ABUL FAZL (1551-1602), principal secretary-cum-minister to Akbar, the Mughal emperor. He was an accomplished man of learning and was the author of two celebrated works, Ā'īn-i-Akbarī and Akbar-nāmā, the former being a description of Akbar's administrative system and the latter a chronicle of the events of his reign. Like his father, Shaikh Mubārak, and brother, Faizī, Abul Fazl had Sūfī leanings, and all three of them were a major influence in moulding the religious policy of the emperor. Born at Akbarārbād on 14 January 1551, Abul Fazl took up service at the royal court in 1574, and through his uncommon wisdom and learning soon rose to become Akbar's most trusted adviser. He accompanied the emperor on his visit to Goindvāl on 24 November 1598 to see Gurū Arjan. The meeting is recorded in Abul Fazl's Akbar-nāmā. Abul Fazl was assassinated by Bīr Siṅgh Bundelā on 12 August 1602 at the behest of Prince Salīm, later Emperor Jahāṅgīr, who harboured a dislike for him for being his father's favourite.