Mirza Askari (Persian: میرزا عسکری, b. 1635 — d. 12 May 1710), better known by his title Wazir Khan, He was the Moghul (Military Commander) Faujdar of Sirhind region and (Deputy-Governor) Sarkar of Sirhind under Delhi Subah in the present-day state of Punjab, and administered the territory that lay between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers, he official notable for his conflicts with the Sikhs,[2][3][4][5] he was the descendant of (Wazir Khan Akbar Shahi) of Persian descent who was the Courtrian to the third Moghol Emperor Akbar I court's.[6]
| Mirza Askari Wazir Khan میرزا عسکری وزیرخان | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wazir Khan Faujdar (Commander) Sarkar (Deputy-Governor) | |||||
 Depiction of Wazir Khan of Sirhind beheaded during the Battle of Sirhind (1710) from an illustrated folio of ‘Tawarikh-i Jahandar Shah’, Awadh or Lucknow, ca.1770 | |||||
| Sarkar (Deputy-Governor) of Sirhind | |||||
| Holding Office | (Late 17th-Centuries) – 12 May 1710 | ||||
| Successor | Baj Singh of Khalsa Fauj | ||||
| Padishah | Alamgir I | ||||
| Born | Mirza Askari c. 1635 Kunjpura, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire[1] | ||||
| Died | 12 May 1710 (aged 74–75) Chappar Chiri, First Sikh State | ||||
| Issue | Tulghan Khan | ||||
| |||||
| Farsi | میرزا عسکری وزیرخان بن ظاهر حرم خان | ||||
| Father | Zahir Haram Khan | ||||
| Mother | Amina Begum | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
| Occupation | Deputy-Governor and Military Commander of the Mughal Empire | ||||
Biography
editAccording to Sikh sources, Mirza Askari (Wazir Khan) was a native of Kunjpura in Karnal district of modern-day Haryana.[7]
Wazir Khan is noted for his conflicts with the Sikhs and became infamous for ordering the execution of Guru Gobind Singh's young sons (Sahibzada Fateh Singh and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh) in 1704.[8] He was the governor of Sirhind when he arrested the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh. Wazir Khan tried to force the young sons of the Guru to embrace Islam. When they refused to accept Islam he ordered them to be bricked alive and later beheaded them after knowing that they were still alive inside.[9]
Wazir Khan was defeated and beheaded by a Sikh warrior Fateh Singh, a warrior in the Sikh Khalsa, during the Battle of Chappar Chiri on 12 May 1710.[10] His body was desecrated, dragged by an ox, and then hung onto a tree.[11]
References
edit- ^ Gandhi, Surjit (1999). Sikhs in the Eighteenth Century: Their Struggle for Survival and Supremacy. Singh Bros. p. 716. ISBN 81-7205-217-0. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- ^ Dr Harjinder Singh, 'Sikh History in 10 Volumes', Sikh University Press, Belgium, vol. 2, p. 31.
- ^ Dr Harjinder Singh, 'Sikh History in 10 Volumes', Sikh University Press, Belgium, vol 1, pp 64, 259-60.
- ^ Tony Jaques (2007). Dictionary of battles and sieges. Vol. 3. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 948. ISBN 9780313335396.
- ^ History of Islam, p. 506, at Google Books
- ^ History of Islam, p. 506, at Google Books
- ^ William Irvine (1971). Later Mughal. p. 94.
- ^ Singh, PrithiPal (2006). The History of Sikh Gurus. Lotus Press. ISBN 9788183820752.
- ^ Dahiya, Amardeep (2014). Founder of the Khalsa: The Life and Times of Guru Gobind Singh. Hay House, Inc. p. 183. ISBN 9789381398616.
- ^ William Irvine (1904). Later Mughals. Atlantic Publishers & Distri.
- ^ Hari Ram Gupta. History Of The Sikhs Vol. II Evolution Of Sikh Confederacies (1707-69).
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