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- author, Waqar Mustafa
- position, Journalist and researcher
Lahore was in a state of fear and uncertainty. On the orders of the fourth Mughal emperor, Nooruddin Muhammad Jahangir, pointed wooden poles were erected on both sides of the road, and Anhuni began to believe.
According to ‘Tazik-i-Jahangiri’, the royal order was that ‘from Bagh Mirza Kamran to Lahore Fort, two gallows were installed and the seditious tribal rebels and other people who took part in the rebellion were hanged on pegs and logs, and each one of them was punished for their role in this way. should be delivered so that there is no need for re-punishment.’
This bloody decree of Jahangir, sitting in Bagh Mirza Kamran on an island in the Ravi River, called Bara Dari, was meant for anyone who thought of opposing the Mughal throne, but his warning was above all to his eldest son Prince. It was for Khusrau.
In the very first year of Jahangir’s reign, how many people were hanged on the gallows for supporting Prince Khusrau’s rebellion.
Abul Fazl’s book ‘Ayn-e-Akbari’ was translated by Henry Blochmann and published in 1873. Adding to the scene of this particular incident, Blochmann writes that ‘Khusrau was led on an elephant through rows of his companions and soldiers propped up on pointed sticks. People standing at a little distance pointed towards them and said to Khusrau: These are your friends, your servants, give them greetings!
Who was Prince Khusrau? Why did he rebel against his own father and the Mughal emperor Jahangir and what was the role of Akbar Azam in this story? This whole story also starts from Lahore.
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Prince Khusrau was chosen by Akbar as his heir
Khusrau was born in Lahore on 16 August 1587. His father Jahangir, then Prince Salim, gave his first begum, Rajput Raj Kumari Mun Bhavati of Amber, the title of Shah Begum in celebration of the birth of a son, while Emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar himself named his grandson Khusrau. Khusrau was Jahangir’s son, but Akbar saw him as his heir.
This was because the last two of Akbar’s three sons, Prince Salim, Sultan Murad and Daniyal Mirza, had died of opium and alcoholism in their lifetime. Salim was not much different, but he also staged a failed rebellion against his father, repeatedly disobeyed royal orders, tortured opponents and even had Emperor Akbar’s most trusted advisor, Abul Fazl, killed.
After the failure of Salim’s reform efforts, Akbar was distraught and even openly proposed the idea of denying Salim the right of succession. Special arrangements were made for the education and training of Khusro. Prince Khusrau was smart on the battlefield. He neither drank alcohol, nor took drugs, nor indulged in physical pleasures. According to Edward Terry, a chaplain at the Mughal court, ‘His presence was pleasing and auspicious, he was greatly beloved by the common people.’
Emperor Akbar’s court was also divided into two factions, one in favor of Salim’s succession and the other in favor of his son Khusrau. Akbar could not make a decision but resentment was growing.
Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subramaniam in ‘Writing the Mughal World‘ have written with reference to a Mughal Amir Asad Beg’s book Nashfi Akhwal-e Asad Beg and some other books that during an elephant fight news of a fight between Salim and Khusrau’s companions was received. But Akbar fainted in great anger.
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First attempt at rebellion and Jahangir’s reign
As the last time of Akbar approached, the succession dispute also increased. Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subramaniam write that ‘When the doctor raised his hands, Khan Azam knew that Akbar was now on the move and spoke to Raja Man Singh that an attempt should be made to enthrone Khusrau. It was decided that Salim should be tamed when he comes to play Cornish every day. Rumors of Khusrau’s accession to the throne also reached Prince Salim, and believing it, he had also prepared special boats for his escape.
Mansingh Khusrau was uncle while Khan Azam Mirza Aziz Koka was Khusrau’s father-in-law. But the attempt of these influential people to make Khusrau the king failed because even before the death of Akbar, Sheikh Farid Bukhari and other nobles announced the succession of Jahangir.
According to ‘Writing the Mughal World’, Prince Salim breathed a sigh of relief when he got the news of the failure of the conspiracy against him. The nobles saluted him, Khan Azam also arrived, but Salim did not let it appear to him that he knew about their plot. When Man Singh saw this situation, he took Khusrau with him and started preparing for Bengal.
On the other hand, Salim, seeing the situation in his favor, approached Emperor Akbar who was breathing his last on his death bed and placed his face on Akbar’s feet. Had gone, indicated to bring. Salim put it all on, tied the sword and Akbar died.
Mourning for Akbar’s death continued for a few more days and Jahangir’s formal coronation took place later.
Jehangir’s breach of promise
Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subramaniam write that ‘Jahangir regretted Mansingh’s taking Khusrau to Bengal but called him back, embraced him, kissed his forehead and sent him to his palace.’
Mons de Farooqui writes in his book ‘The Princes of the Mughal Empire’ that during the negotiations for the peaceful demise of Salim, it was decided that Khusrau would be made the Governor of Bengal which was an arrangement acceptable to Khusrau.
According to Faruqi, the chronicler Nimatullah Khan Harvey explains it this way: The princes wanted to become governors as independent rulers away from the court ‘but Jahangir did not keep his promise.’
This was because Jahangir feared that wealthy Bengal, far from Delhi, which was also a recruiting ground in eastern India, would pose a permanent problem if it fell into Khusrau’s hands.
Jahangir finally allowed Khusrau’s uncle and uncle, Raja Man Singh, to go to Bengal as Khusrau’s deputy but, due to some ‘court intrigues’, a minor rebellion in Oudh and other pretexts, he was not allowed to go. posted his old loyalists in Bengal and Bihar.’
