Sher Muhammad Khan
| Sher Muhammad Khan | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Nawab of Malerkotla | |
| Reign | 1672 – 1712 |
| Predecessor | Firuz Khan |
| Successor | Ghulam Husayn Khan |
| Born | c. 1640 Malerkotla, Mughal Empire |
| Died | 1712 Malerkotla, Mughal Empire |
| Spouse | A woman from Guru Gobind Singh's family |
| Issue | 8, including Ghulam Husayn Khan and Jamal Khan |
| Dynasty | Sherwani |
| Father | Firuz Khan |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Sher Muhammad Khan was the Nawab of Malerkotla from 1672 to 1712.
Ancestry
The Malerkotla family are Sherwani Afghans and came from Kabul in 1467 as officials of the Delhi emperors. Their ancestor Sheikh Sadruddin was a Sufi saint of much celebrity in his time and received a dowry of sixty-eight villages near Ludhiana, when he married the daughter of Sultan Bahlul Khan. After this the Sheikh contracted a second wealthy marriage into the family of a local Rajput magnate. The Princess's descendants were the keepers of his shrine: the Rajputni's descendants became the Nawabs and Chiefs of the State. He left three sons Hasan, Isa and Musa. Hasan by the Lodi Princess, and Isa and Musa by the local lady. The Malerkotla family is descended from Isa.[1][2] The title of Nawab was conferred in 1657 upon Sher Muhammad Khan's grandfather Bazid Khan, the 5th from Sadruddin, by Aurangzeb. He built in 1657 a town Kotla near Maler, 30 miles south of Ludhiana and added to his estates.
Life
Sher Muhammad Khan came into the possession of the jagir after his father Firuz Khan's death. He was a prominent general of his time, and in his days began that incessant fight with the Sikhs, under Gurus Tegh Bahadur and Gobind Singh. He attacked them at Chamkaur under Guru Tegh Bahadur, where they were put to the rout. The Guru was taken prisoner and sent to Delhi where he was executed. Sher Muhammad Khan secured many jagirs from Aurangzeb by helping him in a number of expeditions. He helped the Mughal forces against Guru Gobind Singh in the battle of Chamkaur in 1705. He protested against the proposed death to be given to Guru Gobind Singh's two younger sons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, by Wazir Khan. Sher Muhammad Khan married a woman of the family of Gobind Singh after her conversion to Islam.[3][4][5][6] He had eight sons. His successor was his son Ghulam Husayn Khan. Sher Muhammad Khan died in 1712.
References
- ^ Lethbridge, Sir Roper (1893). The Golden Book of India: A Genealogical and Biographical Dictionary of the Ruling Princes, Chiefs, Nobles, and Other Personages, Titled Or Decorated, of the Indian Empire. Macmillan. p. 306.
- ^ AC02894454, Anonymus (1883). Panjab notes and queries: a monthly periodical. na. p. 45.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Gosha-i Panjab. Punjabi Press, Lahore. 1861. p. 77.
{{cite book}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ Griffin, Lepel Henry (1870). The Rajas of the Punjab: Being the History of the Principal States in the Punjab and Their Political Relations with the British Government. Punjab Printing Company. p. 77.
- ^ Griffin, Lepel H. (1910). Chiefs and families of note in the Punjab. Government Printing, Lahore. p. 446.
- ^ Khan, Inayat Ali (1882). A Description of the Principal Kotla Afghans. Civil and Military Gazette Press. p. 14.