Kilich Khan was born in Aliabad near the ancient
Silk Road city of
Samarkand. His father, Khawaja Alam Shaikh Siddiqi, was a direct descendant of scholar
Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi of
Sohrevard in
Iran. Through his ancestor, Suhrawardi, Kilich Khan traced his ancestry back to
Abu Bakr, the first
Caliph. Kilich Khan broke his family tradition and became a
warrior rather than a
scholar although he was well-versed in
Islamic theology and
Persian language. Kilich Khan is known to have utilised the
composite bow and
arrow, he kept the
Quran attached to his
quiver and rode along with a
Crescent standard and a
yellow flag. Historian Henry Briggs wrote, '' In youth he was trained to the use of the bow, the spear and the sword. Riding on horseback was familiar to him from the moment he could toddle alone from his mother's knee as it is to this day to everybody from the plains of
Arabia to the hills of
Afghanistan and he was specially taught to regard the cause of the
Crescent and the
Quran as the great purpose of his existence.'' It was in 1655 that Kilich Khan undertook a
pilgrimage to
Mecca. But on his way there he stopped off in
Hindustan to present himself before Mughal Emperor
Shah Jahan. The Mughal Emperor bestowed on Kilich Khan a
Khilat or dress of honour and promised him that after he returned from Mecca he could take up a post on his personal staff. He was promoted to Sadar-i-Qul ( Supt. of Endowments ) 1681 - 1685, Subedar of Ajmer 1667–1672, Subedar of Multan 1672–1676, Amir-i-Haj 1676–1680. Faujdar of Zafarabad ( Bidar ) 1686–1687. Granted the title of Azim Khan 1657, and Qilich Khan Bahadur 1680.
Later life He returned from his
pilgrimage to Mecca in
Arabia to India in 1658 to take up his post serving the Emperor Shah Jahan, only to find that the Emperor had been taken ill and so Kilich Khan decided to throw his lot in with Prince
Aurangzeb. Taking command of one of the
Mughal armies, Kilich Khan played a crucial role in the
Battle of Samugarh. For this, he was rewarded by being made
Sadr us Sadur (President of Presidents) and one of the Emperor's most trusted generals. He then proceeded to follow Aurangzeb around India as the Emperor pursued his dream of bringing all of Hindustan under one Flag. Many battles were fought and many Forts besieged but it was during the
Siege of Golconda in 1687 that Kilich Khan shone through as the Emperors most loyal and courageous general. Kilich Khan accompanied Aurangzeb laying siege twice, first in 1686 which ended in failure, thus continued with the second attempt in 1687. In this campaign, Aurangzeb's army were under the command of Kilich Khan's son
Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung. . Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung was so keen on taking the fort that in a sudden assault, he sent his father in charge of the storming party. However, Kilich Khan was hit by the shrapnel of a powerful
cannonball, the bombardment which completely severed his arm. He returned to the Mughal camp on his horse refusing to dismount. Aurangzeb's Vizier-e-Azam (
prime minister),
Asad Khan noticed that while the surgeons were busy taking bits of bone and iron from his wound, he was stoically sipping
coffee. Kilich Khan died a few days later, his arm was also found identified by the signet ring he always wore on his finger. Kilich Khan is buried in a tomb at
Kismatpur near
Himayat Sagar only a few Kilometers from where he had died at
Golconda in
Hyderabad,
Telangana,
India. An identifying panel was placed at the tomb by the
Nizam's private estate
Sarf-e-Khas in 1942, to recognize the dynasty's ancestor. At the time of his death, Kilich Khan held the position as governor of
Bijapur under Mughal empire. ==Family ==