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{{Short description|Mughal Grand Vizier (1591–1656)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sa'adullah Khan
| image = Bust Portrait of Sadullah Khan.png
| office = [[List of Mughal grand viziers|Grand Vizier]]
| 1blankname = Monarch
| 1namedata = [[Shah Jahan I]]
| term_start = 1645
| term_end = April 1656
| predecessor = [[Islam Khan Mashadi]]
| successor = [[Mir Jumla II]]
| birth_date = {{circa|1591}}
| birth_place = [[Chiniot]], [[Lahore Subah]], [[Mughal Empire]] {{small|(present-day [[Punjab, Pakistan]])}}<ref name="Journal of Central Asia 1992 p.84"/>
| birth_name =
| death_date = April 1656 (aged 65–66)
| death_place = [[Delhi]], [[Delhi Subah]], Mughal Empire
| blank1 =
| data1 =
| spouse =
| children = [[Hifzullah Khan]] Lutfullah Khan Safiya Khanum
| alma_mater =
| profession =
| allegiance =
| branch = [[Mughal Army]]
| service_years = 1645–1656<ref name=":0" />
| rank =
| battles = [[Shah Jahan's Central Asian campaign|Balkh campaign]] (1646–1647) [[Mughal–Safavid War (1649–1653)|Kandahar campaign]] (1649–1653)
| awards =
| caption = Bust Portrait of Saadullah Khan {{C.}}16–17th century
| parents =
| relations = Amir Bakhsh (father) [[Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung I|Ghazi ud-Din Khan]] (son-in-law)
}}

'''Sa'adullah Khan Chinioti''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Awan |first=Muhammad Tariq |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_India_and_Pakistan_pt_1_Great/OgpuAAAAMAAJ?hl=en |title=Great Mughals |date=1994 |publisher=Lahore: Ferozsons |isbn=978-969-0-10034-4 |series=History of India and Pakistan |volume= |pages=428 |language=en |chapter=Chapter IX: Shah Jahan (1627–1658) |department=pt. 1}}</ref> also known as '''Allami''' '''Sadullah Khan''' ({{circa|1591}} – April 1656), was a high ranking official of [[Mughal Empire]] who served as the last [[List of Mughal grand viziers|Grand Vizier]] and [[Vakil of the Mughal Empire|Vakil-i-Mutlaq]] of [[Shah Jahan I|Shah Jahan]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Siddiqui |first=Shabbir A. |date=1986 |title=Relations Between Dara Shukoh and Sa'adullah Khan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141552 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |publisher=Indian History Congress |volume=47 |pages=273–276 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44141552 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Muhammad Afzal |url=https://archive.org/details/IranianNobilityUnderShahjahanAndAurangzeb |title=Iranian Nobility Under Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb |date=1987 |publisher=Aligarh Muslim University |isbn=978-8-130-91370-4 |pages=131 |language=English |chapter=Iranians and the Major Offices in the Mughal Empire |type=Thesis}}</ref>

==Biography==
Sa'adullah Khan was born in 1591 at [[Chiniot]], [[Lahore Subah]], into a [[Punjabi Muslims|Punjabi]] [[Jat Muslim|Jat]] family from the [[Thaheem (tribe)|Thahim]] clan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Narang |first=K. S. |author-link=Kirpal Singh Narang |title=History of the Punjab: 1500–1858 |last2=Gupta |first2=H. R. |author-link2=Hari Ram Gupta |date=1969 |publisher=U.C. Kapur. |edition=2nd |location=Delhi |pages=167 |chapter=Political History of the Punjab in the Mughal Times and the Relations of the Mughal Emperors with the Sikh Gurus |oclc=8793622 |quote=The other great Punjabi of the Mughal times is Saadullah Khan.}}</ref><ref name="Journal of Central Asia 1992 p.84" /> His father Amir Bakhsh was a cultivator by profession.<ref name="Journal of Central Asia 1992 p.84">{{cite journal |last=Nasir |first=Habib Ullah |date=July 1992 |title=Tomb of Hazrat Shah Burhan: Its History, Architecture and Conservation Problems |url= |journal=Journal of Central Asia |publisher=Quaid-i-Azam University |volume=XV |issue=1 |page=84 |issn=1016-0701 |oclc=477410900 |quote=}}</ref>

