A Great Man

Shah Fateh Ullah Shirazi

Professor of History at Islamia College Lahore, Professor Muhammad Aslam, wrote about Shah Fateh Ullah Shirazi in 1960s. His Urdu essay on Shah Fateh Ullah tells us the story of this great man, of many talents, who changed Mogul India under Emperor Akbar the Great in the 16th century AD. This Urdu essay was translated by Mohammad Akmal Makhdum, to share the story with English readership. Shah Fateh Ullah Shirazi was a prince in the court of Emperor Akbar the Great, also known as The Great Mogul. He was a migrant from Persia and came to Mogul India in the 16th century AD. He was a renowned scholar and diplomat in the court of Deccan state. After the death of the ruler of Deccan, he was invited by Emperor Akbar to come to his court where the emperor, who became a great admirer and friend of his scholarship, arranged his marriage with emperor's sister-in-law. This made Shah Fateh Ullah a prince, and a a relative of the emperor. Fateh Ullah, by his own merit became one of the main advisors of the emperor, on all matters, official and personal. Fateh Ullah was an inventor, mathematician, architect, diplomat, physician, scholar of literature, languages, religion and wrestling. He invented a gun with 17 barrels; a cannon with multiple barrels; a mechanical cannon cleaner; cranes for heavy lifting; cannons that could be dismantled and transported over hills and re-assembled; cannon barrels that could be screwed apart for ease of transport and re-screwed; air-conditioning and water supply machines for the new Capital of the Mogul Indian Empire: Fateh Pur Sikri. He invented mobile showers and mobile homes for royal court travels; changed the education system and introduced scientific methods in education and the curricula. He became president of all educational authorities in the Mogul Indian Empire. he was a strong influence on how the empire was run and at his untimely death by Typhoid fever, the emperor was inconsolable, weeping frequently and remembering his friend, advisor, physician, inventor, confidante and friend. Few people know about this great man.