| Murad Bakhsh | |||||
| Succession: | Subadar of Multan | ||||
| Reign: | 1642 –14 December 1661 | ||||
| Coronation: | Shah Jahan I Aurangzeb | ||||
| Cor-Type: | Emperor | ||||
| Predecessor: | Saeed Khan | ||||
Shahzada of the Mughal Empire Mirza[1] | |||||
| Issue: |
| ||||
| Full Name: | Mirza Muhammad Murad Bakhsh | ||||
| House: | House of Babur | ||||
| Dynasty: | Timurid dynasty | ||||
| Father: | Shah Jahan | ||||
| Mother: | Mumtaz Mahal | ||||
| Signature: | Genealogical seal of Murad Bakhsh, 1068 A.H. (ca.1658 C.E.).jpg | ||||
| Successor: | Saeed Khan | ||||
| Birth Date: | 8 October 1624 | ||||
| Birth Place: | Rohtasgarh Fort, Mughal Empire | ||||
| Death Place: | Gwalior Fort, Mughal Empire
| ||||
| Burial Place: | Traitor's Cemetery (Gwalior) | ||||
| Signature Type: | Seal | ||||
| Religion: | Sunni Islam | ||||
| Succession1: | Subadar of Balkh | ||||
| Reign1: | 16 February 1646 – 9 August 1646) | ||||
| Cor-Type1: | Emperor | ||||
| Coronation1: | Shah Jahan I | ||||
| Successor1: | Aurangzeb | ||||
| Succession2: | Subadar of Kashmir | ||||
| Reign2: | 20 August 1647 – July 1648 | ||||
| Cor-Type2: | Emperor | ||||
| Coronation2: | Shah Jahan I | ||||
| Succession3: | Subadar of Deccan | ||||
| Reign3: | 25 July 1648 – 14 September 1649 | ||||
| Cor-Type3: | Emperor | ||||
| Coronation3: | Shah Jahan I | ||||
| Succession4: | Subadar of Kabul | ||||
| Reign4: | 23 January 1650 – 1654 | ||||
| Cor-Type4: | Emperor | ||||
| Coronation4: | Shah Jahan I | ||||
| Predecessor4: | Quli Khan Turani | ||||
| Successor4: | Said Khan | ||||
| Succession5: | Subadar of Gujarat | ||||
| Reign5: | March 1654 –14 December 1661 | ||||
| Cor-Type5: | Emperor | ||||
| Coronation5: | Shah Jahan I Aurangzeb | ||||
| Predecessor5: | Shaista Khan | ||||
| Successor5: | Shah Nawaz Khan Safavi | ||||
Mirza Muhammad Murad Bakhsh(9 October 1624 - 14 December 1661[2]) was a Mughal prince and the youngest surviving son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and Empress Mumtaz Mahal.[3] He was the Subahdar of Balkh, till he was replaced by his elder brother Aurangzeb in the year 1647.
Muhammad Murad Bakhsh was born on 9 October 1624, at the Rohtasgarh Fort in Bihar, as the sixth and youngest surviving son of Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Murad's siblings included his two politically powerful sisters, the princesses Jahanara Begum and Roshanara Begum, as well as the heir-apparent to his father, his eldest brother, Crown Prince Dara Shikoh and the future Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
In 1638, Murad Bakhsh, at the age of fourteen years, married the Safavid princess, Sakina Banu Begum, daughter of Shah Nawaz Khan Safavi. She was the younger sister of his elder sister-in-law, Dilras Banu Begum, who was Aurangzeb's wife.[4]
He was appointed as the Subadar of Multan (1642), of Balkh (16 February 1646 to 9 August 1646), of Kashmir (20 August 1647 to July 1648), of Deccan (25 July 1648 to 14 September 1649), and Kabul (23 January 1650 to 1654), of Gujarat (March 1654), and Malwa.
On 30 November 1657, he proclaimed himself emperor at Ahmedabad, after reports that his father was ill. During the same year, he received the Ottoman ambassador Manzada Husain Agha, who arrived in the port of Surat and was on his way to meet Shah Jahan in Agra. Manzar Hussain Agha mentions his disappointment regarding the wars between Shah Jahan's sons.[5]
Murad Bakhsh joined hands with Aurangzeb to defeat Dara Shikhoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan. In fact, it was the ferocious charge led by Murad Bakhsh and his Sowars that eventually turned the outcome of the battle in favor of Aurangzeb during the Battle of Samugarh.
On 7 July 1658, while he was in a tent with his brother Aurangzeb, he was intoxicated, secretly sent to the prison and transferred to Gwalior Fort from January 1659.[6]
He faced a trial that sentenced him to death for having murdered former Diwan clerk named Ali Naqi, in 1661. Aurangzeb then replaced Murad Bakhsh as the Subedar of Gujarat, and placed Inayat Khan as the new Mughal commander of Surat.[7]
On 14 December 1661, after spending three years in prison, he was executed at Gwalior Fort.[8] [9] With the last of his brothers now dead, Aurangzeb was the undisputed emperor of the Mughal Empire.
