Children's Day is to celebrate "childhood". On Children’s Day tribute is payed to all children in the world. Children are loved by one and all. They win over our hearts with their angelic eyes and innocent smiles. It makes one realise that maybe that’s the way God wanted us to be.

India's first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was born on November 14. After his death in 1963, his birthday has been celebrated as children's Day in India.Children's Day is not just a day to let the future generation have its say. It is a day to remember a leader who, in his quiet but determined way, laid the foundation to convert a nascent nation into a world power.

But why Children's Day? Apart from being known for his skills as a statesman, Nehru was also immensely fond of children. The more popular and famous of Nehru's pictures show him with children.

In all the photographs Nehru's joy at being with children is apparent. When he is not sharing pleasantries

with them, the expression of intense concentration as he listens to them reveals his commitment and attitude to children. Children to Nehru were little adults in the making.Nehru, to children, is never the Indian political leader and prime minister. He is always Chacha Nehru - Nehru Uncle.

Children's Day is celebrated all over India, especially at the school level. There are also community activities with stress on children's involvement.

The story also goes that he started to wear a rose on his jacket after a child pinned one on it.The national children's centre, Jawahar Bal Bhavan, is also named after Jawaharlal Nehru. Children's Day is literally that. It is the day when children all over the country are pampered with goodies. From the schoolchild's point of view, the best thing perhaps is that it is a special day at school - they need not wear uniforms and are given sweets.

Celebrations:

Most schools have cultural programmes for the day, with the students managing it all. All over the country, various cultural, social, and even corporate, institutions conduct competitions for children. Children's Day is a day for children to engage in fun and frolic. Schools celebrate this day by organising cultural programmes.Teachers of the school perform songs and dances for their students. Various competitions like quizzes, fancy dress competitions, elocutions are organised on this day. Children are also treated to a movie and lunch.Television networks have in the recent years started to air special programmes all day long for kids on November 14, making this day a special treat.

Children's Day in Japan:

National Children's Day in Japan is known as Kodomo no Hi. It is celebrtaed on May5. The family celebrates the festival with Kashiwamochi (rice cakes filled with red beans and wrapped with oak leaves) and Chimaki (rice cakes wrapped with bamboo leaves). According to the Kodansha encyclopedia, the origin of the festival was from China in 839. On May 5, Chinese people hang medical herbs from the eaves of the roof in order to repel disease. When the custom came to Japan, people used Shobu (irises) instead since irises were believed to repel evil spirits. During twelveth century, the custom was influenced by the warrior class. Since another meaning of Shobu is victory or defeat, the practice of giving little boys kites with pictures of warriors on them were spread in Japan. In the Edo period (1600-1868), streamers with pictures of carp were presented to boys. Recently, many families live in apartments not houses. They display samll carp streamers or Kabuto at their homes because of limited space.

In computing, a mouse (plural mice or mouses) functions as a pointing device by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of a small case, held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons. It sometimes features other elements, such as "wheels", which allow the user to perform various system-dependent operations, or extra buttons or features can add more control or dimensional input. The mouse's motion typically translates into the motion of a pointer on a display.

The name mouse, coined at the Stanford Research Institute, derives from the resemblance of early models (which had a cord attached to the rear part of the device, suggesting the idea of a tail) to the common eponymous rodent.^[1]

The first marketed integrated mouse — shipped as a part of a computer and intended for personal computer navigation — came with the Xerox 8010 Star Information System in 1981.

Technologies

Early mice

Early mouse patents. From left to right: Opposing track wheels by Engelbart, Nov. 1970, U.S. Patent 3,541,541 . Ball and wheel by Rider, Sept. 1974, U.S. Patent 3,835,464 . Ball and two rollers with spring by Opocensky, Oct. 1976, U.S. Patent 3,987,685 .

The first computer mouse, held by inventor Douglas Engelbart, showing the wheels that make contact with the working surface

A Smaky mouse, as invented at the EPFL by Jean-Daniel Nicoud and André Guignard.

Douglas Engelbart of the Stanford Research Institute invented the mouse in 1963^[2][3] after extensive usability testing. Several other experimental pointing-devices developed for Engelbart's oN-Line System (NLS) exploited different body movements — for example, head-mounted devices attached to the chin or nose — but ultimately the mouse won out because of its simplicity and convenience. The first mouse, a bulky device (pictured) used two gear-wheels perpendicular to each other: the rotation of each wheel translated into motion along one axis. Engelbart received patent US3541541 on November 17, 1970 for an "X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System".^[4] At the time, Engelbart envisaged that users would hold the mouse continuously in one hand and type on a five-key chord keyset with the other.^[5]

Mechanical mice

Operating a mechanical mouse.
1: moving the mouse turns the ball.
2: X and Y rollers grip the ball and transfer movement.
3: Optical encoding disks include light holes.
4: Infrared LEDs shine through the disks.
5: Sensors gather light pulses to convert to X and Y velocities.

Bill English, builder of Engelbart's original mouse,^[6] invented the so-called ball mouse in 1972 while working for Xerox PARC.^[7] The ball-mouse replaced the external wheels with a single ball that could rotate in any direction. It came as part of the hardware package of the Xerox Alto computer. Perpendicular chopper wheels housed inside the mouse's body chopped beams of light on the way to light sensors, thus detecting in their turn the motion of the ball. This variant of the mouse resembled an inverted trackball and became the predominant form used with personal computers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The Xerox PARC group also settled on the modern technique of using both hands to type on a full-size keyboard and grabbing the mouse when required.

The ball mouse utilizes two rollers rolling against two sides of the ball. One roller detects the horizontal motion of the mouse and other the vertical motion. The motion of these two rollers causes two disc-like encoder wheels to rotate, interrupting optical beams to generate electrical signals. The mouse sends these signals to the computer system by means of connecting wires. The driver software in the system converts the signals into motion of the mouse pointer along X and Y axes on the screen.

Ball mice and wheel mice were manufactured for Xerox by Jack Hawley, doing business as The Mouse House in Berkeley, California, starting in 1975.^[8][9]

Based on another invention by Jack Hawley, proprietor of the Mouse House, Honeywell produced another type of mechanical mouse.^[10][11] Instead of a ball, it had two wheels rotating at off axes. Keytronic later produced a similar product.^[12]

Modern computer mice took form at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) under the inspiration of Professor Jean-Daniel Nicoud and at the hands of engineer and watchmaker André Guignard.^[13] This new design incorporated a single hard rubber mouseball and three buttons, and remained a common design until the mainstream adoption of the scroll-wheel mouse during the 1990s.^[14]

Optical mice

An optical mouse uses a light-emitting diode and photodiodes to detect movement relative to the underlying surface, rather than moving some of its parts — as in a mechanical mouse.

Early optical mice, circa 1980, came in two different varieties:

1. Some, such as those invented by Steve Kirsch^[15][16] of Mouse Systems Corporation, used an infrared LED and a four-quadrant infrared sensor to detect grid lines printed with infrared absorbing ink on a special metallic surface. Predictive algorithms in the CPU of the mouse calculated the speed and direction over the grid.
2. Others, invented by Richard F. Lyon and sold by Xerox, used a 16-pixel visible-light image sensor with integrated motion detection on the same chip^[17] and tracked the motion of light dots in a dark field of a printed paper or similar mouse pad.^[18]

These two mouse types had very different behaviors, as the Kirsch mouse used an x-y coordinate system embedded in the pad, and would not work correctly when rotated, while the Lyon mouse used the x-y coordinate system of the mouse body, as mechanical mice do.

The optical sensor from a Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer (v. 1.0A).

As computing power grew cheaper, it became possible to embed more powerful special-purpose image-processing chips in the mouse itself. This advance enabled the mouse to detect relative motion on a wide variety of surfaces, translating the movement of the mouse into the movement of the pointer and eliminating the need for a special mouse-pad. This advance paved the way for widespread adoption of optical mice.

