section_path: Military campaigns/Annexation of Western and Eastern India
section_name: Annexation of Western and Eastern India
paragraph_text: Annexation of Western and Eastern India
  
  Akbar's next military objectives were the conquest of Gujarat and Bengal, which connected India with the trading centres of Asia, Africa, and Europe through the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Gujarat had also been a haven for rebellious Mughal nobles. In Bengal, the Afghans still held considerable influence under their ruler, Sulaiman Khan Karrani. Akbar first moved against Gujarat, which lay in the crook of the Mughal provinces of Rajputana and Malwa. Gujarat possessed areas of rich agricultural production in its central plain, an impressive output of textiles and other industrial goods, and the busiest seaports of India. Akbar intended to link the maritime state with the massive resources of the Indo-Gangetic plains.
  
  Akbar's ostensible casus belli for warring with Gujarat was that the rebel Mirzas, who had previously been driven out of India, were now operating out of a base in southern Gujarat. Moreover, Akbar had received invitations from cliques in Gujarat to oust the reigning king, which further served as justification for his military expedition. In 1572, Akbar moved to occupy Ahmedabad, the capital, and other northern cities, and was proclaimed the lawful sovereign of Gujarat. By 1573, he had driven out the Mirzas who, after offering token resistance, fled for refuge in the Deccan. Surat, the commercial capital of the region, and other coastal cities soon capitulated to the Mughals. The king, Muzaffar Shah III, was caught hiding in a corn field; he was pensioned off by Akbar with a small allowance.
  
  Akbar then returned to Fatehpur Sikiri, where he built the Buland Darwaza to commemorate his victories. But, a rebellion by Afghan nobles supported by the Rajput ruler of Idar, as well as the renewed intrigues of the Mirzas, forced his return to Gujarat. Akbar crossed Rajputana and reached Ahmedabad in 11 days—a journey that normally took six weeks. The outnumbered Mughal army won a decisive victory on 2 September 1573. Akbar slew the rebel leaders and erected a tower out of their severed heads. The conquest and subjugation of Gujarat proved highly profitable for the Mughals; after expenses, the territory yielded a revenue of more than five million rupees annually to Akbar's treasury.
  
  After conquering Gujarat, the remaining centre of Afghan power was Bengal. In 1572, Sulaiman Khan's son, Daud Khan, succeeded him. Daud Khan defined Mughal rule, assuming the insignia of royalty and ordering that the khutbah be proclaimed in his name, rather than Akbar's. Munim Khan, the Mughal governor of Bihar, was ordered to chastise Daud Khan. Eventually, Akbar himself set out to Bengal, and in 1574, the Mughals seized Patna from Daud Khan, who fled to Bengal. Akbar then returned to Fatehpur Sikri and left his generals to finish the campaign. The Mughal army was subsequently victorious at the Battle of Tukaroi in 1575, which led to the annexation of Bengal and parts of Bihar that had been under the dominion of Daud Khan. Only Orissa was left in the hands of the Karrani dynasty, albeit as a fief of the Mughal Empire. A year later, however, Daud Khan rebelled and attempted to regain Bengal. He was defeated by the Mughal general Khan Jahan Quli and fled into exile. Daud Khan was later captured and executed by Mughal forces. His severed head was sent to Akbar, while his limbs were gibbeted at Tandah, the Mughal capital in Bengal.