Manish at 16:17, 19 April 2026

2026-04-19T16:17:15Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox royalty
|image =
|alt = Hushang
|caption =
|name = Hushang Mirza <br> هوشنگ میرزا
|title = [[Shahzada (title)|Shahzada]] of the [[Mughal Empire]]
|full name = Shahzada Farhang Hushang Mirza
|birth_date = {{birth-date|March 1604}}
|birth_place = [[Burhanpur]], [[Mughal Empire]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1628|2|2|1604|3|df=yes}}
|death_place = [[Lahore]], [[Mughal Empire]]
|place of burial =
|spouse = {{marriage|[[Hoshmand Banu Begum]]<br/>|1625}}
|issue =
|father = [[Daniyal Mirza]]
|house = [[Mughal dynasty]]
|dynasty = [[Timurid dynasty]]
|mother = Princess of [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]]
|religion=[[Sunni Islam]], [[Christianity]]
}}
'''Hushang Mirza''' or '''Hoshang Mirza''' ({{langx|fa|هوشنگ میرزا}}; March 1604{{Snd}}2{{Nbsp}}February 1628) was a [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] prince and grandson of the third{{Nbsp}}[[Mughal emperors|Mughal emperor]], [[Akbar]]. He was son of [[Daniyal Mirza]] and nephew of the fourth{{Nbsp}}Mughal emperor, [[Jahangir]].

==Birth and early years==
Born at the beginning of 1012 [[Hijri year|AH]] or March 1604 [[Common Era|CE]], he was given the name Farhang Hushang by his paternal grandfather, [[Akbar]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Bengal: Past and Present, Vol. 65|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6tVtIflVl80C|year=1945|publisher=Calcutta Historical Society.|page=27}}</ref> He was the youngest son of [[Daniyal Mirza]] and one of two{{Nbsp}}children borne by his [[Hinduism|Hindu]] wife, a [[Paramara dynasty|Paramara]] princess of [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]] (the other being a daughter, Mahi Banu Begum).<ref>{{cite book|first=K.M.|last=Mohsin|title=A Bengal District in Transition' Murshidabad, 1765-1793|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRHjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22he+gave+his+daughter+in+marriage+to+prince+daniyal%22|year=1973|page=76|publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh}}</ref><ref>Henry Beveridge, ''Akbarnama of Abu'l Fazl Volume II'' (1907), p. 543</ref><ref name="Ansari2019">{{cite book|author=Tahir Hussain Ansari|title=Mughal Administration and the Zamindars of Bihar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUueDwAAQBAJ|date=20 June 2019|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-00-065152-2|page=71}}</ref>

Though the exact circumstances of his parents' marriage are not recorded, it is known that his maternal grandfather, [[Raja]] Dalpat [[Ujjainiya|Ujjainia]], had rebelled against Mughal authority in 1599. Daniyal Mirza, who at this point was the [[Subahdar]] of [[Allahabad]], was dispatched to neutralise the rebellion. On the prince's arrival however, Dalpat quickly submitted and offered a tribute of elephants.<ref>{{cite book|first=Tahir Hussain|last=Ansari|title=Mughal Administration and the Zamindars of Bihar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUueDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT83|date=2019|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-00-065152-2|page=83}}</ref> It is believed that it was at this point that the Raja also gave his daughter in marriage to Daniyal. Dalpat however, was killed a few years later, supposedly on the orders of the then Prince Selim (who later became the Emperor [[Jahangir]]) as retribution for the death of a Mughal officer during his brief revolt.<ref>{{cite book|first=Dirk H. A.|last=Kolff|title=Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market of Hindustan, 1450-1850|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrdiVPsFRYIC&pg=PA166|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-52305-9|page=166}}</ref>

Daniyal Mirza died of [[delirium tremens]] a little over a year after Hushang's birth, in April 1605, whilst acting as Subahdar of [[Deccan|the Deccan]]. Akbar, who was deeply affected by his youngest son's death, himself expired in October of that year.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kunte|first=B.G.|title=Maharashtra State Gazetteers: Dhulia District|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.7492|year=1974|publisher=Director of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.7492/page/n118 105]}}</ref> Daniyal's family appears to have remained in his viceregal capital of [[Burhanpur]] following his death, as it was from here in 1606 that they were escorted to the Mughal court by [[Jahangir|Jahangir's]] physician, Muqarrab Khan.<ref>{{cite book|last=Quddusi|first=Mohd. Ilyas|title=Khandesh under the Mughals, 1601-1724 A.D.: mainly based on Persian sources|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jpuAAAAMAAJ|page=86|year=2002|publisher=Islamic Wonders Bureau|isbn=978-81-87763-21-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Jahangir|author-link1=Jahangir|translator1=Henry Beveridge|translator-link1=Henry Beveridge (orientalist)|translator2=Alexander Rogers|title=The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri; or, Memoirs of Jahangir.|url=https://archive.org/details/tuzukijahangirio00jahauoft|year=1909|publisher=Royal Asiatic Society|page=[https://archive.org/details/tuzukijahangirio00jahauoft/page/28 28]}}</ref> Jahangir recorded the arrival of his brother's children in his autobiography, the ''[[Tuzk-e-Jahangiri]]:''<ref>{{harvtxt|Jahangir|1909|p=75}}</ref>