In his youth Sa'adullah Khan went to study at Lahore under Shaykh Kamal al-Din, a well-known scholar who had had intellectuals like [[Abdul Hakim Sialkoti]] and [[Ahmad Sirhindi]] as his pupils, among others. For a while he taught at the [[Wazir Khan Mosque|''madrasa'' of Wazir Khan]] at Lahore and later went to Delhi, where he became tutor of children of [[Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Review of Nuzhat al-Khawāṭir (in Arabic)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20847035|journal=Islamic Studies|date=1977|issn=0578-8072|pages=147–150|volume=16|issue=2|first=A.S. Bazmee|last=Ansari|jstor=20847035|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Sa'adullah Khan first entered in the Mughal bureaucracy in December 1641 on the recommendation of the [[Government of the Mughal Empire#Law|''Sadar as-Sudur'']] Musavi Khan; an allowance was fixed for him and he was given a robe and a horse. Soon he was appointed as the ''arz-i-mukarrar'' and was given the ''[[Mansabdar|mansab]]'' of 1000 [[Sepoy|''zat'']] and 200 ''[[sowar]]'' (1000/200). After serving for a short period in this post he was given the post of ''darogha-i-daulat khana-i-khas'' (superintendent of royal apartments) and rewarded with the title of [[Khan (title)|''Khan'']]. In 1643 his rank was increased to 1500/300.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Awrangābādī |first=Shāhnavāz Khān |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfG1AAAAIAAJ&q=maasir+ul+umara+vol+2 |title=The Maāt̲h̲ir-ul-umarā |date=1979 |publisher=Janaki Prakashan |edition=2nd |volume=2 |location=Patna |pages=640–645 |language=en |translator-last=Prashad |translator-first=Baini |oclc=81120535}}</ref> In the same year he was made the ''Mir-i-Saman'', a minister of great importance, second only to the ''Wazir.''<ref name=":3">{{cite book |author=Verma |first=Tripta |url= |title=Karkhanas Under the Mughals, from Akbar to Aurangzeb: A Study in Economic Development |date=1994 |publisher=Pragati Publications |isbn=978-8-173-07021-1 |pages=49-50 |chapter=Administration of the Karkhanas}}</ref> In 1645 Sa'adullah was granted the post of ''Diwan-i-Khalisa;'' he was also given the charge of drafting royal orders, with a ''mansab'' of 4000/1000. He worked for 46 days in this position before being appointed as the Grand Vizier, with his ''mansab'' ultimately reaching 7000/7000. Sa'adullah Khan would remain the Grand Vizier until his death in 1656.<ref name=":0" />

=== Prime Minister ===
[[File:Sadullah Khan giving audience, c1655.jpg|left|thumb|Sadullah Khan meeting his officials c.1655]]
In the year 1645, the incumbent Prime Minister [[Islam Khan II|Islam Khan]] was made to vacate his position and take up governorship in the [[Deccan]] region by Shah Jahan. By this time, Sa'adullah Khan had become widely respected for his intelligence and talent, which had enabled his ascent in the Mughal administration despite a lack of political or family connections. He was appointed as the new Prime Minister.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Kinra |first=Rajeev |url= |title=Writing Self, Writing Empire: Chandar Bhan Brahman and the Cultural World of the Indo-Persian State Secretary |date=2015 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-28646-7 |pages= |chapter=A Mirror for Munshīs: Secretarial Arts and Mughal Governance |doi=10.1525/luminos.3}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=78}}

A year after his appointment, Sa'adullah Khan handled administrative issues regarding Shah Jahan's [[Mughal Central Asia campaign|Balkh and Badakhshan campaigns]]. Sa'adullah Khan was sent to Balkh to manage the country and make the revenue settlements. Prince [[Murad Bakhsh|Murad Baksh]] was relieved of his command while Vizier Sa'adullah only took 22 days to settle the administrative affairs and returned to Kabul.<ref name=":1" />{{Reference page|pages=88–89}} He was subsequently rewarded with a ''[[Robe of honour|khilat]]'' and an increase of 1000 in his ''mansab'' for managing the situation efficiently and saving the Mughals from a disaster in Balkh region.<ref name=":3" /> From 1649 to 1653 Sa'adullah Khan was involved [[Mughal sieges of Kandahar (1649–1653)|in the year-long sieges of Kandahar]] along with prince [[Aurangzeb]]. In 1654, he laid siege to the [[Chittor Fort]] in [[Mewar]] upon the royal orders, in response to provocations from [[Raj Singh I]].<ref name=":1" />{{Reference page|pages=91–92}}

