Khan Jahan I

Subahdar
Hussain Quli Beg
Khan Jahani I
Subahdar Hussain Quli Beg Khan Jahani I
حسین قلی بیگ
	Husayn Quli Khan (Khan Jahan), Mughal Jagir of Ajmer, in 1563
2nd Subahdar of Bengal
	In office; 23 October 1575 – 19 December 1578
Monarch	Akbar I
Preceded by	Munim Khan
Succeeded by	Muzaffar Khan Turbati
Personal details
Died	19 December 1578; Tanda, Bengal, Mughal Empire
Parent	Wali Beg Zul-Qadr (father);
Relatives	Bairam Khan (uncle) ; Raja Quli (son)
Military career
Branch	Mughal Army
Service years	1575–1578 as Subadhar
Rank	General with the rank of 5000
Unit	5000 of his own sowars

Hussain Quli Beg (Persian: حسین قلی بیگ), also Husayn Quli Khan, was a Mughal military vassal (mansabdar) with the rank of 5000 soldiers. He was later given the title Khān-i-Jahān (Persian: خان جهان; lit. 'Khan of the World') by Emperor Akbar.^[1]

Early life

Beg was the son of Wali Beg Zul-Qadr and the nephew of Bairam Khan,^[1] of Shia Persian ethnicity.^[2] He began his career as an ordinary soldier in Akbar's army, but was then imprisoned for supporting his uncle Bairam's revolt against the Empire. He was later pardoned by Akbar and continued his work as a loyal soldier.^[1]

History

At the Battle of Talamba (1573), Husayn Quli Khan and some other officers surprise the Timurids Ibrahim Husayn Mirza and his brother Mas'ud Husayn in Tulamba near Multan. Masʿud is captured, Ibrahim escapes.^[3]^[4]^[5]

He was appointed as the Subahdar (Governor) of Bengal after the death of Munim Khan in 1575. Daud Khan Karrani, the final Afghan Sultan of Bengal, rebelled against the Mughal Empire for the second time. In November, the new governor Khan Jahan, along with Raja Todar Mal, arrived in Tanda. The following July, they faced Daud's forces near the Padma River in Bengal. On 12 July 1576, the Battle of Rajmahal commenced where the Afghans suffered a significant defeat.^[6] Their best commander was killed, and Daud was captured after his horse got stuck in the mud. The Mughals, determined to eliminate Daud, had him beheaded. Khan Jahan displayed Daud's body in Tanda and sent his head to Emperor Akbar in Agra as a trophy.^[7] Khan Jahan also took Satgaon under his control.^[1]

Khan Jahan led military expedition against the Baro-Bhuiyans in 1578. In a naval battle in Katsul against Isa Khan, the ruler of Bhati, he failed to capture the area and retreated. He later died in Tanda, the erstwhile capital of Bengal, in December 1578.^[1] He was succeeded by Muzaffar Khan Turbati as the viceroy of Bengal in April, 1579.^[8] His son, Raja Quli, was promoted to a commander of 500 infantry with 300 cavalry in 1602.^[9]

Preceded by

Munim Khan

Subahdar of Bengal
1575–1578

Succeeded by

Muzaffar Khan Turbati

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Chisti, AA Sheikh Md Asrarul Hoque (2012). "Husain Quli Beg". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
^ Sarkar 1943, p. 194 "He was a Shia and a Persian, while most of the other imperial officers in Bengal were Sunnis and Turks."
^ "Mirza Ibrahim Husain". 1590–1595.
^ Allami, abu L. Fazl (1989). The Akbar Nama Of Abu L Fazl Vol 3. pp. 52–53.
^ Hutchinson's story of the nations, containing the Egyptians, the Chinese, India, the Babylonian nation, the Hittites, the Assyrians, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, the Phrygians, the Lydians, and other nations of Asia Minor. London, Hutchinson. 1911. p. 145, color plate.
^ Richards, John F. (1996). The Mughal Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-521-56603-2. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
^ Maxwell, Richard (1993). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760. University of California Press. p. 144. ISBN 9780520080775.
^ Sarkar 1943, p. 195
^ Beveridge, H.; Prashad, Baini (1952). The Maāthir-ul-umarā Being Biographies of the Muhammadan and Hindu Officers of the Timurid Sovereigns of India from 1500 to about 1780 A.D. by Nawwab Samsam-ud-Daula Shah Nawaz Khan and his son Abdul Hayy – Volume I (English). Calcutta, India: Asiatic Society of Calcutta. p. 649.

Bibliography

Sarkar, Jadunath, ed. (1943). The History of Bengal. Vol. II: Muslim Period. Delhi: B.R. Publishing Corporation. ISBN 81-7646-239-X. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)

External links

Media related to Khan Jahan at Wikimedia Commons

[bpedia-1] Chisti, AA Sheikh Md Asrarul Hoque (2012). "Husain Quli Beg". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 6 March 2026.

[2] Sarkar 1943, p. 194 "He was a Shia and a Persian, while most of the other imperial officers in Bengal were Sunnis and Turks."

[3] "Mirza Ibrahim Husain". 1590–1595.

[4] Allami, abu L. Fazl (1989). The Akbar Nama Of Abu L Fazl Vol 3. pp. 52–53.

[5] Hutchinson's story of the nations, containing the Egyptians, the Chinese, India, the Babylonian nation, the Hittites, the Assyrians, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, the Phrygians, the Lydians, and other nations of Asia Minor. London, Hutchinson. 1911. p. 145, color plate.

[6] Richards, John F. (1996). The Mughal Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-521-56603-2. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2016.

[7] Maxwell, Richard (1993). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760. University of California Press. p. 144. ISBN 9780520080775.

[8] Sarkar 1943, p. 195

[9] Beveridge, H.; Prashad, Baini (1952). The Maāthir-ul-umarā Being Biographies of the Muhammadan and Hindu Officers of the Timurid Sovereigns of India from 1500 to about 1780 A.D. by Nawwab Samsam-ud-Daula Shah Nawaz Khan and his son Abdul Hayy – Volume I (English). Calcutta, India: Asiatic Society of Calcutta. p. 649.

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