A k b a r

On the death of his father at Delhi in 1556 A.D., Akbar, then only thirteen years and four moths old, ascended the throne at Kalanor in the Panjab, where he was then encamped to prosecute a war with Sekandar Shah Sur, under the tutelage of the famous General and Minister Behram Khan. Here the Khutba was proclaimed from the pulpit. The first event of importance which took place at Lahore after the accession of the Emperor, was the capture of Shah Abul Ma’ali, Governor of Lahore, in the time of Humayun, and an Amir of the first ranck, who had shown a disposition to rebel. He was seized and made over to Pahalwan Kalgaz, the Kotwal, or chief Police officer, of Lahore, but he managed to effect his escape from custody, and, collecting an army, invaded Kashmir. The Kotwal, feeling ashamed of the disgrace to which he was likely to be subjected by the imperial government, committed suicide.

  The Emperor, having heard of the defeat of his General, Khizr Khan, within twenty koss of the capital of the Panjab, arrived at Lahore during the second year of his reign, and remained there four months and fourteen days, which time was employed by him in consolidating his rule in the Panjab, and in supervising military operations against Sikandar Shah Sur, who had strengthened his position in the Sewalik mountains. He then returned to Delhi, after appointing Husein Khan, son of Mahdi Qasam Khan'’ sister, his governor of Lahore. It was about this time that Mirza Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, the famous poet and minister, and one of the ablest administrators who adorned the Court of Akbar, was born at Lahore. He was the son of the Emperor’s tutor and General Behram Khan.

  After Behram Khan had fallen into disfavor, Shams-ud-din Mahomed Khan Atka, who had distinguished himself in the wars against Sikandar Shah Sur, having received his flag and and drum, was sent as viceroy to the Panjab. His Majesty followed him to Lahore, which he visited in the fifth year of his reign. The title of Khan-i-Azim was conferred on Shams-ud-din, and extensive jagirs were bestowed on him and his family in the Panjab. In the same year (964 A.H.) Mariam Makani, the Queen Dowager, with other ladies, joined the Imperial camp from Cabul. It was also during this march that, one of the Emperor’s elephants having by accident run into Behram Khan’s tents, ill-feeling arose between him and Shams-ud-din, who was suspected by the minister of causing the accident. The governor, with his sons, went to Khan-i-Khanan’s tents and took an oath on the Qoran that the affair was a mere accident ; thus all suspicion was removed.

      In 1556, the peace of Lahore was disturbed by Mahomed Hakim Mirza, the Emperor’s half-brother, who, having been expelled from Kabul, sought to establish himself in the Punjab, and was encouraged by several local commanders who joined him at Cabul. After plundering Bhera, he set our for Lahore by forced marches and encamped in the garden of Mahdi Qasam Khan, which was situated outside the city, on the banks of river Ravi. Some of the Omerahs of the Panjab, such as Mir Mahomed Khan-i-Kalan,Qutb-du-din Mahomed Khan and Sharif Khan, having heard of these proceedings, assembled in Lahore and strengthened the fortress. Several times the Mirza marshalled his forces and advanced to the foot of the fortifications, but the Omerahs repulsed him with the fire of their guns and muskets. The news of these hostilities, having reached the Emperor at Agra, His Majesty marched on the Panjab by way of Sirhand, and Mahomed Hakim Mirza, feeling incapable of resistance, fled to Cabul. The Emperor heard the news of his flight after crossing the Jumna, but continued his march to Lahore. On approaching the city, he was welcomed by the nobles, who received distinguished marks of royal favor for the loyalty and devotion they had exhibited. His Majesty entered Lahore, the Dar-us-Sultanat, at a propitious moment in Rajab, and put up in the house of Mahdi Qasam Khan, in the citadel. By the Emperor’s commands, Qutb-ud-din Mahomed Khan and Kamal Khan, the Ghakkar Chief, pursued, Mahomed Hakim Mirza beyond the Pargana of Bhera ; but the Mirza had already crossed the Indus.

    “His Majesty,” according to Abul Fazl, “while at Lahore, was engaged, greatly to his satisfaction, in arranging the affairs of the people.” The Zamindars of the country waited on the Imperial Court to tender their allegiance and were graciously received. Mahomed Baki, the ruler of Scind, sent his ambassador to the Court, and his offer to be recognized as a vassal of the Emperor was accepted.

