The Institutes of Akbar 250: 29. Kha’n Kha’na’n Mi'rza’ ’Abdurrahi’m, son of Bairam Khan.
The Áín i Akbari (Blochmann, Jarrett) 250
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29. Kha’n Kha’na’n Mi'rza’ ’Abdurrahi’m, son of Bairam Khan.
250.1
His mother was a daughter of Jamal Khan of Mewat. In 961, when Humayun returned to India, he enjoined his nobles to enter into matrimonial alliances with the Zamindars of the country, and after marrying the elder daughter of Jamal Khan, he asked Bairam Khan to marry the younger one. M. ’Abdurrahim was born at Lahor, 14th Cafar 964. When Bairam Khan was murdered at Patan in Gujrat (p. 317), his camp was plundered by some Afghans; but Muhammad Amin Diwanah and Bibi Zambur managed to remove the child and his mother from the scene of plunder, and bring them to Ahmadabad, fighting on the road with the Afghan robbers. From Ahmadabad, M. ‘Abdurrahim was taken to Akbar (969), who notwithstanding the insinuations of malicious courtiers took charge of him. He gave him the title of Mirza Khan, and married him subsequently to Mah Banu, sister of M. ’Aziz Kokah (No. 21).
250.2
In 981, M. ’Abdurrahim accompanied Akbar on his forced march to Patan (p. 325). In 984, M.’A. was appointed to Gujrat, Vazir Khan having the management of the province. In the 25th year, he was made Mir ’Arz, and three years later, ataliq to Prince Salim. Soon after, he was sent against Sultan Muzaffar of Gujrat. Muzaffar, during the first Gujrati war, had fallen into the hands of Akbar’s officers. He was committed to the charge of Mun’im Khan (No. 11), and after his death, to the care of Shah Mansur the Diwan (No. 122). But Muzaffar managed, in the 23rd year, to escape, and took refuge with the Kat’his of Junagarh, little noticed or cared for by Akbar’s officers. But when I’timad Khan was sent to Gujrat to relieve Shihabuddin (No. 26), the servants of the latter joined Muzaffar, and the Gujrat rebellion commenced. Muzaffar took Ahmadabad, and recruited, with the treasures that fell into his hands (vide Qutbuddin, No. 28), an army of 40,000 troopers. Mirza ’Abdurrahim had only 10,000 troopers to oppose him, and though his officers advised him to wait for the arrival of Qulij Khan and the Malwah contingent, Dost Khán Lodi, M. ’A.’s Mír Shamsher, reminded him not to spoil his laurels and claims to the Khán Khánánship. M. ’A. then attacked Muzaffar and defeated him in the remarkable battle of Sarkíj, three kos from Ahmadábád. On the arrival of the Málwah contingent, M. ’A. defeated Muzaffar a second time near Nándot. Muzaffar concealed himself in Rájpíplah.
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For these two victories Akbar made M. ’A. a commander of Five Thousand, and gave him the coveted title of Khán Khánán. For this reason Historians generally call him Mírzá Khán Khánán. When Gujrát was finally conquered, M. Khán Khánán gave his whole property to his soldiers, even his inkstand, which was given to a soldier who came last and said, he had not received anything. The internal affairs of Gujrát being settled, Qulij Khán was left in the province, and M. ’A. rejoined the Court. In the 34th year he presented to Akbar a copy of his Persian translation of Bábar’s Chaghtái Memoirs (Wáqi’át i Bábari).
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Towards the end of the same year he was appointed Vakíl, and received Jaunpúr as tuyúl; but in 999 his jágír was transferred to Multán, and he received orders to take T’hat’hah (Sind). Passing by the Fort of Sahwán, he took the Fort of Lak’hí, “which was considered the key of the country, just as Garhí is in Bengal and Bárah-múlah in Kashmír.” After a great deal of fighting, Mírzá Jání Beg (No. 47), ruler of T’hat’hah, made peace, which M. ’A., being hard pressed for provisions, willingly accepted. Sahwán was to be handed over to Akbar, M. Jání Beg was to visit the emperor after the rains, and Mírzá Írich, M. ’A.’s eldest son, was to marry Jání Beg’s daughter. But as M. Jání Beg after the rains, delayed to carry out the stipulations, M. ’A. moved to T’hat’hah, and prepared himself to take it by assault, when M. Jání Beg submitted and accompanied M. ’A. to Court. Thus Sindh was annexed. When Sultán Murád assembled, at Bahronch (Broach), his troops for the conquest of the Dak’hin, Akbar despatched M. ’A. to his assistance, giving him Bhilsá as jágír. After delaying there for some time, M. ’A. went to Ujjain, which annoyed the Prince, though M. ’A. wrote him that Rájah ’Alí Khán of Khándes was on the point of joining the Imperialists, and that he would come with him. When M. ’A., at last, joined head quarters at Fort Chándor, 30 kos from Ahmadnagar, he was slighted by the Prince;
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and, in consequence of it, he hesitated to take an active part in the operations, leaving the command of his detachment chiefly in the hands of M. Sháhrukh (No. 7). Only on one occasion after Murád’s departure from Ahmadnagar, he took a prominent part in the war. Mu’tamiduddaulah Suhail Khán (Briggs, II, 274; III, 308) threatened Prince Murád, who had been persuaded by his officers not to engage with him. M. ’A., Rájah ’Alí Khán, and M. Sháhrukh, therefore took it upon themselves to fight the enemy. Moving in Jumáda II, 1005 from Sháhpúr, M. ’A. met Suhail near the town of Ashtí, 12 kos from Páthrí. The fight was unusually severe. Rájah ’Alí Khán with five of his principal officers and five hundred troopers were killed (Briggs IV, 324). The night put an end to the engagement ; but each party believing itself victorious, remained under arms. When next morning, M.’A.’s troopers went to the river [near Supt, Firishtah] to get water, they were attacked by 25,000 of the enemy’s horse. Daulat Khan who commanded M.’A.’s avantguard, said to him, “It is dying a useless death to fall fighting with but 600 troopers against such odds.” “Do you forget Dihli?” asked M.’A. “If we keep up,” replied Daulat Khan, “against such odds, we have discovered a hundred Dihlis; and if we die, matters rest with God.” Qasim of Barha and several other Sayyids were near; and on hearing M.’A.’s resolution to fight, he said, “Well, let us fight as Hindustanis, nothing is left but death;
250.6
but ask the Khan Khanan what he means to do.” Daulat Khan returned, and said to M.’A. “Their numbers are immense, and victory rests with heaven; point out a place where we can find you, should we be defeated.” “Under the corpses,” said M.’A. Thereupon they charged the flank of the enemy and routed them. After this signal victory, M.A. distributed 75 lacs of Rupees among his soldiers. At the request of the Prince, M.’A. was soon after recalled (1006). In the same year Mah Banu, M.’A.’s wife died. In the 44th year, Prince Danyal was appointed to the Dak’hin, and M.’A. was ordered to join the Prince, and besiege Ahmadnagar. The town, as is known from the histories, was taken after a siege of 4 months and 4 days. M.’A. then joined the Court, bringing with him Bahadur ibn i Ibrahim, who had been set up as Nizam Shah. Danyal was appointed governor of the newly conquered territory, which was called by Akbar Dandes, and married to Jani Begum, M.’A.’s daughter. The Khan Khanan was also ordered to repair to Ahmadnagar, to keep down a party that had made the son of Shah ’Ali, uncle of Murtaza, Nizam Shah.
250.7
After the death of Akbar, matters in the Dak’hin did not improve. In the 3rd year of Jahangir (1017), M.’A. promised to bring the war to a close in two years, if he received a sufficient number of troops. Shahzadeh Parwiz, under the Ataliqship of Asaf Khan, Man Singh, Khan Jahan Lodi, and others, were appointed to assist M.’A. He took the Prince in the rains from Burhanpur to Balag’hat; but in consequence of the usual duplicity and rancour displayed by the Amirs, the imperial army suffered from want of provisions and loss of cattle, and M.’A. was compelled to conclude a treaty dishonorable for Jahangir, who appointed Khan Jahan Lodi as his successor, and sent Mahabat Khan, subsequently M.’A.’s enemy, to bring the unsuccessful commander to Court. In the 5th year, M.’A. received Kalpi and Qanauj as tuyul, with orders to crush the rebels in those districts (vide p. 324, note). Some time afterwards, M.’A. was again sent to the Dak’hin, as matters there had not improved; but he did not gain any advantage either.
