Sher Afghan Quli Khan

Ali Quli Istajlu, 'Sher Afghan Khan', also mentioned as Ali Quli Khan Istaju 'Sher Afghan Khan' was a Mughal courtier of Persian origin earlier serving in Persia, who became the "jagirdar" of Burdwan in West Bengal (1605-1607). He was also the first husband of Nur Jahan ("Mehrunissa"), who later married Jahangir and became empress in India.

He was given the title Sher Afghan Khan, by Prince Salim, Jahangir, after his meritorious actions, during a war with the Rana of Mewar . Ali Kuli Istaju, was educated under the instructions of Shah Ismail II of Safavid dynasty in Iran [ [http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D80201016%26ct%3D147%26rqs%3D24 From the Memoirs of the Wázírs, Iqbalnama] The History of India, Sir H. M. Elliot, London, 1867–1877, Volume 6, chpt. 148.] Like his wife, Sher Afghan was also an immigrant from Persia, who fled from Iran, to Kandahar, then in India .

He was the father of Mehrunissa's only child, a daughter, also called "Mehurinissa", like her mother, though later called Ladli Begum, after she married Prince Shahryar, the fifth and youngest son of Jahangir and rival to Shah Jahan [http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D00702015%26ct%3D309%26rqs%3D348 Ali Q (Beg, Istajlu, Sher Afghan Khan)] Ain-i-Akbari, by Abul Fazl, tr. H. Blochmann, The Asiatic Society of Bengal., Calcutta, 1873. Volume I, chpt. 310, "'Alí Q.'s daughter, who, like her mother, had the name of Mihrunnisa, was later married to Prince Shahryar, Jahángír's fifth son.". Istajlu (Ustajlu), an Turkmen tribe surname] .

Biography

Ali Quli Khan Istaju was the "safarchi", or table-attendant, of Ismail II, the third Safavid Shah of Persia (1576-78), after whose death, he came to Kandahar, and at Multan met, Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, who placed him amongst royal employees, while in the field. Later, on his recommendation, Ali Quli received a mansab, Thatta (in present day Pakistan), in the coming years during a war he rendered distinguished services to Akbar, and moved to the royal courts at Lahore [History of Begum Nur Jahan, by Sugam Anand, 1992, Radha Publications, Queens. ISBN 8185484392. Page 34-36. ] .Soon after his arrival at the royal courts in 1594, Ain-e-Akbari suggests, Akbar married him to Mehrunissa (the future Nur Jahan), daughter of Mirza Ghias Beg, who was seventeen [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC&pg=PA237&lpg=PA237&dq=Ali+Quli+Sher+Afghan+Khan&source=web&ots=oRe3SITgq-&sig=aZiJKoS7JT7dM8UarrZp_VkbAgI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result Nur Jahan] Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part – II, by Satish Chandra, 2000, Har Anand Publications. ISBN 8124110662. Page 237. ] Ghias’s wife had access to the royal harem, and was on her visits often accompanied by her daughter, Mehrunissa, it here that Prince Salim (Jahangir) reportedly saw her, and fell in love with her, and Akbar, to avoid scandal, married her quickly to 'Ali Quli' . Though some historians suggest that at the time, her marriage was already fixed with a rising Persian soldier, Ali Quli Istajlu, and thus Jahangir couldn’t marry her on that account [http://books.google.com/books?id=v-2TyjzZhZEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Istajlu&sig=ACfU3U2GUcuOYNrjTLrNFykLFnMuxNNrSg&vq=%22History+of+Begum+Nurjahan%22&source=gbs_book_citations_r&cad=1_2#PPA7,M1 Mughal ladies in contemporary Politics] Royal Mughal Ladies and Their Contributions: and Their Contributions, by Soma Mukherjee, 2001, Gyan Books, ISBN 8121207606. page 133. marriage, Page 171, “1616 Nur Jahan, 1622, Padshah Begum (the First Lady of the realm)]

When he revolted against Akbar, Ali Quli sides Akbar, this led to a fall out between the two, though when Jahangir finally ascended to the Mughal throne in 1605, he excused him along with all those who favoured Akbar instead of him, and Ali Quli was made a ‘jagirdaar’ and received the region of Burdwan in east Bengal as a tuyul.

