Shaikh Gadai Kamboh
Encyclopedia
Shaikh Gadai Kamboh was the son, disciple and successor of famous scholar, philosopher and poet-laureate Shaikh Jamali Kamboh
of Delhi
and brother of the 'Master of Expression' --Shaikh Abd-al-Hai Hayati. His real name was Abdur Rehman but he became famous as Gadai. He was well-renowned for his sanctity and learning and was in high favour with emperor Humayun
and Bairam Khan
. He is also said to have remained a Musahib of the Afghan
emperor Salim Shah Suri. During Akbar’s reign, he occupied the high office of “Sadr-i-sadur” of Hindustan
.
had been an important courtier of Mughal emperors Babur
as well as Humayun
’s court. On Jamali’s death, emperor Humayun appointed Shaikh Gadai as his courtier. But after Humayun's defeat by Sher Shah Suri
near Kanawdi in 1540 AD, Shaikh Gadai went to Gujarat. After the disastrous battle of Kanauj and the consequent troubles, Bairam Khan, an important Turkoman noble of emperor Humayun, took refuge in Gujarat where he was rendered a great help by Shaikh Gadai. It is stated that Bairam Khan had escaped from near Gwalior through the efforts and exertions of Shaikh Gadai and Babbal Khan . Later, Shaikh Gadai went to Arabia for pilgrimage
. On his return, he remained in Gujarat for a while where he was joined by his numerous Murids and became famous in Gujarat for his opulent sessions of Sama.
Akbar .
The "Sadr-i-sadur" or "Sadr-i-jahan" or "Sadrat-i-mamalik" (Office of Lord Chief Justice and highest religious officer combined) had a very important position as all persecution under the canon law required his sanction and the letters of appointments for the qazis of Subah and Sarkars, muhtasibs, Imams and mutawallis for the stipends and the bills for charitable endowments were issued by him and under his sole authority. He also enjoyed more latitude than others in the matters of selecting king's departmental officers .
The office of "Sadr-i-sadur" had been very important before the Mughals
' rule and even during Akbar’s reign, he was ranked the third most powerful officer in the empire. It was his legal edict which legalized the accession of new king. By the time of Akbar the office had however, become corrupt especially so in the administration of grants & pensions and hence after assuming the office, the first thing the Shaikh did was to draw the pen of obliteration through the grants and pensions of the old servants of the crown
in order to control the wide spread corruption . Numerous old grantees and pensionees were thus affected by this step including probably also the chronicler Badāʼūnī (a cleric), the author of Muntakhbu-a-Twarikh . Apparently hurt by this drastic administrative action, Badāʼūnī accordingly makes very vitriolic and personal attacks on Shaikh Gadai Kamboh.
Mughal
historian `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni (Abd al-Qādir ibn Mulūk Shāh Badāʼūnī) witnesses that Shaikh Gadai Kamboh achieved the rank of "Sadr-i-sadur" of emperor Akbar and, “for several years, he was resorted to as an authority on the religious questions by the sages and principal men of Hindustan, Khurasan, Transoxians and Iraq “ ..
Shaikh Gadai was the right hand man of Bairam Khan. Bairam Khan never did any political or financial business without consulting the Shaikh. Shaikh Gadai also obtained powers to put his seal on the firmans. He was exempted from the ceremony of homage and in assemblies, he was given precedence over Saiyids and Ulemas. His position was so high that he did not have to dismount the horse when paying respects to the king . Emperor Akbar had a great respect for the Shaikh. Everyone in the Darbar-a-Akbari was required to bow his head and wave his beard to pay obeisance to the emperor, but Shaikh Gadai was an exception. The emperor himself would come to the Shaikh to seek his blessings. Both Bairam Khan and Akbar used to be often present in his house at "Sama" sessions or singing parties .
As "Sadr-i-sadur", Shaikh Gadai had wielded immense powers in the matters of general administration. During Akbar reign, the office of "Sadr-i-sadur" ranked third or fourth in the empire. His powers were immense. He was the highest law officer and had the powers which the Administrators-General have amongst us in modern times; he was in-charge of all lands dedicated to ecclesiastical and benevolent purposes and possessed an almost unlimited authority of conferring such lands independently of the king. He was also the highest ecclesiastical law officer and exercised the powers of High Inquistor
, a Turkoman
, from the power . According to Shaikh Rizk Allah Mushtakt who is the earliest source on this issue, Shaikh Gadai had played a very important role at the beginning of Akbar's reign and Bairam Khan did not transact any political and financial business without consulting him. The dominant orthodox Chugtai Turk nobles who wanted to get rid of Bairam Khan because of his being an Iranized Turk
as well as for his Shiite beliefs, always tried to poison Akbar's ears against him. They also got annoyed with Shaikh Gadai Kamboh his right hand man when he refused to toe their line to join hands with them against Bairam Khan and betray him, in spite of the fact that the Shaikh himself was an orthodox Sunni . It is wrongly stated by some writers that Shaikh Gadai Kamboh was Shia Muslim. "While it appears that Bairam Khan held Shiite beliefs.....Shaikh Gadai was undoubtedly a Sunni and not a Shiite" . Badāʼūnī, himself a Sunni, simply reflects extreme Sunni opinions when he makes Shaikh Gadai the special target of his personal attacks . Badāʾūnī plaintively writes: "The honor (Sadr-i-Sadur) thus conferred gave the Shaikh the precedence over the magnates or grandees (akabir) of Hindustan
and Khorasan
" .
