Qasim Yakut Khan also known as Yakut Shaikhji, Yakub Khan and Sidi Yaqub was a naval Admiral and administrator of Janjira Fort who first served under

Bijapur Sultanate The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's T ...

and later under the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

.The African dispersal in the Deccan: from medieval to modern times, By Shanti Sadiq Ali, Published by Orient Blackswan, 1996,Public Domain, ,

Family

He was born into a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Koli Koli may refer to: Places * Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland * Koli National Park, a national park in Finland * Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific Other uses * Koli peopl ...

family which was Patil of

Guhagar Guhagar (Marathi pronunciation: �uɦaːɡəɾ is a census town in Ratnagiri district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Guhagar is known for its virgin beach, coir items, coconuts, betel nuts and mainly Alphonso mangoes. The nearest city ...

. He was kidnapped at a young age and later grew up in a Siddi Muslim family. There, he was converted to Islam and got his new name as Qasim Khan and after becoming admiral of the Mughal navy, he was titled Yakut Khan by

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Aurangzeb Alamgir Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

History

In October 1672, Khan entered the seven islands of Bombay and attacked the

Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

with whom they were at war. Khan returned the following year, on 10 October 1673, after destroying the towns of

Pen A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

and

Nagothane Nagothana is a census town in Roha Taluka, in the Raigad district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Kanyakumari - Panvel National Highway # 66 (NH66) goes through this town. Geography Nagothana is located at . It has an average elevatio ...

. Yakut Khan, along with Siddi Khariyat Khan & Siddi Sambal, had earlier saved the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

from the

left by

Sambhaji Sambhaji Bhosale (14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689) was the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire, ruling from 1681 to 1689. He was the eldest son of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. Sambhaji's rule was largely shaped by the ongoing ...

Chaul Chaul is a historic town located in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. The Korlai Fort is located nearby. History The town was famous for cotton manufactured goods in the 15th and 16th century, According to Varthema, Chaul was p ...

. In return, they enjoyed a cordial relationship in the otherwise tense political climate. In 1689, the

Aurangzeb ordered Khan to attack

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

for the third time after Indian vessels sailing to Surat were captured in 1686 (

Child's War The Anglo-Mughal War, also known as Child's War, was the first Anglo-Indian War on the Indian Subcontinent. The English East India Company had been given a monopoly and numerous fortified bases on western and south-eastern coast of the Mugh ...

). In April 1689, the strong Mughal fleet from Janjira commanded by the Sidi Yaqub and crewed by

Mappila Mappila Muslim, often shortened to Mappila, formerly anglicized as Moplah/Mopla and historically known as Jonaka/Chonaka Mappila or Moors Mopulars/Mouros da Terra and Mouros Malabares, in general, is a member of the Muslim community of same n ...

and Abyssinians laid siege to the British fortification to the south. After a year of resistance, the English surrendered, and in 1690 the British governor Sir John Child appealed to Aurangzeb. In February 1690, the Mughals agreed to halt the attack in return for 150,000 rupees (over a billion USD at 2008 conversion rates) and Child's dismissal. Child's untimely death in 1690 however, resulted in him escaping the ignominy of being sacked. Enraged at the agreement, he withdrew his forces on 8 June 1690 after razing the Mazagaon Fort. Later, the '' Ganj-i-Sawai'' and other Mughal vessels, were captured by the pirates Henry Every and

Thomas Tew Thomas Tew (died September 1695), also known as the Rhode Island Pirate, was a 17th-century English privateer-turned-pirate. He embarked on two major pirate voyages and met a bloody death on the second, and he pioneered the route which became kn ...

. One of the Maratha forts was captured after he granted amnesty to the garrison. The captured men were killed.Growth under the Mughals
''India Muslims: Who Are They?'' Khan died in 1733.

References

History of Mumbai Koli people Mughal generals {{India-hist-stub

Family

History

See also

References