User:Zehra Wasif/sandbox

Personal Life
Muhib Ali Khan was the son of Mir Khalifa, one of the closest companions of Mughal Emperor Babur, and who served as the Vakil of the Mughal empire during the Reign of Babur and his son Humayun. Like his father, Muhib shared a close relation with Babur after he impressed the emperor with his bravery at the battles of Panipat and Khanwa. He was made a vizier of the imperial court due to his bravery in these two battles which he fought as a battalion commander along with his father. (Wikipedia page of Mir Khalifa). He rose to a mansab rank of 4000. He was married to Nahid Begum who was the daughter of Mirza Isa Tarkhan, founder of the Tarkhan Dynasty and ruler of Thatta in the Sindh Region.

After the death of his Father in Law, his brother in law Mirza Baqi Tarkhan took over control of Thatta and the Tarkhan Dynasty. After his wife Nahid Begum reported ill treatment from her brother to the emperor Akbar, Muhib Ali Khan was ordered to lead a conquest of Sindh and Thatta which unexpectedly turned into a conquest of Bhakkar.

Conquest of Bhakkar: Causes
In 1570-71, Akbar came to Lahore. After the death of Mirza Isa Tarkhan, the ruler of Thatta died, he was succeeded by his son Muhammad Baqi Khan. The mother of Nahid Begum (wife of Muhibb Ali) was married to Mirza Isa Khan and after his death, Nahid Begum went on a visit to her mother in Thatta, Sind. Muhamad Baqi Khan did not behave respectfully towards her and after returning to Lahore, she complained to Emperor Akbar about his rude behavior and oppression. She requested that if her husband was sent to command an army to overthrow Muhammad Baqi Khan, the conquest of Thatta could be achieved. She further assured that Sultan Mahmud of Bhakkar, whom she met while on her return journey, promised to support her if Muhibb Ali came to conquer Thatta.

Conquest of Bhakkar: Account
Akbar granted this request and commanded Muhibb Ali to mobilize an army and gave 50,00,000 tanka from Multan Sarkar. Furthermore, he directed Sa’id Khan, the governor of Multan to assist Muhibb Ali. Consequently, 400 horsemen joined him and by putting their trust in Sultan Mahmud, they started marching towards Bhakkar where they expected to be reinforced by Sultan Mahmud’s army.

However, Sultan Mahmud did not suggest that the Mughal army should march towards his own territory and said that the promises he made to Nahid Begum were nothing but a fancy and he did not mean them actually. Hence, he refused to allow the army to pass through Bhakkar suggesting that if Muhibb Ali marched towards Thatta through an alternate route by the way of Jaisalmer, only then he would assist their army. However, Muhibb Ali continued to march toward Bhakkar and Sultan Mahmud upon learning this developed dispatched his entire army under the command of Rai Pad to block their way at the town of Mathela. After fighting between the two armies, Rai Pad’s army was defeated and retreated to the fort of Mathela. After 6 months of siege, a truce was reached between both parties and Muhibb Ali took over the fort.

At this time, Mubarak Khan, a slave and vakil of Sultan Mahmud, was disgruntled by the lack of attention from his master and defected to Muhibb Ali. The latter took him prisoner and captured his camels, horses and other goods and then marched to lay siege to the fort of Bhakkar with renewed strength. Sultan Mahmud sent his army of 2000 horsemen, foot-menarchers and artillery men from the inner fort to the outer fort to wage war and stop Muhibb Ali. The siege lasted for a period of 2-3 years during which Sultan Mahmud frequently sent well-equipped boats and grabs to fight but eventually sustained defeat at the hands of Muhibb Ali. Since he had allowed a lot of people into his fort for military purposes, disease began to spread in the fort causing a lot of deaths. Sultan Mahmud eventually fell ill. Muhibb Ali sent a letter to him stating that the war between them was due to worldly affairs and must remain between them. He suggested that an expert physician was with him, and he would send him for treatment. However, Sultan Mahmud declined an offer by replying in the verse of Khawaja Hafiz.

“It is better if my disease is not made known to the physician of the rival. It may be that it is cured from the repository of the Unseen.”

Finally, Sultan Mahmud died in 983 AH (1575-76). His vakils sent a petition to the emperor, Akbar, that they did not trust Muhibb Ali and asked for someone else to be sent to take over the fort. Akbar sent Mir Gaisu Bakawalbaigi to take custody of the fort and Muhibb Ali returned to the court. Bhakkari Begum, the daughter of Sultan Mahmud entered the Harem of Akbar.

Sindh under Mughal Rule
According to the Tarikh Mazhar-i-Jahangiri provides a literal mirror into the nature of Mughal rule in Sindh, and portrays how after the conquest of Sindh in 1591 CE only seized the sarkars of Bhakkar and Sewistan while the rest of the territory was entrusted to Mirza Jani Beg as jagir. Author of Mazhar-i-Jahangiri, Yusuf Mirak gives an eyewitness account of the atrocities led by rulers and Mughal nobles such as  Mirza Rustam, Mirza Muzaffar, Ahmad Beg Khan and his brother Mirza Yousuf.The ruling Mughal aristocracy comprised of Central Asians or Persians, and thus held little sympathy for the local population housed in their jagirs. According to Mirak, “Mirza Yousuf’s employed some criminals who overtly committed street robbery, exacted excessive and unjustified taxes and duties from the traders and peasants forcibly.”

Rulers such as Mirik Yousuf used abusive and derogratory terms towards the Sindhi local tribes: the Sindhis, Balochis and Shoros, penning them ‘malefactors’ and praised other tribes for being subservient to the feudal order.