Kamran Mirza
Encyclopedia
Kamran Mirza, sometimes known simply as Kamran, (1509 – 5 (or 6) October 1557) was the second son of Babur Mirza
Babur
Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of South Asia. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother...

, the founder of the Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

 dynasty.

Kamran Mirza was born in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

. He was half-brother to Babur's eldest son Mirza Humayun
Humayun
Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor who ruled present day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of northern India from 1530–1540 and again from 1555–1556. Like his father, Babur, he lost his kingdom early, but with Persian aid, he eventually regained an even larger one...

, who would go on and inherit the Mughal throne, but he was full brother to Babur’s third son, Askari
Askari
Askari is an Arabic, Bosnian, Urdu, Turkish, Somali, Persian, Amharic and Swahili word meaning "soldier" . It was normally used to describe local troops in East Africa, Northeast Africa, and Central Africa serving in the armies of European colonial powers...

.

During the Reign of Babur

While his father, Babur, was conquering northern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 from 1525 onwards, Kamran remained in Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...

 in order to secure his northern flank. He was still in charge of the northern part of the newly formed empire, when his father died in 1530. According to the Mughal historian Abul Fazl
Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak
Shaikh Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak also known as Abu'l-Fazl, Abu'l Fadl and Abu'l-Fadl 'Allami was the vizier of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, and author of the Akbarnama, the official history of Akbar's reign in three volumes, and a Persian translation of the Bible...

, Babur’s last words to Humayun were “do nothing against your brothers, even though they may deserve it.”

In India

In 1538 Kamran first crossed into India, bringing with him 12,000 soldiers, while Humayun was away fighting in Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

. He appeared to have come in order to put down the rebellion of his brother Hindal against Humayun. However, despite Humayun’s calls for help, Kamran offered him no aid whatsoever. After Humayun returned from his defeat at the Battle of Chausa, Kamran refused to place his troops under Humayun’s command as he was more interested in taking power for himself. Seeing no chance of furthering his ambition, Kamran withdrew back to Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

.

Rivalry with Humayun

Following his success in the Battle of Kaunaj in 1540, the new ruler of northern India, Sher Shah
Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri , birth name Farid Khan, also known as Sher Khan , was the founder of the short-lived Sur Empire in northern India, with its capital at Delhi, before its demise in the hands of the resurgent Mughal Empire...

, ordered Humayun to leave India and settle in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

. Kamran was unwilling to hand the city over to his brother though. At this point Kamran went behind Humayun's back and offered to support Sher Shah, if the latter would give him the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

 in return. His offer was refused. At this point Humayun was urged by his advisors to put his brother to death, but he refused.

After a series of disastrous attempts to retake his throne, Humayun crossed the Indus in 1543. Rather than welcoming him, Kamran sent his younger brother Askari out to catch him and bring him to Kabul. Humayun managed to escape his brother’s clutches though and sought refuge in the court of the ruler of Persia, Shah Tahmasp I
Tahmasp I
Tahmasp or Tahmasb I was an influential Shah of Iran, who enjoyed the longest reign of any member of the Safavid dynasty...

.

When Humayun was in Persia, Kamran offered the Shah, the city of Kandahar if he would hand his brother over to him. Shah Tahmasp favoured Humayun in this fraternal squabble however, and provided him with troops with which he defeated Kamran.

Conflict over Kabul

Humayun was able to enter Kabul in November 1545 in a bloodless takeover, as Kamran’s rule had been oppressive, and the population of the city was keen to be rid of him.

After his ignominious flight, Kamran managed to retake Kabul twice but he remained a hated figure to the residents of the city, as his periods of rule involved atrocities against large numbers of them.

Following his third and final ejection from Kabul, Kamran went to the court of Humayun’s enemy, the Afghan king Islam Shah in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

 in 1552, where he was effectively rebuffed in his hopes for an alliance against his brother. Islam Shah arrested him and deputed his trusted adviser Hemu
Hemu
Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, Hemu Vikramaditya or simply Hemu was a Hindu Emperor of India during the sixteenth century, in medieval times...

 to hand over Kamran to Humanyun at Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

. He died in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...

.

