Muhammad Mirza

Muhammad Mirza
Timurid Prince
Spouse Shah Islam
Issue Sultan Abu Sa'id Mirza
Manuchihr Mirza
House House of Timur
Father Miran Shah
Mother Mihr Nush
Religion Sunni Islam

Sultan Muhammad Mirza was a Timurid Prince, grandson of the Central Asian conqueror Timur by his third son Miran Shah. Little is known about his life, though through his son Sultan Abu Sa'id Mirza, he was the great-grandfather of Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire of India.

Life

Muhammad Mirza was stated by Abu'l Fazl to have been the son of Miran Shah by his wife Mihr Nush of the Fulad (Steel) Qiya tribe.[1]

Orientalist Henry Beveridge states that, while he does not know of the Fulad Qiya tribe, the fact that Muhammad Mirza is described as always living with his brother Khalil Sultan suggests that the two were likely full-brothers.[2] This would imply that 'Mihr Nush' was an alternate name for Khalil Sultan's mother Khanzada Begum, the daughter of Aq Sufi Qunqirat of Khwarezm and granddaughter of Jani Beg, Khan of the Golden Horde.[3]

Mirza was at some point appointed governor of Samarqand and married Shah Islam, daughter of Suhrab Kurd. Shah Islam was a relative of Izz-ud-din Shir, the Kurdish ruler of Hakkari and a former adversary of Timur.[4][5][6] By this marriage he had two sons: Manuchihr Mirza (d. 1468) and Abu Sa'id Mirza.[7]

Death

The date of Muhammad Mirza's death is not recorded.[8] The Zafarnama does not include Muhammad Mirza's name among the thirty-six sons and grandsons of Timur who were alive as of 807 Hijri (1404 - 1405).[9] This and the fact that he was not mentioned by Clavijo during his 1404 visit to Timur's court led Henry Beveridge to theorise that Muhammad Mirza had by this point already died, predeceasing his father and grandfather.[10] This however contradicts that he was living with Khalil Sultan in 1410, during the reign of his uncle Shahrukh Mirza.[11]

During his fatal illness, Muhammad Mirza was visited by his cousin Ulugh Beg with whom he shared a close relationship. The dying prince entrusted to Ulugh Beg the guardianship of his son Abu Sa'id Mirza who was then raised under his care.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Henry Beveridge, The Akbar Nama of Abul Fazal Vol I (1907), p. 215
  2. ↑ Beveridge (1907, p. 215-216)
  3. ↑ Martin Bernard Dickson, Michel M. Mazzaoui, Vera Basch Moreen, Intellectual studies on Islam: essays written in honor of Martin B. Dickson (1990), p. 112
  4. ↑ Asiatic Society of Bengal, Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal: 1869 Asiatic Society of Bengal (1869), p. 210
  5. ↑ John E Woods, The Timurid Dynasty (1990), p. 35
  6. ↑ M. Th. Houtsma, E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, Volume 4 (1993), p. 1145
  7. ↑ Woods (1990, p. 35)
  8. ↑ Edward Singleton Holden, The Mogul Emperors of Hindustan, A.D. 1398-A.D. 1707 (1895), p. 364
  9. ↑ Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi, Zafarnama II (1424-1428), p. 735
  10. ↑ Beveridge (1907, p. 216)
  11. ↑ Dickson et al (1990, p. 112)
  12. ↑ Beveridge (1907, p. 215-216)
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