ʿĀQEL KHAN RĀZĪ

 

ʿĀQEL KHAN RĀZĪ, MĪR ʿALĪ ʿASKARĪ B. MOḤAMMAD-TAQĪ ḴᵛĀFĪ, 11th/17th-century Indo-Muslim man of letters, historian, and mystic (d. 1108/1696). He belonged to a family of sayyeds from Ḵᵛāf in Khorasan. He adopted the taḵalloṣ Rāzī from the name of his spiritual guide, the Šaṭṭārī saint Borhān-al-dīn Borhānpūrī called Rāz-e Elāhī (Storey, I, p. 584); the title ʿĀqel he received from his patron Awrangzēb, who bestowed it when he assumed the throne (1068/1658). He held several posts in Awrangzēb’s court and retired twice before he was appointed governor of the province of Delhi in 1092/1681, a post he held for almost sixteen years until his death (ʿĀqel Khan Rāzī, Wāqeʿāt-e ʿĀlamgīrī, ed. with Eng. summ., Ẓafar-Ḥasan, Delhi, 1946, pp. 4-5). He seems to have devoted himself mainly to literary pursuits; he left a dīvān and several maṯnawīs (e.g., Moraqqaʿ, Šamʿ o porvāna, Mehr o māh). He also wrote mystical meditations, compiled under the title Naḡamāt al-Rāzī, and collected the discourses (malfūẓāt) of his spiritual master in a volume known as Ṯamarāt al-ḥayāt (Storey, I, p. 584). Of special historical importance is his account of the war of succession among Shah Jahān’s sons, entitled Wāqeʿāt-e ʿĀlamgīrī or Ẓafar-nāma-ye ʿĀlamgīrī, written between 1078/1667 and 1108/1696. Though not a witness to the events, he utilized the available official documents and consulted persons who had participated (Wāqeʿāt-e ʿĀlamgīrī, pp. 1-3).

 

Bibliography:

See also M. Aṭhar-ʿAlī, The Mughal Nobility under Awrangzīb, repr., Bombay, 1970.

Marshall, Mughals in India, pp. 79-80.

(S. Maqbul Ahmad)

Originally Published: December 15, 1986

Last Updated: August 9, 2011

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Vol. II, Fasc. 2, pp. 193-194