Inayat Khan (1628 – 1671) was a historian during the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. In his work the ''

Shahjahannama The ''Shahjahannama'' (Chronicle of Shah Jahan) is a genre of works written about the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. ''Padshahnama'' is a term for lavishly illuminated versions. A significant work in this genre was written by the historian Inayat K ...

,'' he chronicled the life of Mughal emperor

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

Early life

Inayat Khan was born in 1628, the same year that Mughal emperor

came to the throne. In 1635, the seventh year of his life, he received as he informs us, "''a suitable mansab''". He was sent to join his father in Kashmir while he was Mughal governor there. He was afterwards a "''

Darogha Darogas (also spelled darogha or daroghah) were police officials in the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. In the Mughal Empire, a daroga was superintendent of the "slaves" of a Mughal monarch. Duties performed by daroga The darogas served in the ...

''" and subsequently had an office in the Imperial Library.

Family

Zafar Khan, father of Inayat Khan was Wazir of

Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

. In the reign of

, he was at one time ruler of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, and afterwards of Kashmir, during which latter government he effected the conquest of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. Later period, he was appointed to the administration of

Thatta Thatta ( sd, ٺٽو; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Thatta's historic significance has yielded several monuments in and ...

. He was celebrated as a poet, as a patron of letters, and as a just and moderate ruler. Inayat Khan's maternal grandfather, Saif Khan, was governor of

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

, and when

Shah Shuja (Mughal prince) Shah Shuja (23 June 1616 – 7 February 1661) was the second son of the Mughal Empire, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and Empress Mumtaz Mahal. He was the governor of Bengal and Odisha and had his capital at Dhaka, in present day Bangladesh. Ea ...

appointed ruler of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

in 1641, Saif Khan was sent thither to conduct the administration until the arrival of the

Later days

Inayat Khan was a close friend of

. After retirement he settled in Kashmir, where he died in 1666.

External links

References

{{Authority control 17th-century Indian historians Historians from the Mughal Empire Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Indian historians of Islam 1628 births