Qutubuddin Koka


Qutb-ud-Din Khan Kokah was the first Mughal subahdar of Bengal Subah during the reign of emperor Jahangir. He was appointed governor of Bengal on 2 September 1606 and died in office on 20 May 1607.

Early life

Qutb-ud-Din Khan Kokah's original name was Shaikh Khubu. His father was a Mughal courtier in the court of emperor Akbar and his mother was daughter of Shaikh Salim Chishti. He was the Kokah of emperor Jahangir. The title of Qutb-ud-Din Khan was conferred upon him by Prince Salim during his rebellion against his father Akbar. He was also appointed subahdar of Bihar by prince Salim during his rebellion.

Subahdar of Bengal

Qutb-ud-Din Khan Kokah was appointed the governor of Bengal in 1606. Eight months later, he led the Mughal forces in a battle against Sher Afghan Quli Khan, the Faujdar of Bardhaman. Qutb-ud-Din Khan Kokah was defeated and killed in that battle.

Progeny

Qutbuddin Khan Kokah had two sons. His first son, Saaduddin Khan received the title Saaduddin Siddiky and was granted by emperor Jahangir three jagirs called Amenabad, Talebabad and Chandrapratap in Gazipur district of Bangladesh, formerly East Bengal. This became the Bangladesh branch of his family. His descendants in Bangladesh include Chowdhury Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky, the co-founder of the Assam Bengal Muslim League and co-founder of the University of Dhaka, Justice Badruddin Ahmed Siddiky, Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky, the Commerce Minister of Bangladesh and Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiky, a candidate for the mayor of Dhaka in 2015.
His second son Shaikh Ibrahim received the title of Kishwar Khan - aka Mohtashim Khan was appointed Qiladar of Rohtas fort. Shaikh Ibrahim was married to Parwar Khanam daughter of Asaf Khan and sister of Mumtaz Mahal. Shaikh Ibrahim aka Mohtashim Khan was given a jagir of 22 villages in Sheikhupur, 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, Begum Parveen Azad - a senior Indian Congress party politician , other relatives include Mohammad Sultan Hyder 'Josh'- a prominent poet and short story writer of Urdu and Begum Abida Ahmed wife of the 5th President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

Emperor Jahangir's foster mother

Qutub uddin Khan Koka's mother, the daughter of Sheikh Salim Chishti, was 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: