Later Mughals v1.c9.s41.t5: E.—Farrukh-siyar's wives.

Later Mughals v1.c9.s41.t5

Language: English

E.—Farrukh-siyar's wives.

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We hear of only two principal wives—(1) Fakhr-un-nissa Begam, daughter of Sadat Khan; (2) the Rathor Princess, the daughter of Maharajah Ajit Singh, whose Hindu name seems to have been Rai Indar Kunwar.* The father of the former was one Mir Muhammad Taqqi, entitled first Hasan Khan and then Sadat Khan, son of Sadat Khan. He is called a Husaini by race, and the family came from the Persian province of Mazandaran, on the south shore of the Caspian Sea; it had emigrated to India after having been for a time settled at Isfahan.† He married a daughter of Masum Khan Safawi, and if this lady was the mother of Fakhr-un-nissa, this Safawi connection would account for the daughter's selection as a Prince's bride.* Sadat Khan was wounded on the 9th Rabi II. 1131 H., the day of Farrukh-siyar's deposition, and died two or three days afterwards. He was over eighty years of age. The following table shows his family:—

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∗ *Tawarikh-i-Marwar* of Murari Das, B. M. Or. 5838, vol. 2. fol. 80b.

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† The *Masir-ul-umara*, ii. 524, calls him Mir Buzurg-i-Marashi. I do not know the explanation of these epithets.

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Sadat Khan, d. 1131 H.

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(1) *T-i-Mhdi* and Kamwar Khan, 166.

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(2) *Masir-ul-umara*, ii. 524.

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The daughter of Ajit Singh was married on the 29th Ramzan 1127 H. (27th September, 1715) in the fourth year of the reign. She seems to have had no issue. After Farrukh-siyar's deposition and death, she was brought out of the imperial harem on the 29th Shaban 1131 H. (16th July, 1719), and made over to her father with the whole of her property. She returned to Jodhpur and we hear no more of her.

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Another wife or concubine, the daughter of the hill-rajah of Kashtwar, entered the harem on the 24th Rajab 1129 H. (3rd July, 1717.)†

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∗ *T-i-Mhdi*, year 1128 H.; *Masir-ul-umara*, ii. 670-76; Mirza Muhammad, 174. The *Masir-ul-umara* iii., calls her Guhar-un-nissa Begam.

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† Kamwar Khan, 172-3; Thornton, 506; Kishtwar, a town on the southern slope of the Himalayas, situated in a small plain on the left bank of the Chenab, 5,000 feet above the sea; Lat. 33° 18', Long. 75° 46'.

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F.—Farrukh-siyar's children.

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The following table shows all the children that are recorded:—

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[Figure: Farrukh-siyar

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M. Farkhunda-siyar, | Jahan | Badshah Begam. Jahangir Shah | Murad Shah. |
(1) | (2) | (3)]

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(1) Jahangir Shah was born at Patna on the 18th Zul Qada 1123 H. (27th December, 1711).* He died of small-pox a few months afterwards, on the 17th Rabi II. 1125 (12th May, 1713).†

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† Kamwar Khan 135. The B. M. Or. 1690, fol. 164b says he died in Jamadi I.

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(2) Jahan Murad Shah was born on the 16th Zul Qada 1129 H.‡ (October 21st, 1717) and died on the 22nd Jamadi II. 1130 H. (May 22nd, 1718.) The mother was Sadat Khan's daughter.

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‡ Mirza Muhammad, 328 and 358. Kamwar Khan has 15th instead of 16th.

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(3) Badshah Begam. This child was also born of Sadat Khan's daughter. She married the Emperor Muhammad Shah in 1133 H. (1720-1) and was known as Malika-uz-zamani, "Queen of the Age." She took a prominent part in securing the accession of Ahmad Shah in 1161 H. and died in 1203 H. (1788-9).§

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§ Francklin, Shah Aulum, 205.

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G.—Note on Mirza Jafar, Zatali, Narnoli.

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The poetical title of Zatali, under which Mirza Jafar wrote, comes from zatal, Hindi, "chattering, quibbling, idle-talk," (Shakespear, 1212). There are several printed editions of his works. A copy of the edition of 1853, now in the Königliche Bibliothek at Berlin, belonged to Dr. Sprenger (see his Catalogue, p. 8, No. 1638.) Beale, p. 189, says he was executed by Farrukh-siyar's orders for parodying the couplet on the coin of that Emperor. The historians make no mention of this;

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∗ B. M. Or. 1690, fol. 156b.

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but the fact is possible, when we remember that Abdul-jalil Bilgrami, waqia-navis of Siwistan was recalled, and deprived of his appointment, for a very innocent report. There are some further details about Zatali in a little Urdu work Zar-i-Jafari, yani siwanih-i-umri-i-Mir Jafar, Zatalli, by "Hindustani Speculator" (published by Jan Muhammad and Muhammad Ismail, Kashmiri Bazar, Lahor, 1890, 36 pp. litho.). From this we learn that his ancestors came to India with Humayun, when that monarch returned to it and fought Hemu. They obtained a jagir and were in favour during Jahangir's reign, but in Shah Jahan's time the grant was resumed, and the poet's father Mir Abbas, was forced to open a shop. Jafar is said to have been born about the time of Alamgir's accession (1658). The other children were two daughters and a son, Safdar; the latter, the youngest of the family, being about five-and-a-half years younger than his brother. Their father died when all of them were young. One Mir Sarwar sent Jafar to school along with his own son, Akbar. In the end Sarwar embezzled the family property; and they were reduced to poverty again. Jafar was over sixty when he died, but no year is given. In one of his rubaat in his Kulliyat he says that when he wrote it he was over sixty. The following Persian lines in praise of tobacco are by him :—

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Turfah-i-shaghle shaghal-i-tambaku,
Kih zin shaghal gham faru gardad :
Ham-dam ast in, ba waqt-i-tanhai,
Tabai-i-badi az u niku gardad.
"Smoking tobacco is a rare pastime,
An occupation decreasing gloom;
A friend it is in time of solitude,
It is a help to a bad digestion."

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But his more characteristic style is a macaronic mixture of Persian and Hindi.