Wazir Khan

Mirza Askari (, – 12 May 1710), better known by his title Wazir Khan, was an Indian nobleman of Persian descent in the Mughal Empire, primarily active in the Punjab. He served as a military commander (faujdar), tax collector (dewan), and deputy governor in the Sirhind region of the Delhi Subah. He was a mansabdar of 5,000 zat (infantry) and 4,000 swars (cavalry).

Wazir Khan administered territory that lay between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers as the regional deputy governor under such Delhi governors as Munim Khan II and Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung I. He is best known for his conflicts with the Sikhs.

Wazir Khan was defeated and killed by the Sikh Khalsa forces under Banda Singh Bahadur on May 12, 1710 during the battle of Chappar Chiri.

Biography Background

Mirza Askari was born around 1635 CE. his father was Mirza Zahir Khan, Mirza Askari was the descendant of Wazir Khan Akbar Shahi of Persian descent who originally from Iran, who was the served as Courtrian to the third Mughal Emperor Akbar. other Sikh accounts suggest that Wazir Khan was a distant relative of the Nawabs of Malerkotla, which, if true, would suggest an Afghan origin for him.

Administrations

He serving as deputy-governor/subahdar in the Sirhind region as Sarkar of all localized administrations, he hold as (Faujder) a military commander and Amin (Dewan) which was referred to as a revenue collector to the under Mughal Province of Delhi Subah.

Wazir Khan is noted for his conflicts with the Sikhs and became infamous for ordering the execution of Guru Gobind Singh's young sons (Sahibzada Fateh Singh and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh) in 1704. He was the governor of Sirhind when he arrested the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh. Wazir Khan tried to force the young sons of the Guru to embrace Islam. When they refused to accept Islam he ordered them to be bricked alive and later beheaded them after knowing that they were still alive inside even though that was not in the order.

Wazir Khan was defeated and beheaded by a Sikh warrior Fateh Singh, a warrior in the Sikh Khalsa, during the Battle of Chappar Chiri on 12 May 1710. His body was desecrated, dragged by an ox, and then hung onto a tree.