       At the commencement of the 12th year of his reign (February 1567 A.D.), His Majesty resolved to go out for a Qamraqa hunt.

For a space of forty kos round Lahore, the Amirs were ordered to drive the wild game together within a circle of about five kos on all sides of the city. Under the directions of Mir Mahomed Atka, they drove together some 15,000 wild animals of all kinds into that area. The royal tent used in campaigns was set up in the midst, and His Majesty went out to hunt on horseback. Each day the Amirs and Khans drew their lines closer, to narrow the circle. The nobles were then permitted to join in the sport, and afterwards the general public were allowed to take part in it, and there was hardly a soldier or private person who did not enjoy some game. On return to the city, after many days of festivities, the Emperor dashed on horseback into the river Ravi and swam across it. His example was followed by his courtiers, and all but two got safely across. On 22nd March, 1567, the Emperor started to return to Agra, leaving the direction of the affairs of the Panjab to Mir Mahomed Khan Atka.

       In the thirteenth year of the reign, Husein Kuli Khan, having been appointed viceroy of the Panjab, was sent to Lahore, with his brother Ismail Khan. The following year, His Majesty visited Ajuddhan (Pak Pattan), to pay his benedictions to the mausoleum of Saint Farid Shakar Ganj. The place being the jagir of Mirza Aziz Gokal Tash, surnamed Azim Khan, His Majesty was sumptuously entertained by him. The Mnemosynon for the date was found in the hemistich— 

            From Dipalpur, the Emperor proceeded to Lahore, where he was the guest of Husein Kuli Khan ; and, having spent some days there in hunting, he marched to Ajmere.

     In the seventeenth year of the reign, Husein Kuli Khan was created Khan-i-Jahan ; but he died soon after. “While governor of Lahore,” writes Al-Baduoni, “his food consisted of barley-bread, his object being to follow the example of the holy apostles. He repaired, restored or rebuilt, many thousands of mosques and ancient sepulchres.” 

            In the year 1579, Mahomed Hakim Mirza, the ruler of Cabul, having again crossed the Indus, defeated Kawar Man Singh, the Governor of the Panjab. He next marched to Lahore and encamped in the garden of Mahdi Qasam Khan. Kawar Man Singh, Said Khan, Raja Bhagwan Das, Sayad Hamid, Mahomed Zaman and other Jagirdars of the Panjab set to work to strength the fort. Sher Khwaja, Nadir Ali Zarcha, and Mir Sikandar, on the side of the prince, repeatedly attacked the fort, but failed to make any impression. Meanwhile the prince, having been informed of the Emperor’s approach to the Panjab, recrossed the Ravi and retreated to Cabul in February. The Emperor deputed his son, Prince Murad, to pursue him ; but it was not until March 6th, 1579, that victory was gained, and, the prince having effected his escape towards the mountains, the Emperor entered Cabul in triumph. On his return from Cabul, on new year’s day, it being the thirty-third year of his accession, the Emperor held great rejoicings in the capital of the Panjab. The Daulat Khana’Am, or the halls of public audience, which consisted of one hundred and fourteen porticoes, were embellished with all sorts of ornamentations and decorated with valuable stuffs and embroidered curtains. The chiefs of the neighbouring districts came to pay the king homage, among others being the Raja of Kamaun whose ancestors had never before seen a Mahomedan sovereign. In the following Ramzan the Emperor, left Said Khan, Raja Bhagwan Das and Kawar Man Singh in charge of the affairs of the Panjab, and marched to Fatehpur.

