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Class 6English (Kumarbharati / Balbharati)2026-27 Syllabus

Chapter 1.2 Who’s the Greatest? Solutions

Complete Maharashtra State Board Balbharati & Yuvakbharati textbook solutions for Chapter 1.2 Who’s the Greatest?. Step-by-step solved exercises, numerical problems, and digest answers.

31 Solved Questions1854 words

Maharashtra State Board Class 6 English Solutions Chapter 1.2 Who’s the Greatest?

Class 6 English Chapter 1.2 Who’s the Greatest? Textbook Questions and Answers

1. Listen to the stories carefully, as your teacher reads them aloud. Note down the new words, ideas or concepts. Discuss them in the class.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution
Listen to the stories carefully, as your teacher reads them aloud. Note down the new words, ideas or concepts. Discuss them in the class.

2. Guess the meaning of the following words and phrases:
untold wealth, closest to the Emperor’s heart, grave offence, banish.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution
Guess the meaning of the following words and phrases: untold wealth, closest to the Emperor’s heart, grave offence, banish.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
block bg-white dark:bg-slate-900/80 border-l-4 border-emerald-500 rounded-r-xl p-5 my-3 shadow-xs border border-slate-200/60 dark:border-slate-800">
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

3. Say with reasons, whether the following statements are true or false.

Question a.
Akbar wanted to punish the person who pulled his moustache.
Answer:
False. Akbar did tell his courtiers that someone had pulled his moustache. But it was his grandson who had lovingly pulled his moustache and Akbar did not have any intention of punishing him.

Question b.
Akbar thought he was greater than God.
Answer:
False. Akbar did not think so. It was his courtiers who said so in an attempt to praise him for receiving favours.

Question c.
Birbal thought Akbar was greater than God.
Answer:
True. Birbal thought Akbar was greater than God but only at one aspect. Unlike Akbar, God’s kingdom extended everywhere so the Almighty God could not banish anyone from his kingdom.

4. Write a sentence about three of your friends. Each time you should say what your friend cannot do, and yet, pay a compliment to your friend.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution
Write a sentence about three of your friends. Each time you should say what your friend cannot do, and yet, pay a compliment to your friend.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

5. Write a short note on Emperor Akbar.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution
Write a short note on Emperor Akbar.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Emperor Akbar or Akbar the Great is known as one of the greatest rulers in the world – not just because he had a vast empire, a very strong army, untold wealth but because he was a good human being. He cared for his subjects. He had great respect for scholars, writers, poets and artists belonging to different religions. He was a patron of art and culture. The nine gems or ‘nav-ratnas’ in his court were famous which included Birbal who was known for his wit and humour. He was the one who was very dear to Akbar.

6. Convert the stories into dialogues and read the dialogues aloud in the class.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution
Convert the stories into dialogues and read the dialogues aloud in the class. (One is done for you.)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

7.Form pairs and make a ‘pair presentation’ of any one of the two stories. To do so, each person presents only one sentence at a time, and the next one is immediately presented by the partner. Thus, each person in the pair presents alternate sentences without breaking the flow of the narration.

8.Find at least five other Akbar and Birbal stories and share them with your friends. Make a list of the stories collected by the entire class. Write your list in alphabetical order.

9.Visit a library. Find the stories of:

Share them in the class.

Class 6 English Chapter 1.2 Who’s the Greatest? Additional Important Questions and Answers

Answer in one sentence.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution
Why is Emperor Akbar or Akbar the Great known as one of the greatest rulers in the world?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Emperor Akbar or Akbar the Great is known as one of the greatest rulers in the world, not just because he had a vast empire, a very strong army, untold wealth, but because he was a good human being.
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution
Give two examples to show that Akbar was an ideal ruler.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution
Who did Akbar have great respect for?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Akbar had great respect for scholars, writers, poets and artists belonging to different religious.
Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution
Which question posed by Akbar stunned the Emperor’s court? Why?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
The question, “What should be the punishment for someone who pulls my moustache?” stunned Akbar’s court as it was unheard of.
Question 5 Maharashtra Board Solution
Write any one punishment suggested by any one nobleman.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
One nobleman suggested that the person who pulled the Emperor’s moustache should be flogged with fifty lashes of the whip.
Question 6 Maharashtra Board Solution
What was Birbal’s suggestion regarding punishing the offender?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Birbal suggested that the offender should be given his favourite sweetmeats.
Question 7 Maharashtra Board Solution
What explanation did Birbal offer for his choice of punishment?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Birbal explained that only his own grandson would be so bold to pull the Emperor’s moustache and so giving his favourite sweetmeats would be the best punishment.
Question 8 Maharashtra Board Solution
Why did the courtiers compete with each other in praising Akbar?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
The courtiers competed with each other in praising Akbar as they wanted to get some favours from him.
Question 9 Maharashtra Board Solution
What dilemma did the courtiers face?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
When the courtiers praised Akbar and said that he was greater than God Almighty, Akbar asked them to prove it or face punishment.
Question 10 Maharashtra Board Solution
What was the one thing according to Birbal which Akbar could do but God Almighty could not?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
According to Birbal when Akbar wanted to punish someone, he could banish that person out of his kingdom, but as God’s kingdom extended everywhere, the Almighty couldn’t banish anyone from his kingdom.

