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{{Short description|Mughal court poet (1556–1627)}}
'''{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Abdul Rahim
| image = Abd al-Rahim, Khan Khanan (cropped).jpg
| caption = Portrait of Abdul Rahim Khan-i Khanan by Hashim, circa 1627
| title = ''Khan-i-Khanan''
| spouse = Mah Banu Begum
| children = {{Ubl|[[Jana Begum]]
|Shahnawaz Khan
|Darab Khan}}
| father = [[Bairam Khan]]
| mother = Daughter of Jamal Khan
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1556|12|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Delhi]], [[Mughal empire]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1627|10|1|1556|12|17|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Agra]], [[Mughal Empire]]
| resting place = Tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, [[Delhi]]
}}

[[Khanzada]] [[Mirza]] [[Khan (title)|Khan]] '''Abdul Rahim''' (17 December 1556 – 1 October 1627), popularly known as simply '''Rahim''' and titled '''''Khan-i-Khanan''''', was a poet who lived in India during the rule of [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor [[Akbar]], who was his mentor. He was one of the nine important ministers ([[dewan]]) in his court, known as the [[Navaratnas]]. Rahim was known for his Hindi dohe (couplets)<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Indian Literature, One, Beginnings 1850|date=1999|publisher=Orient Longman Ltd; 1 edition|isbn=978-8125014539|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCJrUfVtZxoC&pg=PA308}}</ref> and his books on [[astrology]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Abdur_Rahim_Khankhana |title=Abdur Rahim KhanKhana at Old poetry |publisher=Oldpoetry.com |access-date=30 September 2010}}</ref>

==Biography==
[[File:Bairam Khan's widow and child are escorted to Ahmedabad, Akbarnama.jpg|right|thumb|[[Bairam Khan]]'s widow and child (Rahim) being escorted to [[Ahmedabad]], in 1561, after his assassination, ''[[Akbarnama]]'']]
Abdul Rahim was born in [[Delhi]],<ref name=ain>[http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D00702051%26ct%3D235 29. Kha´n Kha´na´n Mi´rza´ 'Abdurrahi´m, son of Bairám Khán – Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215021650/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile=00702051&ct=235 |date=15 February 2012 }} [[Ain-i-Akbari]] of Abul Fazl, Vol I, English Translation. 1873.</ref> the son of [[Bairam Khan]], Akbar's trusted guardian and mentor, who was of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] ancestry. When [[Humayun]] returned to India from his exile, he asked his nobles to forge matrimonial alliances with various [[zamindar]]s and feudal lords across the nation. Humayun married the elder daughter of Khanzada Jamal Khan of [[Mewat]] (present [[Nuh district]] of [[Haryana]]) and he asked Bairam Khan to marry the younger daughter.

The ''Gazetteer of Ulwur ([[Alwar]])'' states:

:After Babur's death his successor, [[Humayun]], in 1513 was supplanted as ruler by the [[Pashtun people|Pathan]] [[Sher Shah Suri]], who, in 1545, was followed by [[Islam Shah]]. During the reign of the latter, a battle was fought and lost by the emperor's troops at [[Firozpur Jhirka]], in Mewat. However, Islam Shah did not lose his hold on power. Adil Shah, the third of the Pathan interlopers, who succeeded Islam Shah in 1552, had to contend for the empire with Humayun.<ref name="archive1">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/gazetteerofulwur00powliala#page/n5/mode/2up |title=Gazetteer of Ulwur |access-date=30 September 2010}}</ref>

:In these struggles for the restoration of Babur's dynasty Khanzadas apparently do not figure at all. Humayun seems to have conciliated them by marrying the elder daughter of Khanzada Jamal Khan, nephew of Babur's opponent, Khanzada [[Hasan Khan Mewati]], and by requiring his minister, Bairam Khan, to marry the younger daughter of the same Mewati.<ref name="archive1"/>