250.8
In the 11th year (1025) Jahangir, at last, despatched Prince Khurram, to whom he had given the title of Shah. Jahangir himself fixed his residence at Mandu in Malwah, in order to be nearer the scene of war, while Shah Khurram selected Burhanpur as Head Quarters. Here the Prince also married the daughter of Shahnawaz Khan, M. ’A.’s son. ’Adil Shah and Qutbulmulk sent tribute and submitted, and Jahangir bestowed upon ’Adil Shah the title of Farzand (son); and ’Ambar Malik handed over the keys of Ahmadnagar and other Forts, together with the Parganahs of Balag’hat which he had conquered. Shah Khurram then appointed M. ’A. Subahdar of Khandes, Berar, and Ahmadnagar, whilst Shahnawaz Khan was appointed to Balaghat. Leaving 30,000 horse and 7,000 artillery in the Dak’hin, Shah Khurram joined his father at Mandu, where new honors awaited him. In the 15th year, Malik Ambar ‘broke’ the treaty, and fell upon the T’hanahdars of the Mughuls. Darab Khan, M. ’A.’s second son, retreated from Bala’ghat to Balapur; and driven from there, he went to Burhanpur, where he and his father were besieged. On Shahjahan’s approach, the besiegers dispersed. In the 17th year, (1031), Shah ’Abbas of Persia attacked Qandahar, and Shahjahan and ’Abdurrahim were called to Court, to take the command against the Persians; but before they joined, Prince Parwiz, through Nur Jahan’s influence, had been appointed heir-apparent, and Mahabat Khan had been raised to the dignity of Khan Khanan.
250.9
Shahjahan rebelled, returned with M. ’A. to Mandu, and then moved to Burhanpur. On the march thither, Shahjahan intercepted a letter which M. ’A. had secretly written to Mahabat Khan, whereupon he imprisoned him and his son Darab Khan, and sent him to Fort Asir, but released them soon after on parole. Parwiz and Mahabat Khan had, in the meantime, arrived at the Narbaddah to capture Shahjahan. Bairam Beg, an officer of Shahjahan’s, had for this reason removed all boats to the left side of the river, and successfully prevented the imperials from crossing. At M. ’A.’s advice, Shahjahan proposed, at this time, an armistice. He made M. ’A. swear upon the Quran not to betray him, and sent him as ambassador to Parwiz. Mahabat Khan, knowing that the fords would not now be so carefully watched as before, effected a crossing, and M. ’A., forgetful of his oath, joined Prince Parwiz, and did not return to Shahjahan, who now fled from Burhanpur, marching through Talinganah to Orissa and Bengal. Mahabat and M. ’A. followed him up a short distance beyond the Tapti. M. ’A. wrote to Rajah Bhim, a principal courtier of the Daulatshahi party, to tell Shahjahan, that he (M. ’A.) would do every thing in his power to detain the imperial army, if the prince would allow his sons to join him, Rajah Bhim replied that the prince had still from five to six thousand followers, and that he would kill M. ’A.’s sons, should it come to a fight.
250.10
Shahjahan then moved into Bengal and Bihar, of which he made Darab Khan, who had evidently attached himself to the prince, Governor. Mahabat Khan had in the mean time returned to Ilahabad to oppose Shahjahan, and had placed M. ’A., who looked upon him with distrust, under surveillance. In the 21st year, Jahangir ordered Mahabat Khan to send M. ’A. to court, where he was reinstated in his titles and honours. He afterwards retired to his jagir at Lahor, when Mahabat Khan followed him and sent him back to Dihli. Soon after the failure of his scheme of retaining possession of Jahangir’s person, and the return of the monarch from Kabul, Mahabat Khan had to fly. Nur Jahan now appointed M. ’A. to follow up Mahabat, and contributed herself twelve lacs of rupees to the expedition. But before the necessary preparations had been completed, M. ’A. took ill at Lahor, and on his arrival in Dihli, he died at the age of seventy-two, in the end of Jahangir’s 21st year (1036). The words Khan Sipahsalar ku (where is the Khan Commander) are the tarikh of his death. M. ’A.’s great deeds are the conquests of Gujrat and Sind and the defeat of Suhail Khan of Bijapur. During Jahangir’s reign, he did nothing remarkable; nor was he treated with the respect which he had enjoyed during the lifetime of Akbar, though he was allowed to retain his rank. For nearly thirty years, he had been serving in the Dak’hin.