Reading Skills, Vocabulary and Grammar

Read the following extract and complete the activities that follow.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution
State whether the following statements are true or false. a. Akbar was happy to hear the praises from his courtiers. b. Akbar was angry with Birbal’s response.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
a. False b. False
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution
What information did Akbar want?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Akbar wanted to know if the courtiers had found an answer to his question.
Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution
Why could God not banish anyone from his kingdom?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
God couldn’t banish anyone from his kingdom because God’s kingdom extended everywhere.
Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution
Why did Akbar’s face lighten up with a smile?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Akbar’s face lightened up with a smile because Birbal had given a clever reply.
Question 5 Maharashtra Board Solution
Why did Akbar forgive the courtiers for their stupidity?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Akbar was so pleased with the answer given by Birbal that he forgave the courtiers for their stupidity.
Question 6 Maharashtra Board Solution
Find the odd word: look, royal, good, proper
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
look, The rest are adjectives.
Question 7 Maharashtra Board Solution
Complete the analogy:
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
prove: proof: punish: punishment
Question 8 Maharashtra Board Solution
Everyone was curious to see what would happen next. (State the word class of the underlined word.)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
next: adverb
Question 9 Maharashtra Board Solution
The Almighty cannot banish anyone from his kingdom. (Add a question tag)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
The Almighty cannot banish anyone from his kingdom, can he?
Question 10 Maharashtra Board Solution
Do you believe in false praise? Elaborate.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
No, I don’t. Appreciating people for their good qualities is a good thing but resorting to false praise for receiving favours or for some ulterior motive is definitely something which we should refrain from.

Language Study

Do as directed.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution
You are the greatest of the kings. (Underline the adjective)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
greatest.
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution
Put him in jail without food and water. (State the types of nouns)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
food, water – Material noun.
Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution
He was an patron of art and culture. (Correct the article)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
He was a patron of art and culture.
Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution
I believe you. ( Begin the sentence with ‘you are )
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
You are believed (by me).
Question 5 Maharashtra Board Solution
Flag him ! (State the type of sentence)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Exclamatory sentence.
Question 6 Maharashtra Board Solution
Akbar looked at Birbal thoughtfully (State the part of speech of the underlined word)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
thoughtfully – Adverb.

Make sentences using the following phrases.

Complete the following table.

Noun

Adjective

Verb

care

careful

care

belief

believable

believe

competition

competitive

compete

punishment

punishable

punish

Give the antonyms by providing appropriate suffixes.

Give one word for:

Did you Know?

Birbal stories are very famous and popular in India among all ages of people. They are also known as Akbar-Birbal stories. Akbar, the Great, the Mughal Emperor in India, ruled from 1560 to 1605. He himself was illeterate but he invited several learned people in his court. Among these, nine people were very famous and were known as Nav-ratnas. Birbal was the favourite of Akbar, because of his wisdom, wit and subtle humour.

Who’s the Greatest? Summary in English

Who’s the Greatest? is an interesting lesson which narrates two of the very popular Akbar and Birbal stories. Akbar would always pose interesting questions and problems in his court and Birbal, one of his nine gems or ‘nav-ratnas’ never failed to come up with an answer displaying his wit and humour.

In this lesson, one of the stories talks about Akbar’s question to his courtiers:
“What should be the punishment for someone who pulls my moustache?”
While everyone called for strict actions for the grave offence, Birbal smilingly suggested that Akbar should give the offender his favourite sweetmeats. After all he said, who would be so bold to pull the Emperor’s moustache other than his own grandson?
The next story is about the challenge Akbar posed to his courtiers who showered him with false praises and called him greater than the God Almighty.
He told the courtiers to tell him atleast one thing he could do but God Almighty would not be able to do.
Here Birbal came to the courtier’s rescue. He said:
“When you want to punish someone, you can banish that person – you can throw him out of your kingdom. But God’s kingdom extends everywhere. The Almighty cannot banish anyone from his kingdom.” Akbar was pleased with the answer.
The humour and wit in the Akbar and Birbal stories are the reasons for their popularity.

Introduction:

‘Who’s the Greatest’ narrates Akbar and Birbal’s stories which reflect Birbal’s wit, humour and intelligence.

Glossary: