Mirza Ghiyas Beg
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Mirza Ghiyas Beg (Persian: مرزا غياث بيگ) was an important official in the Mughal empire, whose children served as wives, mothers, and generals of the Mughal emperors.
[edit] Biography
Ghiyās Beg immigrated to India from Persia after the death of his father and his family's fall from grace. He was received by the Emperor Akbar, and quickly climbed his way through the intricate Mughal court, serving as a court official under Akbar and his son, Jahāngīr.
He was an important official the rule of the Mughal Emperor Jahāngīr, and served as the Diwan of the Empire, the chief treasurer, and he was given the title 'I'timād-ud-Daulah' (Persian: اعتماد الدوله), which means 'Pillar of the State'. His daughter, Mehrunnisā' (Nūr Jahān) married Jahāngīr in 1611, and his son Abdul Hasan Āsaf Khān served as a general to Jahāngīr.
He was also the grandfather of Mumtāz Mahal (originally named Arjūmand Bāno, daughter of Abdul Hasan Āsaf Khān), the wife of the emperor Shāh Jahān, responsible for the building of the Tāj Mahal. Jahāngīr was succeeded by his son Shāh Jahān, and Abdul Hasan served as one of Shāh Jahān's closest advisors. Shāh Jahān married Abdul Hasan's daughter Arjumand Banu Begum, Mumtāz Mahal, who was the mother of his four sons, including his successor Aurangzeb. Shāh Jahān built the Tāj Mahal to serve as Mumtāz Mahal's tomb.
Ghiyās Beg died shortly before Jahangīr's death in 1627. Nūr Jahān commissioned the construction of I'timād-ud-Daulah's Tomb in Agra, which is as an architectural predecessor of the Tāj Mahal.
[edit] References
- Keay, John (2000). India: A History. Grove Press, New York.
