>Bri at 00:05, 10 July 2021

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{{short description|Civil servant and historian of Mughal India}}
'''Muhammad Hashim''' (c. 1664-1732), better known by his title '''Khafi Khan''', was a civil servant and historian of [[Mughal Empire|Mughal India]]. He is notable for authoring ''[[Muntakhab-al Lubab]]'', a [[Persian language]] book about the [[history of India]].

== Biography ==

Muhammad Hashim was given the title Khafi Khan (or Khwafi Khan) by emperor [[Muhammad Shah]], because his ancestors came from [[Khaf, Iran|Khaf]] (or Khwaf) in present-day [[Iran]]. The exact date and place of his birth are unknown, but he was most probably born in India. The ''Muntakhab-al Lubab'' states that he had completed 52 years since reaching "the age of discretion" when 74 years had passed after the death of Shah Jahan's minister Sa'd Allah ([[Hijri year]] 1066). Assuming the contemporary "age of discretion" as 14 years, this implies that Khafi Khan was born around 1664.<ref name="MTH_1993">{{cite book |author=H. Beveridge |chapter=K̲h̲wāfī K̲h̲ān |editor=M. Th. Houtsma |editor-link=Martijn Theodoor Houtsma |title=E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CP7fYghBFQC&pg=PA868 |year=1993 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-09790-2 |pages=868–869}}</ref>

Khafi Khan's father Khwaja Mir was also a historian, and held a high position under the Mughal prince [[Murad Bakhsh|Murad]]. Khafi Khan probably started his career as a merchant or an official clerk, and visited [[Bombay]] in 1693–1694, where he had an interview with an [[East India Company|English]] official.<ref name="MTH_1993"/> Khwaja Mir was severely wounded at the [[Battle of Samugarh]].<ref name="MTH_1993"/> Later, Khwaja Mir served Murad's brother [[Aurangzeb]], and his son Khafi Khan also held various civil and military assignments during the reign of Aurangzeb (1658-1707).<ref name="HS_1992">{{cite book |editor=Harbans Singh |title=The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism: M-R |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0hTYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA148 |year=1992 |publisher=Punjabi University |isbn=978-81-7380-349-9 |page=148 }}</ref>

Khafi Khan served Aurangzeb's successors, including [[Bahadur Shah I|Bahadur Shah]], [[Farrukhsiyar]], and [[Muhammad Shah]].<ref name="HS_1992"/> He lived in [[Deccan]] and [[Gujarat]], spending a long time at [[Surat]]. He also lived at [[Ahmedabad]], [[Rahuri]], and [[Champaner]] (whose governorship he held during the reign of Bahadur Shah). His ''Muntakhab-al Lubab'' covers events up to the beginning of the 14th year of Muhmmad Shah's reign, that is, 1732. He also wrote a book on the history of minor Muslim dynasties of India: this book was apparently an abridgment of [[Firishta]]'s work, and only a small portion of it survives in form of a manuscript.<ref name="MTH_1993"/>

Khafi Khan held the title ''Nizam al-Mulki'', which suggests that during his last years, he served [[Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I]], a Mughal nobleman who established the [[Hyderabad State]]. He was a close friend of [[Samsam ud Daula Shah Nawaz Khan|Shah Nawaz]], another courtier of Asaf Jah I and the author of ''[[Ma'asir al-umara]]''.<ref name="MTH_1993"/>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{EI3|last=Khan|first=Gulfishan|title=Khvāfī Khān|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/khvafi-khan-COM_35422|year=2021}}

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[[Category:Historians in the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:1664 births]]
[[Category:1732 deaths]]
[[Category:Medieval Persian writers]]
[[Category:Indian people of Iranian descent]]

Khafi Khan - Revision history

>Bri at 00:05, 10 July 2021