Bairam Khan Khian-I-Khanan: His age and the date of birth

Summary

'Bairam Khan Khian‑I‑Khānān: His age and the date of birth' by Sukumar Ray revisits the chronology of Bairam Khan (1501–1561), the powerful Mughal noble who served as regent for the young emperor Akbar. Ray notes that historian Vincent Smith, relying on Blochmann, claimed Bairam Khan was born in 1524 and died at the age of 36 or 37. Ray demonstrates that this is inconsistent with contemporary Persian sources. Blochmann recorded that Bairam entered Humāyūn’s service at the age of sixteen and fought at the battle of Kannauj (1540), which Smith interpreted to mean he joined just before the battle. Ray shows that Bairam had been serving Humāyūn since the 1530s and that, if he was sixteen in 1530, his birth must fall around 1514 rather than 1524. Drawing on biographies like Khwānī’s Maʾāthir al‑umarāʾ and Ṭabaqāt‑i‑Akbarī, Ray traces Bairam’s career: as a Turkoman noble of the Baharlu clan, he distinguished himself under Humāyūn, remained loyal during the emperor’s exile, and commanded the Mughal army that defeated Hemu at the second battle of Panipat (1556). The article also discusses his titles—Khān‑i‑Khānān (Lord of Lords) and Bahādur Khān—and his eventual fall when Akbar, asserting independence, compelled him to retire. Bairam was assassinated in 1561 while on pilgrimage to Mecca. By correcting Bairam’s birth date, Ray emphasises that the general was in his early forties at his death, not his thirties. The article thus rectifies a chronological error and provides a concise biography highlighting Bairam Khan’s military skill and political significance in the formative years of the Mughal Empire.