Modern surface-independent optical mice work by using an optoelectronic sensor to take successive pictures of the surface on which the mouse operates. Most of these mice use LEDs to illuminate the surface that they track over; marketers often mislabel these LED optical mice as laser mice, confusing them with true laser mice. Changes between one frame and the next are processed by the image processing part of the chip and translated into movement on the two axes using an optical flow estimation algorithm. For example, the Avago Technologies ADNS-2610 optical mouse sensor processes 1512 frames per second: each frame consisting of a rectangular array of 18×18 pixels, and each pixel can sense 64 different levels of gray.^[19]

Laser mice

As early as 1998, Sun Microsystems provided a laser mouse with their Sun SPARCstation servers and workstations.^[20] However, laser mice did not enter the mainstream market until 2004, when Logitech, in partnership with Agilent Technologies, introduced the laser mouse with its MX 1000 model.^[21] This mouse uses a small infrared laser instead of an LED, which increases the resolution of the image taken by the mouse. This leads to around 20× more surface tracking power to the surface features used for navigation compared to conventional optical mice, via interference effects.^[22] While the implementation of a laser slightly increases sensitivity and resolution, the main advantage comes from power usage. Logitech engineers designed their laser mouse — as a wireless mouse — to save as much power as possible. In order to do this, the mouse blinks the laser when in standby-mode (Each mouse has a different standby time). This function also increases the laser life. Laser mice designed specifically for gamers, such as the Logitech G5 or the Razer Copperhead, appeared later and lack this feature, in an attempt to reduce latency and to improve responsiveness.

Optical versus mechanical mice

The Logitech iFeel optical mouse uses a red LED to project light onto the tracking surface.

Unlike mechanical mice, which can become clogged with lint, optical mice have no rolling parts; therefore, they do not require maintenance other than removing debris that might collect under the light emitter. However, they generally cannot track on glossy and transparent surfaces, including some mouse-pads, sometimes causing the cursor to drift unpredictably during operation. Mice with less image-processing power also have problems tracking fast movement, though high-end mice can track at 2 m/s (80 inches per second) and faster.

Some models of laser mice can track on glossy and transparent surfaces, and have a much higher sensitivity than either their mechanical or optical counterparts. Such models of laser mice cost more than both their LED based counterparts and mechanical mice.^[23]

As of 2006, mechanical mice have lower average power demands than their optical counterparts. This typically has no practical impact for users of cabled mice (except possibly those used with battery-powered computers, such as notebook models), but has an impact on battery-powered wireless models.

Optical models will outperform mechanical mice on uneven, slick, soft, sticky, or loose surfaces, and generally in mobile situations lacking mouse pads. Because optical mice render movement based on an image which the LED illuminates, use with multi-colored mousepads may result in unreliable performance; however, laser mice do not suffer these problems and will track on such surfaces. The advent of affordable high-speed, low-resolution cameras and the integrated logic in optical mice provides an ideal laboratory for experimentation on next-generation input-devices. Experimenters can obtain low-cost components simply by taking apart a working mouse and changing the optics or by writing new software.

Inertial mice

Inertial mice use a tuning fork or other accelerometer (US Patent 4787051) to detect movement for every axis supported. Usually cordless, they often have a switch to deactivate the movement circuitry between use, allowing the user freedom of movement without affecting the pointer position. A patent for an inertial mouse claims that such mice consume less power than optically based mice, offer an increased level of sensitivity, and reduced weight and increased ease-of-use.^[24]

3D mice

Also known as flying mice, bats, or wands, these devices generally function through ultrasound. Probably the best known example would be 3DConnexion/Logitech's SpaceMouse from the early 1990s.

In the late 1990s Kantek introduced the 3D RingMouse. This wireless mouse was worn on a ring around a finger, which enabled the thumb to access three buttons. The mouse was tracked in three dimensions by a base station.^[25] Despite a certain appeal, it was finally discontinued because it did not provide sufficient resolution.

A recent consumer 3D pointing device is the Wii Remote. While primarily a motion-sensing device (that is, it can determine its orientation and direction of movement), Wii Remote can also detect its spatial position by comparing the distance and position of the lights from the IR emitter using its integrated IR camera (since the nunchuk lacks a camera, it can only tell its current heading and orientation). The obvious drawback to this approach is that it can only produce spatial coordinates while its camera can see the sensor bar.

Double mouse

Double mouse allow for two mice to be used by both hands as input devices such as when operating various graphics and multimedia applications. ^[26]

Connectivity and communication protocols

To transmit their input, typical cabled mice use a thin electrical cord terminating in a standard connector, such as RS-232C, PS/2, ADB or USB. Cordless mice instead transmit data via infrared radiation (see IrDA) or radio (including Bluetooth or WiFi), although many such cordless interfaces are themselves connected through the aforementioned wired serial busses.

While the electrical interface and the format of the data transmitted by commonly available mice is currently standardized on USB, in the past it varied between different manufacturers.

Serial interface and protocol

Standard PC mice once used the RS-232C serial standard (released in 1969), via a DB-9 connector. The Mouse Systems Corporation version used a five-byte protocol and supported three buttons. The Microsoft version used an incompatible three-byte protocol and only allowed for two buttons. Due to the incompatibility, some manufacturers sold serial mice with a mode switch: "PC" for MSC mode, "MS" for Microsoft mode.^[27]

PS/2 interface and protocol

For more details on this topic, see PS/2 connector.

With the arrival of the IBM PS/2 personal-computer series in 1987, IBM introduced the eponymous PS/2 interface for mice and keyboards, which other manufacturers rapidly adopted. The most visible change was the use of a round 6-pin mini-DIN, in lieu of the former 5-pin connector. In default mode (called stream mode) a PS/2 mouse communicates motion, and the state of each button, by means of 3-byte packets.^[28] For any motion, button press or button release event, a PS/2 mouse sends, over a bi-directional serial port, a sequence of three bytes, with the following format:

Here, XS and YS represent the sign bits of the movement vectors, XV and YV indicate an overflow in the respective vector component, and LB, MB and RB indicate the status of the left, middle and right mouse buttons (1 = pressed). PS/2 mice also understand several commands for reset and self-test, switching between different operating modes, and changing the resolution of the reported motion vectors.

Extensions: IntelliMouse and others

A Microsoft IntelliMouse relies on an extension of the PS/2 protocol: the ImPS/2 or IMPS/2 protocol (the abbreviation combines the concepts of "IntelliMouse" and "PS/2"). It initially operates in standard PS/2 format, for backwards compatibility. After the host sends a special command sequence, it switches to an extended format in which a fourth byte carries information about wheel movements. The IntelliMouse Explorer works analogously, with the difference that its 4-byte packets also allow for two additional buttons (for a total of five).^[29]

The Typhoon mouse uses 6-byte packets which can appear as a sequence of two standard 3-byte packets, such that ordinary PS/2 driver can handle them.^[30]

Mouse-vendors also use other extended formats, often without providing public documentation.

For 3D or 6DOF input, vendors have made many extensions both to the hardware and to software. In the late 90's Logitech created ultrasound based tracking which gave 3D input to a few millimeters accuracy, which worked well as an input device but failed as a money making product.

Apple Desktop Bus

Apple Macintosh Plus mice, 1986.

In 1986 Apple first implemented the Apple Desktop Bus allowing the daisy-chaining together of up to 16 devices, including arbitrarily many mice and other devices on the same bus with no configuration whatsoever. Featuring only a single data pin, the bus used a purely polled approach to computer/mouse communications and survived as the standard on mainstream models (including a number of non-Apple workstations) until 1998 when iMac began the industry-wide switch to using USB. Beginning with the "Bronze Keyboard" PowerBook G3 in May 1999, Apple dropped the external ADB port in favor of USB, but retained an internal ADB connection in the PowerBook G4 for communication with its built-in keyboard and trackpad until early 2005.

Tactile mice

In 2000, Logitech introduced the "tactile mouse", which contained a small actuator that made the mouse vibrate. Such a mouse can augment user-interfaces with haptic feedback, such as giving feedback when crossing a window boundary.

Other unusual variants have included a mouse that a user holds freely in the hand, rather than on a flat surface, and that detects six dimensions of motion (the three spatial dimensions, plus rotation on three axes). Its vendor marketed it for business presentations in which the speaker stands or walks around. So far, these mice have not achieved widespread popularity.

