Shah Abu'l Ma'ali

Shah Abu’l Maʿālī, also Abu’l Maʿālī Shah (-1564) was a Persian émigré intellectual, Sufi-leaning courtier, and poet who became briefly prominent at the early Mughal court, especially during the reign of Humayun. He was from Kashgar in Central Asia.[2][4] He is remembered today largely because of a series of depictions, including a portrait attributed to Mir Sayyid Ali (c. 1545), which is one of the earliest naturalistic Mughal portraits.[4]

Shah Abu’l Maʿālī was part of the wave of Safavid-trained literati and artists who entered Mughal service after Humayun's exile to Persia and return to India. He was a man of letters, poet, and an intellectual, associated with Sufi and heterodox religious ideas.[4]

He appears to have enjoyed temporary favor under Humayun. Contemporary sources portray Abu’l Maʿālī as eccentric, outspoken, and intellectually provocative, which likely contributed both to his prominence and his downfall.[4] As he had been a close confidant of Humayun, he assumed that he now also had a special position at court. According to Abu 'l-Fazl, this misjudgment caused him to behave so inappropriately.[4][5]

Humayun died unexpectedly in a fall in 1556.[6] His son Jalāl ud-Dīn Muhammad, commonly known by his epithet "Akbar", was crowned on February 14, 1556.[7] However, Bairam Khan, who was instrumental in the reconquest of India, remained in office for the next few years.[8] Akbar and his circle were deeply resentful of the arrogance of Humayun's protégé.[4] He was said to have "seditious thoughts", and Abu'l Fazl, the chronicler of Akbar's reign, wrote of Abu'l Ma'ali was now a drunken madman whose "brain had been ruined by the worship of his own beauty".[4] Three days after the coronation celebrations, Akbar held a large assembly to which Shah Abu 'l-Maʿali was also invited. He was arrested and taken to a prison in Lahore.[4][9] He was able to escape from there.[10]

After his escape, Shah Abu'l Ma'ali was involved in murder and insurrection in Kashmir and Rajasthan during a period of eight years.[4] Shah Abu'l Ma'ali, sought refuge in Kabul with Akbar's ten-year-old half-brother Mirza Muhammad Hakim and his influential mother Mah Chuchak Begam. His high lineage prompted Mah Chuchak to marry him off to her daughter Bakht-un-Nissa Begum. However, in his quest for unrestricted rule, Abu'l Maʿali murdered the Begam and some of her advisors just a few months later and attempted to take control of her son Mirza Muhammad Hakim.[11] Mirza Muhammad Hakim appealed for help to his cousin Mirza Sulayman, formerly appointed by Humayun as governor of Badakhshan, who intervened in Kabul.[11][12] Mirza Sulayman finally caught Shah Abu'l Ma'ali near Kabul, and remitted him to Mirza Muhammad Hakim, who had him strangled,[11] or hanged, in 1564.[4][13][14][15]

  • Portrait of Shah Abu’l Ma’ali. Attributed to Mir Sayyid Ali, c.1545, Mughal court. Harvard Museum, 2009.202.205
  • The arrest of Shah Abu'l Ma'ali. Painted by 'Abd us-Samad, Mughal, 1556–1560, Bodleian Library, Ms Ouseley, Add. 172, fol.17a
  • The Young Emperor Akbar Arrests the Insolent Shah Abu’l-Maali. Victoria and Albert Akbarnama, folio 40

References

  1. ^ Branfoot 2018, pp. 54–56.
  2. ^ a b Branfoot 2018, p. 52 "He is here shown writing an inscription, which identifies him as Shah Abu’l Ma‘ali ‘kashgarı’, states he was once close to the late emperor (referred to by his posthumous name, Jannat Ashiyani, or He who Dwells in Paradise), and attributes the work to Master Dust the Painter (Ustad Dust-i Musawwir). The dating of this small, exquisite work is far from established but, despite the appearance of a Taj-i ‘Izzat, Humayun’s posthumous name points to after the emperor’s death"
  3. ^ "The Execution of Shah Abu'l Ma'ali at Kabul in 1564, by Asir and Jagan. Pakistan and India, 16th century". V & A Images. V & A Museum.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Crill & Jariwala 2010, pp. 52–53.
  5. ^ II: 28–29
  6. ^ Abu-l-Fazl: The Akbar Nāma. Translated from the Persian by Henry Beveridge. 1897, vol. I, pp. 657-658.
  7. ^ Abu-l-Fazl: The Akbar Nāma. Translated from the Persian by Henry Beveridge. 1904, Band II, p. 5.
  8. ^ Abu-l-Fazl: The Akbar Nāma. Translated from the Persian by Henry Beveridge. 1904, Band II, p. 9.
  9. ^ II: 28–29
  10. ^ II: 28–29
  11. ^ a b c Sharma 2019, p. 141.
  12. ^ As a descendant Timurs Mirza Sulayman felt entitled to sole rule and tried to shake off the supremacy of the Mughals. The Ā-īn-i Akbarī. By Abu L-Fazl Allami. Translated into English by H. Blochmann. 1927, Band I, S. 324–326
  13. ^ Akbarnama II: 321
  14. ^ AkbarnamaII: 207
  15. ^ "Shah Abu'l Ma'ali". V&A.

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.