Mullah Shukrullah Shirazi (1570–1639), known by the royal title Afzal Khan'','' was a

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

courtier during the reigns of

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He achieved fame as a scholar and rose to become

Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire The Grand Vizier of Hindustan ( Hindustani: ) was the highest ranking minister in the Mughal Empire and the chief adviser to the emperor himself. The position acted as the de facto head of government of the Mughal Empire and had responsibility f ...

, during the period 1628–1639.

Early life

Afzal Khan was born in

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

Safavid Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

where his father was a petty revenue collector in Fars. Two brothers of his father held financial positions in Iran, whilst two others were engaged in trade between Iran and India. Afzal Khan had a brother named Amanat Khan, who would later accompany him to India and become renowned for designing the calligraphic inscriptions on the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

. Afzal Khan was educated in the secretarial arts, such as calligraphy, accounts, and prose composition. One of his early teachers was the scholar Taqi al-din Muhammad Shirazi.

Career

Safavid administrator

Afzal Khan first entered the world of politics in the late 1580s/early 1590s, when he journeyed to

Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...

and began working under the brothers Farhad Khan Qaramanlu and Zulfikar Khan Qaramanlu, members of a prominent Safavid political family. He carried out administrative and diplomatic responsibilities. However, Farhad Khan fell out of favour in the Safavid court and was executed in 1598, as a result of which Afzal Khan withdrew from political life and relocated to

Hamadan Hamadan ( ; , ) is a mountainous city in western Iran. It is located in the Central District of Hamadan County in Hamadan province, serving as the capital of the province, county, and district. As of the 2016 Iranian census, it had a po ...

Mughal administrator

Following a period of study and wandering in Hamadan, Afzal Khan emigrated to India around the year 1608. Upon arriving at the port of

Cambay Khambhat state or Cambay state was a princely state in India during the British Raj. The city of Khambhat in present-day Gujarat was its capital. The state was bounded in the north by the Kaira district (Kheda district, Kheda) and in the sout ...

he travelled to

Burhanpur Burhanpur is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai , southwest of the state's capita ...

, an important Mughal city in the

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

. Here he entered the service of Mughal noble

Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan Khanzada Mirza Khan Abdul Rahim (17 December 1556 – 1 October 1627), popularly known as simply Rahim and titled ''Khan-i-Khanan'', was a poet who lived in India during the rule of Mughal emperor Akbar, who was Rahim's mentor. He was one of ...

for three years, becoming one of his favoured companions. Khan-i-Khanan repeatedly recommended Afzal Khan to the

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 ...

, who eventually granted Afzal Khan a ''mansab'' and reassigned him to the position of ''

divan A divan or diwan (, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental cou ...

'' under then-prince

. By 1615, Afzal Khan emerged as one of the chief diplomatic figures in service of the prince. In December 1616, he was additionally made deputy governor of

Lahore Subah Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and 27th largest in the world, with a population of over 14 million. Lahore is one of Pakistan ...

. When Shah Jahan rebelled against his father Jahangir, Afzal Khan continued to be in his employ. However, in mid-1624 he began to work increasingly for the emperor himself, and in 1626 was appointed to the prestigious post of ''mir-i-saman'' by Jahangir. Following Jahangir's death in 1627, Afzal Khan supported Shah Jahan in the succession struggle, becoming one of his key allies. After Shah Jahan became emperor, Afzal Khan was elevated to the position of ''wazir'', or prime minister. He was praised for his intellect, administrative abilities and mysticism, and his dedication to "maximising economic productivity and the affluence of the people." He died at

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in 1639. His body was brought to

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

and he was laid to rest in a tomb now known as

Chini Ka Rauza Chini ka Rauza is a funerary monument, ''rauza'' in Agra, India, containing the tomb of Afzal Khan Shirazi, a scholar and poet who was the Grand Vizier of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The tomb was built in 1635. The Chini Ka Rauza is situate ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirazi, Afzal Khan Grand viziers of the Mughal Empire 1570 births 1639 deaths People from Shiraz 16th-century Iranian politicians 17th-century Iranian politicians Iranian emigrants to the Mughal Empire 17th-century Mughal Empire people