| Bairam Khan بيرام خان |
|
|---|---|
| Bairam Khan is assassinated by an Afghan at Patan, 1561, Akbarnama | |
| Regent of the Mughal Emperor | |
| In office 1556–1561 |
|
| Monarch | Akbar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1501 Badakhshan |
| Died | 31 January 1561 Gujarat, Mughal Empire |
| Religion | Islam |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Mughal Empire |
| Years of service | c.1517-1561 |
| Commands | Mughal Army |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Khanwa Battle of Ghaghra Siege of Sambhal Second Battle of Panipat |
Bairam Khan also Bayram Khan (Persian: بيرام خان) (died 1561) was a important military commander, general of the Mughal army, a powerful statesman and regent at the court of the Mughal emperors Humayun and Akbar.[1]
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Bairam Khan was born in Badakhshan, now in present day Afghanistan, and belonged to the Baharlu clan of the Turkmen Kara Koyunlu tribe. The Kara Koyunlu had ruled Western Persia for decades before being overthrown by their Ak Koyunlu rivals. Bairam Khan's father and grandfather had previously joined in Babur's service.[1]
Bairam entered Babur's service at the age of 16 and played an active role in the early Mughal conquests of India.[2] Bairam Khan later contributed greatly to the establishment of the Mughal empire under Humayun. Under Humayan he was entrusted the position of muhradr (keeper of the seals) and took part in military campaigns in Benares, Bengal and Gujarat.[3]. He accompanied Humayun during his exile in Persia and helped conquer Kandahar before serving as its governor for nine years. In 1556, he played a leading role as a commander in Humayun's reconquest of Hindustan.[4]
Following Humayun's death in 1556, Bairam Khan was appointed Regent over the young monarch Akbar. As regent, he consolidated Mughal authority in northern India and most notably led Mughal forces at the Second Battle of Panipat, which was fought between Akbar and the Hindu king Hemu in Nov. 1556.
Bairam was dismissed upon Akbar's coming-of-age in 1560. He subsequently chose to leave India to perform the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.[5]
While traveling through Gujarat,[6] he was killed by a Lohani Pashtun assassin whose father had been killed five years before in a battle led by Bairam. He died on 31 January 1561.
Gazetteer of Ulwur states:
Soon after Babar's death, his successor, Humaiyun, was in A.D. 1540 supplanted by the Pathan Sher Shah, who, in A.D. 1545, was followed by Islam Shah. During the reign of the latter a battle was fought and lost by the Emperor's troops at Firozpur Jhirka, in Mewat, on which, however, Islam Shah did not loose his hold. Adil Shah, the third of the Pathan interlopers, who succeeded in A.D. 1552, had to contend for the Empire with the returned Humaiyun. In these struggles for the restoration of Babar's dynasty Khanzadas apparently do not figure at all. Humaiyun seems to have conciliated them by marrying the elder daughter of Jamal Khan, nephew of Babar's opponent, Hasan Khan, and by causing his great minister, Bairam Khan, to marry a younger daughter of the same Mewatti.