Akbar remained illiterate and uneducated all his life. He had to occupy the throne at the early age of 13 years after the untimely death of his father Humayun.
The Mughal emperor Akbar established a Translation Department. The department was given the task of translating Hindu religious scriptures, such as the Atharvaveda, the Mahabharata, Harivamsa and the Ramayana into Persian.