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
