Khizr Khoja

Khizr Khwaja Khan (d. 1399, also known as Khizr Khoja) was the son of Tughlugh Timur and Khan of Moghulistan during the Chagatai Khanate, reigning from 1390 to 1399 AD.

Reign as Khan of Moghulistan
Khizr Khoja took the throne of Moghulistan after the defeat of Qamar-ud-din Khan Dughlat by Timur in 1390.

Tarikh-i-Rashidi by Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat says that Tughluk Timur Khán's youngest son was Khizir Khwája Khán, and that while he was yet at his mother's breast, he was saved from the cruelty and enmity of Kamaruddin by Mir Ághá, the mother of Amir Khudáidád. When the child attained twelve years, his friends, still fearing Amir Kamaruddin, took him from Káshghar.

Amir Khudáidád wished to send a few trustworthy men with him, but Mir Ághá opposed this plan, saying: "Do not send any of your own servants, for when the boy becomes Khán, base born people [such as they] will become influential, and then they will prove enemies to yourself and your children. They will imagine that the people do not pay them sufficient respect, but say among themselves, ‘These are only servants.’ For this reason rather send others than your own retainers—send strangers." So twelve men were sent, and each eventually became an Amir. Many of their descendants are alive now. Among their number was Arjirák, from whom are descended the Amirs of Itárji; Tájri of Khwárizm, from whom are sprung the Amirs of Kunji; while another was of the tribe of Chálish Siádi [or Sayyádi]; and his sons also became Amirs, with the style [lakab] of Kushji, but they are also called Kukildásh.

They took Khizir Khwája Khán up to the hills which lie between Badakhshán and Káshghar. But the spies of Kamaruddin got news of his hiding-place, so he abandoned it and fled to the hills of Khotan. Fearing discovery, he went on to Yellow Uyghurs, Jurján, and Lob Katak, where he remained for twelve years. On the death of Kamaruddin, search was made for Khizir Khwája Khán, and Amir Khudáidád sent for him from where he was in hiding. As soon as he was brought in, Khudáidád called the people together and raised him to the Khánship. Thus did the splendour of the Khán come to illumine the sovereignty of the Moghuls, so that the affairs of Moghulistán prospered. The Khán then concluded a peace with Amir Timur, who formed an alliance with him by marrying Tavakkul Khánim, a maiden from the royal haram. <!--

The Holy War
During his reign the Khán undertook a holy war [ghazát] against Khitái. He, in person, attacked and conquered Karákhoja and Turfán, two very important towns, situated at the border of Khitái, and forced their inhabitants to become Musulmáns, so that at the present time it is called "Dár al Islám".

As a seat of the Moghul Khákáns this country stands next in importance to Káshghar. It is moreover related that, in that campaign, this country was divided up in the manner ordained by the Holy Shariat. And there fell to the lot of the Khán, one piece of satin and one grey cow. The Khán's object in doing this was the glorification of the realm of Islám. It is related in the Zafar-Náma, that as soon as Amir Timur had satisfied his lust for conquest in the north, south and west, he prepared an expedition against the countries lying to the east, especially against Khitái, which is the most important of them; and a long description is given of the [projected] expedition, the substance of which is that he mustered an army of eight hundred thousand men, supplying them with provender sufficient for seven years—as was the custom in the armies of Irák and Rum.

As the country lying between Khitái and Mávará-un-Nahr was but little cultivated and thinly populated, he ordered each man to bring, in addition to other supplies, two milk cows and ten milk goats, telling them that when their supplies should be exhausted, they were to milk these animals. When, in turn, the milk came to an end, they were to convert the animals themselves into provisions. Having completed these preparations, Amir Timur set out from Samarkand, and for that winter took up his quarters [kishlák] in Turkistán. While there, he sent to ask Khizir Khwája Khán if it would be possible to cultivate the ground [in Moghulistán], in order to furnish supplies for the army.

