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Muzaffar Khan Khan-Ijhahan and Barha Sayyids Under the Mughals (Shahjahan)

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Muzaffar Khan Khan-Ijhahan and Barha Sayyids Under the Mughals (Shahjahan) MUZAFFAR KHAN KHAN-IJHAHAN AND BARHA SAYYIDS UNDER THE MUGHALS (SHAHJAHAN) DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Award of the Degree of faster of ^IjilostopI)? fXI r?">»; -. / 1.-.-. f.. ^ ' ••'., BV REYAZ AHMAD KHAN Under the supervision of DR. AFZAL HUSAIN CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSreV ALIGARH (INDIA) 1996 CKI'CZED-2002 ^ ^ ^^"^ ^^^^ CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY 1 External . 4 0 0 1 4 (• Telephones | j^,^^^.,, ^T DEV'ARTMENT O! HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERS1T^ ALlGARH-202 00; (li.P.V ISHIA READER IN HISTORY April 06.4.1996 Certified that Mr.Reyaz Ahmad Khan had carried out research on 'Muzaffar Khan Khan-i Jahan and Barha Sa^-yids under the Mughals (Shahjahn)* This dissertation is the original work of the candidate and is suitable for submission for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy. ,U>^ ( Dr4Af2el Husain ) Supervisor DEDICATED TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF MY PARENTS CONTENTS Page No. PREFACE i-iii CHAPTERS I - Brief History of Barha Sayyids under Akbar and Jahangir. 1-25 II - Career and Military Campaigns of Muzaffar Khan Khan-i Jahan 26-52 III - Biographical sketch of other prominent Barha Sayyids under 53-82 Shahjahan IV - Role of Barha Sayyids in the war of succession 83-90 V - Conclusion 91-94 APPENDICES A. Mansabs granted to Barha Sayyids during Akbar's reign 95 B. Mansabs granted to Barha Sayyids during Jahangir's reign 96 C. Mansabs granted to Barha Sayyids during Shahjahan 97-98 D. Offices held by Barha Sayyids during the reign of Shahjahan 99 E. Family Charts. 100-101 BIBLIOGRAPHY 102-107 PREFACE For long historians had preoccupied themselves with monarchs, and royal dynasty untill Satish Chandra through his work "The Parties and Politics at the Mughal court" 1707-1740, Aligarh 1959, made a major departure in Medieval Indian historiography by focussing on the nobility. This shift in focus may have been actuated by the realisation that "the kings however despotic they might have been, after all represented only a part of the ruling class." As a logical corollary remaining members of the ruling classes must merit a close an attention. Since then much work had already been done on Mughal nobility. During the last few decades, M. Athar All's The Mughal nobility under Aurangzeb, Bombay, 1966, "A history of Afghan Rule in India by M.A. Rahim, I.H. Siddiqui's Mughal Relation with Indian Ruling Elite Delhi 1983, and 'The Afghan nobility and the Mughals' (1526-1707) by Rita Joshi were published. Two monographs on 'Political career of Mughal nobles such as Political Biography of a Mughal noble: Munim Khan- i Khanan' 1497-1575 by I.A. Khan and 'Kachhwahas under Akbar and Jahangir' Delhi 1976 by Refaqaat All Khan have also been published. ii The Barha Sayyids as Tuzuk mentions 'formed the vanguard of the Mughal armies and were very proud of their martial qualities' (p.366), also constituted an important element of the Mughal nobility. The Mughal Emperors from Akbar onwards gave them mansabs and high offices, but they have not been made the subject of a thorough study so far. The present work, therefore, is an attempt to fill up the lacunae; however, our study mainly focusses the role of Barha Sayyids during the reign of Shahjahan. I have tried to identify the prominent Barha Sayyids alongwith their offices and mansabs. Their political role on the basis of important events during Shahjahan's reign has also been analysed. It would be my privilege to thank Prof. Irfan Habib, Coordinator, Centre of Advanced Study in History, who helped me to develop the perception of History as ai subject and initiating me in research in history. I am also grateful to Prof. I.H. Siddiqui, Chairman, Deptt. of History, for all help extended to me. With kindest regards and a deep sense of gratitude, I avail of this opportunity to express my indebtedness of Dr. Afzal Husain, a guide and teacher ill Par excellence without whose help and guidance, this humble effort would not have reached maturation. Grateful thanks are due to Prof. S.P. Gupta for providing help in many ways. I would like particularly to thank Prof. A.J. Qaisar to give me valuable advice on the historiographical trends of Medieval India. I am thankful to my friends for their help and constant encouragement at the time of preparing this dissertation. My sincere thanks are due to the staff of Research Library of Centre of Advanced Study in History and Maulana Azad Library, A.M.U., Aligarh, for the assistance they extended to me. Last but not the least my regards, respect, love and affection to my loving brothers and sisters