{{Quote|text=I saw Daniyal's children, whom Muqarrab Khan had brought; there were three{{nbsp}}sons and four{{nbsp}}daughters. The boys bore the names Tahmuras, Baysunghar, and Hushang. Such kindness and affection were shown by me to these children as no one thought possible. I resolved that Tahmuras, who was the eldest, should always be in waiting on me, and the others were handed over to the charge of my own sisters.|sign=|source=}}

==Conversion to Christianity==
By the start of Jahangir's reign, [[Jesuit]] missionaries had been present in India for several decades. Gradual progress had been made in their spreading of [[Christianity]], to the point where there were small but ardent communities of converts in [[Agra]] and [[Lahore]]. There were even hopes that Jahangir himself might be converted, given that he had seemed friendlier to the missionaries than his father had been.<ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Malley|first1=John W.|author-link1=John W. O'Malley|last2=Bailey|first2=Gauvin Alexander|author-link2=Gauvin Alexander Bailey|last3=Harris|first3=Steven J. |first4=T. Frank|last4=Kennedy|title=The Jesuits: Cultures, Sciences, and the Arts, 1540-1773|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XIl6CwAAQBAJ|page=380|year=2016|publisher=University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division|isbn=978-1-4875-1193-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Guerreiro|first=Fernão|title=Jahangir and the Jesuits: With an Account of the Benedict Goes and the Mission to Pegu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WHQBAwAAQBAJ&pg=PR18|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-28501-3|page=XVIII}}</ref>

In July 1610, Jahangir summoned two{{Nbsp}}Jesuit priests, Fathers [[Jerome Xavier]] and Emmanuel Pinheiro, to his court in Agra.<ref>{{cite book|last=Eraly|first=Abraham|author-link=Abraham Eraly|title=Emperors Of The Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7kPQs8llvkC&pg=PT302|year=2007|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-93-5118-093-7|page=302}}</ref> There, before an assembly of his nobles, Jahangir entrusted Hushang and his two{{Nbsp}}brothers to the Jesuits to be [[baptised]] and raised as Christians. The priests were reportedly overjoyed, falling to their knees and kissing the emperor's feet.<ref name=GrewalP117>{{cite book|last=Grewal|first=Royina|title=In the Shadow of the Taj: A Portrait of Agra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATpFImGZdVEC&pg=PA117|year=2007|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-310265-6|page=117}}</ref> [[Sir William Hawkins]], a representative of the [[East India Company]] present at court, believed that Jahangir had only permitted the conversion to mitigate any support his nephews would have had among the [[Islam|Muslim]] nobles, which would have otherwise complicated his own progeny's succession to the throne.<ref>{{cite book|last=Purchas|first=Samuel |author-link=Samuel Purchas|title=Hakluytus posthumus, or, Purchas his Pilgrimes|url=https://archive.org/details/hakluytusposthum03purc|volume=III|year=1905|publisher=James MacLehose and Sons|page=[https://archive.org/details/hakluytusposthum03purc/page/47 47]}}</ref> Alternatively, [[James VI and I|James I's]] ambassador to India, [[Thomas Roe|Sir Thomas Roe]], claimed that they were done so that Jahangir would in turn be able to claim a [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] wife.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mukhia|first=Harbans|author-link=Harbans Mukhia|title=The Mughals of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxHTBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA20|year=2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-75815-1|page=20}}</ref>