Sa'adullah Khan was considered among the four most powerful mughal nobles during Shah Jahan's rule. He possessed 7,000 ''zat'' and 7,000 ''sowar'' under his command, the highest of any non-royal.<ref name="Richards 1995 p.143,144">{{cite book |last=Richards |first=John F. |author-link=John F. Richards |url= |title=The Mughal Empire |work= |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-521-56603-2 |editor-last= |editor-first= |editor-link= |series=[[The New Cambridge History of India]] |volume=1.5 |page= |pages=143–144 |language=en |chapter=Shah Jahan 1628–1658 |quote=The four highest ranking nobles in the empire, by comparison, were Ali Mardan Khan, Zafar Jang, Islam Khan, and Sa'adullah Khan who each held 7,000 zat, and 7,000 suwar. All save Sa'adullah Khan held 5,000 two-three horse rank. All were Muslim: two were Iranian in origin, one Turani (of Central Asian descent); and one Indian Muslim. |access-date=}}</ref>

== European accounts ==
[[File:Miniature_painting_of_Sadullah_Khan,_grand_vizier_of_Mughal_emperor_Shah_Jahan.jpg|thumb|Miniature painting of Sadullah Khan]]
First-hand accounts of European Travelers visiting the Mughal Court are full of praise for the renowned Vizier. Sa'adullah Khan is described as a "man esteemed by the king and the whole court" by the Italian Traveler [[Niccolao Manucci|Nicolas Manucci]], he also relates the events of the rebellion of the [[Bundela|Bundela Rajputs]] which was successfully put down thanks to the cunningness of the Vizier.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Manucci |first=Niccolao |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mogul_India_1653_1708/FKJEAQAAMAAJ?hl=en |title=Storia do Mogor, or, Mogul India, 1653–1708 |date=1907 |publisher=J. Murray |location=London |pages=211, 225 |language=en |translator-last=Irvine |translator-first=William |oclc=1273911502}}</ref> [[François Bernier|Francois Berner]], a French physician and traveller noted that the Mughals considered Sa'adullah Khan to be the most accomplished statesman in all of Asia, his closeness to the Emperor Shah Jahan is mentioned in the work "''Travels in the Mogul Empire".''<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bernier |first=François |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57kRAAAAYAAJ |title=Travels in the Mogul Empire |date=1826 |publisher=London: W. Pickering |isbn=978-81-7156-127-8 |volume=1 |pages=25, 210 |language=en |translator-last=Brock |translator-first=Irving |oclc=12826407}}</ref> A Dutch envoy Joan Tack accused the Grand Vizier of harboring an inherent hostility toward Europeans, notably citing his role in expelling the Portuguese from Bengal. He labeled Sa'adullah Khan a "hereditary enemy of Christians" and portrayed him as a symbol of Mughal despotism. In this portrayal, Sa'adullah Khan is cast as the de facto ruler of the empire, wielding near-autocratic control over its political machinery, symbolizing the centralized authority of the Mughal state.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Siebertz |first=Roman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3GgvAEACAAJ |title=The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan: Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature |date=2019 |publisher=Marg Foundation |isbn=978-93-83243-26-6 |editor-last1=Koch |editor-first1=Ebba |pages=158–160 |language=en |chapter=How to Obtain a Farmān from Shah Jahan: The Experience of Joan Tack at Delhi |editor-last2=Anooshahr |editor-first2=Ali}}</ref>

== Family ==
Sa'adullah Khan had married the daughter of Karimdad Ansari, who was a son of Pir Jalaluddin and a grandson of [[Bayazid Ansari]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bilgrami |first=Fatima Zehra |date=1999 |title=The 'Roshani' Family in the Mughal Nobility |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44144096 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |publisher=[[Indian History Congress]] |volume=60 |pages=293–305 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44144096 |url-access=subscription |jstor-access=}}</ref> His two sons Lutfullah Khan and [[Hifzullah Khan]] were appointed to high positions during Aurangzeb's reign,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khān |first=Muḥammad Sāqī Mustaʻidd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynbHwgEACAAJ&q=maasir+e+alamgiri |title=Maāsir-i-ʻĀlamgiri |date=2019 |publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-9-387-58794-6 |language=en |translator-last=Sarkar |translator-first=Sir Jadunath |quote=Hifzullah Khan, son of S'adullah Khan, Subahdar of Thattha and Faujdar of Siwistan |orig-date=1947 |translator-link=Jadunath Sarkar}}</ref> while his daughter Safiya Khanum was married to [[Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung I|Ghazi ud-Din Khan]], another prominent noble.<ref>{{cite book |last=Faruqui |first=Munis D. |title=Expanding Frontiers in South Asian and World History: Essays in Honour of John F. Richards |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-107-03428-0 |editor1=Richard M. Eaton |pages=1–38 |chapter=At Empire's End: The Nizam, Hyderabad and Eighteenth-century India |editor2=Munis D. Faruqui |editor3=David Gilmartin |editor4=Sunil Kumar |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h0_xhdCScQkC&pg=PA1}}</ref>