Buttons

In contrast to the motion-sensing mechanism, the mouse's buttons have changed little over the years, varying mostly in shape, number, and placement. Engelbart's very first mouse had a single button; Xerox PARC soon designed a three-button model, but reduced the count to two for Xerox products. After experimenting with 4-button prototypes Apple reduced it back to one button with the Macintosh in 1984, while Unix workstations from Sun and others used three buttons. OEM bundled mice usually have between one and three buttons, although in the aftermarket many mice have always had five or more.

Apple Mighty Mouse with capacitance triggered buttons

The three-button scrollmouse has become the most commonly available design. As of 2007 (and roughly since the late 1990s), users most commonly employ the second button to invoke a contextual menu in the computer's software user interface, which contains options specifically tailored to the interface element over which the mouse pointer currently sits. By default, the primary mouse button sits located on the left-hand side of the mouse, for the benefit of right-handed users; left-handed users can usually reverse this configuration via software.

On systems with three-button mice, pressing the center button (a middle click) typically opens a system-wide noncontextual menu. In the X Window System, middle-clicking by default pastes the contents of the primary buffer at the pointer's position. Many users of two-button mice emulate a three-button mouse by clicking both the right and left buttons simultaneously.

Additional buttons

Aftermarket manufacturers have long built mice with five or more buttons. Depending on the user's preferences and software environment, the extra buttons may allow forward and backward web-navigation, scrolling through a browser's history, or other functions, including mouse related functions like quick-changing the mouse's resolution/sensitivity. As with similar features in keyboards, however, not all software supports these functions. The additional buttons become especially useful in computer games, where quick and easy access to a wide variety of functions (for example, weapon-switching in first-person shooters) can give a player an advantage. Because software can map mouse-buttons to virtually any function, keystroke, application or switch, extra buttons can make working with such a mouse more efficient and easier.

In the matter of the number of buttons, Douglas Engelbart favored the view "as many as possible". The prototype that popularised the idea of three buttons as standard had that number only because "we could not find anywhere to fit any more switches".

Wheels

The scroll wheel, a notably different form of mouse-button, consists of a small wheel that the user can rotate to provide immediate one-dimensional input. Usually, this input translates into "scrolling" up or down within the active window or GUI-element . The scroll wheel can provide convenience, especially when navigating a long document. The scroll wheel nearly always includes a third (center) button. Under many Microsoft Windows applications, appropriate pressure on the wheel activates autoscrolling, and in conjunction with the control key (Ctrl) may give the capability of zooming in and out; applications that support this feature include Adobe Reader, Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, Opera, Mozilla Firefox and Mulberry. Some applications also allow the user to scroll left and right by pressing the shift key while using the mouse wheel.

Note that scrollwheels almost always function more as two switches, rotating only in discrete "clicks" rather than actually acting as a third analog axis.

Manufacturers may refer to scroll-wheels by different names for branding purposes; Genius, for example, usually brand their scroll-wheel-equipped products "Netscroll".

Mouse Systems introduced the scroll-wheel commercially in 1995,^[31] marketing it as the Mouse Systems ProAgio and Genius EasyScroll. However, mainstream adoption of the scroll wheel mouse did not occur until Microsoft released the Microsoft IntelliMouse in 1996. It became a commercial success in 1997 when their Microsoft Office application suite and their Internet Explorer browser started supporting its wheel-scrolling feature.^[32] Since then the scroll wheel has become a standard feature of many mouse models.

Some newer mouse models have two wheels, separately assigned to horizontal and vertical scrolling. Designs exist which make use of a "rocker" button instead of a wheel — a pivoting button that a user can press at the top or bottom, simulating "up" and "down" respectively. A peculiar early example was a mouse by Saitek which had a joystick-style hatswitch on it.

A more recent form of mouse wheel is the tilt-wheel. Tilt wheels are essentially conventional mouse wheels that have been modified with a pair of sensors articulated to the tilting mechanism. These sensors are mapped, by default, to horizontal scrolling.

A third variety of built-in scrolling device, the scroll ball, essentially consists of a trackball embedded in the upper surface of the mouse. The user can scroll in all possible directions in very much the same way as with the actual mouse, and in some mice, can use it as a trackball. Mice featuring a scroll ball include Apple's Mighty Mouse and the IOGEAR 4D Web Cruiser Optical Scroll Ball Mouse. IBM's ergonomics laboratory designed a mouse with a pointing stick in it,^[33] envisioned to be used for scrolling, zooming or (with appropriate software) controlling a second mouse cursor.

Button techniques

• Rollover
• Drag
• Click
  • (left) Single-click
  • (left) Double-click
  • (left) Triple-click
  • Right-click
• Rocker
  • Combination of right-click then left-click or keyboard letter
  • Combination of left-click then right-click or keyboard letter
  • Combination of left or right-click and the mouse wheel

Common button operations

• Select
• Launch (an application)
• Cut
• Paste
• Drag and drop

Mouse speed

The computer industry often measures mouse sensitivity in terms of counts per inch (CPI), commonly expressed less correctly as dots per inch (DPI) — the number of steps the mouse will report when it moves one inch. In early mice, this specification was called pulses per inch (ppi).^[8] If the default mouse-tracking condition involves moving the pointer by one screen-pixel or dot on-screen per reported step, then the CPI does equate to DPI: dots of pointer motion per inch of mouse motion. The CPI or DPI as reported by manufacturers depends on how they make the mouse; the higher the CPI, the faster the pointer moves with mouse movement. However, software can adjust the mouse sensitivity, making the cursor move faster or slower than its DPI. Current software can change the speed of the pointer dynamically, taking into account the mouse's absolute speed and the movement from the last stop-point. Different software may name the settings "acceleration" or "speed" — referring respectively to "threshold" and "pointer precision".

For simple software, when the mouse starts to move, the software will count the number of "counts" received from the mouse and will move the pointer across the screen by that number of pixels (or multiplied by a factor f1=1,2,3). So, the pointer will move slowly on the screen, having a good precision. When the movement of the mouse reaches the value set for "threshold", the software will start to move the pointer more quickly; thus for each number n of counts received from the mouse, the pointer may move (f2 x n) pixels, where f2=2,3...10. Usually, the user can set the value of f2 by changing the "acceleration" setting.

Operating systems sometimes apply acceleration, referred to as "ballistics", to the motion reported by the mouse. For example, versions of Windows prior to Windows XP doubled reported values above a configurable threshold, and then optionally doubled them again above a second configurable threshold. These doublings applied separately in the X and Y directions, resulting in very nonlinear response. For example one can see how the things work in Microsoft Windows NT. Starting with Windows XP OS version of Microsoft and many OS versions for Apple Macintosh, computers use a smoother ballistics calculation that compensates for screen-resolution and has better linearity.

Etymology and plural

The first known publication of the word "mouse" is in Bill English's 1965 publication "Computer-Aided Display Control"^[34]

The Compact Oxford English Dictionary (third edition) and the fourth edition of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language endorse both computer mice and computer mouses as correct plural forms for computer mouse. The form mice, however, appears most commonly, while some authors of technical documents may prefer either mouse devices or the more generic pointing devices. The plural mouses treats mouse as a "headless noun."

Accessories

Mousepad

Englebart's original mouse did not require a mousepad;^[35] the mouse had two large wheels which could roll on virtually any surface. However, most subsequent mouses starting with the steel roller ball mouse have needed mousepads in order to perform effectively.

The mousepad, the most common mouse accessory, appears most commonly in conjunction with mechanical mice, because in order to roll smoothly, the ball requires more friction than common desk surfaces usually provide. So-called "hard mousepads" for gamers or optical/laser mice also exist.

Although most optical and laser mice do not require a pad, some users find that using a mousepad provides more comfort and less jitter of the pointer on the display.^{[citation needed]} Whether to use a hard or soft mousepad with an optical mouse is largely a matter of personal preference. One exception occurs when the desk surface creates problems for the optical or laser tracking. Other cases may involve keeping desk or table surfaces free of scratches and deterioration; when the grain pattern on the surface causes inaccurate tracking of the pointer, or when the mouse-user desires a more comfortable mousing surface to work on and reduced collection of debris under the mouse.^{[citation needed]}

Foot covers

Mouse foot-covers (or foot-pads) consists of low-friction or polished plastic. This makes the mouse glide with less resistance over a surface. Some higher quality models have teflon feet to reduce friction even further.