Nevertheless, after three{{Nbsp}}months of preparation the princes were declared ready for baptism.<ref name=GrewalP117/> Hushang, his elder brothers Tahmuras and Baysunghar, along with a fourth{{Nbsp}}prince, a grandson of Akbar's brother [[Mirza Muhammad Hakim]], went in a glittering procession through Agra, led by the Christians of the city from the [[Agra fort|fort]] to [[Akbar's Church]].<ref name=FindlyP201>{{cite book|author=Ellison Banks Findly|title=Nur Jahan: Empress of Mughal India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ugxFjVDk3I8C&pg=PA201|year=1993|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-536060-8|page=201}}</ref> The princes rode on lavishly caparisoned elephants, dressed as Portuguese nobles with gold crosses hung around their necks. The church bells rang as they entered, holding candles and walking through clouds of frankincense. They repeated the vows of baptism said by the priest in Persian and had baptismal water sprinkled over their heads.<ref name=GrewalP117/> Finally they were given Portuguese names, with Hushang being renamed [[Don (honorific)|Don]] Henrico. Tahmuras, Baysunghar and the fourth prince were given the names Don Philippe, Don Carlo and Don Duarte, respectively.<ref name=FindlyP201/>

However, these conversions were only temporary. Four{{Nbsp}}years later (presumably after Jahangir's succession fears were alleviated) the princes were returned to the Muslim fold, with the Jesuits bitterly remarking that they had "rejected the light and returned to their vomit".<ref name=FindlyP201/><ref>{{cite book|author=Michael Alexander|title=Delhi and Agra: A Traveller's Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1p5KDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT26|year=2018|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=978-1-4721-4225-2|page=26}}</ref>

==Under Shah Jahan's custody and marriage==

In 1620, Hushang and his brother, Tahmuras, alongside Jahangir's blinded eldest son, [[Khusrau Mirza|Khusrau]] were committed to the charge of their cousin, [[Shah Jahan]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Jl Mehta|title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-TsMl0vSc0gC&pg=PA387|year=1986|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|isbn=978-81-207-1015-3|page=387}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=de Laet|first1=Joannes|author-link1=Joannes de Laet|translator1=J.S Hoyland|translator2=S.N. Bannerjee|title=The Empire of the Great Mogol: A Translation of De Laet's Description of India and Fragment of Indian History|url=https://archive.org/details/empireofthegreat035526mbp|year=1928|publisher=Bombay|page=[https://archive.org/details/empireofthegreat035526mbp/page/n242 223]}}</ref> However, in 1625 Hushang escaped Shah Jahan's custody while the latter prince was distracted by his rebellion against the emperor. Whilst Shah Jahan and his ally [[Malik Ambar]] were lifting a failed siege of Burhanpur, Hushang absconded to Rao Rattan of [[Bundi]], before making his way to his uncle's court at Lahore.<ref>{{harvtxt|Quddusi|2002|p=32}}</ref><ref name=deLaetP224>{{harvtxt|de Laet|1928|p=224}}</ref>

Here Hushang, along with Tahmuras (who had arrived in similar circumstances) paid homage to Jahangir, who welcomed both and enrolled them into his household. Further to this, Jahangir honoured them by marrying each of the brothers to a Mughal princess, with Tahmuras marrying Jahangir's daughter, [[Bahar Banu Begum]] and Hushang, his granddaughter, [[Hoshmand Banu Begum]].<ref name=deLaetP224/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Jahangir|author-link1=Jahangir|last2=Thackston|first2=Wheeler McIntosh|author-link2=Wheeler Thackston|title=The Jahangirnama: memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India|url=https://archive.org/details/jahangirnamamemo00jaha/mode/2up|year=1999|publisher=Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution|isbn=978-0-19-512718-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/jahangirnamamemo00jaha/page/436/mode/2up 436]}}</ref>

==War of succession and execution==
Jahangir died of illness in October 1627. His chief consort [[Nur Jahan]] immediately sent word to her favoured successor to the throne, Jahangir's youngest son (as well as her son-in-law), [[Shahryar Mirza]]. Shahryar proclaimed himself emperor at Lahore and seized the cities provincial treasury, distributing it to the army and nobility in order to gain their allegiance.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Edwardes|first1=Stephen Meredyth|authorlink1=Stephen Edwardes|last2=Garrett|first2=Herbert Leonard Offley|title=Mughal Rule in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4aqU9Zu7mFoC&pg=PA68|year=1995|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-7156-551-1|page=68}}</ref> Hushang, along with his brothers Tahmuras and Baysunghar all proclaimed their support of the prince, with Baysunghar being appointed Shahryar's ''[[Sipah Salar|Sultan Sipah Salar]]'' (commander-in-chief).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Prasad|first=Beni|editor=Shafaat Ahmad Khan|title=The Accession of Shah Jehan|journal=Journal of Indian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PjH21aKTypIC|volume=2|year=1922|publisher=University of Kerala.|page=15}}</ref>

