Prince Salim was the third son born to Akbar and his favorite Queen Consort,[10] Mariam-uz-Zamani in Fatehpur Sikri on 31 August 1569.[11] He had two elder full brothers, Hassan Mirza and Hussain Mirza, born as twins to his mother in 1564, both of whom died in infancy. Since these children had died in infancy, Akbar sought the blessing of holy men for an heir-apparent to his empire.
When Akbar was informed of the news that his chief Hindu wife was expecting a child again, an order was passed for the establishment of a royal palace in Sikri near the lodgings of Shaikh Salim Chisti, where the Empress could enjoy the repose being in the vicinity of the revered saint. Mariam was shifted to the palace established there and during her pregnancy, Akbar himself used to travel to Sikri and used to spend half of his time in Sikri and another half in Agra. When Mariam-uz-Zamani was near her confinement, she was shifted to the humble dwelling of Shaikh Salim by Akbar where she gave birth to Prince Salim. He was named after the Shaikh Salim given the faith of Akbar in the efficacy of the prayers of the holy man.[11][12] Akbar, overjoyed with the news of his heir-apparent, ordered a great feast on the occasion of his birth and ordered the release of criminals with the great offense. Throughout the empire, largesses were bestowed over common people, and he set himself ready to visit Sikri immediately. However, he was advised by his courtiers to delay his visit to Sikri on the account of the astrological belief in Hindustan of a father not seeing the face of his long-awaited son immediately after his birth. He, therefore, delayed his visit and visited Sikri to meet his wife and son after forty-one days of his birth.
Salim started his learning at the age of five. On this occasion, a big feast was thrown by Emperor Akbar, ceremonially initiating his son into education. His first tutor was Qutb-ud-din. After some time he was inaugurated into strategic reasoning and military warfare by several tutors. His maternal uncle, Bhagwant Das was supposedly one of his tutors on the subject of warfare tactics. Salim grew up fluent in Persian and premodern Hindi, with pronounced knowledge of Turkic, the Mughal ancestral language.[13]