    About this time (1580 A.D.) there lived at Lahore an impostor, named Sheikh Kamal Bayani, who gave out that in the twinkling of an eye he could go over from one bank of the river Ravi to the other and from there call out to any body, “So and so go home,” so as to be heard distinctly by the people on the opposite bank. People put him to the test, and he managed his trick so well that they were convinced he possessed some miraculous power, for, no sooner had he disappeared from one bank of the river, than he was heard calling out the names of people on the other. The news having reached the Emperor, His Majesty took him privately to the banks of the river and asked him to show the miracle. The man dared not return a reply to the Emperor, on which His Majesty said:--“Very well, then we will bind you hand and foot and cast you from the top of the castle. If you come out of the water safe and sound, well and good ; if not, you will have gone to hell.” Being brought to bay, he pointed to his stomach and said:--“I have contrived all this merely for the sake of filling this hell of my own!” The deception practised by the impostor was this. He had a son who had the power of imitating his father’s voice so exactly that the most acute observer could hardly detect the difference. As soon as the father had, on the pretence of performing ablutions, gone down to the edge of the river and hidden himself in the stream, the son shouted out from the opposite side, in a voice closely resembling that of his father : “So and so, go home.” The impostor had deceived many people by his fraud, among them being Khan-i-Khanan and Dowlat Khan. Akbar, however, exposed the deception.

   When the Emperor went to Kashmir, in the thirty-fourth year of his reign, he left Todar Mal in charge of Lahore. The great Financier and Revenue Accountant was a Khatri of Chunian, in the Lahore district. He entered Akbar’s service at a very early period. He was created a Diwan in the twenty-third year of the reign, and it was during this year that he introduced the financial reforms which have rendered his name so famous in India. He introduced a new rent-roll and a system of land measurement and revenue accounts. He also made regulations for imperial mints in the chief towns of India, all of which are detailed in the Ain-i-Akbari and the Akbarnama, the learned works of the Allami Abul Fazl. Before his appointment as Diwan, all government accounts were written in the Hindi characters. Todar Mal introduced the Persian characters, and his co-religionists were thus compelled to learn the Court language of their Mahomedan rulers. In the twenty-second year of Akbar’s reign, Todar Mal was raised to the dignity of Wazir of the empire. It was due to the liberal policy of Akbar that Hindus obtained the highest posts of honor under the Mussalman government of India. Thus, we see Man Singh raised to the rank of seven thousand and made governor of the Panjab, as his father Raja Bhagwan Das had been before him. The Panjab, it would appear, has always been treated as the most important Province, and the viceroyalty of that country was considered of superior dignity to the Prime-ministership at the capital of India. The fact, therefore, of these Hindus holding the most important commands shows the liberality which inspired Akbar’s whole policy.

      Soon after the return of the imperial forces from Eusufzai, whither Todar Mal had been ordered to accompany Raja Man Singh, the commander-in-chief, he applied for leave to go to the Ganges to die there in peace, as he had become an old man. The Emperor granted his request, but recalled him from Hardwar, telling him that doing his duty to his country and State was a pilgrimage far more meritorious than sitting on the banks of the Ganges. Todar Mal returned unwillingly, and died soon after at Lahore in 1581 A.D.

      A short time after Raja Todar Mal’s death, Raja Bhagwan Das died at Lahore in the beginning of 998 (1589 A. D.). It is said that, while returning from Todar Mals funeral, he was seized with an attack of stranguary of which he died. He held the title of Amir-ul-Omara, or the premier noble. In the twenty-ninth year of the reign, his daughter was married to Prince Salem, a union of which Prince Khusrow was the offspring.

   The following year, 999 A.H. (1582 A.D.), Urfi, the great poet of Akbar’s Court, died at Lahore. He was an attendant of Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, and bequeathed, in all, about 14,000 verses to his patron. He was only 36 years old when he died, and his body was, thirty years later, removed by the poet, Sabir, to Isphahan and buried in the holy land of Najaff. Thus, his prognostication, recorded in one of his verses in the praise of Ali (who is also buried in Najaff), was fulfilled when he said:-

    “By the force of my eye-lids I shall travel from my grave to Najaff,

              Should they kill me either in Hind or in Tartary.”

              The date of Urfi’s death is found in the hemistich,

                     “Urfu thou didate die young.”

            His early death was, according to Eastern ideas, ascribed to the abuse he had heaped on the ancients.

    Lahore was a place of great importance in Akbar’s time. Abul Fazl, speaking of Lahore in the second year of Akbar’s reign, writes : “It is a very populous city, the resort of people of all nations and a center of extensive commerce. In the shortest time great armies can be collected there, and ammunitions of war in any quantity can be procured for the use of troops.” A royal mint, carpet manufactory, and other establishments were founded there. The Emperor had a taste for gardening and sent for skilful gardeners from Persia to cultivate grapes and melons in Lahore. For fourteen years, namely, from 1584 to 1598, Akbar made Lahore his head-quarters, and from it conducted military operations against Kashmir, planned wars with the north-eastern Afghans, undertook the conquest of Scindh and Candahar and arranged his campaigns with the Eusufzais, in one of which Raja Bir Bal, his greatest personal favorite, lost his life.