who always stood by me and provided constant encouragement and without their selfless love and sacrifices, I would not have been what I am today. (REYAZ 4HMAD KHAN) CHAPTER I BRIEF HISTORY OF BARHA SAYYIDS UNDER AKBAR AND JAHANGIR 1 The Barha Sayyids were one of the Largest and most influential group among Indian Muslim {Shaikhzadas) in the Mughal nobility. They were admitted in the Mughal service in the reign of Akbar and within a very short period by Sheer dint of their military ability and prowess in the battle field they came to enjoy an important place at the court. Although Akbar admitted many other Shaikhzada families but no other family comes equal to them except the family of Shaikh Mubarak and Shaikh Salim Chishti who had special relationship with the Emperor. However, even these two families could not count so many mansabdars as the Barha. During the reign of Jahangir and Shahjahan, they considerably improved their position both in terms of mansabs and offices that they were offered specially during Shahjahan's reign. But so far no detailed study of Barha Sayyids under Shahjahan had been undertaken and their fame . rests most on Sayyid brothers who dominated the court of Farrukh Siyar. In the present work, we have made a detailed study of Barha Sayyids under Shahjahan with particular emphasis on the career of Muzaffar Khan Khan-i Jahan. But as the study of this kind must necessarily begin with the study of Barha Sayyids under Akbar and Jahangir, in the present chapter a detailed study is presented. A brief history of the family along with the list of Barha mansabdars of Akbar was prepared by Blochmann. Apart from that no serious attempt was made to reconstruct their position in our period although references about them have been made in all most all important contemporary and near contemporary sources. According to their traditions, Abul Farah, the ancestor of Barha Sayyids left Medina because of the persecution of the contemporary rulers and came to Wasit in Iraq. He went to Ghaznin from Wasit and from there his four sons came to India in the army of Shihabuddin Ghauri. These four sons Sayyid Abul Fazl, Sayyid Abul Fazail Sayyid Baud, Sayyid Najmuddin settled in Tihanpur, Chatbanauri, Jajner and Kundli. 1. References of Barha Sayyids could be found in the following works - Akbarnama, Tuzuk-i Jahangiri, Zakhirat-ul Khawanin, Ain-i Akbari, I(tr), Notes on Barha Sayyid, Statistical Discriptive and Historical account Account of North west Provinces of India, vol.Ill, Muzaffarnagar, District. 2. Nevill, p.160. villages in the Panjab. The families retained these names when they migrated to localities within the present Muzaffarnagar District of Uttar Pradesh and are still known by these names. Several views are given about the derivation of their name Barha. One view is based on their preference to live outside (Bahir) the city of Delhi. Another opinion is that it is taken from 'Abrar' i.e., the pure Sayyids." Still another view is that since they were shias and followers of twelve Imams, they called themselves 'Barhas'.-^ Jahangir in his memoirs writes that, "They call twelve Jbara in Hindi. As in the Duab there are twelve villages near each other which are the native country of these Sayyids, they have become known as Sayyids of Barha".^ In the course of their stay in the region, they developed considerable influence over local zamindars. It is said that after the death of one Raja Ram Chand on the request of the widow Rani Sayyid Hasan of Chhatrauri house appropriated his whole state. It also appears that before joining 1. Nevill, p.161. 2, Tuzuk-i Jahangiri,, p.366 Mughal service. Some of the Sayyids were in the service of Afghans and had enjoyed some position with them. However, it had not been possible to trace the position of Barha Sayyids before Mughals. According to local traditions, they worked as menial servants in the army of Humayun.-'- Perhaps on this account the Sayyids call each other among themselves as dogs, donkeys, oilmen, washermen etc. From the ain also we could not gather whether they possesed zamindari rights in the villages, as in its listing of zainindar castes in sarkar of Saharanpur, it enters Sayyids in some Parganas, but the Sayyids of Barha are not recorded as zammdars anywhere. There was a controversy during the reign of Akbar and Jahangir regarding their geneology. Once, in the court of Akbar, some nobles questioned Sayyid Mahmud Barha about his ancestory, Sayyid Mahmud Jumped in a fire nearby Saying that since he is true Sayyid, the fire would not hurt him.^ Jahangir himself notes that some people make remarks about 1. Nevill, p.162 2. Ain-i Akbari, II, (tr.) See account of twelve suJbas. 3. Zakhirat-ul Khawanin, vol.1, p.189. their lineage but their bravery is convincing proof of their being Sayyid.-'- Farid Bhakkari confesses that he does not know much about the family.
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