The Institutes of Akbar 328: 98. A’saf Khan (III.), [Mirza Qiwamuddin] Ja’far Beg, son of Badi’uzzaman of Qazwin.
The Áín i Akbari (Blochmann, Jarrett) 328
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98. A’saf Khan (III.), [Mirza Qiwamuddin] Ja’far Beg, son of Badi’uzzaman of Qazwin.
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His father Mirza Badi’uzzaman was the son of Agha Mulla Dawatdar of Qazwin (vide p. 369). M. Badi’, during the reign of Shah Tahmasp, had been vazir of Kashan, and Ja’far had also been introduced at the Persian Court. In the 22nd year of Akbar’s reign (985), Ja’far Beg came to India, and was presented to Akbar by his uncle M. Ghiasuddin ’Ali Asaf Khan II. (No. 126), on his return from the Idar expedition. The new Dagh law having then been introduced (vide p. 242), Akbar made Ja’far a Commander of Twenty (Bisti) and attached him to the Dakhilis (p. 232) of his uncle. According to Badaoni (III., 216) people attributed this minimum of royal favour ‘to the malice of Ja’far’s uncle.’ The post was so low, that Ja’far threw it up in disgust, and went to Bengal, to which province Muzaffar Khan (No. 37) had just been appointed governor. He was with him, when the Bengal military revolt broke out, and fell together with Shamsuddin i Khafi (No. 159) into the hands of the rebels. Ja’far and Shams found means to escape, the former chiefly through his winning manners. On arriving at Fathpur, Ja’far met with a better reception than before, was in a short time made a Commander of Two Thousand, and got the title of Asaf Khan. He was also appointed Mir Bakhshi, vice Qazi ’Ali. In his first expedition, against the Rana of Udaipur, Asaf was successful. In the 32nd year, he was appointed Thanahdar of Sawad (Swat), vice Ismail Quli Khan, who had been reprimanded (p.
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361, where for Bajor read Bijor). In the 37th year, Jalalah Raushani fled to ’Abdullah Khan Uzbak, king of Turan; but finding no support, he returned to Terah, and stirred up the Afridi and Urakzai Afghans. Asaf was sent against him, and with the assistance of Zain Khan Kokah, defeated Jalalah. The family of the rebel fell into the hands of the imperialists; his women were given to Wahdat ’Ali, who was said to be Jalalah’s brother, while the other members of his family were taken to Court. In the 39th year, Asaf was sent to Kashmir, M. Yusuf Khan (No. 35) having been recalled. He re-distributed the lands of the Jagir holders, of whom Ahmad Beg Kabuli (No. 191), Muhammad Quli Afshar, and Hasan ’Arab, were the most important. The cultivation of Za’faran (saffron, vide p. 84) and hunting were declared monopolies, and the revenue was fixed according to the assessment of Qazi ’Ali; i. e., at one lac of kharwars, at 24 dams each (vide p. 346). Asaf only stayed three days in Kashmir, and returned to Lahor. In the 42nd year, when Kashmir had become all but desolated through the oppressions of the Jagir holders, Asaf was made Governor of the province. In the 44th year, (beginning of 1008), he was appointed Diwán i kul, vice Patr Dás (No. 196).
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In 1013, Prince Salím (Jahángír) rebelled against Akbar; but a reconciliation was effected by Akbar’s mother, and Salím was placed for twelve days under surveillance. After this, he received Gujrát as tuyúl, and gave up the Çúbahs of Iláhábád and Bihár, of which during his rebellion he had taken possession. Bihár was given to Á’çaf who, moreover, was appointed to a Command of Three Thousand. On Jahángír’s accession, Áçaf was called to court, and appointed atálíq to Prince Parwíz, who had taken the command against the Ráná. The expedition was, however, interrupted by the rebellion of Prince Khusrau. In the 2nd year, 1015, Jahángír, after suppressing Khusrau’s revolt, left Láhor for Kábul, and as Sharíf Khán Amír ul Umará remained dangerously ill in India, Áçaf was made Vakíl and Commander of Five Thousand. He also received a pen-box studded with jewels. But he never trusted Jahángír, as the Emperor himself found out after Áçaf’s death (Tuzuk, p. 109).
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From the time of Akbar’s death, the kings of the Dak’hin had been restless, and Malik ’Ambar had seized upon several places in the Bálághát District. The Khán Khánán, (No. 29), with his usual duplicity, had done nothing to recover the loss, and Jahángír sent Prince Parwíz to the Dak’hin, with Áçaf Khán as atálíq, and the most renowned grandees of the Court, as Rájáh Mán Singh (No. 30), Khán Jahán Lodí, Khán i A’zam, (No. 21), ’Abdullah Khán, “each in himself sufficient for the conquest of a country.” But incessant drinking on the part of the Prince, and the jealousy and consequent insubordination of the Amírs, spoiled everything, and the Mughuls suffered a check and lost their prestige (p. 326). Not long after, in 1021, Áçaf died at Burhánpúr. The Táríkh of his death is— صد حیف از آصف خان, A hundred times Alas! for Áçaf Khán! The Tuzuk (p. 108) says that he died at the age of sixty-three.
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Áçaf Khán is represented as a man of the greatest genius. He was an able financier, and a good accountant. A glance is said to have been sufficient for him to know the contents of a page. He was a great horticulturist, planting and lopping off branches with his own hands in his gardens; and he often transacted business with a garden spade in his hand. In religious matters, he was a free-thinker, and one of Akbar’s disciples (p. 209). He was one of the best poets of Akbar’s age, an age most fruitful in great poets. His Masnawí, entitled Núrnámah, ranks after Nizámí’s Shírín Khusrau. Vide below among the poets of Akbar’s reign. Áçaf kept a great number of women, and had a large family. His sons. 1, Mírzá Zain ul’ábidín. He was a commander of Fifteen Hundred, 500 horse, and died in the second year of Sháhjahán’s reign. He had a son Mírzá Ja’far, who like his grandfather was a poet, writing under the same takhalluç (Ja’far). He, Záhid Khán Kokah, and M. Shafí’ (Pádisháhnámah; Sáqí, Maásir), son of Saif Khan, were such intimate friends, that Shahjahan dubbed them sih yar, ‘the three friends.’ He later resigned the service, and lived in Agrah on the pension which Shahjahan granted and Aurangzib increased. He died in 1094. 2. Suhrab Khan. He was under Shahjahan a Commander of Fifteen Hundred, 1,200 horse, and died in the 13th year of Shahjahan.
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3. Mirza ’Ali Asghar. He was a hasty youth, and could not bridle his tongue. In the Parendah expedition, he created dissensions between Shah Shuja’ and Mahabat Khan. He served in the war against Jujhar Bundelah, and perished at the explosion of a tower in Fort Dhamuni, as related in the Padishahnamah. He had just been married to the daughter of Mu’tamid Khan Bakhshi (author of the Iqbalnamah i Jahangiri); but as no cohabitation had taken place, Shahjahan married her to Khan Dauran. He was a Commander of Five Hundred, 100 horse. 4. Mirza ’Askari. He was in the 20th year of Shahjahan a Commander of 500, 100 horse. The lists of grandees in the Padishahnamah mention two relations of Asaf— 1. Muhammad Salih, son of Mirza Shafi, brother or nephew of Jafar. He was a Commander of One Thousand, 800 horse, and died in the second year of Shahjahan’s reign. 2. Muqim, a Commander of Five Hundred, 100 horse.