        On 17th Ziqadh, 1001 A.H. (1592 A.D.), Sheikh Mobarak, of Nagore, died at Lahore. He was the father of the celebrated Faizi and Abul Fazl, the greatest writers and politicians India has produced. He was a man of comprehensive genius and wrote a commentary on the Qoran in four volumes called the Mumbiul Uyun and another work called the Jami-ul-Kalam. He suffered from partial blindness towards the close of his life and died at the age of ninety. The year of his death is found in the words “The perfect Sheikh.”

    In the year 1002 A.H. (1593 A.D.) Hakim Ali Gilani constructed a wonderful reservoir (hauz) in the court-yard of the palace of Lahore. The bottom was reached by a stair-case connected with a passage which led to an adjoining room, six yards square, capable of holding a dozen people. The passage was so contrived that access to the chamber was obtained without the water flowing into it. When Akbar, plunging into the water, reached the bottom, he passed into a room which he found lighted up and furnished with bed-stead’s, cushions, and some books. Breakfast was provided of which the Emperor partook. Seventeen years before, another Hakim had made an attempt to construct a similar tank at Fatehpur, but the experiment failed. This time, however, Hakim Ali succeeded in constructing the mysterious tank, and Mir Hyder, a riddle-maker, found the date in the words “the pond of Hakim Ali”, which gives 1002 A.H. as the date. The Emperor had this pond filled with copper coin which amounted to twenty karors. His Majesty was fond of hearing the music of Mian Tan Sen and Sheikh Banjhu, unrivalled musicians of Hindustan, and he once ordered the Sheikh to carry off the whole of the sun of money in question. The Sheikh, being unequal to the task, asked the Emperor for some gold instead, and His Majesty presented him with Rs. 10,000 in exchange.

            A short time before the time of his residence at Lahore, Akbar’s religious views seem to have undergone fresh changes. He was anxious to unite in his person both the spiritual and the secular leadership, and he had been declared by the Sadr-us-Sudur, the Chief Qazi and the Mufti of the empire, to be the Amir of the faithful and the Mujtahid of the age, or the sole authority on points of Mahomedan law. Being at this time seized with suspicions against some of the mullahs of Lahore, His Majesty ordered Qazi Sadr-ud-din, Lahori, a free-thinker, and other mullahs, such as Abdul Shakur Guldar, Mullah Mahomed Masum, and others, to be banished from the city.

            In the thirty-first year of the reign, the Emperor, during his residence at Lahore, married the daughter of Rae Singh, son of Rae Kalian Mal, to Prince Salem. His Majesty went to the house of the bridegroom’s father with the bridal party, and after the nuptial ceremonies were over, presents were exchanged. About this time Abdulla Khan Uzbek, King of Turan, having written to Akbar regarding his apostacy from Islam, Miran Sadr Jahan, Mufti of the empire, and Hakim Himam, who possessed great influence at Court, were sent as ambassadors. In answer to the king of Turan’s communication, some Arabic verses composed by Sheikh Faizi, the Poet Laureate, were written, in which the charge of apostacy was  distinctly denied. How the great orator rebutted the charge will appear from the following verses:--

          “People say of God he had a son,  Of the Prophet it is said he was a sorcerer  Neither God nor the Prophet has escaped .  The slander of men, then how should I?”

            In spite, however, of these professions, the Emperor, at no distant date, claimed for himself the rank of a prophet, and the formula was publicly adopted—

            “There is no God, but God, and Akbar is God’s representative.” 

            About this time the Poet, Mulla Sheri, composed some odes descriptive of the king’s frenzy, of which the following are some:-

            “It is utter confusion of brain if a fool take into his head,

              That love of the Prophet can ever be banished from mankind,

              I cannot repress laughter at the following couplet which, on account

                        Of its novelty,

              Will be recited at the tables of the rich and continually read by the   Beggar,

              ‘The King this year has laid claims to be a prophet,

              After the lapse of a year, please God, he will become the Deity.”

