Page:The Oriental Biographical Dictionary.djvu/258

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Shah 246 Shah with the Taj Mahal at Agrah, a mausoleum of white marble decorated with mosaics, which for the richness of the material, the chasteness of the design, and the eifect at once brilliant and solemn, is not surpassed by any edifice, either in Europe or Asia. Taj Mahal is a corrup- tion of Mumtaz Mahal, the name of Shah Jahan's favour- ite wife, whose sepulchre it forms. Shah Jahan reigned thirty years and was deposed and confined in the fort of Agrah by his son 'Alamgi'r Aurangzeib on th 9th of June, 1668 A. D., 17th Kamazan, 1068 A. H., and died at Agrah after an imprisonment of 7 years and 10 months, on Monday night the 23rd of January, 1666 A. D., 26th Rajah, 1076 A. H., aged 76 lunar years 3 months and 17 days, and was buried in the Taj close to his wife's tomb. There were living at the time of his imprisonment, four of his sons and four daughters. Of the sons, the eldest was Dara Shikoh, the second Sultan Shujaa, the third 'Alamgir and the fourth MuradBakhsh ; but 'Alamgir, who succeeded his father, murdered two of his brothers, viz., Dara and Murad, and the third Sultan Shujaa died in Arracan, or was murdered by the Raja of that country. His daughters were Arjuman 'Ara, Geiti 'Ara, Jahan 'Ara and Dahr 'Ara, (or Roshan 'Ara). Inscription on a gold coin of Shah Jahan of enormous size and value struck in 1064 A. H. Reverse. ^ — *c j<SkS y c*«»^ iSJ^ (*^ — r 1* jt Shah Karak, "^^i a celebrated Muhammadan saint who is buried at Kara, a city in the province of Allahabad, and whose tomb is still held sacred by the Musalmans. It is mentioned by Firishta, that the day before the assassination of Sultan Jalal-uddin Fi'roz in 1296 A. D., Sultan 'Ala-uddm visited this holy man, who rising from his pillows repeated the following extempore verses. " He who cometh against thee, shall lose his head in the boat, and his body shall be thrown into the Ganges ;" which, they say, was explained a few hours after by the death of the unfortunate king, whose head fell into the boat upon this occasion. Shah Karak died between the years 1296 and 1316 A. D. Shah Jahan Begam of Bhopal, v)^^ »^ succeeded to the principality of Bhopal on the death of her mother Sikandar Begam, on the 30th of October, 1868. Her Highness in 1871 married her own minister Muham- mad Sadik Hasan Khan, by the advice or consent of the Supreme Government. This is her second husband. She commanded that in future he should be addressed thus : Motamid-ul-Muharn Muhammad Sadik Hasan Khan Sahib Bahadur, second minister of the State of Bhopal. Shah Kasim, ^'^t a pious and learned Musalman who died in the year 1584 A. D., 992 A. H., and Khwaja 'Abdul Raza wrote the chronogram of the year of his death. Shah Kudrat-uUah, )^ vide Kudrat. Shah Kuli Khan Mahram, fj^^^ u'^ ij^ i^, a nobleman of the court of the emperor Akbar. He held the rank of 5,000, and was sent with prince Sultan Salim to Ajmeir accompanied by Raja Man Singh, to chastise the Amirs under the Raja of TJdaipur in 1598 A. D., 1007 A. H. The emperor Jahangfr says in his Memoirs, that in the first year of his reign 1605 A. D., he gave the daughter of Mirza Handal, named Sultan Begam, in marriage to Shah Kuli Khan Mahram, but his death is mentioned in another work, viz., " Masir-ul-Umra," to have taken place in the month of December, 1600 A. D., 18th Azar, 1009 A. H., at Agrah. Shah Madar, J)^^'° a celebrated Muhammadan saint, whose proper name was Badi-uddin. He was a disciple of Shaikh Muhammad Taifiiri Bastami, and is the founder of the sect called Madaria in India. Many curious anecdotes are related of him. He died on the 20th Decem- ber, 1434 A. D., 838 A. H., aged 124 years, and is buried at Makanpur in Kanauj, where a great assembly is held every year at his tomb. He was a cotemporary of Kazi Shahab-uddin Daulatabadi who lived in the time of Sultan Ibrahim Shark! of Jaunptir. Shah Mahmud of Isfahan, tp^**' vide Shah Shujaa. Shah Mansur, J^'^^ last Sultan of the dynasty of the Muzaffarians, was the son of Shah Muhammad Muzaffar. He reigned in 'Irak and Fars after Sbah Zain-ul-'Abidin whom he deprived of sight and took possession of Shiraz. He was defeated by Amir Taimur, who put him to death on Thursday the 22nd of May, 1393 A. D., 10th Rajab, 795 A. H. Shah Mansur, j^'oi^ 8^-*, vide Khwaja Mansur. Shah Mir, also called Mian Mir whose proper name was Shaikh Muhammad, was a descendant of the Khalif 'TJmar, and a very pious Musalman. He is reckoned amongst the Muhammadan saints. He was born at Shistan 1650 A. D.., 967 A. H., came to Labor where he resided 60 years, and died there on Tuesday the nth August, 1635 A. D , 7th Rabi' I, 1046 A. H., aged 88 lunar years. He is buried at a place called Hashimpur near Labor. He had numerous disciples, one of whom was MuUa Shah, the spiritual guide of the prince Dara 'Shikoh, the eldest son of the emperor Shah Jahan. He is the author of the work called " Ziya-ul-Ayun," or the Light of the Eyes, containing the rules for propriety of conduct through life. Shah Mir, ^^'^j first Muhammadan king of Kashmir, The original inhabitants of Kashmir appear to have been the foUowers of Brahma. The period of the first esta- blishment of the Muhammadan faith in that country took place during the reign of Raja Seina Deva, about the year 1316 A. D., 715 A. H., when a person called Shah Mir coming to Kashmir in the habit of a Dervish, was admitted into the service of that prince. Upon the death of the raja, he was appointed prime mmister to his son and successor Raja Ranjan. When this raja died, Anand Dev, who succeeded him, also made Shah Mir hi3 minister The whole of this family not only gained great ascendancy over the raja, but also over the mmds %i the people, till the raja, becoming jealous of their power forbade them the court. This exclusion drove Shah Mir into rebelUon, when having occupied the valley of Kashmir with his troops, most of the officers of the raid's government also joined him. This insurrection soon brought the raja to the grave, who died of a broken heart in the year 1327 A. D., 727 A. H., leavmg his widow regent. Shah Mir after some years married