Muhammad Zaman Mirza (1496–1539) was a Timurid prince, and general to

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

s Babur and

Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...

. He claimed himself as the ruler of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

in 1537 but did not gain actual control.

Early life

Muhammad Zaman Mirza was the son of Badi' al-Zaman Mirza, the Timurid ruler of

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

. His mother was the daughter of Tahamtan Beg and the niece of Asad Beg. He was the grandson of Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara and Bega Sultan Begum. He was married to

Masuma Sultan Begum Masuma Sultan Begum ( ) was the Queen consort of Ferghana Valley and Samarkand as the fourth wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. Masuma was a first cousin of her husband and was a Timurid princes ...

, Babur's daughter by

, the daughter of

Sultan Ahmed Mirza Sultan Ahmed Mirza was the eldest son of Abu Sa'id Mirza on whose death he became the Timurid ruler of Samarkand and Bukhara from 1469 until 1494. During his rule, he successfully repelled at least one invasion attempt by the Kara Koyunlu, and f ...

Career

He tried to exert his independence early on but was imprisoned at

Bayana Bayana is a historical town and the headquarters of Bayana tehsil in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan in India. Hindaun City is nearest city of Bayana - 33 km. It was the site of famous Important Battle of Bayana in 1527 between the Rajp ...

by order of Emperor

, but he managed to escape and took refuge in

Gujarat Sultanate The Gujarat Sultanate (or the Sultanate of Guzerat), was a Medieval Indian kingdom established in the early 15th century in Western India, primarily in the present-day state of Gujarat, India. The dynasty was founded by Sultan Zafar Khan Mu ...

where ''Sultan'' Qutb-ud-Din Bahadur Shah welcomed him. On December 23, 1534 while on board the galleon St. Mattheus, ''Sultan'' Qutb-ud-Din Bahadur Shah signed the Treaty of Bassein. Based on the terms of the agreement, the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...

gained control of the city of Bassein, as well as its territories, islands, and seas. In 1535,

was occupied by the Mughals, and Bahadur Shah was forced to conclude an alliance with the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

to regain the country, conceding Daman and Diu,

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, and

Vasai Vasai (Konkani and Marathi pronunciation: �əsəi formerly and alternatively Mahratti; ''Bajipur'', English: Bassein; Portuguese: Baçaim), is a historical place and City near Mumbai (Bombay)'s western suburbs, located in Palghar district ...

to the

. In February 1537, he was killed by the

while visiting them on a Portuguese ship anchored off the coast of

, and his body was dumped into the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

. ''Sultan'' Qutb-ud-Din Bahadur Shah had no legitimate son, hence there was some uncertainty regarding succession after his death. Muhammad Zaman Mirza, the fugitive Mughal general made his claim on the ground that Bahadur's mother adopted him as her son. Seeing the danger in this declaration, The Gujarati nobles selected ''Sultan'' Qutb-ud-Din Bahadur Shah's nephew Miran Muhammad Shah I of

Khandesh Khandesh is a geographic region in Central India, which includes parts of the northwestern portion of Maharashtra as well as Burhanpur District of Madhya Pradesh. The use of Khandeshi Language (a.k.a. the Ahirani Language) is prevalent in t ...

as his successor, but he died on his way to Gujarat. Finally, the nobles selected Mahmud Khan, son of Bahadur's brother Latif Khan as his successor and he ascended to the throne as

Mahmud Shah III Mahmud Ri’ayat Shah Zilu’llah fil’Alam Khalifat ul-Muminin ibni al-Marhum Sultan ‘Abdu’l Jalil Shah (24 March 1756–1811) was the 15th Sultan of Johor and Johor's dependencies who reigned from 1770 to 1811. Early life Born on 24 Ma ...

on May 10, 1538. Then Muhammad Zaman Mirza made an agreement with Portuguese in which he would yield Mangrol and Daman and a band of land along the entire coast, in return for their support but the Gujarati nobles defeated Muhammad Zaman Mirza who had fled to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

References

MS Commissariat,''History of Gujarat'', London 1928, reprinted 1957, Bombay Mughal generals Gujarat Sultanate Timurid dynasty {{Asia-royal-stub

Early life

Career

See also

References