== Death ==
Sa'adullah Khan served as Prime Minister of the Mughal Empire until his death in April 1656. His passing was widely mourned within the Mughal court and administration, including by Emperor Shah Jahan, who issued a public eulogy announcing his demise. Contemporary sources portray his death as a significant moment in the political life of the empire. The Mughal secretary Chandar Bhan Brahman described it as a major rupture in the administrative functioning of the court, marking the end of a period characterized by close coordination between senior bureaucrats and the central government. Chandar Bhan also regarded Sa'adullah Khan’s death as concluding the most productive phase of his own career in imperial service.<ref name=":1" />{{Reference page|page=80}} <ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Kinra |first=Rajeev |url=https://www.google.com.pk/books/edition/Writing_Self_Writing_Empire/ygnVjgEACAAJ?hl=en |title=Writing Self, Writing Empire: Chandar Bhan Brahman and the Cultural World of the Indo-Persian State Secretary |date=2015 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-96267-5 |language=en}}</ref>

== Works and legacy ==
Sa'adullah Khan was widely regarded by contemporaries as a model wazīr, frequently praised for his learning, ethical conduct, and administrative judgment. Mughal political literature associates him with the ideal of ''wizārat'' grounded in moral responsibility, emphasizing truthful counsel to the emperor, discretion in public affairs, and the prioritization of state interests over personal advancement. Such qualities contributed to his reputation as both an intellectual authority and a stabilizing force in Shah Jahan’s administration.<ref name=":4" />

Sa'adullah Khan's reputation as a administrator endured for generations. His accomplishments were stated to be a source of honour for Punjabis by his near contemporary poet [[Mita Chenabi]] in his [[Mita Chenabi#Tuḥfat al-Panjāb|''Tuḥfat al-Panjāb'']]. He has been called as the best of the Mughal Grand Viziers by Ibn Hasan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hasan |first=Ibn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0EkfvgAACAAJ |title=The Central Structure of the Mughal Empire and Its Practical Working Up to the Year 1657 |date=1967 |publisher=Karachi: Oxford University Press |edition=Reprint |pages=201–202 |language=en |oclc=4921553 |quote=Sa'dulla Khan was not only the best divan of Shah Jahan but can also be regarded as the best of the long line of the Mughal vazirs. The position he holds in history and which was assigned to him by contemporary writers does not appear to have been assailed even by his immediate successors. The author of ''Irshād-ul-Vuzarā'', writing under Aurangzebe, selected only four names from the list of the ministers of Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, and among them Sa'dulla Khan occupies the highest position. His remark that though a Panjabi, yet he was a man of high learning and great capacity, still more enhances his position, without detriment to the Panjabi intellect. |orig-date=1936}}</ref> According to an anecdote from the reign of Emperor [[Bahadur Shah I]] (1707–1712), Aurangzeb's successor, when a later vizier, [[Hidayatullah Khan|Hidayatullah Khan Kashmiri]], sought the prestigious title of 'Sa'adullah Khan,' the Emperor replied that it was "not easy to be a Sa'adullah Khan, let him be known as Sa'idullah Khan".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Irvine|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Later_Mughals.html?id=jMRfPgAACAAJ|title=Later Mughals|date=1971|publisher=Oriental Books Reprint Corporation; [exclusively distributed by Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi]|pages=128|language=en|quote=After a short time Wazarat Khan asked for the title of Sadullah Khan, which was that formerly held by the most renowned of Shah Jahan’s Wazirs. The Emperor said “It is not easy to be a Sadullah Khan ; let him be called Saidullah Khan.”|oclc=211306}}</ref>

A collection of his letters was edited and published by the [[University of the Punjab]] in 1968.<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/11290382 |title=Maktūbāt-i Saʻd Allāh Khān |date=1968 |publisher=Idārah-ʼi Taḥqīqāt-i Pākistān, Dānishgāh-i Panjāb, Lāhawr |editor-last=Zaydī |editor-first=Nāẓir Ḥasan |language=fa |oclc=11290382}}</ref> Sa'adullah Khan constructed the town of [[Sadabad, India|Sadabad]] in India and the [[Shahi Mosque]] in his hometown, Chiniot.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Malik |first=Aurangzeb |date=2021-05-22 |title=Four-century old mosque complex a picture of neglect |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1624923 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Nobility from the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian nobility]]
[[Category:Grand viziers of the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:1656 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Mughal Empire people]]

Saadullah Khan (Mughal Empire) - Revision history

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