and Hindi
. He was also a gifted musician and his musical compositions were very famous during Akbar’s reign which he used to sing after the Indian manner of which pursuits he was passionately addicted Both Khan i Khanan and emperor Akbar used to be present in his house at the Sama sessions (singing parties) which orthodox Sunni Badāʼūnī however criticizes in severe terms. He was very fond of participating in the “Urs” ceremonies of the past saints saints, sages & pirs and would spend much money on arranging sama sessions.. Shaikh breathed his last in 976 Hijri (1574/75) at Delhi and was buried inside the tomb of his father, Shaikh Jamali in Mihrawil .
Shaikh Jamali Kamboh
Shaikh Jamali Kamboh Shaikh Jamali Kamboh Shaikh Jamali Kamboh (Shaikh Jamal-uddin Kamboh Dehlwi, also known as Shaikh Hamid bin Fazlullah, Dervish Jamali Kamboh Dehlwi, Shaikh Jamal-uddin Kamboh Dehlwi or Jalal Khan etc...
of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
and brother of the 'Master of Expression' --Shaikh Abd-al-Hai Hayati. His real name was Abdur Rehman but he became famous as Gadai. He was well-renowned for his sanctity and learning and was in high favour with emperor Humayun
Humayun
Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor who ruled present day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of northern India from 1530–1540 and again from 1555–1556. Like his father, Babur, he lost his kingdom early, but with Persian aid, he eventually regained an even larger one...
and Bairam Khan
Bairam Khan
Bairam Khan also Bayram Khan was a important military commander, general of the Mughal army, a powerful statesman and regent at the court of the Mughal emperors Humayun and Akbar.-Background:...
. He is also said to have remained a Musahib of the Afghan
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
emperor Salim Shah Suri. During Akbar’s reign, he occupied the high office of “Sadr-i-sadur” of Hindustan
Hindustan
Hindustan or Indostan, literal translation "Land of River Sindhu ", is one of the popular names of South Asia. It can also mean "the land of the Hindus"...
.
Early career
Shaikh Gadai’s father Shaikh Jamali KambohShaikh Jamali Kamboh
Shaikh Jamali Kamboh Shaikh Jamali Kamboh Shaikh Jamali Kamboh (Shaikh Jamal-uddin Kamboh Dehlwi, also known as Shaikh Hamid bin Fazlullah, Dervish Jamali Kamboh Dehlwi, Shaikh Jamal-uddin Kamboh Dehlwi or Jalal Khan etc...
had been an important courtier of Mughal emperors Babur
Babur
Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of South Asia. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother...
as well as Humayun
Humayun
Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor who ruled present day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of northern India from 1530–1540 and again from 1555–1556. Like his father, Babur, he lost his kingdom early, but with Persian aid, he eventually regained an even larger one...
’s court. On Jamali’s death, emperor Humayun appointed Shaikh Gadai as his courtier. But after Humayun's defeat by Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri , birth name Farid Khan, also known as Sher Khan , was the founder of the short-lived Sur Empire in northern India, with its capital at Delhi, before its demise in the hands of the resurgent Mughal Empire...
near Kanawdi in 1540 AD, Shaikh Gadai went to Gujarat. After the disastrous battle of Kanauj and the consequent troubles, Bairam Khan, an important Turkoman noble of emperor Humayun, took refuge in Gujarat where he was rendered a great help by Shaikh Gadai. It is stated that Bairam Khan had escaped from near Gwalior through the efforts and exertions of Shaikh Gadai and Babbal Khan . Later, Shaikh Gadai went to Arabia for pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
. On his return, he remained in Gujarat for a while where he was joined by his numerous Murids and became famous in Gujarat for his opulent sessions of Sama.
Shaikh Gadai as Sadr-i-sadur of Hindustan
With the restoration of Mughal rule in 1555, the political situation changed and Shaikh Gadai Kamboh re-joined Humayun’s court sometime before his death in March 1556. On Humayun's death, when Khan-i Khana, Bairam Khan became the regent of emperor Akbar, he soon issued a firman appointing Shaikh Gadai to the high office of “Sadr-i-sadur” (Administrator General or Lord Chief Justice) of EmperorEmperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Akbar .
The "Sadr-i-sadur" or "Sadr-i-jahan" or "Sadrat-i-mamalik" (Office of Lord Chief Justice and highest religious officer combined) had a very important position as all persecution under the canon law required his sanction and the letters of appointments for the qazis of Subah and Sarkars, muhtasibs, Imams and mutawallis for the stipends and the bills for charitable endowments were issued by him and under his sole authority. He also enjoyed more latitude than others in the matters of selecting king's departmental officers .
