Qasim Yakut Khan also known as Yakut Shaikhji, Yakub Khan and Sidi Yaqub was a naval

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

and administrator of Janjira Fort who first served under Bijapur Sultanate and later under 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 ...

.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 (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Koli family which was Patil of Guhagar. He was kidnapped at a young age and later grew up in a

Siddi The Siddi (), also known as the Sheedi, Sidi, or Siddhi, are an ethno-religious group living mostly in Pakistan. Some Siddis also live in India. They are primarily descended from the Bantu peoples of the Zanj coast in Southeast Africa, most ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

family. There, he was converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

Biography

The

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellio ...

ruler appointed Yaqut Khan as ''Thanedar'' or admiral of Danda Rajpuri island. For his services, Yaqut Khan has acquired one-third of the revenues from

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

city. Yaqut Khan were recorded possessing numerous slaves and followers, while also playing important part in politics in Surat. After sometimes with his brother, Khariat Khan, Yaqut then capitalized the fall of Bijapur ruler and led the Siddis to assert control of the impregnable

Murud-Janjira Murud-Janjira () is the local name of a famous fort and tourist spot situated on an island just off the coastal town of Murud, Raigad, Murud, in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. Malik Ambar is credited with the construction of the Jan ...

island fortress. At some point, Yaqut Khan were appointed as

Nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

of Janjira island state. In 1600, Yaqut Khan were recorded to occupy the Asirgarh Fort from Farooqui dynasty, during the latter's conflict against Mughal empire. The son of Yaqut Khan, Muqarrab Khan Habshi, who also acted as Mughal commander, accompanying the envoy mission to settle the capitulation of

Khandesh Khandesh is a geographic region in Maharashtra, India. It was made up of present Jalgaon, Dhule and Nandurbar districts. It also said that Burhanpur District of Madhya Pradesh was also its part. The region have seen many geographical ch ...

region from the Farooqui dynasty. In October 1672, Khan entered the

seven islands of Bombay The Seven Islands of Bombay ( Portuguese: ''Ilhas de Bom Baim'') were 16th-century Portuguese colonial possessions lying off the Konkan region by the mid-west coast of India. History They were partly handed over to England under this tit ...

and attacked the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

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

Pen PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

and Nagothane. Sidi Yakut, along with Siddi Khariyat Khan, and Siddi Sambal, had earlier saved the Portuguese from the

left by

Sambhaji Sambhaji (Sambhajiraje Shivajiraje Bhonsle, ; 14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689), also known as Shambhuraje, ruled from 1681 to 1689 as the second king ( Chhatrapati) of the Maratha Empire, a prominent state in early modern India. He was the elde ...

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

ordered Khan to attack

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

for the third time after Indian vessels sailing to

were captured in 1686 (

Child's War Child & Co. is a historic private bank in the United Kingdom, later integrated into the RBS division of the NatWest Group. The bank operated from its long-standing premises at 1 Fleet Street, on the western edge of the City of London, near th ...

). In April 1689, the strong Mughal fleet from Janjira commanded by the Sidi Yaqub and crewed by Mappila and Abyssinians laid siege to the British fortification to the south. This campaign reached

Sewri Sewri (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Śivdī,'' Help:IPA/Marathi, �iʋɖiː is a locality along the eastern edge of South Mumbai, in Maharashtra, India. It is also the name of a Sewri railway station, railway sta ...

and Mazagaon with 20,000 soldiers under Sidi Yakut. After a year of resistance, the English surrendered, and in 1690 the British governor Sir John Child appealed to

. 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 ...

. 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 Mughal generals Admirals 17th-century Mughal Empire people People from the Sultanate of Bijapur {{India-hist-stub