            Notwithstanding all his singularly eccentric behaviour in matters of religion, there can be no doubt that it was during his long residence at Lahore that the notions of religious liberality, for which Akbar was so conspicuous, were developed. He seemed there to have acted more in the spirit of an enquirer after truth than as a mere pretender, and his strict observance of religious toleration, his perfect freedom from partiality to any particular sect, the purity of his ideas, the sincerity of his sentiments and designs, and above all his keen appreciation of every thing really good in any religious system, endeared him to all his subjects and paved the way for his reaching the summit of human glory. Here His Majesty conversed freely with the learned doctors on points of religion, its principles, and divaricators. His court was the resort of learned men of every creed and professors of different religious from every country, and they were admitted to converse with him. His Majesty erected two buildings outside the city for feeding poor Hindus and Mussalmans one of which he called Dharmpura, and the other Khyrpura. In the latter the Jews and fire-worshippers were also entertained. The charge of these institutins was entrusted to Abul Fazl. As a large number of jogis also flocked to these establishments, a separate receiving-house was built for them, which got the name of Jogipura. Meetings were held on the evening of each Sabbath at which, in the words of Al-Badaoni, “were discussed profound points of science, the subtleties of revelation, the curiosities of history and the wonders of nature, of which large volumes could give only a summary abstract.”  Men employed themselves in “contemplation, posturing, addresses, abstractions and reveries, and in alchemy, fascination and magic.” The King himself is said to have become an adept in the art of alchemy, and exhibited before the assembly the gold he had made. Sometimes whole nights were passed in controversies, His Majesty remaining present throughout the proceedings, and evincing the greatest interest in the discussions which took place. Sometimes these meetings led to fatal results. Thus, Mullah Ahmad, a learned Shia, author of the Tarikh-I-Alji, was assassinated in the streets of Lahore by Mirza Faulad Beg Barlas, because he had openly reviled the companions of the Prophet. The Mirza was bound to the foot of an elephant and dragged through the streets of Lahore “until at last,” writes the Sunni narrator, “he attained the grade of martyrdom.” The date of Mullah Ahmad’s death is found in the words,

                     ”Bravo ! the dagger of steel” 

            After the burial of Mullah Ahmad, Sheikh Faizi and Sheikh Abdul Fazl, set guards over his grave ; but such was the hatred for the Shia Mullah that, in spite of all precautions, when His Majesty left for Kashmir, the people of Lahore, one night, disinterred his corpse and burnt it.

            The Emperor adored the rising sun, and appeared daily at the jharoka window, or balcony, of the palace, to be worshipped by the people as an embodiment of the deity. He revived the old Persian festival of Nauroz in honor of the sun, adopting it for the celebration of his accession to the throne, and appointed Abul Fazl superintendent of fire temples. On the sun’s entering the sign of Virgo, he had his forehead marked like a Hindu, and had Rakhi of twisted linen rags tied on his wrist by Brahmans as an amulet.

        But the Emperor’s partiality was not confined to the followers of Brahma and of Zerdasht alone. He listened with patience to the advocates of every religion and took the most genuine interest in their disputations. He was courteous to the Christians to such a degree that his plausibility more than once led them to entertain the most sanguine hopes of their being able to make His Majesty a convert to their faith. For the third time, at the earnest request of the Emperor, the Portuguese government at Goa sent him missionaries, with all their books of law and gospel. The Court was then (1595 A.D.) at Lahore, which is described by the Fathers as “a delightful city.” In their journal they describe, in glowing terms, the splendor of the king’s court and the greatness of his army. “5,000 elephants, with iron-plates on their heads and their trunks and tusks armed with swords and daggers, marched in the rear of the cavalcade.” The imperial residence is described as being situated on an island in the river whither they were conducted. His Majesty gave them the most gracious reception and was dazzled by an ornamented image of the Virgin which was exhibited to him. But they were discouraged on observing that the Emperor assiduously worshipped the rising sun, and was himself worshipped as a ray of the sun, that illuminator of the universe, or a light emanating from the Creator. Every morning Akbar presented himself at a window, and saw multitudes of people fall prostrate before him. The hopes of the Fathers not being realized, they eventually left for Goa. Jahangir, the son and successor of Akbar, was however, more liberal to the Portuguese Jesuits than       his father. He allowed them to establish a mission and build a church and school at Lahore, and to preach where they pleased. He listened to the Fathers very attentively and even appointed stipends for the priests. These pensions were, however, withdrawn by Shah Jahan, a stricter Mahomedan, who demolished the church.

