Khusro of Khusro Bagh

Mughal history is replete with fratricidal events bloody sucssession wars amongs kinsmen having hands smeared with blood as if it was a necessary prelude to succession a rite de passage for a prince to king emperor But, of all those, the most pathetic case, next to the tragic end of Dara Shikoh, was that of ,Khusro Mirza(August 16, 1587 – January 26, 1622)  the eldest son of the Mughal  emperor Jahangir His mother Manbai or Shah Begum was a Kachhwaha princess and the daughter of Raja Bhagwant Das. Prince Khusro was born in Lahore on August 16, 1587.His mother committed suicide on May 16, 1604 by consuming poison. Being his favourite grandson Akbar wanted khusro to succeed him Jahangir his son was perpetually intoxicated was used to easy life having rebelled unsuccessfully against mighty Akbar he had fallen from grace the resultant gloom and his growing age lead him to addiction while Khusro was a liberal in Akbar’s mould. He was very handsome and pleasant and won the heart of everyone with his infinite charm While Akbar was on his deathbed, Raja Man Singh, Khusro’s maternal uncle and orthodox elements rallied around Jahangir who agreed to restore the Sharia in return for their support.

 
Like his descendant Dara, khusro was popular and believed to be a pious man compared to his debauched father .He was a man who contented himself with one wife.Emboldend by his popularity and acceptability and pushed by the clique around him who aspired to throne him on imperial seat he left the capital with barely 350 followers. On the pretext of paying his respect at the tomb of his grandfather Akbar, Soon his entourage swelled.

At Mathura, he was joined by Husain Beg Badakhshani. At Panipat, the Dewan of Lahore, who was proceeding to the capital with the revenues of his province, was allured by the belligerent prince. Threats, persuasion and promise of high office induced him to defect to the prince’s camp. He handed over to the prince, the revenues of Lahore, which amounted to one lakh rupees. The prince conferred upon him the title of Malik Anwar and made him his wazir.

  At Tarantaran, Punjab Sikh Guru Arjun Dev gave his blessings. Khusro marched towards Lahore. Khusro failed to lure the fauzdar of Lahore into submission and the defenders repulsed all assaults.Enraged Jahangir decided to personally take the field and entered Punjab with a large force. A part of the imperial army crossed the river Ravi Khusro succeeded in humiliating a considerable portion of the advance party that crossed the river.However the might of the emperor marched well ahead of him as the news spread that the Emperor had crossed the river with his vast main army. Soon, the rebels had shivers down there spine anticipating the wrath of ferocious Jahangir.The Prince, however, was determined to offer resistance to his father,  Suddenly, one of his commanders caught hold of the reins of his horse and marched it backwards, a few paces. Before Khusro realized what was happening, his soldiers thought that their leader was withdrawing and ran in different directions in utter confusion.

In the meantime, Jahangir crossed the river with his main army. The prince had to flee. His arrest was stage manned  At the place where the fugitive Prince was expected to cross the river, the solitary boat and boatman informed the arrival of  Prince to the Kotwawal of fort of Jullundur the Kotwal offered his hospitality to the unsuspecting Prince, and he along with the commander who turned back the prince’s horse and a few others were taken into the fort of Jullunder,on the pretext of making arrangements for their dinner,  the Kotwal came out and caused the doors of the fort locked firmly.

 A force was immediately dispatched from Lahore to bring captives to emperor’s presence.The Prince was brought to Lahore in chains. To be presented in open durbar.The rebels were severely dealt Commander Husain Beg Badakhshani and Abdur Rahim, the Dewan of Lahore, were stripped of all their clothes and were dressed in freshly peeled skins; one, in the skin of a cow, and the other in that of an ass.The next day they were paraded on asses through the streets of the city. Having survived this ordeal they were brought to the pleasure-house of the Emperor.Husain Ali Beg couldn’t take more and fell on the ground and his head chopped off was displayed on the main gate of the Lahore fort. His body was cut into four pieces and displayed, tied to sticks, in the four important places of the city.The Dewan was survived the ordeal. and he was restored to his former rank and post. The Emperor, who used to be generous when he wished so, even gave his daughter to him in marriage! For this favor, the Dewan paid one lakh rupees to the Emperor.Stern punishment awaited the other captives some were gibbeted on pikes and others, hung. The Emperor marched by the main road, to see them hung or gibbeted. Behind him was Khusro, chained and mounted on an unadorned elephant.Arjun Dev, who gave the prince in his flight 5,000 rupees and placed raj tilak on his brow, was put to ignominious death.

Khusro was imprisoned in the fort of Agra he was blinded. Later he recovered his eye-sight partially. The zenana of the harem persuaded Jahangir to pardon him. Consequently Khusro was permitted to attend the durbar in 1613.However this was not the buoyant Khusro of yester year’s dejection gloom and melancholy shadowed him he was adverse to worldly affairs he took recourse to alcohol  

Khurram better known as Shah Jahan the second son of Jahangir was not comfortable of having a rival claimant to the throne a year later Khurram reported to the emperor that his brother Khusro had died of colic. Many believe that Khurram instrumented the murder of his brother in order to make his succession easy.

”By the command of his father, whose wrath seems to have been allayed in the awful presence of death, his remains were conveyed to Allahabad, where they were interred by the side of his mother, in the garden near Khurrabad. The walled garden known as Khusro Bagh, still stands in its melancholy grandeur to remind the visitor of those unhappy events which led to the tragic end of the Prince, who has been rightly described as the most interesting and pathetic figure in Indian history.” (Ishwari Prasad).

Its pertinent to note that Jahangir himself had rebelled against his mighty father Akbar but he fortunate enough to be let off, Khusro who was guilty of lesser degree was not that fortunate of having a fatherly generosity he along Dara were two tragic princes who’s unfold lives seizes the curious reader  

Picture 1 empreor  Jahangir  receving   his  two  sons  an  album  painting  in gouchae on paper  c1605-06

Picture 2 Tomb of Khusro,Khusrobagh , Allahabad

Where did Razia die.. Controversy regarding her Grave 

Razia Sultan's actual site of grave remains shrouded in mystery. There are at least three claims regarding her grave site. This is compounded by the fact that none of the three grave site has epitaph (inscription) on tombstone in memory of the one buried there. So far there are no archaeological or documentary evidences to confirm the site of her grave. The dispute is whether she was buried in Kaithal or Delhi or Tonk, and also where were Altunia and Yakut buried
 Razia's Grave at Old Delhi

First claim is that Razia's grave lies among the narrow lanes of Old Delhi, in a courtyard in Bulbul-i-khana, Shahjahanabad, near the Turkman Gate entrance. the grave has clearly suffered the ravages of time. in 13th century, the site of the tomb was a jungle, and no one knows how Razia's body ended up where it lies today. A second grave, believed to be that of her sister, Shazia, accompanies Razia's. Some of the Muslim residents of the neighborhood have turned a part of the tomb into a mosque, where prayers are conducted five times each day.

Razia's Grave at Siwan near Kaithal in Haryana

Second claim is that the tomb of Razia is situated in Siwan near Kaithal city, Haryana The tomb lies in the north-western suburbs Given the controversy surrounding her grave site, it is possible that she may have been initially interred at Kaithal and then later at Delhi but this remains purely a speculation with no evidence of any kind.

 Razia's Grave at Tonk in Rajasthan

Third and more recent claim that she and her African slave paramour are buried at Tonk in Rajsthan where her father Iltumish had laid a siege The controversy arose after Sayed Sadique Ali, an Urdu lecturer at the local government post-graduate college claimed that the graves at the site are that of Razia and her trusted slave, Yaqut. He based his findings on the calligraphic Arabic script deciphered by the pattern of stones of irregular shapes affixed around the graves. The stones convey a particular message which, according to him, is: "Shahide Muhabbat Quvvatul-Mulk Jamaluddin Yaqut" around the smaller grave, and on the main grave, situated at a higher level, it reads: "Sultanul Hind Razia."
*Razia killed by Jats near Kaithal in Haryana
According to the historian Satish Chandra, Razia died in the year 1239 in raids by bandits in a forest upon returning from battle on her elephant with a halted unit of her army. disapproved by others as she was likely to be on a horse in the battle. Popular legend tells of the queen's death to be an arrow shot into her heart when on the battlefield crying over her husband, Altunia's death. some historical accounts her escape on the horse during the war in a man's disguise, being given shelter by Jats and later killed by them in a skirmish near Kithal.

Remembering Firaq

Raghupati Sahay Firaq Gorakhpuri, born on August 28, 1896 to Munshi Gorakh Prashad, a lawyer and a fairly well-known poet with alias Ibrat Gorakhpuri.

The Kayasth family originally belonged to Baans Gaon Tehsil, it is said more than four hundred years ago, Sher Shah Suri had bestowed the family five villages because of which the family came to be known as Panch-Gaon-Kayasth (Kayasth of the five villages) later shifted to the district headquarter Gorakhpur,Uttar Pradesh 

Firaq was tutored Urdu and Persian, in accordance with the tradition of those days,he passed his matriculation in 1913.Government Jubilee college, Gorakhpur, did his graduation from Allahabad university. Compatriot to Harivansh Rai Bacchhan and legendary A N Jha as his mentor, he was married to Kishori Devi on June 29, 1914.

After graduation, Firaq joined the National Struggle in 1917, on the suggestion of Jawaharlal Nehru, and consequently was imprisoned for a year. *(In view of the jail sentence there was no possibility of him being selected for the I.C.S. in the following year.) His father died on June 18, 1918; now he was forced to take up a job. Thus, he was appointed as Deputy Collector in 1919. Firaq did his Masters in English, while still in service, from Agra University in 1930 and made up his mind to join the teaching profession. He was appointed as Lecturer in English in the Department of English, Allahabad University, from where he retired as Professor on December 31, 1968.

Poetry was was in his DNA father Ibrat Gorakhpuri himself was a celebrated poet of his times. His masnavi, Husn-e-Fitrat and another poem,Nashva-o-Numaaye Hind are famous even today. He started composing ghazals and nazms at the age of 15. his first tutor was Ameer Minai, a prominent poet of the time and later on became the pupil of Waseem Khairabadi.

Firaq’s significance as a ghazal poet is because of his fresh thematic contributions to the long-established format of the genre. Firaq was well versed in Persian, Urdu, Hindi and Sanskrit and his knowledge of Hindu mythology was also exceptional. Furthermore, he was also a teacher of English literature. All these credentials helped him enrich the conventional form of ghazal. Firaq’s ghazal is deeply rooted in the sensuousness that is derived from the admiration of female  form and appreciation of all the gorgeous things in life. His aesthetic expression and usage of the Brij dialect bestow a unique indianness to his ghazal. Firaq has been the blender of ghazal traditionally entrenched in Persian culture, with that of Indian culture. 

* Some accounts mention him asmember of ICS
*  Youtube rendetion by Jagjit Singh