Wazir Khan (Sirhind)

Names
	Mirza Askari Wazir Khan bin Mirza Zahir Haram Khan

Mirza Askari Wazir Khan
میرزا عسکری وزیرخان
Mirza Askari Wazir Khan ; میرزا عسکری وزیرخان
Wazir Khan ; Faujdar (Commander) ; Diwan (Revenue Collector/Commissioner) ; Sarkar (Deputy-Subahdar/Sub-Governor) ; (5,000 Mansabi) ; (4,000 Sawari)
	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-Subahdar/Governor) of Sirhind ; in Delhi Subah
Holding Office	(Late 17th-Centuries) – ; 12 May 1710
Successor	Baj Singh of Khalsa Fauj
Padishah ; (Great Emperor)	Alamgir I ; Shah Alam I
Subahdar ; (Senior Officials)	Munim Khan II ; Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung I
Born	Mirza Askari; c. 1635; Kunjpura, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire
Died	12 May 1710 (aged 74–75); Chappar Chiri, Punjab
Issue	Mirza Tulghan Khan
Names
Names
	Mirza Askari Wazir Khan bin Mirza Zahir Haram Khan
Farsi	میرزا عسکری وزیرخان بن ظاهر حرم خان
Father	Mirza Zahir Haram Khan
Mother	Amina Begum
Religion	Sunni Islam
Occupation	Deputy-Governor and Military Commander of the Mughal Empire

Mirza Askari (Persian: میرزا عسکری, c. 1635 – 12 May 1710), better known by his title Wazir Khan, was an Indian nobleman of Persian descent in the Mughal Empire, primarily active in the Punjab. He served as a military commander (faujdar), tax collector (dewan), and deputy governor in the Sirhind region of the Delhi Subah. He was a mansabdar of 5,000 zat (infantry) and 4,000 swars (cavalry).

Wazir Khan administered territory that lay between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers as the regional deputy governor under such Delhi governors as Munim Khan II and Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung I. He is best known for his conflicts with the Sikhs.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Biography

Background

Mirza Askari was born around 1635 CE. his father was Mirza Zahir Khan, Mirza Askari was the descendant of Wazir Khan Akbar Shahi of Persian descent who originally from Iran, who was the served as Courtrian to the third Mughal Emperor Akbar.^[5]

Other sources claiming about his origin

According to Sikh sources, Mirza Askari (Wazir Khan) was the native of then Kunjpura and Karnal district of modern-day Haryana.^[6] other Sikh accounts suggest that Wazir Khan was a distant relative of the Nawabs of Malerkotla, which, if true, would suggest an Afghan origin for him.^[7]

Administrations

He serving as deputy-governor/subahdar in the Sirhind region as Sarkar of all localized administrations, he hold as (Faujder) a military commander and Amin (Dewan) which was referred to as a revenue collector to the under Mughal Province of Delhi Subah.

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 even though that was not in the order.^[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

^ 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.
^ ^a ^b History of Islam, p. 506, at Google Books
^ William Irvine (1971). Later Mughal. p. 94.
^ Gandhi, Rajmohan (2013). "Punjab Until Aurangzeb's Death". Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten. New Delhi: Aleph Book Company. ISBN 978-93-82277-58-3. p. 83: the Sirhind faujdar had an Afghan background.
^ 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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[Surjit_Gandhi-1] 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.

[2] Dr Harjinder Singh, 'Sikh History in 10 Volumes', Sikh University Press, Belgium, vol. 2, p. 31.

[3] Dr Harjinder Singh, 'Sikh History in 10 Volumes', Sikh University Press, Belgium, vol 1, pp 64, 259-60.

[Tony_Jaques_2007-4] Tony Jaques (2007). Dictionary of battles and sieges. Vol. 3. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 948. ISBN 9780313335396.

[:0-5] History of Islam, p. 506, at Google Books

[6] William Irvine (1971). Later Mughal. p. 94.

[7] Gandhi, Rajmohan (2013). "Punjab Until Aurangzeb's Death". Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten. New Delhi: Aleph Book Company. ISBN 978-93-82277-58-3. p. 83: the Sirhind faujdar had an Afghan background.

[8] Singh, PrithiPal (2006). The History of Sikh Gurus. Lotus Press. ISBN 9788183820752.

[9] Dahiya, Amardeep (2014). Founder of the Khalsa: The Life and Times of Guru Gobind Singh. Hay House, Inc. p. 183. ISBN 9789381398616.

[10] William Irvine (1904). Later Mughals. Atlantic Publishers & Distri.

[11] Hari Ram Gupta. History Of The Sikhs Vol. II Evolution Of Sikh Confederacies (1707-69).

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