Farooqi writes that Jahangir also brought his other sons against Khusrau. ‘He named his second son Pervez as his temporary successor at the age of sixteen and sent him on a campaign against the Rana of Mewar and Pervez’s campaign to weaken Khusrau’s network of Rajput loyalist relatives. I sent After sending Parvez, start pampering the third son Khurram, which would have increased Khusrau’s anger.’
Khusrau’s second revolt and the unsuccessful siege of Lahore
Faruqi writes that ‘confined to his palace and under the watchful eye of royal spies, Khusrau became confused with his father’s closest advisers and then received information that Sharif Khan was asking Jahangir to blind the prince.
‘So being compelled to revolt, he left Agra and with a few companions advanced towards the Punjab to make it his abode.’
RC Mojamdar writes in ‘Mughal Sultanate’ that in 1606, the nineteen-year-old Khusrau set out from Agra on April 6 with 350 horsemen on the pretext of visiting Akbar’s tomb at nearby Sikandra, followed by Hasan Beg at Mathura and about 3,000. The horsemen joined them and Abdul Rahim, the Provincial Diwan (administrator) of Lahore, at Panipat.’
Jay Gordon Melton in his book Faiths Across Time states that when Khusrau reached Taran Taran Sahib near Amritsar, he also received the blessings of Guru Arjun Dev.
According to Tuzk, Khusrau advanced and besieged Lahore, which was defended by Dilawar Khan. After Emperor Jahangir ended the siege and defeated Khusrau at the Battle of Bhairwal, he was captured by Jahangir’s army while crossing the Chenab River in an attempt to flee to Kabul.
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It is written in the Tazak that Khusrau was brought before Jahangir, ‘weeping and trembling’, with his companion and governor of Kabul, Hasan Baig, on the right side of the prince, and Diwan Abdul Rahim of Lahore on the left side. ordered that one should be dressed in a cow’s skin and the other in a donkey’s skin and carried upside down on a donkey and carried around the city.
As the skin of a cow dries faster than the skin of a donkey, ‘Hasan Beg survived till four o’clock and died of suffocation and Abdul Rahim lived.’ (Abd al-Rahim was later pardoned and sent to Kashmir with a minor post, but he is referred to as ‘Khar’ meaning donkey in Tazak.
BN Puri and MN Dass in ‘A Comprehensive History of India’ write that Guru Arjundev gave Khusrau five thousand rupees ‘not in defiance of the emperor’ as a token of gratitude for Akbar’s past favours. They too could not escape the wrath of the emperor and the Guru was brutally killed for refusing to pay the fine of two lakh rupees imposed on him. But he says that giving religious color to such political decisions is wrong.
“However, relations between the Sikhs and the Mughals became strained and laid the foundation for several subsequent rebellions.”
A king has no relatives
Khusrau was ordered to be chained because ‘the Sultanate cannot afford kinship and filial privileges.’ The meaning of Jahangir’s words in Tzak Jahangiri is that the king has no relatives.
In 1607, on learning of another coup, Jahangir killed the main characters of the conspiracy and put hot stitches in Khusrau’s eyes. V. D. Mahajan has written in ‘History of Medieval India’ that sight, however, was not completely lost.
‘Thus ended the war between father and son which had its roots in Akbar’s efforts to set up his grandson against his troublesome son.’
Until 1616, Khusrau was imprisoned in the capital city of Agra. Then he was handed over to Queen Noor Jahan’s brother Asif Khan.
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Khusrau’s death or murder?
Thomas Roe argued that Noor Jahan used all her feminine skills to convince Jahangir that Khusrau might be dangerous to him now, but Alison B. Findlay mentions a letter from Maryam al-Zumani to her son Jahangir. in which he expressed his concern about Khusrau’s safety.
He feared that if Khusrau was handed over to Prince Khurram, who he believed was eager to eliminate Khusrau in order to secure the succession to the Mughal throne, he would eventually kill Khusrau. And it will be disastrous for the Mughal dynasty because future descendants of Narina will use her as a model and her brothers will be killed to usurp the royal throne.’
But Khusrau was handed over to Prince Khurram, who later became King of India as Shah Jahan, who hurriedly transferred him to Burhanpur in the Deccan and died in 1622.
Raman Arun writes in the English newspaper ‘The Hindu’ that the most accepted account is that Shah Jahan’s slave named Raza Bahadur along with a few companions broke open the door of Khusrau’s chamber in the middle of the night and strangled him and then rearranged their beds to make it appear that their deaths were natural.
It is written in Tazuk-i Jahangiri regarding Khurram that Khusrau died of Qulanj. According to Mahajan, much later Aurangzeb also blamed his father Shah Jahan for the murder of Khusrau and Parvez.
Findlay adds that Maryam-ul-Zamani’s prediction was later proved correct when Shah Jahan’s sons, Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh, fought for the throne and eventually Prince Dara Shikoh was killed by his brother. ‘
After Jahangir’s death, to secure the Mughal throne for Shah Jahan, Asif Khan made Khusrau’s son Prince Dawar Bakhsh the ruler of the Mughal Empire for a while. Soon after Shah Jahan’s proclamation as emperor in Lahore in 1627, he was among the many princes who were put to death by Asif Khan on Shah Jahan’s orders.
After Khusrau’s death in Burhanpur, he was buried in a garden named after him in Allahabad. Mahajan writes that ‘Khusrau was very popular among the common people and the nobles. Long after his death people continued to visit his final resting place in Allahabad with devotion and he was called ‘Shaheed Dervish’.