Architecture

The only significant architectural structure built by Kamran exists today in Lahore, Pakistan. It is called Kamran ki Baradari. Bara means twelve and dar means doors. Kamran ki baradari was a twelve door building on the bank of River Ravi. The river changed its course over time, with the result that the Baradari stands not on the bank but in the waters as an island while the gardens have deteriorated.

Exile and death

Although Humayun resisted the pressure to put his rebellious brother to death, he was persuaded that something needed to be done about him so he reluctantly had him blinded. Humayun then sent him off to perform the Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...

 to Makkah, where he died in 1557.

Personal information

Kamran was the second or third son born to Babur, but the second surviving son. His mother was Gulrukh Begum, sister of Sultan Ali Mirza Taghai Begchik.

Wives and children:
  • (Gulrukh?) Begum , his first cousin, daughter of his maternal uncle Sultan Ali Mirza Taghai Begchik; married at Kabul in November 1528; presumably mother of
    • Habiba Sultan Begum, born about 1530; married (A) in Hazara, 1544, Esan Daulat Aq Sultan Chaghatai, son of Aiman Kwaja Khan Chaghatai; divorced 1551/1552; married (B) 1551/1552 Mirza Abdu-r Rahman Khan Dughlat
    • Gulrukh Begum, died after February 1615; married Ibrahim Husain Mirza Bayqra, died 1573, son of Sultan Muhammad Mirza.
  • Hazara Begum, niece of Khizr Khan Hazara ; alive in October 1545
  • Mah Begum Qibchaq Moghol, daughter of Sultan Wais Kulabi Qibchaq Moghol;alive in October 1545
  • Mah Afroz Begum, alive in October 1545; mother of a daughter:
    • Haji Begum, died 1583. Haji is evidently a surname. Mah Afroz Begum is said by Gulbadan Begum
      Gulbadan Begum
      The Imperial Princess Gulbadan Begum was a Perso-Turkic Princess, the daughter of Emperor Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Babur of India, she is most known as the author of Humayun Nama, the account of the life of her brother, Humayun...

      to be the mother of Haji Begum. When Gulbadan went on pilgrimage to Mekkah in 1575, she was accompanied by 2 daughters of her late brother Kamran: Haji Begum and Gulizar Begum. 4 daughters of Kamran are known by their names: Habiba, Gulrukh, Ayisha and Gulizar. None of them can be identified with Haji begum: Gulrukh was still alive in 1615; Ayisha's mother was Daulat Bakht Agacha; Gulizar went to Mekkah with Haji, and Habiba is mentioned by Gulbadan together with Mah Afroz, but the latter is identified at the same time as the mother of Haji Begum, and not of Habiba as well.
  • Muhtarima Khanum, daughter of Shah Mohammed Sultan Chaghatai and Khadija Sultan Khanum Chaghatai; she married (B) in 1557/1558 Ibrahim Sultan Mirza Miranshah, died 1560, son of Suleiman Mirza Miranshah and Haram Begum. She had a daughter by Kamran:
    • Gulizar Begum, born bef. 1550; went to Mekkah in 1575. Gulbadan Begum informs us that Muhtarima had a daughter by Kamran, but unfortunately does not name her. As Ayisha's mother was Daulat Bakht Agacha, and Habiba and Gulrukh were most presumably born of the first wife, Muhtarima's daughter must be Gulizar, or another unatested daughter of Kamran.
  • Mah-i-Kuchuk Begum, married before 21 February 1547; died at Mekkah, May 1558), only child of Mir Shah Husain Arghun, Lord of Sind, Kandahar and Kabul, by his wife, Mah-i-Kuchuk Begum, daughter of Mirza Muhammad Muqim Beg Aghun. She accompanied Kamran to Mekkah in 1553
  • a daughter of 'Abdu'llah Khan Mughal.
  • Daulat Bakht Agacha, a concubine, alive in 1550; mother of
    • Ayisha Sultan Begum, born bef. 1550; presumably married to Fakhruddin Khan Mashhadi (died 1578)

  • by an unidentified concubine, Kamran had a son:
    • Abu'l-Qasim Ibrahim Mirza, died 1567
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