Murad Bakhsh

Murad Bakhsh
Shahzada of the Mughal Empire
Born	9 October 1624 Rohtasgarh Fort, Bihar, India
Died	14 December 1661 (aged 37) Gwalior Fort, Madhya Pradesh, India
Burial	Traitor's Cemetery (Gwalior)
Spouse	Sakina Banu Begum a daughter of Nawab Amir Khan Sarasvathi Bai
Issue	Muhammad Yar Izzad Bakhsh Dostdar Banu Begum Asaish Banu Begum Hamraz Banu Begum (Two sons and four daughters)
Full name Muhammad Murad Bakhsh
Dynasty	Timurid
Father	Shah Jahan
Mother	Mumtaz Mahal
Religion	Islam

Muhammad Murad Bakhsh (9 October 1624 - 14 December 1661) was a Mughal prince as the youngest son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his Empress consort Mumtaz Mahal. He was the Subedar of Balkh until he was replaced by his brother Aurangzeb in the year 1647.

Early life

Muhammad Murad Bakhsh was born on 9 October 1624, at the Rohtasgarh Fort in Bihar, as the youngest son of Emperor Shah Jahan and his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. Murad's siblings included his two politically powerful sisters, the princesses: Jahanara Begum and Roshanara Begum as well as the heir-apparent to his father, his eldest brother, Crown Prince Dara Shikoh and the future Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.

In 1638, Murad Bakhsh, at the age of fourteen years married the Safavid princess, Sakina Banu Begum, a daughter of Shah Nawaz Khan Safavi. She was the younger sister of his elder sister-in-law, Dilras Banu Begum, who was Aurangzeb's wife.

He was appointed to Subadar of Multan (1642), of Balkh (16 February 1646 to 9 August 1646), of Kashmir (20 August 1647 to July 1648), of Deccan (25 July 1648 to 14 September 1649), and Kabul (23 January 1650 to 1654), of Gujarat (March 1654), and Malwa.

War of Succession

Murad Baksh, younger brother of Aurangzeb

30 November 1657, he proclaimed himself emperor at Ahmadabad, after reports that his father' ill, during the same year he received the Ottoman ambassador Manzada Husain Agha, who arrived in the port of Surat and was on his way to meet Shah Jahan in Agra. Manzada Husain Agha mentions his disappointed regarding the wars between Shah Jahans sons.

Murad Bakhsh joined hands with Aurangzeb to defeat Dara Shikhoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan. In fact it was the ferocious charge led by Murad Bakhsh and his Sowars that eventually turned the outcome of the battle in favor of Aurangzeb during the Battle of Samugarh.

7 July 1658, while he was in a tent with his brother Aurangzeb, he was intoxicated and was secretly sent to the prison and transferred to Gwalior Fort from January 1659.

He faced a trial that sentenced him to death for having murdered former Diwan clerk named Ali Naqi, in 1661. Aurangzeb then replaced Murad Bakhsh as the Subedar of Gujarat and placed Inayat Khan as the new Mughal commander of Surat.

Death

In 14 December 1661, after 3 years in prison, he was executed at Gwalior Fort. With the last of his brothers now dead, Aurangzeb soon became the undisputed emperor of the Mughal Empire.

Family and Descendants

Murad Bakht married and got Issue:

• Shahzada Izad Bakhsh Bahadur married and got Issue:
  • Sultan Dadar Bakhsh Bahadur, married and got Issue:
    • Sultan Muhammad Yazdan Bakhsh Bahadur, married and got Issue:
      • Mirza Muhammad Zainal Abidin, married and got Issue:
        • Mirza Muhammad Naimuddin, married and got Issue
          • Juma Mirza, married and got Issue:
            • Punu Mirza, married and got Issue:
              • Mirza Muhammad Jalaluddin, married and got Issue:
                • Mirza Sultan Zahiruddin, married and got Issue:
                  • Mirza Qara Muhammad Shaban, moved to Ottoman Empire, married 25 Wifes and got Issue:
                    • Mirza Shaban, married and got Issue:
                      • Mirza Sabahaddin, married and got Issue:
                        • Mirza Timur Jan

See also

• Moradabad
• Shah Jahan
• Mughal–Safavid War (1649–1653)