The office of "Sadr-i-sadur" had been very important before the Mughals
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
' rule and even during Akbar’s reign, he was ranked the third most powerful officer in the empire. It was his legal edict which legalized the accession of new king. By the time of Akbar the office had however, become corrupt especially so in the administration of grants & pensions and hence after assuming the office, the first thing the Shaikh did was to draw the pen of obliteration through the grants and pensions of the old servants of the crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
in order to control the wide spread corruption . Numerous old grantees and pensionees were thus affected by this step including probably also the chronicler Badāʼūnī (a cleric), the author of Muntakhbu-a-Twarikh . Apparently hurt by this drastic administrative action, Badāʼūnī accordingly makes very vitriolic and personal attacks on Shaikh Gadai Kamboh.
Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
historian `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni (Abd al-Qādir ibn Mulūk Shāh Badāʼūnī) witnesses that Shaikh Gadai Kamboh achieved the rank of "Sadr-i-sadur" of emperor Akbar and, “for several years, he was resorted to as an authority on the religious questions by the sages and principal men of Hindustan, Khurasan, Transoxians and Iraq “ ..
Shaikh Gadai was the right hand man of Bairam Khan. Bairam Khan never did any political or financial business without consulting the Shaikh. Shaikh Gadai also obtained powers to put his seal on the firmans. He was exempted from the ceremony of homage and in assemblies, he was given precedence over Saiyids and Ulemas. His position was so high that he did not have to dismount the horse when paying respects to the king . Emperor Akbar had a great respect for the Shaikh. Everyone in the Darbar-a-Akbari was required to bow his head and wave his beard to pay obeisance to the emperor, but Shaikh Gadai was an exception. The emperor himself would come to the Shaikh to seek his blessings. Both Bairam Khan and Akbar used to be often present in his house at "Sama" sessions or singing parties .
As "Sadr-i-sadur", Shaikh Gadai had wielded immense powers in the matters of general administration. During Akbar reign, the office of "Sadr-i-sadur" ranked third or fourth in the empire. His powers were immense. He was the highest law officer and had the powers which the Administrators-General have amongst us in modern times; he was in-charge of all lands dedicated to ecclesiastical and benevolent purposes and possessed an almost unlimited authority of conferring such lands independently of the king. He was also the highest ecclesiastical law officer and exercised the powers of High Inquistor
Mughal Historians's criticism of Shaikh Gadai
Mughal historians of Akbar's reign who compiled their works after the fall of Bairam Khan are very critical of Shaikh Gadai and accuse him of arrogance, high-handedness and favoritism in the distribution of land grants and stipends among the Shaikhs, Sayyids, Scholars and other deserving persons. So much so, even Akbar complained in his firman to Bairam Khan issued at the time of latter's dismissal that one of his misdeeds was the elevation of Shaikh Gadai to the "Sadarat" in preference to the Sayyids and other Ulemas. However, it was soon later found that these complaints and grievances were concocted by Chugtai Turk nobles to provide young Akbar with a pretext to remove Bairam KhanBairam Khan
Bairam Khan also Bayram Khan was a important military commander, general of the Mughal army, a powerful statesman and regent at the court of the Mughal emperors Humayun and Akbar.-Background:...
, a Turkoman
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
, from the power . According to Shaikh Rizk Allah Mushtakt who is the earliest source on this issue, Shaikh Gadai had played a very important role at the beginning of Akbar's reign and Bairam Khan did not transact any political and financial business without consulting him. The dominant orthodox Chugtai Turk nobles who wanted to get rid of Bairam Khan because of his being an Iranized Turk
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
as well as for his Shiite beliefs, always tried to poison Akbar's ears against him. They also got annoyed with Shaikh Gadai Kamboh his right hand man when he refused to toe their line to join hands with them against Bairam Khan and betray him, in spite of the fact that the Shaikh himself was an orthodox Sunni . It is wrongly stated by some writers that Shaikh Gadai Kamboh was Shia Muslim. "While it appears that Bairam Khan held Shiite beliefs.....Shaikh Gadai was undoubtedly a Sunni and not a Shiite" . Badāʼūnī, himself a Sunni, simply reflects extreme Sunni opinions when he makes Shaikh Gadai the special target of his personal attacks . Badāʾūnī plaintively writes: "The honor (Sadr-i-Sadur) thus conferred gave the Shaikh the precedence over the magnates or grandees (akabir) of Hindustan
Hindustan
Hindustan or Indostan, literal translation "Land of River Sindhu ", is one of the popular names of South Asia. It can also mean "the land of the Hindus"...
and Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
" .
Shaikh's personal attributes
As a man of pleasant wit and acquired excellence , Shaikh was a born poet and used to compose and sing verses both in PersianPersian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
. He was also a gifted musician and his musical compositions were very famous during Akbar’s reign which he used to sing after the Indian manner of which pursuits he was passionately addicted Both Khan i Khanan and emperor Akbar used to be present in his house at the Sama sessions (singing parties) which orthodox Sunni Badāʼūnī however criticizes in severe terms. He was very fond of participating in the “Urs” ceremonies of the past saints saints, sages & pirs and would spend much money on arranging sama sessions.. Shaikh breathed his last in 976 Hijri (1574/75) at Delhi and was buried inside the tomb of his father, Shaikh Jamali in Mihrawil .