The Book of Akbar (Shaykh Ilāhdād Faiḍī Sirhindī) 2: The Mirzas
Akbar-náma, of Shaikh Illahdád Faizí Sirhindí (Elliot & Dowson, extracts) 2
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The Mirzas
2.1
(See Vol. V. pp. 189, 315, 325, 330.) [The Mirzas were the sons of Muhammad Sultan Mirza. He was the son of Rashid Sultan Wais Mirza, son of Babakra, son of Mansur, son of Babakra, son of ’Umr Shaikh, son of Sahib Kiran Amir Timur. The mother of Sultan Mirza was a daughter of Sultan Husain Mirza, ruler of Khurasan. This Sultan (Husain) Mirza brought up his grandson, Muhammad Sultan Mirza, under his own protection. When Sultan Mirza died, dissensions arose in his country, and Muhammad Sultan Mirza went and presented himself to the Emperor Babar, who treated him with great kindness. After the death of Babar, the Emperor Humayun kept up during his reign the same favour and patronage. Muhammad Sultan Mirza had two sons. One, Ulugh Mirza, met his death in a fight with the Hazaras. The other was named Shah Mirza. Ulugh Mirza left two sons, Sikandar Mirza and Muhammad Sultan Mirza. Upon the death of Ulugh Mirza, the Emperor Humayun charged himself with the education of his sons, and by his favour Sikandar Mirza received the title of Ulugh Mirza, and Muhammad Sultan Mirza that of Shah Mirza. When the Emperor Akbar succeeded to the throne, Muhammad Sultan Mirza had grown up. The Emperor exempted him from military service, and assigned him the pargana of ’Azampur, in the sarkar of Sambal, for a maintenance. He had several sons. First, Ibrahim Husain Mirza; second, Muhammad Husain Mirza; third, Mas’ud Husain Mirza; fourth, ’Akil Husain Mirza.
2.2
The Emperor conferred upon each of these a suitable jagir, and raised them to the rank of nobility. They attended in the train of His Majesty, and performed the duties of service. When the Emperor returned from his campaign against Jaunpur, they were at their jagirs in Sambal. At the time of the Emperor’s march to Lahore against Mirza Hakim, the brothers Ulugh Mirza and Shah Mirza combined with their uncles (nephews?) Ibrahim Husain Mirza and Muhammad Husain Mirza, and breaking out into rebellion, ravaged several parganas. This was an old failing in the family. Ulugh Mirza and Shah Mirza, sons of Muhammad Sultan Mirza, rose in rebellion during the reign of Humayun, and did great damage. But on each occasion their offences were overlooked.
2.3
When these graceless men attacked the parganas, the jagirdars of those parts resisted them, and the Mirzas, being unable to withstand the force brought against them, made off to join Khan-zaman and Sikandar Khan. There also their intractable tempers stood in the way of anything like union, so they turned back, with the intention of making an inroad into the Doab, and went as far as the pargana of Nim-kahar. Here Yar Shahi, the sister’s son of Haji Khan jagirdar of that district, gave them battle; but although he made a good fight, he was defeated, and great booty fell into the hands of the Mirzas. They continued their course, plundering as far as Dehli. Tatar Khan, the governor of Dehli, put the fort in a state of defence, and Mun’im Khan moved up from Agra to oppose them. Unable to resist the forces brought against them, they hastened off to Malwa, which was in a defenceless state. At the town of Sonpat, they fell in with Mir Mu’izzu-l Mulk, who was proceeding to the Panjab, and plundered his baggage. They then proceeded to Malwa, and took possession of that country. Kadam Khan, brother of Maghrib Khan Dakhini, was in Hindia, and Muhammad Husain Mirza laid siege to the place. After a time, he killed Kadam Khan, and got possession of Hindia. When intelligence of these doings reached the Emperor at Lahore, he gave orders for arresting Muhammad Sultan Mirza at ’Azampur, and for keeping him a prisoner in the fort of Bayana.
2.4
In this same year, 947 H., the Emperor having proved victorious over ’Ali Kuli Khan-zaman and Bahadur Khan, returned to Agra, and his victorious army had hardly taken breath, when the news came of the descent of the Mirzas upon Malwa. The Emperor immediately went off thither. When he reached Gagrun, he did not deem it necessary to prosecute a design which might as well be carried out by his officers; so he appointed Shahabu-d din Ahmad Khan, Shah Bidagh Khan, and some others, to act in the province of Mandu. As these nobles came near to Ujjain, they learned that the Mirzas, having heard of the approach of the Emperor, had met together and gone off to Changiz Khan, the ruler of Gujarat. So these commanders, by the grace of God, and the good fortune of the Emperor, obtained possession of the province without opposition or fighting. In the year 975, when the Emperor had sent his forces to besiege the fort of Rantambhor, he received intelligence that the Mirzas had fled from Changiz Khan, and having come back into Malwa, had laid siege to Ujjain. So he sent against them Kalij Khan and some other amirs who had been named for service at Rantambhor. When these amirs approached Sironj, they were joined by Shahabu-d din Ahmad Khan, the governor of that sarkar, and Shah Bidagh Khan, governor of Sarangpur. The Mirzas hearing of this imposing force, raised the siege of Ujjain, and turned towards Mandu. The garrison being thus relieved, came out.
2.5
and having joined the army, the united forces went in pursuit of the rebels. They fled from Mandu to the Nerbadda, and lost many men in making the passage of that river. Just about this time, Jhajar Khan Habshi assassinated Changiz Khan, the ruler of Gujarat, in the tirpauliya. When the Mirzas were informed of this event, they thought the disturbances in Gujarat opened a favourable field for them, so they proceeded thither, and the Imperial amirs returned to their jagirs or to Court, according to orders. The Mirzas, having obtained possession of Champanir, marched against Broach, and laid siege to the fortress. After a time, they killed by treachery Rumi Khan, who held the fort, and each of them brought a portion of the territories of Gujarat into his possession. Ibrahim Husain held Baroda and the surrounding territories. Muhammad Husain got Surat and its dependencies, and Shah Mirza held Champanir, with its dependent districts.]