Rafi-ush-Shan

Summary

Rafi-ul-Qadr (Persian: رفیع القدر) (29 – 1671 March 1712), better known by his title, Mirza Rafi' ush-Shan Bahadur, was the third son of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah I.

Rafi-ush-Shan
رفیعوش شان

Shahzada of the Mughal Empire
Mirza[1]
Portrait of Rafi-ush-Shan, c. 1704
Subahdar of Sindh
Reign1707 - 1710
BadshahBahadur Shah I
Subahdar of Assam
Reign1707 - 1710
BadshahBahadur Shah I
Subahdar of Kashmir
Reign1710 - 1712
BadshahBahadur Shah I
Born1671
Delhi, Mughal Empire
Died29 March 1712 (aged 40–41)
Punjab, Mughal Empire
Burial
Spouse
  • Raziyat-un-Nissa Begum
    (m. 1695)
  • Nur-un-Nissa Begum
Issue
Names
Rafi-ush-Shan Mirza
HouseHouse of Babur
Dynasty Timurid dynasty
FatherBahadur Shah I
MotherNur-un-nissa Begum
ReligionIslam

Life and mughal service edit

Rafi' ush-Shan Bahadur was born in Delhi to Prince Mu'azzam and Nur-un-Nisa Begum, the daughter of Sanjar Najm-i-sani. He was 10 when he was appointed by his grandfather Aurangzeb as qiladar of Malakand.

After the accession of his father to the Mughal throne in 1707, he was appointed the subahdar of Sindh and Assam from 1707 to 1710; and Kashmir from 1710 to 1712.

He was killed along with his older brother Jahan Shah in the succession struggle after the death of their father. He is buried in Agra.[citation needed]

Family edit

One of his wives was Raziyat-un-nissa Begum, also known as Safiyat-un-nissa, the daughter of Prince Sultan Muhammad Akbar. He had married her in 1695 at Agra, during the same time as his brother Jahan Shah had married her sister Zakiyat-un-nissa Begum. Another was Nur-un-nissa Begum, daughter of Shaikh Baqi. She was the mother of Rafi ud-Darajat[2] and Muhammad Ibrahim.[3]

His sons Rafi ud-Darajat, Muhammad Ibrahim and Shah Jahan II would later become Mughal emperors.

References edit

  1. ^ Mughal title Mirza, the title of Mirza and not Khan or Padshah, which were the titles of the Mongol rulers.
  2. ^ Irvine 1922, p. 146.
  3. ^ Irvine 1922, p. 76.

Bibliography edit

  • Irvine, William (1922), Sarkar, Jadunath (ed.), The Later Mughals, vol. I, Calcutta: M. C. Sarkar & Sons