Mice in the marketplace

Around 1981 Xerox included mice with its Xerox Star, based on the mouse used in the 1970s on the Alto computer at Xerox PARC. Sun Microsystems, Symbolics, Lisp Machines Inc., and Tektronix also shipped workstations with mice, starting in about 1981. Later, inspired by the Star, Apple Computer released the Apple Lisa, which also used a mouse. However, none of these products achieved large-scale success. Only with the release of the Apple Macintosh in 1984 did the mouse see widespread use.

The Macintosh design, commercially successful and technically influential, led many other vendors to begin producing mice or including them with their other computer products (in 1985, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Windows 1.0, and GEOS for the Commodore 64). The widespread adoption of graphical user interfaces in the software of the 1980s and 1990s made mice all but indispensable for controlling computers.

Alternative pointing devices

• Trackball – the user rolls a ball mounted in a fixed base.
• Touchpad – detects finger movement about a sensitive surface — the norm for modern laptop computers. At least one physical button normally comes with the touchpad, but users can also (configurably) generate a click by tapping on the pad. Advanced features include detection of finger pressure, and scrolling by moving one's finger along an edge.
• Pointing stick – a pressure sensitive nub used like a joystick on laptops, usually found between the g, h, and b keys on the keyboard.
• Consumer touchscreen devices exist that resemble monitor shields. Framed around the monitor, they use software-calibration to match screen and cursor positions. Many firms that integrate touchscreen equipment into existing displays and all-in-one devices (such as portables PCs) for a reasonable fee are also in operation.
• Mini-mouse – a small egg-sized mouse for use with laptop computers — usually small enough for use on a free area of the laptop body itself.
• Palm mouse – held in the palm and operated with only two buttons; the movements across the screen correspond to a feather touch, and pressure increases the speed of movement.
• Footmouse – a mouse variant for those who do not wish to or cannot use the hands (see carpal tunnel) or the head; instead, it provides footclicks.
• Graphics tablet – a tablet with a pen or stylus used for pointing. The user holds the device like a normal pen and moves it across a special pad. The thumb usually controls the clicking via a two-way button on the top of the pen, or by tapping.
• Similar to a mouse is a puck, in which rather than tracking the speed of the device, it tracks the absolute position of a point on the device (typically a set of crosshairs painted on a transparent plastic tab sticking out from the top of the puck). Pucks are typically used for tracing in CAD/CAM/CAE work, and are often accessories for larger graphics tablets.
• Eyeball-controlled – A mouse controlled by the user's eyeball/retina movements, allowing cursor-manipulation without touch.
• Finger-mouse – An extremely small mouse controlled by two fingers only; the user can hold it in any position
• Gyroscopic mouse - A gyroscope senses the movement of the mouse as it moves through the air. Users can operate a gyroscopic mouse when they have no room for a regular mouse or must give commands while standing up. This input device needs no cleaning and can have many extra buttons, in fact, some laptops doubling as TVs come with gyroscopic mice that resemble, and double as, remotes with LCD screens built in.
• Some high-degree-of-freedom input devices

Applications of mice in user-interfaces

Computer-users usually utilize a mouse to control the motion of a cursor in two dimensions in a graphical user interface. Clicking or hovering can select files, programs or actions from a list of names, or (in graphical interfaces) through pictures called "icons" and other elements. For example, a text file might be represented by a picture of a paper notebook, and clicking while the pointer hovers this icon might cause a text editing program to open the file in a window. (See also point-and-click)

Users can also employ mice gesturally; meaning that a stylized motion of the mouse cursor itself, called a "gesture", can issue a command or map to a specific action. For example, in a drawing program, moving the mouse in a rapid "x" motion over a shape might delete the shape.

Gestural interfaces occur more rarely than plain pointing-and-clicking; and people often find them more difficult to use, because they require finer motor-control from the user. However, a few gestural conventions have become widespread, including the drag-and-drop gesture, in which:

1. The user presses the mouse button while the mouse cursor hovers over an interface object
2. The user moves the cursor to a different location while holding the button down
3. The user releases the mouse button

For example, a user might drag-and-drop a picture representing a file onto a picture of a trash-can, thus instructing the system to delete the file.

Other uses of the mouse's input occur commonly in special application-domains. In interactive three-dimensional graphics, the mouse's motion often translates directly into changes in the virtual camera's orientation. For example, in the first-person shooter genre of games (see below), players usually employ the mouse to control the direction in which the virtual player's "head" faces: moving the mouse up will cause the player to look up, revealing the view above the player's head.

When mice have more than one button, software may assign different functions to each button. Often, the primary (leftmost in a right-handed configuration) button on the mouse will select items, and the secondary (rightmost in a right-handed) button will bring up a menu of alternative actions applicable to that item. For example, on platforms with more than one button, the Mozilla web browser will follow a link in response to a primary button click, will bring up a contextual menu of alternative actions for that link in response to a secondary-button click, and will often open the link in a new tab or window in response to a click with the tertiary (middle) mouse button.

One, two or three buttons?

One button mouse

The issue of whether pack-in bundled mice "should" have exactly one button or more than one has attracted an enormous amount of controversy. From the first Macintosh until late 2005 (and all Apple portables still have 1-button pointers), Apple shipped every computer with a single-button mouse (and in fact never produced multibutton mice even as options until the current Mighty Mouse, with its predecessor often jocularly referred to as a "zero-button mouse"), whereas most other platforms used multi-button mice. Apple and its advocates promoted single-button mice as more user-friendly, and portrayed multi-button mice as confusing for novice users. The Macintosh user interface, by design, always has and still does make all functions available with a single-button mouse. Apple's Human Interface Guidelines still specify that all software-providers need to make functions available with a single button mouse. However, X Window System applications, which Mac OS X can also run, have developed with the use of two-button or even three-button mice in mind, causing even simple operations like "cut and paste" to become awkward (although Apple's default X Window environment has built-in workarounds, just like their old wintel-on-a-card systems).

While there has always been an aftermarket for mice with two, three, or more buttons among experienced Macintosh users and extensive configurable support to complement such devices in all major software packages on the platform, Mac OS X shipped with hardcoded support for multi-button mice. On August 2, 2005, Apple introduced their Mighty Mouse multi-button mouse, which has four independently-programmable buttons and a trackball-like "scroll ball" which allows the user to scroll in any direction. Since the mouse uses touch-sensitive technology (rather than having visible divisions into separate buttons), users can treat it as a one-, two-, three-, or four-button mouse, as desired.

Advocates of multiple-button mice argue that support for a single-button mouse often leads to clumsy workarounds in interfaces where a given object may have more than one appropriate action. One workaround was the double click, first used on the Apple Lisa, to allow both the "select" and "open" operation to be performed with a single button. Several common workarounds exist, and some are specified by the Apple Human Interface Guidelines.

Three-button mouse

One such workaround (that favored on Apple platforms) has the user hold down one or more keys on the keyboard before pressing the mouse button (typically control on a Macintosh for contextual menus). This has the disadvantage that it requires that both the user's hands be engaged. It also requires that the user perform actions on completely separate devices in concert; that is, holding a key on the keyboard while pressing a button on the mouse. This can be a very daunting task for a disabled user (although Macs have shipped with "sticky keys" features in Easy Access for decades).

Another involves the press-and-hold technique. In a press-and-hold, the user presses and holds the single button. After a certain period, software perceives the button press not as a single click but as a separate action. This has two drawbacks: first, a slow user may press-and-hold inadvertently. Second, the user must wait for the software to detect the click as a press-and-hold, otherwise the system might interpret the button-depression as a single click. Furthermore, the remedies for these two drawbacks conflict with each other: the longer the lag time, the more the user must wait; and the shorter the lag time, the more likely it becomes that some user will accidentally press-and-hold when meaning to click. Studies have found all of the above workarounds less usable than additional mouse buttons for experienced users.

