Alaminsorker at 17:34, 28 February 2026

2026-02-28T17:34:02Z

>HistoryofIran at 09:39, 21 August 2021

2021-08-21T09:39:41Z

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{{Infobox Officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Mirza Ghiyas
| honorific-suffix = [[Bey|Beg]]
| image = A portrait of Mirza Ghiyas Beg aka 'I'timād-ud-Daulah', 18th century.jpg
| caption = An 18th-century portrait of Mirza Ghiyas Beg. Color and gold over gold-sprinkled black ground on paper.
| office1 = [[Vakil of the Mughal Empire]] ([[Grand Vizier]])
| monarch1 = [[Jahangir]]
| term_start1 = 1611
| term_end1 = 1622
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| birth_date = Mid 16th-century
| birth_place = [[Tehran]], [[Safavid Iran]]
| death_date = 1622
| death_place = near [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]], [[Mughal Empire|Mughal India]]
| party =
| spouse = [[Asmat Begam]]
| relations = [[Khvajeh Mohammad-Sharif]] (father) Mohammad-Taher Wasli (brother) [[Jahangir]] (son-in-law)
| children = Muhammad-Sharif [[Ibrahim Khan Fath-i-Jang]] Itiqad Khan [[Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan]] [[Nur Jahan]] Manija Begum<ref>{{cite news|title=The Riverside Mansions and Tombs of Agra: New Evidence from a Panoramic Scroll Recently Acquired by The British Library|url= https://www.bl.uk/eblj/2017articles/pdf/ebljarticle92017.pdf|last1=Koch|first1=Ebba|last2=Losty|first2=JP}}</ref> Sahlia Begum
| blank1 =
| data1 =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
| profession =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =

| allegiance = [[Mughal Empire]]
| serviceyears = 1577–1622
| unit =
| commands =
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| awards =
}}
[[File:"Jahangir and His Vizier, I'timad al-Daula", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album MET DP234021.jpg | right | thumb |Emperor [[Jahangir]] and Mirza Ghiyas Beg]]

'''Mirza Ghiyas Beg''' ({{lang-fa|مرزا غياث بيگ}}), also known by his title of '''I'timad-ud-Daulah''' ({{lang-fa|اعتمادالسلطنه آگهی الدوله}}), was an important [[Persian people|Persian]] official in the [[Mughal empire]], whose children served as wives, mothers, and generals of the Mughal emperors.

Born in [[Tehran]], Ghiyas Beg belonged to a family of poets and high officials. Nevertheless, his fortunes fell into disfavor after the death of his father in 1576. Along with his pregnant wife Asmat Begum, and his three children, they immigrated to India. There he was received by the Mughal emperor [[Akbar]] (r. 1556-1605), and was enrolled into his service. During the latters reign, Ghiyas Beg was appointed treasurer for the province of [[Kabul]].

His fortunes further increased during the reign of Akbar's son and successor Jahangir (r. 1605-1627), who in 1611 married his daughter [[Nur Jahan]] and appointed Ghiyas Beg as his Prime minister. By 1615, Ghiyas Beg had risen to further prominence, when he was given the status of 6,000 men and was given a standard and drums, a prestige normally restricted for distinguished princes.

==Family==
Ghiyas Beg was a native of [[Tehran]], and was the youngest son of [[Khvajeh Mohammad-Sharif]], a poet and [[vizier]] of Mohammad Khan Tekkelu and his son Tatar Soltan, who was the governor of the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]] province of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]]. Mohammad-Sharif was later listed under the service of [[Tahmasp I|Shah Tahmasp I]] (r. 1524–1576), where he in the start served as the vizier of [[Yazd]], [[Abarkuh]], and Biabanak for seven years. Thereafter he was appointed as the vizier of [[Isfahan]], and died there in 1576.{{sfn|Shokoohy|2001|pp=594–595}} Ghiyas Beg's elder brother, Mohammad-Taher Wasli, was a learned man who composed poetry under the pen name of Wasli.{{sfn|Banks Findley|1993|p=9}}

==Immigration to India==
After the death of Ghiyas' father, his family fell into disgrace. Hoping to improve his family’s fortunes, Ghiyas Beg chose to relocate to India where the Emperor [[Akbar]]'s court was said to be at the centre of the growing trade industry and cultural scene.<ref name="Gold148">{{harvnb|Gold|2008|p=148}}</ref> Half way along their route the family was attacked by robbers who took from them the remaining meager possessions they had.<ref name="Chandra4">{{harvnb|Chandra|1978|p=4}}</ref>

