Itiqad Khan Nusrat Jung Zulfiqar Khan | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait of Zulfiqar Khan, c. 1690 | |
| Faujdar of the Carnatic | |
| In office 1692–? | |
| Monarch | Aurangzeb |
| Deputy | Daud Khan Panni |
| Preceded by | Ali Mardan Khan |
| Mir Bakhshi of the Mughal Empire | |
| In office 1702–1712 | |
| Monarchs | Aurangzeb Bahadur Shah I |
| Preceded by | Bahramand Khan |
| Succeeded by | Kokaltash Khan |
| Viceroy of the Deccan | |
| In office 1709 – 11 February 1713 | |
| Monarchs | Bahadur Shah I Jahandar Shah |
| Deputy | Daud Khan Panni |
| Wazir of the Mughal Empire | |
| In office 1712 – 11 February 1713 | |
| Monarch | Jahandar Shah |
| Preceded by | Munim Khan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Muhammad Ismail c. 1649/1657 |
| Died | 11 February 1713 |
| Parent(s) | Asad Khan (father) Mehrunissa Begum (mother) |
| Military service | |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Raigarh (1689) Siege of Gingee (1690-1698) |
Muhammad Ismail (1649/1657 – 11 February 1713), known by his title Zulfiqar Khan, was a leading noble and military general of the Mughal Empire. His father was Asad Khan, wazir (prime minister) to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. During Aurangzeb's reign, Zulfiqar Khan led several military campaigns in pursuit of the emperor's ambitions in the Deccan and South India, notable of which is the Siege of Jinji. He held the post of mir bakhshi (paymaster general), appointed towards the later part of Aurangzeb's reign, and was made governor of the Deccan by emperor Bahadur Shah I. These positions helped make Zulfiqar Khan the most powerful noble in the empire by the early 1700s.
For his role in engineering the accession of emperor Jahandar Shah, Zulfiqar Khan has been termed the first kingmaker in Mughal history. During this emperor's brief reign, Zulfiqar Khan served as wazir (prime minister) and acted as effective ruler of the empire, before being executed in 1713 by claimant to the throne Farrukhsiyar.