Claim: Akbar ruled the Mughal empire for forty-nine years.
Evidence: Abu ` l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad -LRB- 15 October 1542 -- 27 October 1605 -RRB- , popularly known as Akbar I -LRB- -LSB- əkbər -RSB- , literally `` the great '' -RRB- and later Akbar the Great , was the third Mughal emperor , who reigned from 1556 to 1605.