      Lahore was also about this period (A.D. 1584) visited for four Englishmen—Messrs Newbury, Fitch, Storey and Leeds, members of the Levant Company in Turkey ; but in the account of their travels no detailed description of the place exists.

       In the year 1585 A.D. Mirza Rustam, a relation of Shah Ismail Safvi of Persia, having disagreed with his brother, came to Lahore with his family and dependents. He was honorably received by the Emperor, who sent the Hakim Enul-Mulk, Khan-i-Khanan, Zen Khan Koka and other grandees of the empire, to receive him at a distance of four kos from the city. At the interview with the Emperor, he was presented with one Karor Tanka in cash and created in Amir with a rank of 5,000. Multan was assigned him as a jagir, and His Majesty supplied him with articles of household use, such as carpets, utensils, &c., valued at many thousands of rupees.          

            In 1586 A.D., Mirza Nizam-ud-din Ahmad, author of the Tabakat-I-Akbari, died at Lahore, in the forty-fifth year of his age, and was buried in “his garden at Lahore.” “Among the gentry and the public of Lahore,” writes Al-Badaoni, “there were few who did not weep at his funeral, or who, recollecting his kind and courteous deportment, did not express sorrow on the occasion.” The following was found as the date of his death:-

            “Mirza Nizam-ud-din Ahmad,

              Departed for the world of futurity,

              And he departed with vigilance and in a becoming way,

              His essence being high,

              He went in to the regions of the holy angels.

              Qadri found the year of his death,-

              An invaluable pearl has departed from the world.” 

            The year 1595 is memorable in history for the death of Sheikh Faizi, the Poet Laureate of Akbar’s court. He was a diplomatist, a poet and a writer, and was dear to the heart of his sovereign. He fell ill at Lahore in the autumn of 1595, his complaint developing into pulmonary apoplexy. A touching account of his last moments is given by Al-Badaoni:--“When he was in his last agonies,” writes the author, “the king went to him at midnight, and, gently raising his head with his own hand, cried out many times, ‘Sheikh Jio, I have brought Hakim Ali with me, why don’t you speak to me?’ The patient, having lost the power of speech, returned no reply. Again did His Majesty put the same question ; but no reply came. Upon this the Emperor, overpowered with grief, tore off his turban and threw it on the ground. He then went away, after speaking some words of consolation to Sheikh Abul Fazl. Faizi expired immediately afterwards. The event occurred on 5th October 1595. Badaoni finds the date of his death in the words,

             “The institute of atheism is broken.” 

            It would seem from the above summary that Lahore was associated with the brightest period of Akbar’s reign. When he quitted it, in the forty-third year of his reign, after a residence of fourteen years, and moved to Agra on his way to the Deccan, he left the royal seraglio with Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan), in Lahore, in charge of Khwaja Shams-ud-din Khawaji. The Khwaja continued in this office until the forty-fourth year of the reign, when Akbar’s mother, with the Begams, returned to Agra. Shams-ud-din died at Lahore in the following year and was buried in the family vault, in the quarter of the town which he had built, and which, in his honor, was called Khawafipura.

The following men of note flourished at Lahore during the reign of Akbar

Mirza Ibrahim, son of Mirza Suleman (son of Khan Mirza, son of Sultan Mahmud, son of Abu Said Mirza, grandson of Qutb-ud-din Amir Tymur Gorgan), commander of five thousand, Mirza Suleman was born in 920 A.H. (1514 A.D.), and died at Lahore in 997 A.H. (1588 A.D.). He was known as Wali Badakhshan and was sixth in descent from Tymur. His wife, Khurram Begam, was a clever woman and had her husband in her power. She got Mohtarim Khanan, the widow of prince Kamran, married against her wish to Mirza Ibrahim, by whom she had a son, Mirza Shah Rukh.

