court. Then he gave each servant a stick of the same length and said that the thief's stick would grow two inches overnight. The next day, when all the servants presented their sticks, the one who had stolen the ring had cut his stick by two inches fearing that it would grow. Birbal easily identified the thief.
Sure. Once Akbar asked Birbal, 'How many crows are there in the city?' Birbal quickly replied, 'There are 50,589 crows, Your Majesty.' Akbar was surprised and asked, 'How can you be so sure?' Birbal said, 'If there were more, then the extra crows would be visiting from other places. If there were less, then the crows from our city would be visiting other places.'
One story is that Akbar once asked Birbal how many crows were in his kingdom. Birbal quickly replied, 'There are ninety - five thousand four hundred and sixty - three crows, Your Majesty.' Akbar was surprised and asked how he could be so sure. Birbal said, 'If Your Majesty finds more crows, then some crows from other kingdoms must have come to visit. If there are fewer, then some of our crows must have gone on a trip to other kingdoms.'