Alternatively, the user needs to hold down a key on the keyboard while pressing the button (Macintosh computers use the ctrl key). This has the disadvantage that it requires that both the user's hands be engaged. It also requires that the user perform two actions on completely separate devices in concert; that is, pressing a key on the keyboard while pressing a button on the mouse. This can be a very daunting task for a disabled user. Studies have found all of the above workarounds less usable than additional mouse buttons for experienced users.

Most machines running Unix or a Unix-like operating system run the X Window System which almost always encourages a three-button mouse. X numbers the buttons by convention. This allows user instructions to apply to mice or pointing devices that do not use conventional button placement. For example, a left handed user may reverse the buttons, usually with a software setting. With non-conventional button placement, user directions that say "left mouse button" or "right mouse button" are confusing. The ground-breaking Xerox Parc Alto and Dorado computers from the mid-1970s used three-button mice, and each button was assigned a color. Red was used for the left (or primary) button, yellow for the middle (secondary), and blue for the right (meta or tertiary). This naming convention lives on in some SmallTalk environments, such as Squeak, and can be less confusing than the right, middle and left designations.

Acorn's RISC OS based computers necessarily use all three mouse buttons throughout their WIMP based GUI. RISC OS refers to the three buttons (from left to right) as Select, Menu and Adjust. Select functions in the same way as the "Primary" mouse button in other operating systems. Menu will bring up a context-sensitive menu appropriate for the position of the mouse pointer, and this often provides the only means of activating this menu. This menu in most applications equates to the "Application Menu" found at the top of the screen in Mac OS, and underneath the window title under Microsoft Windows. Adjust serves for selecting multiple items in the "Filer" desktop, and for altering parameters of objects within applications — although its exact function usually depends on the programmer.

Mice in gaming

Mice often function as an interface for PC-based computer games and sometimes for video game consoles. They often appear in combination with the keyboard. In arguments over the best gaming platform, protagonists often cite the mouse as a possible advantage for the PC — depending on the gamer's personal preferences.

First-person shooters

Logitech G5 Laser Mouse designed for gaming.

Due to the cursor-like nature of the crosshairs in shooter games, a combination of mouse and keyboard provides a popular way to play first-person shooter (FPS) games. Players use the X-axis of the mouse for looking (or turning) left and right, leaving the Y-axis for looking up and down. The left button usually controls primary fire. Many gamers prefer this over a gamepad or joystick because it allows them to aim quickly and accurately without auto-aim assist. If the game supports multiple fire-modes, the right button often provides secondary fire from the selected weapon. Secondary weapons include grenades, knives, etc. The right button may also provide bonus options for a particular weapon, such as allowing access to the scope of a sniper rifle or allowing the mounting of a bayonet or silencer or sometimes even jumping.

Gamers can use a scroll wheel for changing weapons, or for controlling scope-zoom magnification. On most FPS games, programming may also assign more functions to additional buttons on mice with more than three controls. A keyboard usually controls movement (for example, WASD, for moving forward, left, backward and right, respectively) and other functions such as changing posture. Since the mouse serves for aiming, a mouse that tracks movement accurately and with less lag (latency) will give a player an advantage over players with less accurate or slower mice.

An early technique of players, circle-strafing, saw a player continuously strafing while aiming and shooting at an opponent by walking in circle around the opponent with the opponent at the center of the circle. Players could achieve this by holding down a key for strafing while continuously aiming the mouse towards the opponent.

Games using mouses for input have such a degree of popularity that many manufacturers, such as Logitech, and Razer USA Ltd, make peripherals such as mice and keyboards specifically for gaming. Such devices frequently feature (in the case of mice) adjustable weights, high-resolution optical or laser components, additional buttons, ergonomic shape, and other features such as adjustable DPI.

Invert mouse setting

Many games, such as first- or third-person shooters, have a setting named "invert mouse" or similar (not to be confused with "button inversion", sometimes performed by left-handed users) which allows the user to look downward by moving the mouse forward and upward by moving the mouse backward (the opposite of non-inverted movement). This control system resembles that of aircraft control sticks, where pulling back causes pitch up and pushing forward causes pitch down; computer joysticks also typically emulate this control-configuration.

After id Software's Doom, the game that popularized FPS games but which did not support vertical aiming with a mouse (the y-axis served for forward/backward movement), competitor 3D Realms' Duke Nukem 3D became one of the first games that supported using the mouse to aim up and down. It and other games using the Build engine had an option to invert the Y-axis. The "invert" feature actually made the mouse behave in a manner that users now regard as non-inverted (by default, moving mouse forward resulted in looking down). Soon after, id Software released Quake, which introduced the invert feature as users now know it. Other games using the Quake engine have come on the market following this standard, likely due to the overall popularity of Quake.

Home consoles

In the early 1990s the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game system featured a mouse in addition to its controllers. The Mario Paint game in particular used the mouse's capabilities, as did its successor on the N64. Sony Computer Entertainment released an official mouse product for the PlayStation console, and included one along with the Linux for PlayStation 2 kit. However, users can attach virtually any USB mouse to the PlayStation 2 console.

Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (جلال الدین محمد اکبر Jalāl ud-Dīn Moḥammad Akbar), also known as Akbar the Great (Akbar-e-Azam) (October 15, 1542 – October 12, 1605)^{[citation needed]} was the son of Nasiruddin Humayun whom he succeeded as ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605. He is the founder of the Din-i-Ilahi faith . His lineage was Turkic, and more distantly Mongolian.

Akbar, widely considered the greatest of the Mughal emperors, was only 13 when he became emperor, due to the death of his father Humayun^[1][2] During his reign, he eliminated external military threats from the Afghan descendants of Sher Shah (an Afghan who was able to temporarily oust Humayun from 1540-1555), and at the Second Battle of Panipat defeated the Hindu leader Hemu.^[3][4][5] In addition to his military gains, the emperor solidified his rule by repealing the jizya tax on non-Muslims and courting the favour of the powerful Rajput caste, to the extent of marrying Rajput princesses.^[4][6]

Akbar's most lasting contributions were to the arts. He initiated a large collection of literature, including the Akbar-nama and the Ain-i-Akbari, and incorporated art from around the world into the Mughal collections. He also commissioned the building of widely admired buildings, including the Panj Mahal. Having a greatly tolerant attitude toward religion, Akbar preserved Hindu temples. He also began a series of religious debates where Muslim scholars would debate religious matters with Sikhs, Hindus, Carvaka atheists and even Jesuits from Portugal. He founded his own religion, the Din-i-Ilahi or the "Divine Faith"; the religion, however, amounted only to a form of personality cult for Akbar, and quickly dissolved after his death

Early years

Akbar was born on October 15, 1542, at the Rajput Fortress of Umarkot in Sind where the Mughal Emperor Humayun and his recently wedded wife, Hamida Banu Begum were taking refuge. Soon they were transferred to State of Rewa (in present day Madhya Pradesh) where Akbar grew up in village of Mukundpur. Akbar and prince Ram Singh who later became Maharaja of Rewa grew up together and stayed close friends forever. In 1540, Humayun had been driven into exile, following decisive battles, by the Afghan leader Sher Shah.^[8] Akbar did not go to Persia with his parents, and was raised for a time instead by his uncle Askari and his wife in the rugged country of Afghanistan rather than in the splendor of the Persian court. He spent his youth learning to hunt, run and fight, but he never learned to read or write, the sole exception in Babur's line.^[9] Nonetheless, Akbar matured into a well-informed ruler, with refined tastes in the arts, architecture and music, a love for literature, and a breadth of vision that tolerated other opinions.

Following the chaos over the succession of Islam Shah (Sher Shah's son), Humayun reconquered Delhi in 1555, leading an army partly provided by his Persian ally Shah Tahmasp. Only a few months later, Humayun died from an accident falling down the stairs of his library (probably Feb 9, one of the ascension dates for Akbar; Gregorian date Feb 19). Akbar succeeded his father on February 14, 1556 Gregorian Feb 24, while in the midst of a war against Sikandar Shah for the reclamation of the Mughal throne. Here, in Kalanaur the 13 year old Akbar donned a golden robe and Dark Tiara and sat on a newly constructed platform, which still stands[3], and was proclaimed "Shahanshah" (Persian for "King of Kings").The mosque built at the time of Akbar can still be seen and the place where he played can be visited.