250.11
Every grandee, and even the princes, accused him of secret friendship with the rulers of the Dak’hin, and Abulfazl, on one occasion, gave his fatwa that M. ’A. was a rebel. Under Jahangir, he was the open friend of Malik ’Ambar; and Muhammad Ma’sum, one of his servants, once informed the emperor that he would find Malik ’Ambar's correspondence in the possession of ’Abdurrahim of Lak’hnau (No. 197), who was much attached to M. ’A. Mahabat Khan was appointed to enquire into this; but ’Abdurrahim of Lak’hnau would not betray his friend. People said, M. ’A.’s motto was, ‘people should hurt their enemies under the mask of friendship,’ and all seem to have been inclined to blame him for maliciousness and faithlessness. He used to get daily reports from his newswriters whom he had posted at various stations. He read their reports at night, and tore them up. But he was also proverbial for his liberality and love of letters. The Maasir i Rahimi is a splendid testimony of his generosity; it shews that he was the Maecenas of Akbar’s age. People, by a happy comparison, called him Mir Ali Sher (vide p. 101, note 1.) M. ’A. wrote Persian, Turkish, Arabic, and Hindi with great fluency. As poet he wrote under the name of Rahim. Though his father had been a Shi'ah, M. ’A. was a Sunni; but people said, he was a Shi’ah, but practised taqiyyah.
250.12
M. ’A.’s most faithful servant was Miyan Fahim. People said, he was the son of a slave girl; but he appears to have been a Rajput. He grew up with M. ’A.’s sons, and was as pious as he was courageous. He fell with his son Firuz Khan and 40 attendants in the fight with Mahābat Khān, who had imprisoned his master. M. ’A. built him a tomb in Dihlī, which is now called Nīlak Burj, near Humāyūn’s tomb. M. ’A. outlived his four sons. 1. Mirzā Īrich (or Īrij), Shāhnawāz Khān Bahādur (No. 255). When young he used to be called Khān Khanda i jawān. He distinguished himself by his courage. In the 40th year of Akbar he was made a Commander of 400. In the 47th year, after a fight with Malik ’Ambar who got wounded, he received the title of Bahādur. During the reign of Jahāngīr he was called Shāhnawāz Khān (vide Tuzuk, p. 95), and was made a Commander of Five Thousand. He died in 1028 from excessive drinking. (Vide Tuzuk, p. 270). Two of his sons are mentioned in the Pādishāhnāmah. 1. Mirzā Khān. He was Faujdār of Kāngrah, and retired ‘foolishly’ from public life in Rabī’ II, 1046. But he was re-employed and was a Commander of Three Thousand in 1055 (Pādishāhnāmah II, pp. 483, 723). 2. Lashkarshikan Khān. He got in 1047, a present of 4000 R., and received an appointment in Bengal. Historians call Shāhnawāz Khān generally Shāhnawāz Khān i Jahāngīrī, to distinguish him from Shāhnawāz Khān i Çafawī, a grandee of Shāhjahān.
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2. Mirzā Dārāb Dārāb-Khān. He has been mentioned above (p. 337). When Shāhjahān made him Governor of Bengal, he retained his wife, a son and a daughter, and a son of Shāhnawāz Khān as hostages (yarghamal). When the prince after the fight near the Tons (Benares) had again to go to the Dak’hin, he wrote to Dārāb Khān to move to Garhī (N. W. entrance of Bengal) and join him. Dārāb wrote him that he could not come, being besieged by the zamīndārs of the place. He fell at last into the hands of Parwīz and Mahābat Khān, and as Jahāngīr had ‘no objections’, Mahābat executed him (1035), wrapped his head in a table cloth, and sent it to his father M. ’A. as a present of a ‘melon.’ A short time before, ’Abdullah Khān had killed Dārāb’s son and a son of Shāhnawāz Khān. 3. Mirzā Rahmān Dād. His mother belonged to the Sōd’has of Amarkōt. Though very dissolute, he was most liked by his father. He died, at Bālāpūr, about the same time as his eldest brother. Vide Tuzuk, p. 315. No one dared to inform his father of the event, till people sent at last the famous saint Hazrat ’Īsā of Sindh to M. ’A. on a visit of condolence. 4. Mirzā Amrullah. He grew up without education, and died when young.