Shaykh Khubu Qutubuddin Khan Kokah | |
|---|---|
| 10thSubahdar ofBengal | |
| In office 2 September 1606 – 20 May 1607 | |
| Monarch | Jahangir |
| Preceded by | Man Singh I |
| Succeeded by | Jahangir Quli Khan |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 20 May 1607 Sulaimanabad,Bengal,Mughal Empire |
| Relatives | Salim Chishti (grandfather) Mukarram Khan Chishti (nephew) Islam Khan Chishti (cousin) |
Shaykh Khūbū (Persian:شیخ خوبو), better known asQuṭb ad-Dīn Khān Kokah (Persian:قطب الدین خان کوکه; 13 August 1569 – 20 May 1607) was theMughalsubahdar (provincial governor) ofBengal Subah during the reign of the emperorJahangir.[1] He was appointed governor of Bengal on 2 September 1606 and died in office on 20 May 1607.[2]
Qutb-ud-Din Khan Kokah's original name was Shaikh Khubu. His father was a Mughal courtier in the court of emperorAkbar. His mother was daughter ofSalim Chishti ofFatehpur Sikri and the foster mother of Emperor Jahangir. The emperor was deeply attached to his foster mother, as reflected by the following paragraph in the Jahangir's memoirs:
In the monthẔi-l-qa‘da the mother of Qutbu-d-dīn Khān Koka, who had given me her milk and was as a mother to me or even kinder than my own kind mother ... was committed to the mercy of God. I placed the feet of her corpse on my shoulders and carried her a part of the way (to her grave). Through extreme grief and sorrow I had no inclination for some days to eat, and I did not change my clothes.
— Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan,Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri[3]
Thus, Shaykh Khubu was theKokah (foster brother) of emperorJahangir. The title ofQutb-ud-Din Khan was conferred upon him by Prince Salim (Jahangir) during his rebellion against his father Akbar. He was also appointedsubahdar ofBihar by prince Salim during his rebellion.[4]
Qutb-ud-Din Khan Kokah was appointed the governor ofBengal in 1606. Eight months later, he led the Mughal forces in a battle againstSher Afghan Quli Khan, theFaujdar ofBardhaman.[5] Qutb-ud-Din Khan Kokah was defeated and killed in that battle.
Qutbuddin Khan Kokah had two sons. His first son, Saaduddin Khan received the title Saaduddin Siddiqi and was granted by emperor Jahangir threejagirs called Amenabad, Talebabad and Chandrapratap (now inGazipur District,Bangladesh).[5] This became the Bangladesh branch of his family. His descendants in Bangladesh includeChowdhury Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky, the co-founder of the Assam Bengal Muslim League and theUniversity of Dhaka, JusticeBadruddin Ahmed Siddiky,[6]Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky, theCommerce Minister of Bangladesh (1979–81) and Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiky, a candidate for the mayor ofDhaka in 2015.
His second son, Shaykh Ibrahim, received the title ofKishwar Khan andMuhtashim Khan, and was appointedQiladar (Commandant) of theRohtas Fort inBihar.[4] Shaikh Ibrahim was married to Parwar Khanam, the daughter ofAsaf Khan (the Grand Vizier of Mughal Empire 1628-41[2]) and sister of Mumtaz Mahal (Empress consort of the Mughal EmperorShah Jahan and niece of empressNur Jahan, Jahangir's favorite wife). Shaikh Ibrahim aka Mohtashim Khan was given a jagir of 22 villages inSheikhupur, Badaun and it is here he built a fort for his family, where his descendants still live to this day. This is the Indian branch of Koka's family, and their descendants include Nawab Abdul-Ghaffar Khan Bahadur, jageerdar of Sheikhupur,[7][circular reference] Begum Parveen Azad - a senior Indian Congress party politician [the 11th Lok Sabha (1996) Congress-party candidate from Baduan],[8] other relatives include Mohammad Sultan Hyder 'Josh'- a prominent poet and short story writer of Urdu[9] andBegum Abida Ahmed wife of the 5th President of IndiaFakhruddin Ali Ahmed.
| Preceded by | Subahdar of Bengal 1606–1607 | Succeeded by |