Early conquests

Mughal empire under Akbar.

Akbar decided early in his reign that he should eliminate the threat of Sher Shah's dynasty, and decided to lead an army against the strongest of the three, Sikandar Shah Suri, in the Punjab. He left the city of Delhi under the regency of Tardi Beg Khan.

Sikandar Shah Suri presented no major concern for Akbar, and often withdrew from territory as Akbar approached; however, back in Delhi Hemu, a Hindu warrior, succeeded in launching a surprise attack on the unprepared Tardi Beg Khan, who promptly fled the city. Hemu, who had launched the attack on behalf of Adil Shah Suri, one of Sikandar's brothers, had won 22 successive battles and appointed himself ruler, or Raja Vikramaditya, instead of Adil Shah.

Word of the capitulation of Delhi spread quickly to the new Mughal ruler, and he was advised to withdraw to Kabul, which was relatively secure. However, Bairam Khan differed and urged Akbar to fight the invaders and reclaim the capital. Akbar sided with Bairam, and began to march on Delhi. In order to bolster troop morale, Akbar took the curious step of ordering that someone "prepare fireworks as a treat for the soldiers" and that one should "make an image of Hemu, fill it with gunpowder, and set it on fire". On the march forward, he was joined by Tardi Beg and his retreating troops, who also urged him to retreat to Kabul, but Akbar refused again; later, Bairam Khan had the former regent executed for cowardice, though Abul Fazl and Jahangir both record that they believed that Bairam Khan was merely using the retreat from Delhi as an excuse to eliminate a rival.

On November 5, 1556 Akbar's Mughal army defeated the numerically superior forces of General Hemu at the Second Battle of Panipat, fifty miles north of Delhi, thanks to a chance arrow into Hemu's eye. Hemu was brought before Akbar unconscious, and was beheaded. Some sources say that it was actually Bairam Khan who killed the man, but Akbar certainly did use the term "Ghazi", warrior for the faith, a term used by both Babur, his grandfather, and Timur when fighting the Kafir (non-Muslims) in India. Hemu's head was sent to Kabul while his body was displayed on a type of gallows specially constructed to display this dead body. Akbar also followed an old Khanate tradition, one which pre-dates even Genghis Khan, and constructed a "victory pillar" made from the heads of the dead enemy soldiers.

The victory also left Akbar with over 1,500 war elephants which he used to re-engage Sikandar Shah at the siege of Mankot. Sikandar surrendered and so was spared death, and lived the last remaining two years of his life on a large estate granted to him by Akbar. In 1557 the only other threat to Akbar's rule, Adil Shah, brother of Sikandar, died during a battle in Bengal. Thus, by the time Akbar was 15 his rule over Hindustan was secured ^{[citation needed]}.

Bairam Khan

Akbar was only 13 years old when he became emperor, and so his general ruled on his behalf until he came of age. The regency belonged to Bairam Khan, a Shia Turkoman noble who successfully dealt with pretenders to the throne and improved the discipline of the Mughal armies. He ensured power was centralised and was able to expand the empires boundaries with orders from the capital. These moves helped to consolidate Mughal power in the newly recovered empire.

Respect for Bairam's regency was not, however, universal. There were many people plotting his demise in order to assume the apparent absolute rule they saw in him. Much was written, critically, of his religion. The majority of the early court were Sunni Muslims, and Bairam's Shia'ism was disliked. Bairam knew about this, and perhaps even to spite that, appointed a Shia Sheikh, Gadai to become the Administrator General, one of the more important roles in the empire. Further Bairam lived a rather opulent lifestyle, which appeared to be even more excessive than that of Akbar.

The most serious of those opposed to Bairam was Maham Anga, Akbar's aunt, chief nurse and mother of his foster brother, Adham Khan. Maham was both shrewd and manipulative and hoped to rule herself by proxy through her son. In March 1560 the pair of them urged Akbar to visit them in Delhi, leaving Bairam in the capital, Agra. While in Delhi Akbar was bombarded by people who told him he was now ready to take full control of the empire and to dismiss Bairam. He was persuaded to fund an excursion for Bairam to go on Hajj to Mecca, which was to act, essentially, as a form of ostracism. Bairam was shocked at the news from Delhi, but was loyal to Akbar, and despite Akbar's refusal to even meet with the General, refused the suggestions by some of his commanders to march on Delhi and "rescue" Akbar.

Bairam left for Mecca, but was quickly met by an army sent by Adham Khan, but approved by Akbar, which was sent to "escort" him from the Mughal territories. Bairam saw this as the last straw, and led an attack on the army, but was captured and sent as a rebel back to Akbar to be sentenced. Bairam Khan, whose military genius had seen the Mughals regain their lands in India, who had served both Humayun and Akbar loyally, and laid the foundation for a strong empire, was now before the emperor as a prisoner. Maham Anga urged Akbar to execute Bairam, but Akbar refused. Instead, in defiance of Anga, he laid down full honours to the General, and gave him robes of honour, and agreed to fund him a proper Hajj excursion. However, shortly after Bairam Khan's Hajj journey got underway, just before he reached the port city of Khambhat he encountered an Afghan whose father had been killed five years earlier in a battle led by Bairam. The Afghan saw a chance to reap vengeance, and promptly stabbed Bairam, who died on January 31, 1561.

Adham Khan and Maham Anga

With the demise of Bairam Khan, Maham Anga saw an opportunity for herself, and attempted to wrest the control that Bairam had had. Her attempts at absolute rule, however, were not particularly successful.

In February 1561, her son Adham was sent to capture Malwa, which was being incompetently ruled by Baz Bahadur. Baz Bahadur was a talented musician but had no ability to govern an area, and many of the people of the area had fled to Mughal territories, alerting the Mughals to the possibility of taking the area. As the army of Adham Khan approached Baz Bahadur fled, leaving behind his wealth and his wives in their Harem, and instructions that they were to be killed if the city of Sarangpur (now a part of the Rajgarh District) fell to the Mughals. However, despite the best attempts by the Eunuch in charge of the Harem, many of the women survived; even Rupmati, who was famed through many of Baz Bahadurs songs for her beauty, survived multiple slash wounds to be captured by the invading Mughals. However, when Adham Khan came to claim his prize, Rupmati drank poison rather than be raped by Akbar's brother.

Akbar as a boy around 1557

However, aside from this instance when he was thwarted, Adham engaged in some thoroughly grotesque abuses of the captured Harem and populace. The least attractive members of the women were brought before the senior members of the invading army and killed, as they drank alcohol, took opium pellets, and generally treated the event as if it were a festive occasion. Badauni records that on at least one occasion members present tried to stop the slaughter but were shackled. The slaughter was not only of the women in the harem, and Badauni records that "Sayyids and Sheikhs came out to meet him with their Qur'ans in hand, but Khan put them all to death and burnt them". Besides, Adham kept the vast majority of the wealth and captives for himself and sent a mere three elephants to his Emperor. Along with the elephants, Akbar received word of what Adham had done, and became enraged. He decided to ride out to Malwar himself, along with a small band of loyal soldiers, racing and beating a group of courtiers sent by Maham Anga to warn Adham of Akbar's rage.

Adham became terrified and quickly begged for Akbar's forgiveness. Akbar forgave him, and received the booty he had seized. However, Adham secretly kept two of the women he decided were the most attractive in his own Harem. When Akbar found out about this, Maham Anga killed the women, fearing what they might reveal about Adham to Akbar.

These events left Akbar with no option but to begin assuming absolute control for himself. The conflict came to a head when in 1562, Atkah Khan, an Afghan appointed by Akbar to be the equivalent of Prime Minister, was dealing with affairs of his position when Adham burst forth, had Atkah Khan stabbed, and tried to storm the Harem of Akbar. The Eunuch who guarded the section went in, closed the door and locked it from the inside. Akbar became aware of the disturbance, and entered the room. Here Adham laid his hand on his foster brother's arm, a sign of apparent disrespect, to which Akbar responded by punching him in the face, possibly knocking him unconscious. Seeing his Prime Minister stabbed, Akbar had had enough of Adham and ordered that he be thrown from a height, over a parapet. This failed to kill him, so Akbar ensured that the second attempt succeed by ordering he be dropped head first. Akbar then went straight to Maham Anga and informed her that her son was dead. With this act, the 19 year old Akbar assumed complete control over his empire.