death

Shaikh Khubu, Qutbuddin Khan Koka, (Khan-i-Chishti), was the foster-brother of Jahangir, as his mother was a daughter of Shaikh Salim. When Jahangir ascended the throne of Mughal Empire in 1605, Qutbuddin was made the ‘subedar’ (Governor) of Bengal, by replacing Raja Man Singh. Meanwhile Sher Afkan 'Ali Quli Istajlu was tuyuldar of Burdwan, also in the province of Bengal, and as his wife Mehrunissa (Nur Jahan) was coveted by the emperor. Subsequently in 1607, Qutb was instructed to send Sher Afghan Khan to the court as he was accused of negligence and siding with Afghan rebels and transferred, which he refused to obey. Seeing this, Qutbuddin started off for Burdwan, while he sent Ghiasa, the son of his sister, in advance to pacify Sher Afghan and bring him to the court. So upon his arrival on May 30, 1607, Sher Afghan duly went to meet him, accompanied by two men, in that moment Qutb signaled his men to arrest Sher Afghan, this alarmed Sher Afghan, and he stepped forward questioning his motive, and attacked Qutbuddin sensing treachery. Qutbuddin was fatally wounded, and seeing this, his men, surrounded Sher Afghan a killed him instantly [ [http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D00702015%26ct%3D298%26rqs%3D712%26rqs%3D719%26rqs%3D720 Shaikh Khubu, "Qutbuddin Khan i Chishti" of Fatehpur Sikri] Ain-i-Akbari, by Abul Fazl, tr. H. Blochmann, The Asiatic Society of Bengal., Calcutta, 1873. Volume I, chpt. 299.] .

Qutbuddin, who was fatally wounded, died later in the night, causing much grief to Jahangir as he mentions in his memoirs, Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, where he also mentions his elation at the death of Ali Quli and hopes that “the blackfaced wretch will for ever remain in hell.” [http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D11001081%26ct%3D26%26rqs%3D425%26rqs%3D426%26rqs%3D448%26rqs%3D449%26rqs%3D691%26rqs%3D692 Ali Quli Istajlu] Tuzk-i-Jahangiri, The Memoirs of Jahangir (Rogers), Volume 1, chpt. 27. ] .

That he was killed because of the supposed love triangle, between Nur Jahan, Jahangir and Sher Afghan has been view as an assumption by many later historians, who cite the fact that if Jahangir had any such intentions, he wouldn’t have had ever bestowed upon Sher Afghan the aforesaid title, or pardoned him after he ascended the throne, or given him Burdwan [http://www.archive.org/stream/mughalempirefrom032770mbp/mughalempirefrom032770mbp_djvu.txt Ali Quli Istajlu] The Mughal Empire: From Babar to Aurangzeb, by S. M. Jaffar, London, 1936, p. 195-196, marriage and thereafter. P. 197-198, death controversy.] .

Another historical writer, Khafi Khan mentions another extraordinary circumstance surrounding the circumstances of his death, which is said to have been related by Nur Jahan's mother. According to her, Sher Afkan was not killed by Qutbuddin's men, but, wounded as he was, managed to get to the door of his house, with the intention of killing his wife, Mehrunissa, whom he did not wish to fall into the emperor's hands. But her mother would not let him enter, and told him to mind his wounds, especially as Mehrunissa had committed suicide by throwing herself into a well. “Having heard the sad news, Sher Afkan went to the heavenly mansions.” Though this story, seems far too improbable to be true .

His tomb is today, situated, within the shrine complex of the poet ‘Bahram Saqqa’, in present day city of Burdwan or Bardhaman in West Bengal , along with tomb, Qutbuddin [ The Journal of the United Service Institution of India, by United Service Institution of India, 1872, Page 171. “..the unusual story behind the adjacent tombs of Sher Afghan and Qutb-ud-din at Burdwan…”

Nur Jahan’s remarriage

After Ali Quli’s death, his wife, Mehrunissa, and their young daughter, were send to the royal harem, where she spent next four years as "lady-in-waiting" to one of the Jahangir's stepmothers, "Sultana Begum", the mother of Khusrau Mirza at Agra. As the story progress, in March 1611, during the New Year day’s (Nauroz) celebrations, Prince Salim happened to see Mehrunissa, at Meena Bazar, Agra, and immediately fell in love with her. Mehrunissa and Prince Salim were married two months later, on May 25, 1611, , which made her Jahangir's twentieth wife as Nur Mahal, ‘Light of the harem’, and in 1616, she was given the title Nur Mahal or Nur Jahan, ‘the Light of the World’ [ [http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D80201016%26ct%3D150%26rqs%3D189 "The Marriage of Jahángír with Núr Jahán"] The History of India, Volume 6, chpt. 151.] .

Ali Quli's daughter, who, like her mother, was named Mehrunissa, later named Ladli Begum, was married to Prince Shahryar, Jahangir's fifth son in 1620, , Shahryar went on to briefly occupy the Mughal throne at Lahore, under the maneuvering of Nur Jahan, after the death of Jahangir on October 27, 1627. He was later captured by Mughal forces led by Asaf Khan, and first blinded by the orders of Prince Dawar, was later executed by Asaf Khan, at the order of Shah Jahan, who finally ascend to the Mughal throne after executing all this remainder brothers.After Qutbuddin’s death, the next subedar of Bengal was Quli Khan (1607–1608) and when he died, Islam Khan (June 1608–died August 1613) [ [http://tanmoy.tripod.com/bengal/mughal.html Bengal under Mughals] ] .

References

External llinks

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* [http://www.kahany.com/writing/0198nurjahan.shtml Nur Jahan]
* [http://www.boloji.com/history/012.htm History]