I have frequently heard my father (upon whom rest the mercy of God) relate that in the beginning of the spring the new kimiz had come in, and on that day, according to an ancient Moghul custom, a great feast had been prepared. As Amir Khudáidád was on the point of offering a cup of kimiz to the Khán, one of the chief nobles announced the arrival of an ambassador from Amir Timur, and stated the purport of his mission. [The noble] added: "It is much to be regretted that we have not power to resist him, and that we should be compelled to pay him tribute." At these reflections, the cup of kimiz fell from the hands of the Khán, whereupon Amir Khudáidád said: "You must now drink of the cup of tranquillity (ráhat), in conformity with this couplet: To grieve over what has not yet come to pass is taking sorrow in anticipation. 'Tis better that I should defer to the morrow the things of to-morrow." Then he added: "It has been said that if an apple be thrown up to the sky, God has had time to bestow a hundred blessings before it descends again. Ere another year be passed, how many thousand favours may He not confer! This consideration ought to bring you comfort." Scarcely had he done speaking, when they saw advancing rapidly from the shore of Lake Kariás, a man mounted on a black horse, and clothed in white robes. He rode on as far as the executioner's tent, where it is customary to dismount. This man, however, rode on without stopping, right past the station of the guards who were sitting in a line.

The chamberlains [yasávul]* ran up from every side to try and stop him in his course, but he did not slacken his speed till he came up to where the Khán was standing. Then he called out in a loud voice: "Amir Timur is no more, he has died at Otrár!" Having uttered these words he again rode off at full speed. Many horsemen were sent after him, but none could overtake him; and no other intimation of the news was received. However, after an interval of forty-five days, information came that Amir Timur had died at Otrár; so there no longer remained any doubt about the matter, and the Khán was relieved of all anxiety and distress. The Khán was born before the year 770 of the Hajra, and the above recorded events took place in 807* of the Hajra. But it is not known how long the Khán survived Amir Timur—God knows best.When the Khán ascended the throne of the Khánate, the foundations of the State, which, under the usurpation of Kamaruddin and the ascendency of Amir Timur, had been much shaken, were once more strengthened and consolidated. Old customs and rights, which had fallen into disuse or oblivion, were revived, while the affairs of the kingdom and the business of the nobles were restored to order. Among other matters that received attention was the restoration to his rights of Amir Khudáidád.

For in the reign of Chingiz Khán there had been granted to the ancestors of Amir Khudáidád the following seven privileges [mansab]:*

1. Tabl (or the drum).

2. Alam (or the Standard), the former being called in Turki "nakára," the latter "tumán tugh."

3. Two of his servants might wear the "Kushun-tugh." Kushun-tugh is synonymous with "chápár tugh."

4. He might wear the Kur* in the councils of the Khán, though it is a custom among the Moghuls that no one but the Khán may carry his quiver in his hand.

5. Certain privileges in connection with the Khán's hunt.*

6. He was to be an Amir over all the Moghuls, and in the firmáns* his name was to be entered as "Sirdár of the Ulus of Moghuls."

7. In the presence of the Khán, the other Amirs were to sit a bow's length further than he from the Khán.

Such were the seven privileges bestowed upon Urtubu by Chingiz Khán. When Amir Buláji had brought Tughluk Timur Khán from the land of Kipchák, and had set him on the throne of the Khánate, he, in return for his services, received in addition to the seven privileges above enumerated, two others, so that he enjoyed nine in all.

8. The first of the new privileges was, that he should have the power of dismissing or appointing Amirs of Kushuns (that is, Amirs who had one thousand followers) without applying to, or consulting with, the Khán; and the second was as follows:

9. Buláji and his descendants should be permitted to commit nine crimes without being tried. On committing the tenth offence, trial should be conducted under the following conditions:—The accused should be set upon a white two-year-old horse; under the hoofs of the horse, nine folds of white felt should be placed—as a token of respect—and he should in that position address the Khán, while the Khán should speak to him from an elevation. When the interrogatory and investigation had been conducted in this fashion, if the offence should be a mortal one, and the other nine crimes should also be proved against him, two Amirs should stand by and watch him while his veins were opened and all his blood drawn from his body. Thus he should perish. Then the two Amirs, wailing and lamenting, should carry his body out.* These nine privileges were contained in a firmán issued under the seal of Tughluk Timur Khán, which I once saw myself. For it was handed down in our family, and ultimately came into the hands of my father (upon whom be the peace of God). It was however destroyed or lost, in the disturbed times of Sháhi Beg Khán.* It was written in the Moghul language and character, and bore the date and place of the year of the Hog, at Kunduz; which goes to prove that Tughluk Timur Khán's rule extended as far as Kunduz. No one alive now knows anything about the reign of that Khán, but the Writer has copied into this history the account of it given in the Zafar-Náma.

