Asaf Khan

Asaf Khan owes the beginning of his political career to his sister Nur-Jahan , Jahangir's beloved wife, and to his father Mirza Giyas-Beg (d. 1622), the first Padishah minister, who was awarded the Mansaba Itimad al-Daul for his services (“State support”) . Asaf Khan took second place among his official advisers to Padishah Jahangir after his father ^[2] . In 1612, Asaf Khan gave his daughter Arjumand Banu Kadziya-Begum , better known under his mansab Mumtaz-Mahal ("Decoration of the Palace"), for the heir to the throne, Shah Jahan Bahadur ^{[1] [2]} .

Since 1611 , when the padishah Jahangir married Nur-Jahan, her family (actually Nur-Jahan, her father and Asaf Khan) gained a huge influence on the padishah and decision-making on key government issues. The power of Nur-Jahan and Asaf Khan became virtually undivided after in 1620 the health of the padishah, who seriously abused alcohol and opium, shook so much that it became difficult for him to directly administer the state. In 1625, Asaf Khan was appointed subadar of Lahore ^[2] .

When the heir to the throne, the brother-in-law of Asaf Khan, Shahzade Shah Jahan Bahadur began to get out of the influence of Nur-Jahan and became an independent political figure, Nur-Jahan decided to deprive him of the right to succession and make the heir to another Shahzade , the weak and weak-willed Sultan Shahriyar-mirza , the fourth son of Jahangir . In April 1621, Nur-Jahan arranged the wedding of Shahzade Sultan Shahriyar-Mirza with her daughter from her first marriage, Ladily Begum. After Itimad ad-Daul Mirza Giyas-Beg passed away in January 1622, relations between his children Nur-Jahan and Asaf Khan began to gradually deteriorate ^[2] .

In March 1626, the rebel commander Mahabat Khan , the old enemy of Asaf Khan, captured the Padishah Jahangir, Nur-Jahan and Asaf Khan who were following in Kabul. The capture of the padishah by the Mahabat Khan occurred after Asaf Khan, who knew that his foe was approaching with a detachment of five thousand Rajputs , imprudently crossed the river with the main part of the army, leaving the padishah on the east bank with a small detachment of bodyguards. After an unsuccessful attempt to cross back over the river and free Jahangir, Asaf Khan fled in panic to the Attok fortress. When the Mahabat Khan approached the fortress, Asaf Khan was forced to surrender to the mercy of the victor ^{[3] [2]} .

A few months later, the rebellion of the Mahabat Khan was suppressed (the Mahabat Khan himself fled to the Shahzad Shah Jahan Bahadur), and about a year later, in the fall of 1627 , the Padish Jahangir died on the road from Kashmir to Lahore . Asaf Khan immediately sent a messenger to Shah Jahan Bahadur with news of the death of his father ^[2] .

Asaf Khan decided that he had struck his finest hour, and began to act with unexpected determination and knowledge of the matter. Since at the time of the death of the padishah both Shah Jahan Bahadur and Sultan Shahriyar-Mirza were absent in his camp, Asaf Khan in various ways attracted the most influential dignitaries and proclaimed the new padishah of the fourteen-year-old Sultan Davar Bakhsh , the son of the murdered Sultan Khusrauzh-Mirza , son of Jahangir. For a short time, Asaf Khan became virtually the sole ruler of the young padishah ^[2] .

However, such a turn of events did not suit his sister Nur-Jahan at all and she urgently sent a letter to Lahore, where Sultan Shakhriyar-Mirza, who was depressed by the Shahzade, was trying to recover from leprosy . Nur-Jahan demanded that the Shahzade immediately put the loyal troops on alert. Soon, however, Asaf Khan, anticipating opposition from his sister, ordered Nur Jahan to be placed under house arrest and took away the Shahzadeh Dar Shikokh and Aurangzeb , the sons of Shah Jahan Bahadur, who were under her care. ^[2]

At the head of the imperial troops, Asaf Khan and Sultan Davar Bakhsh marched on Lahore, where Sultan Shahriyar Mirza was recruiting a huge, but untrained army for government money. Soon, Asaf Khan defeated the inexperienced mercenary troops of Sultan Shahriyar Mirza near Lahore, and he himself was forced to surrender and ordered to be blinded. After the victory over Shahriyar-Mirza, Asaf Khan received a letter from the Shah Jahan moving to Agra with an order to send another Sultan Davar Bakhsha , Sultan Shahriyar-Mirza , as well as two sons of Shahzadeh Sultan Danial-Mirza (son of Padishah Akbar ), Taymuras-Mirza and Hushang Mirza. In January 1628, Asaf Khan obediently obeyed the order of the new padishah ^[2] .

In February 1628, Asaf Khan, accompanied by the two sons of the new padishah, Shahzadeh Dar Shikokh and Aurangzeb , arrived in Agra , where Shah Jahan I granted him the position of first minister ^[2] . Asaf Khan remained in this position until 1632 , when, after the failed siege of Bijapur, he lost the favor of the padishah.

Asaf Khan died on June 12, 1641 during the uprising of the Raja Jagat Singh of Padhaniya. His son Shaista Khan subsequently also took the post of first minister and became the closest associate of Padishah Alamgir I ^{[2] [4]} .

Asaf Khan was buried in Lahore , in the magnificent tomb built for him by the padishah Shah Jahan, which is now included in the preliminary list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Pakistan with the nearby Mausoleum of Jahangir ^[5] .

• Gascoigne, Bamber. The Great Mughals. Descendants of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane . - M .: CJSC Centerpolygraph , 2003 .-- 271 p. - (Riddles of ancient civilizations). - ISBN 5-9524-0393-X.
• Kumar, Anil. Asaf Khan and his times . - Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute, 1986.- 253 p. - (Historical researches series).
• Rapson, Edward James; Haig, Wolseley; Burn, Richard. The Cambridge History of India. Vol. 4, The Mughul period . - Delhi: S. Chand & Co., 1957.
• The Timurid Dynasty // www.royalark.net