Khanzadahs,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/panjabcastes00ibbe#page/181/mode/1up/search/khanzada |title=Panjab castes |access-date=30 September 2010}}</ref> the royal family of Muslim Jadon (also spelt as [[Jadaun]]) [[Rajput]]s, converted to Islam after Islamic conquest of northern India.<ref>"Shaikh Muhammad Makhdum, Arzang-i Tijarah (Urdu) ( Agra: Agra Akhbar 1290H)"</ref> Khanzadah, the Persian form of the Indic word 'Rajput'. Khanzadas were believed to have converted from a branch of Hindu Rajputs. They were the Mewatti chiefs of the Persian historians, who were the representatives of the ancient lords of [[Mewat State]].<ref name=gazetteerofulwur>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/gazetteerofulwur00powliala|title=Gazetteer of Ulwur|author=Major P.W. Powlett|year=1878}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Khanzadah, or "the son of a Khan" is precisely the Musalman equivalent to the Hindu Rajput or "son of a Raja " ...|From ''[[Punjab, India|Punjab]] Castes'' by Denzil Ibbetson<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/panjabcastes00ibbe#page/181 |title=Panjab castes |access-date=30 September 2010}}</ref>}}

After Bairam Khan was murdered in [[Patan, Gujarat]], his first wife and young Rahim were brought safely from Delhi to Ahmedabad and presented at the royal court of Akbar, who gave him the title of 'Mirza Khan', and subsequently married him to Mah Banu (Moon Lady) sister of Mirza Aziz Kokah, son of [[Ataga Khan]], a noted Mughal noble.<ref name=ain/>

Later, Bairam Khan's second wife, [[Salima Sultan Begum]] (Rahim's stepmother) married her cousin, Akbar, which made Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khan also his stepson, and later he became one of his nine prominent ministers, the [[Navaratnas]], or nine gems. Aside from being a poet Rahim Khan was also a general and was sent to deal with the rebellions in Gujarat and later served as the overall commander in the campaigns in Maharashtra.

He received the position and title of ''Khan-i-Khanan'' (Generalissimus, Persian خان خانان, DMG khān-i khānān, meaning "Khan of Khans").

Abdul Rahim was known for his strange manner when giving alms to the poor. He never looked at the person he was giving alms to, keeping his gaze downwards in all humility. When [[Tulsidas]] heard about Rahim's behaviour when giving alms, he promptly wrote a couplet and sent it to Rahim:-

''"ऐसी देनी देंन ज्यूँ, कित सीखे हो सैन'' <br>
''ज्यों ज्यों कर ऊंच्यो करो, त्यों त्यों निचे नैन"''

"Why give alms like this? Where did you learn that? Your hands are as high as your eyes are low"

Realising that Tulsidas was well aware of the reasons behind his actions, and was merely giving him an opportunity to say a few lines in reply, he wrote to Tulsidas saying:-

''"देनहार कोई और है, भेजत जो दिन रैन'' <br>
''लोग भरम हम पर करे, तासो निचे नैन"''

"The Giver is someone else, giving day and night. But the world gives me the credit, so I lower my eyes."

He was considered a [[Persophile]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Culture and Circulation: Literature in Motion in Early Modern India|date=2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004264489|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pMXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA13|language=en|page=13}}</ref>

==Major works==
Apart from writing various ''[[doha (poetry)|dohas]]'', Rahim translated [[Babur|Babar]]'s memoirs, ''[[Baburnama]]'', from the [[Chagatai language]] to the [[Persian language]], which was completed in 1589–90 AD. He had an excellent command over the [[Sanskrit]] language.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.poemhunter.com/abdur-rahim-khankhana/biography/poet-33381/
|title = Biography of Abdur Rahim Khankhana
|access-date = 28 October 2006
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060117163845/http://www.poemhunter.com/abdur-rahim-khankhana/biography/poet-33381/
|archive-date = 17 January 2006
|df = dmy-all
}}</ref>

In Sanskrit, he wrote two books on astrology, Khetakautukam ([[Devanagari]]: खेटकौतुकम्) and Dwatrimshadyogavali (Devanagari: द्वात्रिंशद्योगावली).