Restoration

While previous Muslim rulers, in particular the Mughal founder Babur, did allow freedom of worship for Hindus and other religious groups under their direct domain, Akbar engaged in a policy of actively encouraging members of the varying religious groups to enter his government. In the most critical instance, he persuaded the Kacchwaha Rajput Raja of Amber(modern day Jaipur) into a matrimonial alliance, Amber and Delhi being immediate neighbours, this merger proved to be a pivotal turning point in the history of the Mughal empire. The King of Amber's daughter, Hira Kunwari, became Akbar's empress. She took the name Jodhabai, and was the mother of Prince Salim, who later became the Mughal emperor Jahangir. He also married a Christian woman, Maryam Uz Zamani, who is widely thought to be an Armenian lady.

The other Rajput kingdoms soon established their matrimonial alliances with the Emperor of Delhi (although these was by no means the first instance of royal matrimony between Hindu and Islamic monarchs in India). The law of Hindu succession has always been patrimonial thus, the ancient linage of the Hindus were not loss in the process of marrying their princesses for political gains. Two major Rajput clans remained against him, the Sisodiyas of Mewar and Hadas (Chauhans) of Ranthambore. The Rajputs were of the Hindu warrior caste, the Kshatriyas, who, like the Afghans took opium prior to battle to invoke the god of war and vanquish the fear of death. Entering into an alliance with these kingdoms enabled Akbar to extend the border of his Empire to far off regions, and the Rajputs then became the strongest allies of the Mughals. For the next 100 years Rajput soldiers fought on behalf of the Mughal empire, until the reign of Auranzab, during which major hostilities arose between the Emperor and the Rajputs, an imperative turning point which lead to the decline and eventual collapse of the empire following the death of Aurangzab.

Finally Raja Man Singh I of Amber, went with Akbar to meet the Hada leader, Surjan Hada, to effect an alliance. Surjan grudgingly accepted an alliance on the condition that Akbar did not marry any of his daughters. Surjan later moved his residence to Banaras.

However, Maharana Pratap of Mewar declined to accept Akbar's suzerainty and till the end was opposed to Akbar.

Akbar is recorded as saying "A monarch should be ever intent on conquest, lest his neighbours rise in arms against him", and he went on to expand the Mughal empire to include Malwa (1562), Gujarat (1572), Bengal (1574), Kabul (1581), Kashmir (1586), and Kandesh (1601), among others. Akbar installed a governor over each of the conquered provinces, under his authority.

Akbar did not want to have his court tied too closely to the city of Delhi. He ordered the court moved to Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra, but when this site proved untenable, he set up a roaming camp that let him keep a close eye on what was happening throughout the empire. He developed and encouraged commerce, in part by abolishing religious restrictions on the conduct of business between Muslims and Hindus.

Akbar's tax reforms were an especially noteworthy achievement, and formed the basis of the Mughal Empire's immense wealth in succeeding generations. His officials prepared a detailed and accurate cadaster (land register) noting each land parcel's soil quality, water access, etc., and then converted those characteristics to money, taking account of the different prevailing prices for various crops in each region of the Empire. This was a distinct improvement on earlier land tax systems, including the Egyptian and Roman ones, which had levied land taxes as an in-kind share of the harvest. By making land tax payments more accurately reflect the economic rent of the land in money rather than the actual harvest, Akbar's innovations had the effect of stimulating both investment in improvements and more productive use of the land. He also abolished the jizyah (a form of tax paid by non-muslims for their protection against any invading forces) and gave strict orders to prevent extortion by tax collectors. The salutary economic effect of these reforms was such that the revered Qing emperor Kang Xi adopted similar measures a century later in China, with similar success.

Personality

The court of Akbar, an illustration from Akbarnama

Akbar is said to have been a benevolent and wise ruler, a man of new ideas, and a sound judge of character.

To defend his stance that speech arose from hearing, he carried out a Language deprivation experiment, and had children raised in isolation, not allowed to be spoken to, and pointed out that as they grew older, they remained mute.^[10]

Abul Fazal, and even the hostile critic Badayuni, described him as having a commanding personality. He was fearless in the chase as well as in the field of battle, and, "like Alexander of Macedon, was always ready to risk his life, regardless of political consequences". He often plunged his horse into the full-flooded river during the rainy seasons and safely crossed over to the other side. Though a mighty conqueror, he did not usually indulge in cruelty. He is said to have been affectionate towards his relatives. He pardoned his brother Hakim, who was a repented rebel. However, on some rare occasions, he dealt cruelly with the offenders, as is shown by his behavior towards his maternal uncle, Muazzam, and his foster-brother, Adham Khan.

He is said to have been extremely moderate in his diet. According to records, he was fond of fruits and had little liking for meat, which he ceased to eat altogether in his later years.

Views on religion

At the time of Akbar's rule, the Mughal Empire included both Hindus and Muslims. Profound differences separate the Islamic and Hindu faith. When Akbar commenced his rule, a majority of the subjects in the Mughal Empire were Hindu. However, the rulers of the empire were almost exclusively Muslim. In this highly polarized society, Akbar fostered tolerance for all religions. He not only appointed Hindus to high posts, but also tried to remove all distinctions between the Muslims and non-Muslims. He abolished the pilgrim tax in the eighth year and the jizya in the ninth year of his reign, and inaugurated a policy of universal toleration. He also enjoyed a good relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, who routinely sent Jesuit priests to debate in his court, and at least three of his Grandsons were baptized as Catholics (though they did become Muslim later in life).

Akbar built a building called the Ibādat Khāna (House of Worship), where he encouraged religious debate. Originally, this debating house was open only to Sunnis, but following a series of petty squabbles which turned ugly, Akbar encouraged Hindus, Roman Catholics and even atheists to participate. He tried to reconcile the differences of both religions by creating a new faith called the Din-i-Ilahi ("Faith of the Divine"), which incorporated both 'pantheistic' versions of Islamic Sufism (most notably the Ibn Arabi's doctrine of 'Wahdat al Wajood' or Unity of existence) and 'bhakti' or devotional cults of Hinduism. Even some elements of Christianity - like crosses, Zoroastrianism - fire worship and Jainism were amalgamated in the new religion. Akbar the Great was particularly famed for this. Akbar was greatly influenced by the teachings of Jain Acharya Hir Vijay Suri and Jin Chandra Suri. Akbar gave up non-vegetarian food by their influence. Akbar declared "Amari" or non-killing of animals in the holy days of Jains like Paryushan and Mahavir Jayanti. He rolled back Zazia Tax from Jain Pilgrim places like Palitana. This faith, however, was not for the masses. In fact, the only "converts" to this new religion were the upper nobility of Akbar's court. Historians have so far been able to identify only 18 members of this new religion.

He also married several Hindu princesses, though many consider that to be politically motivated rather than a genuine attempt at religious reconciliation.

Navratnas

As with many Indian rulers Akbar's court had Navaratnas ("Nine Jewels"), a term denoting a group of nine extraordinary people. Akbar's Navratnas were:

• Raja Man Singh - Akbar's trusted General
• Raja Todar Mal - Akbar's finance minister
• Faizi Akbar's poet laureate who is best known for his Nal u Daman, a poetic rendering of the beloved Sanskrit story of Nala and Damayanti.
• Mian Tansen - a Hindu singer who converted to Islam, much beloved by Akbar who even called for him on his death bed
• Birbal - a high noble known for great wit
• Abul-Fazel - Akbars's chief advisor and author of Akbarnama, the official history of Akbar's reign.
• Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana - an important noble and a renowned poet in Persian, Sanskrit, and Hindustani.
• Fakir Aziao-Din
• Mullah Do Piaza

Final years

The last few years of Akbar's reign were troubled by the misconduct of his sons. Two of them died in their youth, the victims of intemperance. The third, Salim, later known as Emperor Jahangir, was frequently in rebellion against his father, as some rumours go, for his love. Asirgarh, a fort in the Deccan, proved to be the last conquest of Akbar, taken in 1599 as he proceeded north to face his son's rebellion. Reportedly, Akbar keenly felt these calamities, and they may even have affected his health and hastened his death, which occurred in Agra. His body was interred in a magnificent mausoleum at Sikandra, near Agra.