 Mirza Rustam, son of Behram Mirza, son of Shah Ismail Safvi. Akbar made him commander of five thousand and gave him Multan as jagir. He was appointed governor of Lahore for some time. He married his daughter to Prince Dara Shekoh, and died, 72 years old, in 1051 A.H. (1641 A.D.) or during the reign of Shah Jahan.

Khan-i-Kanal Mir Mahomed, elder brother of Atgah Khan. He was commander of five thousand and served with distinction under Kamran Mirza and Humayun. Akbtar appointed him governor of the Panjab, and he distinguished himself in the war with the Ghakkars.

Said Khan, son of Yakub Beg. He rose to the highest honours under Akbar, who appointed him governor of the Panjab, in supersession of Shah Quli Mahram, who had become unpopular in the Province.

Khan-i-Kanal Mirza Abdul Rahim, son of Behram Khan. He was born at Lahore in 946 a.H. (1539 A.D.). When Mahabat Khan had to fly from the Panjab, having failed in his scheme to retain possession of the Emperor Jahangir’s person, Nur Jahan appointed Mirza Abdul Rahim to follow up Mahabat, and she herself contributed twelve lacs of rupees to the expedition. Before, however, the scheme had been carried out, the Mirza was taken ill at Lahore, and, on his arrival at Delhi, died, at the age of seventy-two, in 1036 A.H. (1626 A.D.), or one year before the death of Jahangir. The words,

        “Where is the Khan Commander of the Army.” 

Give the year of his death.

Zea Khan, son of Khwaja Maqsud Ali, of Heart.—He was commander of five thousand five hundred in Akbar’s time. On Humayun’s flight to Persia, Maqsud was constantly in attendance on Akbar’s mother and was attached to the royal family in all its misfortunes. In the forty-first year of the reign, he was appointed governor of Cabul, vice Wuli Khan. In the same year Prince Salem fell in love with Zen Khan’s daughter, whom he soon after married, though Akbar was displeased with this act. On the death of Jalal Khan Raushnai, the disturbances in Zabulistan came to an end, and Zen Khan was called to Lahore. He died in 1010 A.H. (1601 A.d.), or four years before the death of Akbar. He was a good poet, and played on several musical instruments.

   The Maidan of Zen Khan, outside the Mochi Gate, is still called after his name. Here the garden of Zen Khan stood, and the quarter was known after his name.

 Mirza Yusuf Khan, son of Mir Ahmad Razvi. He was a Syad of Mesh-hed, and was much liked by Akbar. In the beginning of Shah Jahan’s reign, he received the title of Saf Shikan Khan. He withdrew from public life at Lahore, where he received a pension of Rs.12,000 and died in 1055 A.H. (1645 A.D.)

Mahdi Qasam Khan,--Akbar made him commander of four thousand. He died in 1001 A.H. (1592 A.D.)

 Shah Quli Mahram, commander of three thousand five hundred. He served with distinction in the war with Hemu. According to the Akbarnama, it was Shah Quli that attacked the elephant of Hemu, whose eye had been pierced by an arrow from the field of battle. He did not know, at the time, who his opponent was ; but, the driver having made him a sign, Shah Quli brought the wounded commander to Akbar.

  After the death of Behram, Shah Quli was created an Amir of the empire, and, in the twentieth year of Akbar’s reign, was appointed governor of the Panjab in succession to Khan Jahan, who had been sent to Bengal.

  Husein Khan (Tukriyal). He was sister’s son and also son-in-law to Mahdi Qasam Khan. In the second year of the reign, Akbar made him governor of Lahore. When Akbar marched to Delhi, in Saffar 965 A.H. (1557 A.D.), he appointed Husein Khan governor of the Panjab. He was a zealous Sunni, and, during his incumbency of office, he ordered that the Hindus, as unbelievers, should wear a patch (Tukra) near their shoulders, to distinguish them from the Mahomedans. Hence the nickname given to him, Tukria, or “patchy.” 

Sheikh Farid Bukhari.—When Prince Khusrow left Agra for the Panjab, plundering and recruiting Lahore, Sheikh Farid, with many Bokhari and Bara Sayads, was sent in pursuit of him, Jahangir following him with Mahabat Khan and Sharif Khan Amir-ul-Umera. He attached the Prince and defeated him. In the fifth year of Jahangir’s reign the Sheikh was appointed governor of the Panjab. In 1021 A.H. (1612 A.D.) he made preparations for Kangra, but died in 1025 A.H. (1616 A.D.) and was buried at Lahore. He built a mohalla in Lahore, which was called after his name.