== Tomb ==
[[File:Tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, Delhi.jpg|right|thumb|The tomb of Rahim in [[Nizamuddin East]], [[Delhi, India]]]]
His tomb is situated in [[Nizamuddin East]] on the [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]] road, near [[Humayun's Tomb]], in New Delhi. It was built by him for his wife in 1598, and his body was placed in it in 1627.<ref name=ind>[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Abdur-Rahim-khan-i-khana-s-tomb-Walking-history-in-Delhi/393903/ Abdur Rahim khan-i-khana’s tomb] ''[[Indian Express]]'', 4 December 2008.</ref> In 1753–54, marble and sandstone from this tomb was used in the construction of [[Safdarjung's Tomb]], also in New Delhi.<ref name=ind/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiaprofile.com/monuments-temples/tomb-delhi.htm |title=Safdarjang's Tomb |publisher=Indiaprofile.com |access-date=30 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiaandindians.com/important_places_in_delhi.php |title=Important places in Delhi |publisher=Indiaandindians.com |access-date=30 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008080618/http://indiaandindians.com/important_places_in_delhi.php |archive-date=8 October 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://maps.google.co.in/?ll=28.588111,77.24792&spn=0.002628,0.003449&t=h&z=18 Google map location]</ref>

In 2014, the InterGlobe Foundation and the [[Aga Khan Trust for Culture]] (AKTC) announced a project to conserve and restore Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan's tomb. <ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2020-02-06 |title=A new book explores the literary works of Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/a-saint-and-a-soldier-6253153/ |access-date=2020-02-07 |website=The Indian Express |language=en-US}}</ref>

The tomb sits prominently along the Mathura Road, formerly the Mughal Grand Trunk Road, and lies close to the Dargah of Nizamuddin Auliya and Humayun's Tomb. In 2020, after six years of restoration work by the [[Aga Khan Trust for Culture]], Rahim Khan's tomb was opened to the public.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-22|title=Six-year Project: Behind Rahim's tomb restoration — 1,75,000 man-days and 3,000 craftsmen|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/six-year-project-behind-rahims-tomb-restoration-175000-hours-and-3000-craftsmen-7114373/|access-date=2020-12-30|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref> Perhaps it was the largest conservation project ever undertaken for any monument of national importance in India. For its architecture and purpose, it has often been compared with Taj Mahal.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-22|title=Six-year Project: Behind Rahim's tomb restoration — 1,75,000 man-days and 3,000 craftsmen|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/six-year-project-behind-rahims-tomb-restoration-175000-hours-and-3000-craftsmen-7114373/|access-date=2020-12-25|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref>

== Book about Abdul Rahim's life ==
Along with taking up restoration work of Rahim's tomb, the AKTC also commissioned a book on Rahim titled ''Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan: Kavya, Saundrya & Sarthakta (Vani Prakashan).''<ref name=":0" /> It has been edited by Harish Trivedi, with a foreword by poet-lyricist [[Gulzar]] and Urdu scholar [[Gopi Chand Narang|Gopichand Narang]]. It has essays by academics such as [[Ramchandra Shukla]], [[Namvar Singh]], Uday Shankar Dubey, Sadanand Sahi, Deepa Gupta and Pratap Kumar Mishra.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan}}
*''[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11305/ Memoirs of Babur]''
*{{worldcat id|lccn-n82-39967}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan}}
[[Category:Mughal nobility]]
[[Category:Persian-language poets]]
[[Category:16th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Hindi-language poets]]
[[Category:1556 births]]
[[Category:1627 deaths]]
[[Category:Akbar]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Subahdars of Gujarat]]

Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan - Revision history

UpdateBot at 19:08, 21 June 2022