Muhammad Khwaja



The Hazāra of Muḥammad Khwāja is one of the major tribes of the ethnic Hazara inhabiting and originating mainly from Ghazni, Afghanistan.

Emir Muhammad Khwaja belonged to the Turkic Barlas tribe. His ancestral place is Kesh, Turkistan in present day Uzbekistan. Emir Muhammad Khwaja was the son of Emir Haji Saifuddin who was wazir of Timur in the beginning and later became governor of Qandahar province now in Afghanistan. His great-grandfather, Hajji Beg Barlas, was leader of the Barlas tribe, who overthrew Qara'unas Abdullah from power in southern Chagatai Khanate. Abdullah, who had recently taken power, was young and inexperienced, and his move to Kesh threatened Hajji Beg Barlas.

Emir, Khan, Mirza, Beig, Shah, Ghazi, and Sultan are titles to his tribes and descendants to date. But Emir and Mirza are titles specific to his family.

Emir Muhammad Khwaja was the commander in chief of the army of Babur. He is well known as "Khwaja-e Bozorg" (the great khwaja). His names appears in many historical script including Baburnama.

Emir was a great writer and calligrapher. This talent has also been depicted by his descendants in different eras such as Faiz Muhammad Kateb, a prominent historian and calligrapher who served as Afghan court chronicler and secretary to Habibullah Khan from 1901 to 1919.

Emir Muhammad Khwaja served as commander in chief of Babur’s army during his struggle to capture Delhi in each battle, including the last one in Panipat. Emir preferred the continental weather in central Asia and could never adjust to the hot weather of Delhi. It has been recorded that Emir lived in Sharan, Paktia now in Afghanistan and many of his descendants scattered from there to other parts of the country. Emir Muhammad Khwaja was died on 1599 in Sharan, Paktia and was buried there.

Emir Muhammad Khwaja had three sons named Emir Wali, Emir Babuk, and Emir Bahlool.

List of Notable Hazara of Muhammad Khwaja

 * Faiz Muhammad Kateb
 * Sardar Muhammad Azim Khan
 * Noor Muhammad Khan Hazara
 * Abdul Wahid Sarabi
 * Habiba Sarabi
 * Ramazan Bashardost
 * Aziz Royesh