Assertion (A): Emperor Akbar marched towards Afghanistan in 1581 with a huge army. Reason (R): He was on his way to reclaim his ancestral country of Ferghana in Central Asia.

The assertion is true because in 1581 Akbar marched toward Kabul to suppress a rebellion led by his half brother Mirza Hakim who was being supported by orthodox religious elements. This expedition was one of the most significant military campaigns of his reign. The reason is false because Akbar had no intention of reclaiming Ferghana. While his grandfather Babur had lost Ferghana and always dreamed of regaining it Akbar focused his entire political and military energy on consolidating and expanding the Mughal Empire within the Indian subcontinent and its immediate frontiers. His march to the northwest was strictly to secure the borders and end the challenge posed by Mirza Hakim not to invade Central Asia. Therefore Assertion A is true but Reason R is false.