Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat

Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat Beg (1499 or 1500–1551) was a Chagatai Turko-Mogol military general, ruler of Kashmir, and a historical writer. He was a Turkic speaking Dughlat prince who wrote in Persian and Chagatai languages. Prince Haider was a first cousin of Prince Zahir (later Emperor Babur).

He first campaigned in Kashmir in 1533, on behalf of Sultan Said Khan, of Kashgar. He drove out Kamran, second son of Babur. However, he did not stay long in Kashmir, leaving after making a treaty with the local sultan and striking coins in the name of Said Khan. Mirza suffered a military defeat and then made a treaty with the Kashmiris. His short stay may have had something to do with the fact that Said Khan died in that year.

He returned in 1540, fighting for the Mughal Emperor Humayun, first son of Babur, this time for a military takeover at the invitation of one of the two rival factions that continually vied for power in Kashmir. This was shortly after Humayun's 1540 defeat at the battle of Kanauj, where Dughlat was also on the losing side. He had also attacked Tibet through Ladakh but had failed. Arriving in Kashmir, Haidar installed as sultan the head of the Sayyid faction, Nazuk. In 1546, after Humayun recovered Kabul, Haidar removed Nazuk Shah and struck coins in the name of the Mughal emperor. He died in 1550 after being killed in battle with the Kashmiris. The Mughals were soundly defeated by the Kashmiris now and fled Kashmir. He lies buried in the Gorstan e Shahi in Srinagar, Kashmir, India.

His historical work Tarikh-i-Rashidi ( History of Rashid ) is a personal memoir combined with a Central Asian history. Mirza Muhammad Haidar devoted this extensive work, written in Kashmir from 1541 to 1546 in two volumes, to contemporary ruler of Kashgaria Abdurashid Khan, son of Sultan Said Khan (descendant of first Moghul Khan Tughluk Timur Khan, grandson of Duwa Khan, great great grandson of Chagatai Khan, second son of Chengiz Khan), founder of Saidiya state in Kashgaria in 1514 with active and decisive support of author's uncle Sayyid Muhammad Mirza. It was translated into English in 1895 by Ney Elias and Edward Denison Ross. Among other events, the Tarikh-i-Rashidi describes the founding of the Kazakh Khanate in 1465 and Muhammad Haidar Dughlat's personal encounter with one of the early Kazakh rulers, namely Kasym Khan.

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