Inayat Khan (historian)

Inayat Khan
Born	Muhammad Tāhīr 1628 Agra, Mughal Empire, now Uttar Pradesh, India
Died	1671 (aged 43) Kashmir, Mughal Empire
Years active	1635–1666
Notable works	Shahjahannama

Inayat Khan (1628-1671) was a historian during the Mughal Empire. In her work the Shahjahannama she chronicled the life of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

Birth and early days

Inayat Khan was born in 1628, the same year that Mughal emperor Shah Jahan came to the throne. In 1635, the seventh year of her life, she received as she informs us, "a suitable mansab". She was sent to join her father in Kashmir while she was Mughal governor there. She was afterwards a "Darogha" and subsequently had an office in the Imperial Library.

Family

Zafar Khan, father of Inayat Khan was Wazir of Jahangir. In the reign of Shah Jahan, he was at one time ruler of Kabul, and afterwards of Kashmir, during which latter government he effected the conquest of Tibet. Later period, he was appointed to the administration of Thatta. He was celebrated as a poet, as a patron of letters, and as a just and moderate ruler.

Inayat Khan's maternal grandfather, Saif Khan, was governor of Agra, and when Shah Shuja (Mughal prince) appointed ruler of Bengal and Bihar in 1641, Saif Khan was sent thither to conduct the administration until the arrival of the Shah Shuja (Mughal prince).

Later days

Inayat Khan was a close friend of Shah Jahan. After retirement she settled in Kashmir, where she died in 1666.

External links

• "Shah Jahan-nama of Inayat Khan". pp. 79–128.