Akbar in media

• Akbar was portrayed in the Hindi movie Mughal-e-Azam, in which he was played by Prithviraj Kapoor.
• Akbar and Birbal were portrayed in the Hindi series Akbar-Birbal aired on Zee TV in late 1990s where Akbar's role was essayed by Vikram Gokhale. Currently, Akbar-Birbal airs on Zee Gujarati, but dubbed in Gujarati.
• A television series, called Akbar the Great, directed by Sanjay Khan was aired on DD National in the 1990s.
• Ashutosh Gowariker has made a film on Akbar and his wife Jodha bai entitled Akbar-Jodha where Akbar's role is essayed by Hrithik Roshan.
• A fictionalized Akbar plays an important supporting role in Kim Stanley Robinson's 2002 novel, The Years of Rice and Salt.
• Amartya Sen uses Akbar as a prime example in his books The Argumentative Indian and Violence and Identity.
• Bertrice Small is known for incorporating historical figures as primary characters in her romance novels, and Akbar is no exception. He is a prominent figure in two of her novels, and mentioned several times in a third, which takes place after his death. In This Heart of Mine the heroine becomes Akbar's fortieth "wife" for a time, while Wild Jasmine and Darling Jasmine centre around the life of his half-British daughter.His end was an unfortunate luck to each Persian and Indian.

Studying is a big commitment and needs time to work on it. Managing time is the best way for students to succeed. By managing your time, other commitments can be fulfilled and you can study without distractions. But finance and child care are serious problems. I found that the only way to get good grades was by doing less paid work so that I had more time for my studies. The problems are real, but make your action plan for the week and stick to it. This will help you study and deal with your other responsibilities in the best way.

You need to balance time. If you are bad at balancing things make a personal timetable. Even if you do not stick to it, you will have an idea what you should be doing each day. This is better than trying to do everything each day and, at the end of the week, not achieve anything.

• Choose a degree you are generally interested in rather than studying for the sake of having a degree. You will learn more because you are interested in the subject.
  
  
• Always look at your assignments as a challenge rather than saying "it is too hard". A task thought of as too hard can slow you down to a standstill. The same task thought of as a challenge can spur you on.
  
  
• It is best to keep up with your work. A timetable should be arranged each week, to ensure that you do not fall behind.
  
  
• You should be aware of all your assignments and deadlines from the earliest stages of each Class/Semester. You can make a calendar for each module, stick on the wall in your room, where you can refer to it as and when the need arises.
  
  
• If you organise your studies around the important outside commitments you have, such as work and family, you will find that you can cope quite well with what is expected of you.

Here are some tips to improve your study, but they will only work if you manage your time to get the best out of study.

• Do not leave your course work to the last minute
• Make sure you understand the lecture before you leave the classroom.
• Be prepared to ask questions.
• Read your text books and lecture notes again and again as you get new information.

• You should be prepared to spend at least 3 to 4 hours every day reading lecture notes and text books, and gathering information.

If you’re a student attending classes, you have probably experienced many moments when it was hard to make yourself settle down and study, even when an important exam was coming up.

If you’re like most students, you put off studying until the very last minute. The night before the exam, you’ll stay up all night cramming, getting little or no sleep. In the morning, you’ll drag yourself out of bed, psych yourself up with lots of coffee and some cigarettes, and go into the exam feeling exhausted, drained and jittery all at the same time. You’ll find it hard to focus or think, and you’ll be cursing yourself for not starting to study sooner.

And not surprisingly, unless you’re blessed with natural brilliance, or you happen to know the subject matter extremely well, you’ll probably do terribly on the test.

If this is your typical method of studying, you already know it doesn’t work. Every time you go through this ritual, you tell yourself that you’re going to smarten up the next time you face a big exam. Next time you’ll start to study weeks in advance, you say. But instead, you keep repeating this crazy pattern. Why does this keep happening? And what should you be doing instead if you want to get better marks?

A big problem for most people, especially those who are young students, is that life gets in the way. If you’re a student, you probably have a part time job, and like most young people, you also want to have a social life.

Studying can seem very boring compared to all the exciting temptations just outside your door. Or the games on your computer. Even watching old reruns of Sesame Street can seem more interesting than the biology text your teacher is expecting you to master!

One reason we often don’t start studying until the last possible minute is that we have misjudged how long it will actually take us to absorb and understand the material. If your mid-term is still six weeks away, that might seem like plenty of time left before you need to get around to studying. You might find however, that the subject matter is a lot harder to understand than you thought it would be, and all of a sudden there’s no time left to ask someone to explain it to you.

Another reason we often put off starting to study is that we are too overwhelmed with how big the project actually seems to be. Somehow we convince ourselves that putting off a tough study project can be the best way to avoid feeling overwhelmed by it.

When we are faced with a study project that seems exceptionally difficult and overwhelming, it can be to maintain a high level of interest and motivation for the duration of the learning process.

If you have been guilty of all these bad study habits, it’s not too late to learn some other habits that will work better for you.

First, remind yourself why you want to do better in your studies. Maybe you need a good mark to get into a good college. Maybe you want a chance at a career that will pay you well. Always keep your end goal in mind.

You can put little cards up around your room with inspirational messages, and attractive photographs that will remind you why you want to do well in school.

If you feel very overwhelmed, you can improve your motivation and your performance by breaking up the project into smaller sections, or “chunks”. Each time you accomplish one little bit successfully, give yourself a meaningful reward.

If you have a deadline looming, decide how much of the project you need to tackle at one time.

Let’s say you have six weeks to master the content of a difficult biology text. Looking through the book you realize that if you study one chapter each night, you can get through the book in 28 days, leaving two weeks in which you can again review the material.

With this knowledge you can pace yourself. You know what your assignment is. You know how much you need to read every night. Concentrate on the immediate task at hand. You don’t need to feel overwhelmed by the entire book at one time. Next, work out a system of rewards for yourself. Give yourself a series of small rewards each time you master one chapter, and a larger reward for completing the entire book.

For rewards to work they must be immediate, and personally meaningful to you. There is no point in rewarding yourself with a new fishing rod if you hate fishing.

Rewards don’t need to be material objects if there is something else that would really motivate and inspire you. How about attending a special concert, or taking a special trip? You decide. Get creative and think of something that will spur you to take action.

It’s very important that the reward take place soon after the work has been accomplished. This creates a sense of positive reinforcement. Give yourself a small reward every time you finish a small part of the job, and a bigger reward when the project is completed. If there is too long a gap between the activity and the reward, it will not have the effect of reinforcing the desired activity.

Besides motivating yourself with a series of external rewards, learn to motivate yourself internally. Tell yourself you’re a good learner. Tell yourself you enjoy learning. Tell yourself you enjoy giving your brain a good work out. Congratulate yourself for your efforts. Tell yourself you love acquiring new knowledge, and let yourself feel a joy in learning. Be proud of yourself for the work you do to gain more knowledge.

For information to sink into your brain and be accessible to you, you need to review it several times, and your brain needs to sleep properly for the memories to be encoded in your neurons. You need to reduce your mental stress. Your brain needs good nutrition and it needs to be in a peaceful, confident state. Drugs and alcohol don’t help the process of learning.

Write out what you are learning in your own words, and find a learning buddy. Practice explaining to someone else what you have learned. This will increase the likelihood that your brain will remember it.

If you start to cram the night before, you are putting your brain at a big disadvantage.

You’re increasing your physical and mental stress, and you’re not giving yourself time to review the material several times. By cutting back on your sleep, you’re not giving your brain a chance to put the information you’ve been studying into the hard drive storage of your brain.

By starting your studies early, and reviewing what you’ve learned, you have a much better chance of remembering and understanding what you need to know when you face a big exam.