Muhammad Saleh Kamboh

Today’s blogpost will discuss an interesting and extraordinary Lahori character, the name is in the title. The goal of my “Mughal Nobility” series isn’t to misrepresent & create a faux narrative where Punjabi Muslims were some kind of driving force behind the empire, because that would simply be disingenuous and not only that regardless of how high Punjabi Muslims were able to rise in the Empire, it remained a Turkic venture with a strong Persian cultural element. The entire premise of my Punjabi Muslim Narrative theory is to enable Punjabi Muslims & give them the tools to stop seeing themselves as being a subsidiary of another group be it non-Punjabi Muslims or Sikhs.

But the idea behind highlighting the role of Punjabi Muslims is to demonstrate our contribution to what really was a prosperous time for entire Hindustan & to counter narratives like the one in this tribune article here.  

Muhammad Saleh Kamboh, or Salih Kambu was quite obviously of Kamboh lineage, mainly a scribe during the reign of Shah Jahan, a lucrative career in those days. His work Amal-i-Salih or Shah Jahan Nama is described as being “valuable history” and having a good reputation by Henry Miers Elliot who compiled History told India as told by its own Historians series. Apart from that he was known for being a poet in both Persian & Hindi. [1]

Another, very interesting assignment that the Kamboh Lahori held was being a tutor to the future Emperor Aurangzeb along with another Punjabi Muslim standout, the eventual Jatt Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire, Saadullah Khan of Chiniot, Punjab. [2] To be clear there were others who contributed to Aurangzeb’s education, but one has to wonder the extent of influence these Punjabi Muslim scholars had on Aurangzeb’s Orthodox views. This also explains why Saleh was critical of Dara Sikoh, who would go up against Aurangzeb for the throne. [3]

In terms of prestige, it can’t be argued that it was being in charge of his home, the Lahore Province’s Finance Ministry that was pinnacle of his career, the brother Inayatullah Kamboh was the Deputy to Lahore Subedar, but would renounce worldly life. [4] He was a Mughal noble or “mansabdar” with a rank of 500 soldiers. [5] The Saleh Kamboh Mosque or “Chinian Wali Masjid” in Lahore is a monument that he left behind in 1659.

He passed away in 1664 and is buried in Lahore, Lehnda Punjab & the cause of his death being killed in the Assam campaign. [6]

Sources:

[1] History of India as told by its own Historians Volume 7, pg. 123.  

[2] History of Indian Nation: Medieval India pg. 153

[3] The Peacock Throne: The Drama of Mogul India, Bibliography

[4] Lahore: Its History, Architectural Remains and Antiquities pg. 209

[5] History of India as told by its own Historians Volume 7, pg. 123.  

[6] Mughal North-East Frontier Policy, pg 268.