At the same time [[Asaf Khan IV|Asaf Khan]], Nur Jahan's brother and father-in-law to Shah Jahan, sent word to the latter (who was still in [[Deccan|the Deccan]]) of the emperor's death. To safeguard Shah Jahan's succession while he was making his way back from the Deccan, Asaf Khan named [[Dawar Bakhsh]], son of the late [[Khusrau Mirza]] and brother-in-law to Hushang, as a stop-gap emperor.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chaurasia|first=Radhey Shyam|title=History of Medieval India: From 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XnaL7zPXPUC&pg=PA243|year=2002|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-269-0123-4|page=243}}</ref> As Asaf Khan led his armies towards Lahore, Shahryar sent his troops under the command of Baysunghar across the [[Ravi River]] to meet them. However, Baysunghar's soldiers were unable to oppose them and were defeated after a single charge. Shahryar retreated to the citadel of Lahore, but was betrayed by his own men and brought before Dawar Bakhsh to do homage, before being blinded soon after. When Shah Jahan received word of the events at Lahore, he sent a command to Asaf Khan that his royal captives be executed:<ref>{{harvtxt|Edwardes|Garrett|1995|p=69}}</ref>

{{Quote|text=To the effect that it would be well if Dawar Bakhsh the son, and (Shahriyar) the useless brother, of Khusrau, and the sons of Prince Daniyal, were all sent out of the world.|sign=|source=}}

Shah Jahan sent an assassin named Raz Bahadur to carry out the executions. Hushang, Tahmuras, Shahriyar, Dawar and Dawar's younger brother Garshasp were beheaded on the night of the 2{{Nbsp}}February 1628 (Baysunghar's final fate was not mentioned). The heads were afterwards brought to Shah Jahan in Agra.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sadasivan|first=Balaji|author-link=Balaji Sadasivan|title=The Dancing Girl: A History of Early India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=980SAvbmpUkC&pg=PT302|year=2011|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-4311-67-0|page=302}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Blochmann|first=Heinrich|title=Contributions to the Chronology of the reigns of Timur and his Descendants up to Shahjahan, No. I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u5xJAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA218|series=Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal: 1869|year=1869|publisher=C.B. Lewis, Baptist Mission Press|page=218}}</ref>

==Ancestry==
{{Ahnentafel
|align=center|collapsed=yes
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Hushang Mirza'''
|2= 2. [[Daniyal Mirza]]
|3= 3. Daughter
|4= 4. [[Akbar|Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, Mughal Emperor]]
|5=
|6= 6. Dalpat, [[Raja]] of [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]]
|7=
|8= 8. [[Humayun|Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Humayun, Mughal Emperor]]
|9= 9. [[Hamida Banu Begum]]
|10=
|11=
|12= 12. Mahipal Singh, [[Raja]] of [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]]<ref>{{harvtxt|Ansari|2019|p=51}}</ref>
|13= 13. Daughter of Virasinha Dev, [[Maharaja]] of [[Rewa (princely state)|Bandhogarh]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Thakur|first1=Upendra|last2=Mishra|first2=Yugal Kishore|title=The Heritage of India: L. N. Mishra commemoration volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWQBAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=L. N. Mishra Commemoration Volume Publication Committee|page=312|quote=At this critical time Dalpat and his maternal uncle, Birbhan of Arail, helped Humayun cross the Ganges}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Dube|first=Sītārāma|title=Methodology of epigraphical studies and history writing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1pmAAAAMAAJ|year=2004|publisher=Vikram University. School of Studies in Ancient Indian History, Culture, and Archaeology|isbn=978-81-7702-080-9|page=133|quote=the Baghela chief Virasinha entered into a friendly alliance with the Mughal emperor Babur. The Baghela rulers of Gahora-Rewa used to go to this place and live on the banks of the Ganga. The accounts given in the Humayunama, written by the princess Gulbadan as well as by Jauhar, would make it clear that Raja Virabhanu (Birbhan) Baghela, who happened to be at Arail, came to the rescue of the Mughal emperor Humayun against the pursuing Afghan army of Sher Shah Suri}}</ref>
|14=
|15=
}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirza, Hushang}}
[[Category:1604 births]]
[[Category:1628 deaths]]
[[Category:Mughal princes]]
[[Category:Converts to Sunni Islam from Christianity]]
[[Category:People from Burhanpur district]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Sunni Islam]]
[[Category:17th-century executions by the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:17th-century Mughal Empire people]]

Hushang Mirza - Revision history

Manish at 16:17, 19 April 2026