Murad Mirza (; 15 June 1570 – 12 May 1599) was a Mughal prince and the second surviving son of

Mughal Emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

. He was raised by

Salima Sultan Begum Salima Sultan Begum (23 February 1539 – 2 January 1613) was the third wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Akbar, and a granddaughter of Babur. Salima was the daughter of Akbar's paternal aunt, Gulrukh Begum, and her husband, the Vic ...

until the age of 5. He was the maternal grandfather of Nadira Banu Begum, wife of Prince

Dara Shikoh Dara Shikoh (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659), also transliterated as Dara Shukoh, was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title ''Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba'' () and was favoured ...

(eldest son of the emperor

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

Birth and education

A few months after the birth of Prince Salim (who wouuld become the emperor Jahangir), another son was born to Akbar from a royal concubine and he was named Murad. Since he was born in the mountains of Fatehpur, he was called "Pahari”. He was entrusted to

for upbringing who undertook it till 1575 as she left for Hajj thereafter. Murad was first educated by

Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (14 January 1551 – 22 August 1602), also known as Abul Fazl, Abu'l Fadl and Abu'l-Fadl 'Allami, was an Indian writer, historian, and politician who served as the grand vizier of the Mughal Empire from his appointment ...

and, as from 1580, by Jesuit priests Antoni de Montserrat (as a tutor) and Francisco Aquaviva, who were called up by Akbar himself to teach Murad Portuguese and the basics of Christianity. Murad became the first Mughal prince to be educated by western Jesuit priests or, as Dr. Oscar R. Gómez points out, the first person to be educated in the paradigmatic model driven by Murad's father Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, the 3rd Dalai Lama Sonam Gyatso, and Jesuit Antoni de Montserrat, which resulted in the current existentialist model. Hence, Sultan Murad Pahari has become the first person resulting from the amalgamation of Tibetan tantric Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.

Military command

In 1577 (at the age of seven), Murad was awarded his first military rank, receiving a ''mansab'' of 7000 men. In 1584, after he attained puberty, this was enhanced to 9000 men. From 1593 Prince Murad was in command of the army in the Deccan. He was ineffective in command largely due to his drunkenness. His condition led to his replacement by Abu'l-Fazl, who arrived at Murad's camp in early May.

Later life and death

Due to his failed expedition to Ahmadnagar, Murad Mirza fell into chronic grief and was pushed further into despair on the death of his son, Rustum and turned to excessive drinking. This excessive drinking led to illnesses like epilepsy and chronic indigestion. In February 1599, Murad started his march towards Ahmadnagar in order to avoid going to Agra and meeting the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

. On 6 May 1599, he had a severe seizure and subsequently died in an unconscious state on 12 May, near Ahmadnagar.

Family

One of Prince Murad's wives was Habiba Banu Begum, the daughter of Mirza Aziz Koka, known as Khan Azam. He was the son of Akbar's milk mother, Jiji Anga. The marriage took place on 15 May 1587, when Murad was seventeen. She was the mother of Rustam Mirza, born on 27 August 1588, father of Bilqis Banu Begum (wife of Shah Shuja), and Alam Mirza, born on 4 November 1590 and died in infancy. Another of his wives was the daughter of Bahadur Khan, the son, and successor of Raja Ali Khan, ruler of Khandesh. Akbar arranged this marriage, in order to exact more help from Khandesh for the Mughals' future operations in the Deccan. His only daughter Princess Jahan Banu Begum was married to Prince Parviz Mirza, son of Emperor

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

. This marriage was held at the palace of his mother,

Mariam-uz-Zamani Mariam-uz-Zamani (; – 19 May 1623), commonly known by the misnomer Jodha Bai, was the Empress consort, chief consort, principal Hinduism, Hindu wife and the favourite wife of the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. She was also the longest-servi ...

Governorships

Malwa Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...

1590–1594 * Berar 1596–1599 *

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

1595–1597

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirza, Sultan Murad 1570 births 1599 deaths Mughal princes Mariam-uz-Zamani Sons of emperors Subahdars of Malwa 16th-century Mughal Empire people