Farhat Khan.—He joined Mirza Kamran, with other grandees, when Humayun left Lahore, on his march to Sirhand, and was appointed Subedar of Lahore. When Shah Abul Ma’ali was appointed governor of the Panjab, he sent away Farhat Khan, who joined Prince Akbar on his arrival in the Panjab.

Khawja Shams-ud-din Khawafii.—Khawaf is a town and district in Khorasan, and the Amir was a resident of that place. His father’s name was Khawja Ala-ud-din, a man of much respect in Khawaf. Shams-ud-din was successively made Diwan and Subedar of Cabul, then the Diwan of the empire in the place of Qulij Khan. In the forty-third year of the reign he was put in charge of the Panjab, and died in Lahore in 1008 A.H. (1592 A.D.). The Khwja had made his vault at Baba Hasan Abdal, which was, however, used as the burial place of Hakim Abul Fath Gilani by order of the Emperor Akbar, and Shams-ud-din was buried in Lahore, in the quarter of the town which he had himself built, and which, in honor of his name, was called Khawafipura.

Mir Murad Ju Waini.—He was an excellent shot and Akbar had appointed him rifle-instructor to Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan). He died in the forty-sixth year of Akbar'’ reign as Badakhshi of Lahore.

 Mirza Qulij Khan.—He was made governor of the Panjab and fought well against the Roushnais. The Ma’asir relates a story which would show the arbitrary power exercised by those in authority during the time when the Mirza held the government of this country. He had two sons, Mirza Chin Qulij and Mirza Lahori, described as wicked men. The latter buried one of his servants alive, with the object of learning something about Munkir and Nakir, the two angels who, agreeably to the Mahomedan belief, are supposed to examine the spirits of the departed in the tomb, beating the corpse with red hot sledge hammers if the dead is found wanting in faith. The man, on being dug out, was found to be dead. At another time, when his father was governor of Lahore, he disturbed a Hindu wedding party and carried off the bride by force. The aggrieved people complained to his father, who told them that they should be glad that they were now related to the Subedar of Lahore.

 Maulana Hisam-ud-din, surnamed Surkh. He was a native of Lahore, and was noted for his learning and piety. He made theology and philosophy the subjects of his study.

  Shah Daud, called Jhanni Wal, from his residence in Jhanni, near Lahore. He was a learned man and died in 982 A.H. (1574 A.D.).

Maulana Mahomed.—He lived at Lahore, and was, in 1004 A.H. (1595 A.D.), nearly ninety years of age.

  Maulana Abd-us-Salam.—He lived at Lahore. He was a great lawyer (fakih) and wrote a commentary to Baizaivi. He died, nore than ninety years old, in the first year of Shah Jahan’s reign.

 Maulana Ishaq.—He was the son of Sheikh Kaku, and lived at Lahore. He was famous for his learning, and Sheikh Sa’adullah, Sheikh Munawar and many others were his pupils. He died more than a hundred years old, and was buried at Lahore.

  Mir Nurullah.—He was introduced to Akbar by Hakim Abdul Fath, and had a great reputation for learning. When Sheikh Muin, Qazi of Lahore, retired, he was appointed his successor.

  Maulana Jamal.—Badaoni mentions Maulana Jamal, of Tala, which is said to have been a mohalla of Lahore, as a learned man of the time of Akbar.

    Maulana Ismail.—According to the Tabakat, he was Mufti of Lahore during the reign of Akbar.

     Sheikh Munawar.—

He was born at Lahore and was an Ulema of much renown. Under the orders of the Emperor, he, with Mulla Ahmad, of Thatta (Scindh), and Qasam Beg, translated the Majmi-ul-Baldan, a work on towns and countries, from Arabic into Persian. He is the author of the Mashar-I-Qul-Anwar, a work on Hadis, the Badi-ul-Bayan, the Irshadi Qazi, &c. When the learned men of Lahore were banished, by the order of the Emperor, he was sent to Gwalior where he died in prison in 1011 A.H. (1602 A.D.)

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