List of Mughal grand viziers

The Grand Vizier of Hindustan (Hindustani: Vazir-ul-Mamlikat-i-Hindustan)^[1][2] was the highest ranking minister in the Mughal Empire and the chief adviser to the emperor himself. The position acted as the de facto head of government of the Mughal Empire and had responsibility for leading the ministers of the Empire. This is the list of grand viziers (vazīr-e azam) of the Mughal Empire.

Grand Vizier of Hindustan
Last to hold office Asaf-ud-Daula
Appointer	Mughal emperor
Formation	21 April 1526
First holder	Amir Nizamu-d din Khalifa
Final holder	Asaf-ud-Daula
Abolished	21 September 1797

History

The seniormost official under the Mughals, or the Prime Minister, held different titles such as Vakil, Vakil-us-Sultanat, Wazir, Diwan, Diwan-i-Ala and Diwan Wazir under different Mughal emperors.^[3] Under Babur and Humayun, the institution of the wazirat was not fully developed owing to a lack of an entrenched nobility and political upheaval. Nonetheless, individuals under both rulers did rise to positions equivalent to the position of prime minister and under Humayun reforms were first attempted to clarify the roles of Vakil and Wazir.^[3]

In the early years of Akbar's reign, the position of prime minister was first officially held by Bairam Khan as Vakil-us-Sultanat, and he exercised considerable influence over the emperor. Over time the power of the Vakil gradually declined, and during the reign of his successor Jahangir the role of Wazir replaced the Vakil as the most important officer in government.^[3] Mughal wazirs were specifically appointed from the ahl-i-qalam(men of the pen) as distinct from the ahl-i-saif(men of the sword).^[4] With the abolishment of the post of Wakil, the post was divided into the two offices of Wazir and Mir Bakhshi, where the chief Wazir was the head of the finance department, while the Mir Bakhshi was the head of the military department.^[5] These two offices were made jointly responsible for the administration by a system of signatures and counter-signatures.^[6] Until the death of Aurangzeb, the post of Wazir was never a threat to the monarchy as the Wazir could not act too independently. However, after the death of Aurangzeb, the pre-mughal tradition in India of the Wazir being the premier noble at the court and leading counsellor of the king apart from being the head of the financial administration had been re-established.^[7]

List of grand viziers

Portrait	Name	Term of office		Notable events	Emperor
	Amir Nizamuddin Khalifa	21 April 1526	17 May 1540	1st Battle of Panipat Battle of Khanwa	Babur (1526 – 1530) & Humayun (1530 – 1540)
	Qaracha Khan	1540	?	He was a governor of Qandahar and Humayun appoint him as Grand-Vizier of the Mughal State.	Humayun (1530 – 1556)
	Bairam Khan[3]	1556	March/April 1560		Akbar-i-Azam اکبر اعظم (1556-1605)
	Munim Khan	1560	1561
	Ataga Khan[8]	November 1561	16 May 1562	He was assassinated by Adham Khan
	Muzaffar Khan Turbati[9]	1575	1579	No Vakil was appointed after his appointment to governorship in Bengal from 1579 until 1589
	Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak[10]	1579	22 August 1602
	Sharif Khan[3]	1605	1611		Jahangir جہانگیر (1605-1627)
	Mirza Ghias Beg[3]	1611	1622
	Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan[3]	1622	1627/28
	Shaikh Ilam-ud-Din Ansari[11]	1627	1628 (less than a year)		Shah Jahan شاہ جہان (1628-1658)
	Azam Khan[12]	1628	1628
	Afzal Khan Shirazi[3]	1628	1639
	Islam Khan Mashadi[3]	1639	1645
	Sadullah Khan[13]	1645	1656	Taj Mahal completed
	Mir Jumla[14]	1656	1657		Alamgir I عالمگیر (1658-1707)
	Jafar Khan[15]	1657	1658
	Fazil Khan[15]	1658	1663
	Jafar Khan[14]	1663	1670 [16]
	Asad Khan[17]	1675	1707	Mughal–Maratha Wars Anglo-Mughal War
	Mun'im Khan Khan-i-Khanan[18]	1707	1711		Bahadur Shah I بہادر شاہ (1707-1712)
	Hidayatullah Khan Kashmiri[19]	1711	1713		Jahandar Shah جہاندار شاہ (1712-1713)
	Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung[20]	1712	1713
	Mir Rustam Ali Khan[3]	1710	1737		Farrukhsiyar فرخ سیر (1713–1719)
	Qutb-ul-Mulk Abdullah Khan Barha[21]	1713	1720	Mughal throne occupied by a series of puppet rulers under the Syed brothers.[22]
	Muhammad Amin Khan Turani[21]	1720	1721		Muhammad Shah محمد شاہ (1719-1748)
	Mir Qamar-ud-Din Khan Asaf Jah I[23]	1721	1723
	Roshan-ud-Daulah Zafar Khan[24][25]	1724	1733
	Mir Fazil Qamar-ud-Din Khan	1733	1748	Battle of Bhopal Nader Shah's invasion of Mughal Empire Battle of Karnal First invasion of Ahmad Shah Durrani Battle of Manupur (1748)
	Safdar Jang[23]	1748	1753	Second invasion of Ahmad Shah Durrani Third invasion of Ahmad Shah Durrani Battle of Lahore (1752)	Ahmad Shah Bahadur احمد شاہ بہادر (1748-1754)
	Intizam-ud-Daulah[26]	1753	1754
	Imad-ul-Mulk Feroze Jung[26]	1754	1760	Black Hole of Calcutta Battle of Plassey	Alamgir II عالمگیر دوم (1754-1759)
	(de-facto wazir-i-azam Shuja ud-Daulah)[27] (Original shahjada-wazir-i-azam Mirza Jawan Bakht)	1760 1760	1775 1784	Third Battle of Panipat Battle of Buxar Treaty of Allahabad	Shah Alam II شاہ عالم دوم (1760-1806)
	Najaf Quli Khan[28]	1772	1791

See also

• Mughal emperors
• Mughal Empire