Left with only two mules, Ghiyas Beg, his pregnant wife, and their three children (Mohammad-Sharif, [[Asaf Khan IV|Asaf Khan]] and a daughter Sahlia) were forced to take turns riding on the backs of the animals for the rest of their journey. When the family arrived in [[Kandahar]], [[Asmat Begam]] gave birth to their second daughter. The family was so impoverished, they feared they would be unable to take care of the newborn baby. Fortunately, the family was taken in by a caravan led by the merchant noble Malik Masud, who would later assist Ghiyas Beg in finding a job in the service of Emperor Akbar. Believing that the child had signaled a change in the family’s fate, she was named [[Nur Jahan|Mehrunnisa]], meaning "sun among women".<ref name="Nath 1990 66">{{harvnb|Nath|1990|p=66}}</ref> Ghiyas Beg was not the first member of his family to move to India—his cousin Asaf Khan Jafar Beg and the uncle of Asmat Begum, Mirza Ghiyasuddin Ali Asaf Khan, had been enrolled into the provincial assignments of Akbar.{{sfn|Banks Findley|1993|p=8}}

==Service under the Mughal Empire==
Ghiyas was later appointed ''diwan'' (treasurer) for the province of Kabul. Due to his astute skills at conducting business he quickly rose through the ranks of the high administrative officials. For his excellent work he was awarded the title of ‘‘Itimad-ud-Daula‘‘ (‘Pillar of the State’) by the emperor.<ref name="Chandra4"/> As a result of his work and promotions, Ghiyas Beg was able to ensure that Mehrunnisa (the future Nur Jahan) would have the best possible education. She became well versed in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]]. She also became well versed in [[art]], [[literature]], [[music]] and [[dance]].<ref name="Nath 1990 66"/>
[[File:I'timād-ud-Daulah, Agra.jpg|right|thumb|[[Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb|Mirza Ghiyas Beg's tomb]] in [[Agra]]]]

Ghiyas' daughter, [[Mehrunissa]] (Nur Jahan) married Akbar's son Jahangir in 1611, and his son [[Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan]] served as a general to Jahangir.

Ghiyas was also the grandfather of [[Mumtaz Mahal]] (originally named Arjumand Bano, daughter of [[Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan]]), the wife of the emperor [[Shah Jahan]], responsible for the building of the [[Taj Mahal]]. Jahangir was succeeded by his son Shah Jahan, and Abdul Hasan served as one of Shah Jahan's closest advisors. Shah Jahan married Abdul Hasan's daughter [[Mumtaz Mahal|Arjumand Banu Begum]], Mumtāz Mahal, who was the mother of his four sons, including his successor [[Aurangzeb]]. Shah Jahan built the [[Taj Mahal]] to serve as Mumtaz Mahal's tomb.

== Death and burial ==
Ghiyas Beg died near [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]] in 1622 while the Mughal camp was moving towards its summer residence in [[Kashmir]]. His body was carried back to Agra, where he was buried on the right bank of the [[Yamuna river]]. His burial place still stands till this day, and is known as [[Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah|Tomb of I'timad-ud-Daulah]].

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = GĪĀṮ BEG, ʿEʿTEMĀD-AL-DAWLA | last = Shokoohy | first = Mehrdad | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gia-beg- | editor-last = | editor-first = | editor-link = | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. X, Fasc. 6 | pages = 594–595 | location = | publisher = | year = 2001 | isbn = }}
*{{cite book|last=Nath|first=Renuka|title=Notable Mughal and Hindu women in the 16th and 17th centuries A.D.|year=1990|publisher=Inter-India Publ. |location=New Delhi|isbn=9788121002417}}
*{{cite book|last=Gold|first=Claudia|title=Queen, Empress, Concubine: Fifty Women Rulers from Cleopatra to Catherine the Great |year=2008 |publisher=Quercus |location=London|isbn=978-1-84724-542-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Banks Findley|first=Ellison|date=11 Feb 1993|title=Nur Jahan: Empress of Mughal India|location=Oxford, UK|publisher=Nur Jahan : Empress of Mughal India|isbn=9780195074888}}
* Keay, John (2000). ''India: A History''. Grove Press, New York.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghiyas Beg, Mirza}}
[[Category:Mughal nobility]]
[[Category:People from Tehran]]
[[Category:1622 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century births]]
[[Category:17th-century Iranian people]]
[[Category:Iranian emigrants to the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:16th-century Iranian people]]
[[Category:Grand viziers of the Mughal Empire]]

Mirza Ghiyas Beg - Revision history

Alaminsorker at 17:34, 28 February 2026

>HistoryofIran at 09:39, 21 August 2021