Assameseboy at 19:12, 1 February 2026

2026-02-01T19:12:00Z

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{{Short description|Mughal grand vizier from 1628 to 1639}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Portrait of Shah Jahan's minister, Afzal Khan (1570-1639) (cropped).jpg
| birth_name = Mullah Shukrullah Shirazi
| birth_date = 1570
| birth_place = [[Shiraz]], [[Safavid Iran]]
| death_date = 1639
| death_place = [[Lahore]], [[Mughal Empire]]
| resting_place = [[Chini Ka Rauza]], [[Agra]]
| caption = Portrait of Afzal Khan, [[Royal Collection]].
| office = [[Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire|Grand Vizier]]
| term_start = 1628
| term_end = 1639
| predecessor = [[Azam Khan (Subahdar)|Azam Khan]]
| successor = [[Islam Khan Mashadi]]
| monarch = [[Shah Jahan]]
}}
'''Mullah Shukrullah Shirazi''' (1570–1639), known by the royal title '''Afzal Khan'',''''' was a [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] courtier during the reigns of [[Jahangir]] and [[Shah Jahan]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bayani|first1=Manijeh|title=The Decorated Word: Qurʼans of the 17th to 19th Centuries, Volume 4, Part 1|date=1999|publisher=Nour Foundation|isbn=0197276032}}</ref> He achieved fame as a scholar and rose to become [[List of Mughal Grand Viziers|Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire]], during the period 1628–1639.<ref name="BRILL">{{cite book|last1=Salma K. Jayyusi, Renata Holod, Attilio Petruccioli, Andre Raymond|title=The City in the Islamic World, Volume 94/1 & 94/2|date=2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004162402}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Muhammad Afzal |url=https://archive.org/details/IranianNobilityUnderShahjahanAndAurangzeb |title=Iranian Nobility Under Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb |date=1987 |publisher=Aligarh Muslim University |pages=131 |language=English |chapter=Iranians and the Major Offices in the Mughal Empire |type=Thesis}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Afzal Khan was born in [[Shiraz]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=1984|title=AFŻAL KHAN|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 6|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afzal-khan-title-of-molla-sokrallah-sirazi-mughal-court-official-ca|last=Begley|first=W. E.|editor-last=|editor-first=|editor-link=|pages=601–602|isbn=}}</ref> in [[Safavid Iran]] where his father was a petty revenue collector in [[Fars province|Fars]]. Two brothers of his father held financial positions in Iran, whilst two others were engaged in trade between Iran and India.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Overton|first1=Keelan|title=Iran and the Deccan: Persianate Art, Culture, and Talent in Circulation, 1400–1700|date=2020|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253048943}}</ref> Afzal Khan had a brother named Amanat Khan, who would later accompany him to India and become renowned for designing the calligraphic inscriptions on the [[Taj Mahal]].<ref name="auto2">{{cite book|last1=Kinra|first1=Rajeev|title=Writing Self, Writing Empire: Chandar Bhan Brahman and the Cultural World of the Indo-Persian State Secretary|date=2015|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=978-0520286467}}</ref> Afzal Khan was educated in the secretarial arts, such as calligraphy, accounts, and prose composition. One of his early teachers was the scholar Taqi al-din Muhammad Shirazi.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=Kinra|first=Rajeev|title=Chapter 9 The Learned Ideal of the Mughal Wazīr: The Life and Intellectual World of Prime Minister Afzal Khan Shirazi (d. 1639)|date=2016-06-28|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781474402248-010|work=Secretaries and Statecraft in the Early Modern World|pages=179|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|doi=10.1515/9781474402248-010|isbn=9781474402248|access-date=2022-03-22|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Career==

=== Safavid administrator ===
Afzal Khan first entered the world of politics in the late 1580s/early 1590s, when he journeyed to [[Qazvin]] and began working under the brothers [[Farhad Khan Qaramanlu]] and Zulfikar Khan Qaramanlu, members of a prominent Safavid political family. He carried out administrative and diplomatic responsibilities. However, Farhad Khan fell out of favour in the Safavid court and was executed in 1598, as a result of which Afzal Khan withdrew from political life and relocated to [[Hamadan]].<ref name=":0" />

=== Mughal administrator ===
Following a period of study and wandering in Hamadan, Afzal Khan emigrated to India around the year 1608. Upon arriving at the port of [[Khambhat|Cambay]] he travelled to [[Burhanpur]], an important Mughal city in the [[Deccan]]. Here he entered the service of Mughal noble [[Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan]] for three years, becoming one of his favoured companions. Khan-i-Khanan repeatedly recommended Afzal Khan to the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Jahangir]], who eventually granted Afzal Khan a [[Mansabdar|''mansab'']] and reassigned him to the position of ''[[divan]]'' under then-prince [[Shah Jahan]]. By 1615, Afzal Khan emerged as one of the chief diplomatic figures in service of the prince. In December 1616, he was additionally made deputy governor of [[Lahore Subah]].<ref name=":0" />

When Shah Jahan rebelled against his father Jahangir, Afzal Khan continued to be in his employ. However, in mid-1624 he began to work increasingly for the emperor himself, and in 1626 was appointed to the prestigious post of ''mir-i-saman'' by Jahangir. Following Jahangir's death in 1627, Afzal Khan supported Shah Jahan in the succession struggle, becoming one of his key allies.<ref name=":0" /> After Shah Jahan became emperor, Afzal Khan was elevated to the position of [[Vizier|''wazir'']], or prime minister. He was praised for his intellect, administrative abilities and mysticism, and his dedication to "maximising economic productivity and the affluence of the people."<ref name="auto2" />

He died at [[Lahore]] in 1639. His body was brought to [[Agra]] and he was laid to rest in a tomb now known as [[Chini Ka Rauza]].<ref name="BRILL" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirazi, Afzal Khan}}
[[Category:Grand viziers of the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:1570 births]]
[[Category:1639 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Shiraz]]
[[Category:16th-century Iranian politicians]]
[[Category:17th-century Iranian politicians]]
[[Category:Iranian emigrants to the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:17th-century Mughal Empire people]]

Afzal Khan Shirazi - Revision history

Assameseboy at 19:12, 1 February 2026