The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c16.16

v4.c16.16

In the less settled and newly conquered provinces the old system remained undisturbed, but Akbar insisted on the enforcement of the branding regulation in all provinces. It is to the unpopularity of this measure that Abu-'l-Fazl attributes the rebellion which broke out in Bihār and Bengal in 1580, but though this may have been a contributory cause the rebellion was chiefly due to Akbar's religious innovations. In 1576, when Khān A'zam was summoned from Gujarāt to join a projected expedition to Badakhshān, it was discovered that he had made no attempt to enforce the obnoxious regulation in his province, and he so violently condemned it that he was deprived of office. Another might have lost his life, but Akbar could never cross the "river of milk".