Sa'adullah Khan, also spelled Sadullah Khan ( – April 1656) was the

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

and Vakil-i-Mutlaq of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

during the reign of

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 ...

Biography

Sa'adullah Khan was born in

Chiniot Chiniot ( Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a city and the administrative headquarters of Chiniot District in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Located on the bank of the river Chenab, it is the 28th most populous city in Pakistan. It is also known for ...

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 ...

, into a Punjabi family from the Thahim tribe of

Jats The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in ...

in 1591. He was introduced at the Mughal Court in December 1641 by Sadr Musavi, the ''sadr as-sudur''; an allowance was fixed for him and he was given a robe and a horse. Soon he was appointed as the Arz-I-Mukarrar of the Empire and was awarded the rank of 1000 Zat and 200 Sawar. After serving for a short period in this prestigious post he was given the post of ''darogha-i-daulat khana-i-khas'' and rewarded with the title of "Khan". In 1643 his rank was increased to 1500 Zat and 300 Sawar on pretext of excellent service, an elephant from the royal stable was given as a gift. In the same year he was made the ''Mir-i Saman'' of the Empire, a minister of great importance, second only to the ''Wazir.'' In 1645 Sa'adullah was granted the post of Diwan-I-Khalisa, he was also given the charge of drafting royal orders. He worked for 46 days in this position before being appointed as the Grand Vizier, with his mansab reaching 5000 Zat and 1500 Sawar. A robe of honor and a jewelled sword was gifted to him by the Emperor. Sa'adullah Khan would remain the Grand Vizier until his death in 1656.

Prime Minister of the Mughal Empire

In the year 1645, the incumbent Prime Minister

Islam Khan II Islam Khan Mashadi () was the Mughal Subahdar of Bengal and later Grand Vizier during the period 1639–1645. His original name was Mir Abdus Salam. He was also served high service in Viceroy of Kabul from 1647 till his death in 1656. History In ...

was made to vacate his position and take up governorship 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 ...

region by Shah Jahan. By this time, Sa'adullah Khan had become widely respected for his intelligence and talent, which had enabled his ascent in the Mughal administration despite a lack of political or family connections. He was appointed as the new Prime Minister. A year after his appointment, Sa'adullah Khan handled administrative issues regarding Shah Jahan's Balkh and Badakhshan campaigns. Sa'adullah Khan was sent to Balkh to manage the country and make the revenue settlements. Prince Murad Baksh was relieved of his command while Vizier Sa'adullah only took 22 days to settle the administrative affairs and returned to Kabul. He was subsequently rewarded with a Khilat and an increase of 1000 in his mansab for managing the situation efficiently and saving the Mughals from a disaster in Balkh region. In 1654, he was ordered by Shah Jahan to lay siege to the

Chittor Fort Chittorgarh (literally Chittor Fort), also known as Chittod Fort, is one of the largest forts in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fort was the capital of Mewar and is located in the present-day city of Chittorgarh. It sprawls ove ...

Mewar Mewar, also spelled as Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasth ...

, in response to provocations from

Raj Singh I Maharana Raj Singh I (24 September 1629 – 22 October 1680) was the Maharana of Mewar Kingdom (r. 1652–1680) and eldest son of Maharana Jagat Singh I. He fought against the Mughal Empire and annexed many Mughal territories. He participate ...

. He was considered among the four most powerful mughal nobles during Shah Jahan's rule. He possessed 7,000 Zat and 7,000

sowar Sowar (, also sawar or siwar meaning "the one who rides" or "rider", from Persian language, Persian , from the Sasanian Empire, Sasanid Middle Persian, Persian Aswaran, Aswār, from the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Old Persian, Persian Asabār ...

under his command, the highest of any non-royal.

