Gibb, Haylie. “Bairam Khan is Assassinated by an Afghan.” The Akbarnama Project, edited by Haylie Gibb, 2018. (url to come).
This image, titled “Bairam Khan is Assassinated by an Afghan,” is just one of the many miniature paintings used to supplement the text in the Akbarnama. Emperor Akbar, who was the third and presumably greatest Mughal Emperor, commissioned the Akbarnama himself. The Akbarnama, created roughly in the 1590’s, is the official chronicle of his reign. Written in Persian by one of his court historians, Abul Fazl, this series gives a very detailed and elaborate account of Akbar’s life. This particular painting, created by Tiriyya and Tulsi between 1590 and 1595 using opaque watercolour and gold on paper, is kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England.
This scene depicts the moment of Bairam Khan’s assassination. Due to growing conflicts and disagreements, Akbar dismissed his mentor, Bairam Khan, and sent him on a pilgrimage to Mecca. On his way, he stopped in Patan. There, he was going to take a boat to the garden's pavilion. However, as you can see, he did not quite make it. As he approached the boat, a large crowd of Afghans surrounded him. Believing they had come to pay their respects, Bairam Kahn called to them. But, Bairam Khan was fooled. One man approached, presumably Mubarak Khan Lohani, and stabbed Bairam Khan, killing him instantly.
Bairam Khan entered Babur’s military service around age sixteen, and later went on to contribute greatly to the establishment of the Empire under Humayun, Akbar’s father. Due to the early death of Humayun, Akbar found himself in power at age fourteen. At the beginning of Akbar’s reign, he was obviously young and inexperienced. Thus, Bairam, a trusted ally and companion of Babur and Humayun, became Akbar’s mentor, advisor, and teacher. For roughly four or five years, until Akbar was about eighteen, Bairam Khan was in control. However, he did not abuse his power, instead he carefully protected the throne for Akbar (Jacobson 1). Bairam Khan was a very wise and skilled military commander. Without him, the Mughal Army would have never defeated Hemu, or reclaimed Delhi or Agra.
It is not an exaggeration to say that, if not for Bairam Khan, Akbar’s chances of survival as a ruler were slim (Mehta 198). However, as Akbar got older, he demanded more autonomy and independence as a ruler. Surprisingly, many of Akbar’s relatives, especially his mother, Mariam Makani, encouraged Akbar to assert himself over Bairam Khan, taking it as far as to form a political alliance against him (Wade 93). It was with such strong influences from of his family, and various other disagreements, that tensions grew, and Akbar dismissed Bairam Khan and sent him on a pilgrimage to Mecca (Fazl 200).
During the Mughal reign, horses as a means of carriage transformed their Empire. Throughout the dominant Mughal period, between 1526 and 1707 AD, the Mughals maintained a large cavalry force, which was their main military strength, with Akbar seemingly having over 400,000 horses (Choudhary 2). Adoption of these horses in cavalry was very slow, probably due to lack of certain important technological equipment and innovations such as iron stirrups, saddles, horseshoes, etc. However, Mughal rulers gave special importance to these animals, especially Akbar and Jahangir. For instance, in a memoir, Jahangir once said, “I presented my best horse by way of favour to Raja Man Singh… From being presented with this horse the Raja was so delighted that if I had given him a kingdom I do not think he would have shown such joy” (Anjum 277-278).
While on his journey to Mecca, Bairam Khan stopped in Patan for a few days to rest up. There, he would frequently go visit their beautiful gardens and ponds. On the day of his assassination, he was ambushed right before he boarded a boat that was set off to see the garden’s pavilion. Although it was never specified, I speculate that the pavilion they were referring to was the Rani-ki-vav. The Rani-ki-vav, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a seven layered stepwall located on the banks of the Sarawati River in Patan, Gujarat. Thought to be built in roughly the eleventh century AD as a memorial for a king, this structure has over five hundred principle sculptures and over one thousand minor ones that combine religious, mythological and secular imagery. Thus, this site is not only impressive for it’s exceptional architecture, but also it’s sculptural decoration (UNESCO).
Hemu was a Hindu general who ruled during the period when the Mughals and Afghans were fighting for power across Northern India. Hemu had defeated the Mughals once already and claimed the city of Delhi. Not long after, the Mughal Army, led by Bairam Khan, marched back to Delhi to reclaim the city. During the battle, which was later called the “Second Battle of Panipat,” Hemu was captured, and assassinated by Bairam Khan. The killing of Hemu consequently sparked even more Afghan-Mughal conflict. Mubarak Khan Lohani was an Afghan man, and the son of a man who was killed in another battle in which Bairam Khan was also in command, presumably the Battle of Macchiwara (McVittie 83). Thus, when the young man heard Bairam Khan was in Patan, he saw a perfect opportunity to take revenge for the death of Hemu and his father, and did just that.
This scene depicts a crowd of people in utter chaos, at war on the lakeshore in Patan. A boat is depicted in the lower region of the image, just off the shore, with a latter leading into the water. At the bottom of the latter we see the body of the deceased Bairam Khan. Although, on the surface, the scene does appear riotous and violent, I believe it invites us to consider an alternative interpretation. While most of the characters in the scene are engrossed in the heat of the battle, Bairam Khan’s body appears to lie almost peacefully and unengaged from the surrounding pandemonium. I don’t think this portrayal was accidental. That is, Akbar and the artist could have illustrated this scene in various others ways. For instance, they could have represented Bairam Khan conversing with the hostile Afghans, or the moment he was attacked. However, they chose to present him as such. In the Akbarnama, it is expressed that Bairam Khan once said, “We wish for martyrdom, but not in such a hurry.” Thus, despite the tragedy, I believe the image was designed to illustrate Bairam Khan in a blissful transition to the heavens, instead of a savage assassination. As well, Bairam Khan is the only person wearing a bright yellow robe, which draws the viewer’s attention to him despite the fact that he is not placed in the center of the image. I believe this was another detail the artists used to distance Bairam Khan from the surrounding mayhem.
When the news of Bairam Khan’s fall made it to Akbar, he was devastated. However, despite their previous disagreements, Akbar had tremendous respect for Bairam Khan. To show loyalty, Akbar took in Bairam Khan’s son, ‘Abdurrahim (Wade 94). When ‘Abdurrahim reached Akbar, he was treated like one of Akbar’s very own sons. With the education and training provided by Akbar, ‘Abdurrahim became an outstanding poet, prolific writer, scholar, politician, and, like his father, a commander. Akbar eventually granted ‘Abdurrahim the title of Mirza Khan and Khan Khanan, and not surprisingly, was later selected as one of the courts nine gems, or navaratnas (Naik 161-167). So, I do not believe this painting depicts a tragic end, but rather the passing on of a legacy.
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