Khusrau Mirza

Early life

Khusrau was born in Lahore on August 16, 1587. His mother, Manbhawati Bai (who was given the title Shah Begam after his birth), was the daughter of Raja Bhagwant Das of Amber (Jaipur), head of the Kachhwaha clan of Rajputs. She committed suicide on May 16, 1605 by consuming opium.

Family

Khusrau's first wife and chief consort was the daughter of extremely powerful, Mirza Aziz Koka known as Khan Azam, son of Jiji Anaga, Emperor Akbar's foster mother. When Khusrau's marriage was arranged with her, an order was given that S'aid Khan Abdullah Khan and Mir Sadr Jahan should convey 100,000 rupees as sachaq to the Mirza's house by the way of Sihr baha. She was his favourite wife, and was the mother of his eldest son Prince Dawar Bakhsh Mirza, and his second son Prince Buland Akhtar Mirza born on 11 March 1609, and died in infancy.

Another of Khusrau's wives was the daughter of Jani Beg Tarkhan of Thatta. She was the sister of Mirza Ghazi Beg. The marriage was arranged by Khusrau's grand father, Emperor Akbar. Another of his wives was the daughter of Muqim, son of Mihtar Fazil Rikabdar (stirrup holder). She was the mother of Prince Gurshasp Mirza born on 8 April 1616. Khusrau had a daughter Hoshang Banu Begum, born in about 1605, and married to Prince Hoshang Mirza, son of Prince Daniyal Mirza.

Rebellion and aftermath

In 1605, the emperor Akbar died. Akbar had been deeply disappointed with Khusrau's father Jahangir. Perhaps due to this background, Khusrau rebelled against his father in 1606 to secure the throne for himself.

Khusrau left Agra on April 6, 1606 with 350 horsemen on the pretext of visiting the tomb of Akbar at nearby Sikandra. In Mathura, he was joined by Hussain Beg with about 3000 horsemen. In Panipat, he was joined by Abdur Rahim, the provincial dewan (administrator) of Lahore. When Khusrau reached Taran Taran near Amritsar, he received the blessings of Guru Arjan Dev.

Khusrau laid siege on Lahore, defended by Dilawar Khan. Jahangir soon reached Lahore with a large army and Khusrau was defeated in the battle of Bhairowal. He and his followers tried to flee towards Kabul but they were captured by Jahangir's army while crossing the Chenab.

Khusrau was first brought to Delhi, where a novel punishment was meted out to him. He was seated in grand style on an elephant and paraded down Chandni Chowk, while on both sides of the narrow street, the noblemen and barons who had supported him were held at knife-point on raised platforms. As the elephant approached each such platform, the luckless supporter was impaled on a stake (through his bowels), while Khusrau was compelled to watch the grisly sight and listen to the screams and pleas of those who had supported him. This was repeated numerous times through the entire length of Chandni Chowk.

Khusrau was then blinded (in 1607) and imprisoned in Agra. However, his eyesight was never completely lost. In 1616, he was handed over to Asaf Khan, the brother of his step-mother Nur Jehan. In 1620, he was handed over to his younger brother Prince Khurram (later known as emperor Shah Jahan), who incidentally was Asaf Khan's son-in-law. In 1622, Khusrau was killed on the orders of his Prince Khurram.

Posterity

After the death of Jahangir in 1627, Khusrau's son, Prince Dawar was briefly made ruler of the Mughal Empire by Asaf Khan to secure the Mughal throne for Shah Jahan.

On Jumada-l awwal 2, 1037 AH (December 30, 1627), Shah Jahan was proclaimed as the emperor at Lahore. On Jumada-l awwal 26, 1037 AH (January 23, 1628), Dawar, his brother Garshasp, uncle Shahryar, as well as Tahmuras and Hoshang, sons of the deceased Prince Daniyal, were all put to death by Asaf Khan, who was ordered by Shah Jahan to send them "out of the world", which he faithfully carried out.