European Accounts

First-hand accounts of European Travelers visiting the Mughal Court are full of praise for the renowned Vizier. Sa'adullah Khan is described as a "man esteemed by the king and the whole court" by the Italian Traveler Nicolas Manucci, he also relates the events of the rebellion of the Bundela Rajputs which was successfully put down thanks to the cunningness of the Vizier. Francois Berner, a French physician and traveller noted that the Mughals considered Sa'adullah Khan to be the most accomplished statesman in all of Asia, his closeness to the Emperor

is mentioned in the work "''Travels in the Mogul Empire".'' A Dutch envoy Joan Tack accused the Grand Vizier of harboring an inherent hostility toward Europeans, notably citing his role in expelling the Portuguese from Bengal. He labeled Sa‘dullah Khan a "hereditary enemy of Christians" and portrayed him as a symbol of Mughal despotism. In this portrayal, Sa‘dullah Khan is cast as the de facto ruler of the empire, wielding near-autocratic control over its political machinery, symbolizing the centralized authority of the Mughal state.

Family

Sa'adullah Khan's son

Hifzullah Khan Hifzullah Khan was a Punjabi Muslim Mughal administrator who was appointed governor of several Mughal provinces during the reign of Aurangzeb Alamgir in the late 17th century. He was a son of the famous Mughal Grand Vizier Sa'adullah Khan. He rem ...

was also a prominent noble and governor of Sindh and Kashmir in

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

's reign. Sa'adullah Khan was the maternal grandfather of Nizam ul Mulk, the first Nizam and founder of

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the ...

. Nizam's mother, Safiya Khanum was the daughter of Sa'adullah Khan. He was also the paternal ancestor of the Nawab of Bijapur,

Mutawassil Khan Mutawassil Khan titled Rustam Jang Bahadur, was a Punjabi Muslim Mughal general in the Deccan. He descended from a powerful aristocratic family. His father, Hifzullah Khan, was a prominent noble of Aurangzeb Alamgir, and his grandfather, Saadul ...

and the 3rd Nizam,

Muzaffar Jung Muhyi ad-Din Muzaffar Jang Hidayat (died 13 February 1751) was the third Nizam of Hyderabad from 1750 until his death in 1751. He had taken up the title of ''Nawab Khan Bahadur, Muzaffar Jung, Nawab Subadar of the Deccan''. However, he is mo ...

Death

Sa'adullah Khan served as Prime Minister until his death in April 1656. He was mourned by many in the Mughal court and administration as well as emperor Shah Jahan himself, who issued a public eulogy announcing his demise. After Hidayatullah Khan Kashmiri's appointment as Wazir in the reign of

Bahadur Shah I Bahadur Shah I (Muhammad Mu'azzam; 14 October 1643 – 27 February 1712) or Shah Alam I, was the eighth Mughal Emperor from 1707 to 1712. He was the second son of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who he conspired to overthrow in his youth ...

, he asked for the title of Sa'adullah Khan which was the title of the most renowned Wazir of Shah Jahan. The Emperor replied, "It is not easy to be a Sadullah Khan, let him be known as Saidullah Khan." Nonetheless, he was popularly known by the name of Sa'adullah Khan.

Legacy

Sa'adullah Khan's accomplishments were stated to be a source of honour for Punjabis by his near contemporary poet

Mita Chenabi Hakim Mita Chenabi (; – after 1698) was a 17th-century Punjabi poet and physician active during the reign of Aurangzeb. His extant works include ''Tuḥfat al-Panjāb'' (The Gift of the Punjab) and ''‘Ishqīya-i Panjāb'' (Romance of the Punja ...

in his ''Tuḥfat al-Panjāb''. He was called as the best of the Mughal Grand Viziers by Ibn Hasan. Sa'adullah Khan commissioned the Shahi Masjid in his hometown of Chiniot. File:Shahi Masjid Exterior.jpg, Facade of Shahi Masjid, Chiniot

References

{{Authority control Mughal nobility 18th-century Indian nobility Grand viziers of the Mughal Empire 1656 deaths 17th-century Mughal Empire people