Since Khizir Khwája Khán had been saved from the yawning abyss of Kamaruddin's violence, and had been placed upon the throne of the Kháns, by the aid of Amir Buláji's son, Amir Khudáidád, he rewarded the latter Amir by superadding three privileges to the nine existing ones; making the prerogatives of Amir Khudáidád twelve in number. Thus:

10. That on the occasion of festivals, when the Khán's chamberlains [yasávul] arranged the ranks, one of the chamberlains of Amir Khudáidád, taking part in the proceedings, should stand on the right hand side, holding the Khán's cup: another on the left side, should hold the cup of Amir Khudáidád, and those two cups were to be exclusively reserved for the Khán and Amir Khudáidád.

11. That he should set his seal on all firmáns that might be issued, but that the Khán's seal should be set above his.

12. [No 12th mansab is mentioned in any of the texts]. Such were the twelve prerogatives [mansab] for which a firmán was granted to Amir Khudáidád, after whose death they descended to his son Amir Muhammad Sháh Kurkán. When this latter died, they devolved on Amir Sayyid Ali Kurkán, the son of Muhammad Sháh's brother, and after Sayyid Ali to Muhammad Haidar Mirzá Kurkán his son, and after him to his son Muhammad Husain Mirzá Kurkán, father of the present writer Muhammad Haidar, known familiarly as Mirzá Haidar. After the martyrdom of my father, my uncle, Sayyid Muhammad Mirzá, attached himself to Sultán Ash-Shahid-Sultán Said Khán; the Khán Said Shahid confirmed all these privileges to my uncle. These privileges (that is to say, the first [seven] of them) were in force from before the year 625 of the Hajra, which is the date of Chingiz Khán,* down to the death of the Khán and the murder of my uncle, the date of which was the 1st of Moharram, 940 of the Hajra.


 * When this calamity took place and the Khánship came to Sultán Abdurashid Khan, the customs of our forefathers were exchanged for other, and very different, practices. Praise be to the gracious Creator, in that when my turn arrived to be created, he made me a free man and independent of the Kháns, for the great "mansab" He has granted me, is but an atom of those boundless favours which are the salvation of this world and the next. In the same way that thou hast made me materially free, make me also spiritually independent and prosperous!

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Family
Two of Khizr Khoja's sons, Shams-i-Jahan and Muhammad Khan, served successively as rulers of Moghulistan. They were followed by a third Khan, Naqsh-i-Jahan. An exact relationship between this ruler and Khizr Khoja is difficult to establish due to contradictions in various sources from this period. Naqsh-i-Jahan may therefore either be a son of Khizr Khoja himself, or his grandson by Shams-i-Jahan.

One of Khizr Khoja's daughters, Tukal Khanum, was married in 1397 to the Central Asian conqueror Timur. A second daughter, Malikat Agha, was initially married to Timur's son Umar Shaikh Mirza I, before marrying his younger brother Shah Rukh after the former's death.

Genealogy
Genealogy of Chughatai Khanates

In Babr Nama written by Babur, Page 19, Chapter 1; described genealogy of his maternal grandfather Yunas Khan as:

"Yunas Khan descended from Chaghatai Khan, the second son of Chingiz Khan (as follows,) Yunas Khan, son of Wais Khan, son of Sher-'ali Aughlon, son of Muhammad Khan, son of Khizr Khwaja Khan, son of Tughluq-timur Khan, son of Aisan-bugha Khan, son of Dawa Khan, son of Baraq Khan, son of Yesuntawa Khan, son of Muatukan, son of Chaghatai Khan, son of Chingiz Khan"