Asaf Khan I

This article is about the Mughal nobleman during the reign of Akbar. For other uses, see Asaf Khan.
Asaf Khan I
Subahdar of Ilahabad
Subahdar of Ilahabad
Reignc. 1560—c. 1580
HouseAsaf Khan
ReligionSunni Islam
OccupationMughal noble
Military career
AllegianceMughal Empire
Battles / wars
Asaf Khan presenting spoils from the Mughal conquest of Garha to Akbar at Jaunpur in 1565

Asaf Khan I was a Tajik nobleman of the Mughal Empire during the reign of Akbar. He was governor of Ilahabad Subah and participated in many Mughal military expeditions, leading the Mughal conquest of Garha in 1564 and serving in the Battle of Haldighati in 1576.[1][2][3]

After personally attacking Garha and keeping the loot of war, including many precious gems and 800 war elephants, to himself, he rebelled fearing retribution by Akbar and joined many disaffected Uzbek noblemen in seeking independence from Mughal rule, fleeing to his subah on 17 September 1565. However, he soon submitted and was restored to his previous post in 1567.[4]

Asaf Khan played a pivotal role in Mughal conquest of Chittor in 1568 led by Akbar himself. After the fort was sacked in February 1568, Akbar handed it to Asaf Khan and returned to Agra.[5]

He probably died at Burhanpur aged 63 in the seventh year of Jahangir's reign (1611–12).[6]

  1. ^ Sharma, Parvati (2023-05-15). A Lamp for the Dark World: Akbar, India's Greatest Mughal. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-7790-7.
  2. ^ Naravane, Susheila (2018-09-28). Acute Akbar Versus The Spirited Nur Jahan: The Soul's Journey Through Time and the Who's Who of Rebirth. Troubador Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78901-231-6.
  3. ^ Sharma, Manimugdha (2019-10-18). Allahu Akbar: Understanding the Great Mughal in Today's India. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-93-86950-54-3.
  4. ^ Haig, Wolseley (1937). "Akbar, 1556-1573". In Burn, Richard (ed.). The Cambridge History of India. Vol. 4: The Mughul Period. Cambridge. p. 92.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ Gopinath Sharma (1962). Mewar and the Mughal Emperors: 1526-1707 A. D. Shiva Lal Agarwala. p. 80.
  6. ^ Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan, 1569-1627 (2015). Beveridge, Henry (ed.). The tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī, or, Memoirs of Jahāngīr. Translated by Rogers, Alexander. New Delhi. ISBN 978-81-7156-131-5. OCLC 993066506.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)