Person · Mir Bakhshi, 1581

Asaf Khan Mirza Qiwamu-d-din (Ja'far Beg)

Held the office of Mir Bakhshi under akbar, per vol. I, p. 283.

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Rise under Akbar

Mirza Ja'far Beg came to notice after failure abroad and a period out of favour, according to the register: he had "gone away in contempt and failure" before returning to court at Fathpur Sikri. The page records his recovery in plain terms: "Akbar approved of him and shortly afterwards gave him the rank of 2000 and the title of Āsaf K͟hān" (vol. I, p. 283). The promotion to military command followed at once — "He was also made Mir Bakhshi in the room of Qazi 'Ali, and was sent against the Rana of Udaipur" (vol. I, p. 283) — with a footnote correcting the date: "Apparently he was made Mir Bakhshi in 989 when Akbar was on the way to Kabul" (vol. I, p. 283, footnote 3).

The diwani, the prince's guardianship, and death

Later in Akbar's reign he moved from military to fiscal charge: the register states that "in place of Rai Patr Dās, [he] was appointed to the Diwānī-kul (the whole diwānī) and carried on the duties for two years in a consummate manner" (vol. I, p. 284). Under Jahangir he was raised further and given charge of a prince — "Jahangir appointed Sultan Parviz under the guardianship of Āsaf K͟hān" (vol. I, p. 285) — before being sent to campaign in the Deccan, where the register records his end: "in the 7th year, 1021, 1612, he died there 'from natural causes'" (vol. I, p. 285), a footnote adding that "He died at Burhanpur at the age of 63" (vol. I, p. 285, footnote 1).

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