Shahriyar (Mughal Prince)

Prince Shahriyar

Prince Shahriyar or Shahryar (born January 16, 1605 ; died January 23, 1628 ) was the fifth and youngest son of the Mughal ruler Jahangir (r. 1605–1627). After the death of his father he tried to usurp the throne, but he was defeated by the army of his stepbrother Shah Jahan (ruled 1627 / 8–1658).

family

Shariyar was a few months before the death of his grandfather Akbar I was born. His mother was the daughter of Raja Birbal , the Hindu court poet and advisor to Akbar, but his stepmother Nur Jahan (1577–1645), Jahangir's chief wife, lovingly cared for the boy. At the age of 16 he married their daughter from his first marriage, also born in 1605, Ladli Begum , with whom he had a daughter named Arzani Begum , who would later marry the last important Mughal Mughal Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707).

biography

In 1625 Shahriyar was appointed governor ( subahdar ) of Thatta by Jahangir . After the death of his father, who was addicted to opium and alcohol, he ascended the Mughal throne on November 7, 1627 with the support of his influential stepmother. He earned the support of some nobles in the empire through generous monetary gifts. In January of the following year, however, his army met at Lahore on the Asaf Khan , who supported Prince Khurram , the third son of Jahangir. Shahriyar's troops were defeated and a few days later he was blinded . He wrote another poem, but after Prince Khurram was enthroned as Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, he, his followers and other possible pretenders to the throne were murdered.

literature

• Bamber Gascoigne: The Mughals - splendor and greatness of Mohammedan princes in India . Prisma-Verlag, Gütersloh 1987, ISBN 3-570-09930-X
• Ellison Banks Findly: Nur Jahan, Empress of Mughal India . Oxford University Press 1993, ISBN 0-19-507488-2