Mirza Zulqarnain or Mirza Zul-Qarnain (c. 1594 – c. 1656) was a '' diwan'' and ''

faujdar Faujdar is a term of pre-Mughal origins. Under the Mughals it was an office that combined the functions of a military commander along with judicial and land revenue functions. In pre-Mughal times, the term referred to a military officer but d ...

'' of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

descent in the court of 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 ...

. He was brought up in the royal harem and, after being appointed to official posts, spent most of his career in Sambhar where he administered the lucrative salt pans there. He also served as governor in other parts of the empire. He was a noted poet and composer of

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Mirza Zulqarnain was born around 1594, the elder son of

Sikandar Mirza Sikandar Mirza (or Iskander/Alexander Mirza) (died 1613) was an Armenian merchant who travelled from Aleppo to Lahore and became a trusted figure within Akbar's court in the Mughal Empire. (died 1613), an Armenian merchant who travelled from

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

during the reign of

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

and joined his court. His mother, Lady Juliana (died 1598),Not to be confused with

Lady Juliana of Agra Lady Juliana () was a woman who lived at the court of Mughal emperor Akbar. She is said to have been the physician in charge of Akbar's royal harem, and to have married the legendary Bourbon prince Jean-Philippe de Bourbon-Navarre, and to have be ...

was a doctor in Akbar's

seraglio A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from fa, سرای, sarāy, palace, via Turkish and Italian) is a castle, palace or government building which was considered to have particular administrative importance in various parts of the former Ott ...

and the daughter of the Armenian chief justice

Abdul Hai Abdul Hai ( ar, عبد الحي, translit=Abd al-Ḥayy) is a Muslim male given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and ''Hayy''. The name means "servant of the Living God", ''Al-Hayy'' being one o ...

.Seth, p. 93.
/ref> She was given to Sikandar by Akbar. He was originally named Alexander but given the name Mirza Zul-Qarnain by Akbar, Zul-Qarnain meaning "the two-horned" like

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

. Zulqarnain was brought up in the royal harem with one of his brothers until the age of 12Seth, pp. 36–37.
/ref> and thus got to know the royal children of the court including

Prince Khurram 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 ...

and Shah Jahan. Around 1590, he married Helen, for which a special dispensation was obtained from the Pope. They had three sons and a daughter. She died in 1638 and was buried in a mausoleum in her garden in Lahore.Seth, p. 205.
/ref>

Career

Shah Jahan accepts a falcon from Dara Shikoh

Zulqarnain spent most of his career in Sambhar where he was a ''diwan'' of the salt pans, a prestigious and lucrative post involving financial administration that had also been held by his father. He was also ''faujdar'' (provincial administrator or governor) there and ''faujdar'' of

Bahraich Bahraich is a city and a municipal board in Bahraich district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Located on the Saryu River, a tributary of the Ghaghara river, Bahraich is north-east of Lucknow, the state capital. The districts of Barab ...

from 1629 to 1633. In 1632 he presented five elephants to the Mughal Court as '' nazr''. From 1642 to around 1648 he was serving with Shah Shuja in Bengal below the rank of ''subedar'' or ''hakim'' before returning as ''faujdar'' of Sambhar in 1649. He was a ''

mansabdar The Mansabdar was a military unit within the administrative system of the Mughal Empire introduced by Akbar. The word ''mansab'' is of Arabic origin meaning rank or position. The system determined the rank and status of a government official an ...

'' and held the rank of ''panjsadi seh sad sawar'' on three occasions. He retired to Delhi on a pension of 100 rupees per day in 1654.

Writing

He was an accomplished poet, as attested by the ''

Padshahnama Padshahnama or ''Badshah Nama'' ( fa, پادشاهنامه or پادشاه‌نامه) (Chronicle of the Emperor Shah Jahan) is a group of works written as the official history of the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Unillustrated texts ...

'', and was praised by Emperor

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 ...

as a composer of Hindi songs. He presented his poems at the court of

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 ...

on special occasions such as the shah's accession and before

Shahjahanabad Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal Empire, Mughal Mughal emperors, emperor at the time) decided to shift t ...

(Old Delhi) was created capital of the empire."Mirza Zulqarnain - An Armenian Noble"
by Ruquiya K. Husain, ''

Proceedings of the Indian History Congress Indian History Congress is the largest professional and academic body of Indian historians with over 35,000 members. It was established in 1935. The name of any new applicant for membership needs to be proposed and seconded by existing Ordinary or L ...

'', Vol. 59 (1998), pp. 260–265. Via Jstor.org

Christianity

Although

had Zulqarnain and his brother forcibly converted to Islam upon succeeding to the throne, this appears to have been purely formal, as Zulqarnain lived his life as a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The 17th-century merchant

Peter Mundy Peter Mundy ( fl. 1597 – 1667) was a seventeenth-century British factor, merchant trader, traveller and writer. He was the first Briton to record, in his ''Itinerarium Mundi'' ('Itinerary of the World'), tasting '' Chaa'' (tea) in China and trav ...

referred to Zulqarnain as the "chiefest" Christian of the Mughal Empire.Husain, 1998, p. 263. He made donations to the church, helped in the compilation of chronicles, and retained his faith throughout his life as described by the 17th-century traveller

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689) was a 17th-century French gem merchant and traveler. Tavernier, a private individual and merchant traveling at his own expense, covered, by his own account, 60,000 leagues in making six voyages to Persia ...

: "The Armenian had been brought up with Shah Jahan, and as he was very clever and an excellent poet he was high in the good graces of the Emperor, who had given him valuable governorships, but had never been able, either by promises or threats to induce him to become a Mussulman uslim" One of the principal sources for his life is the accounts of the

Jesuit Fathers The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

who described him as the "Father of the Mogor Christians", in reference to the donations he made to the Jesuits there,Seth, p. 35.
/ref> and the "Pillar of Christianity in India".

Death

Zulqarnain probably died in 1656 and may have been buried with his mother and wife in the family mausoleum in Lahore.Seth, p. 14.
/ref> His father had left money in his will for the establishment of a "cemetery for the deceased Christians of Lahore" but no trace of Zulqarnain's interment has been found. He is included in the list of Mughal nobles for 1657 and 1658, raising doubt about the exact year of his death.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zulqarnain, Mirza 1590s births 1650s deaths Indian people of Armenian descent Armenian Christians Indian Christians Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Indian male poets Hindi-language culture Jaipur district Mughal Court