by Akbar with immense respect. Akbar gave him the options of staying in the court as his personal adviser, picking a jagir of his choice, or continuing his pilgrimage. Bairam Khan chose the last option. Death While travelling through Gujarat he was assassinated on 31 January 1561 at Sahastralinga Tank, a religious site near Anhilwad Patan, by a group of Afghans led by Mubarak Khan Lohani, whose father had been killed while fighting with the Mughals at the Battle of Machhiwara in 1555. According to the Akbarnama, the group of Afghans had apparently come to pay their respects to him, so he allowed them to come closer. Thereupon, Mubarak stabbed him with a dagger in the back with such force that the point came out of his chest, and another Afghan struck him on the head, fatally wounding him. Bairam Khan passed away saying the takbir. His corpse was later found by a group of locals, who buried him at the tomb of a nearby Sufi saint. His son and wife managed to escape to Ahmedabad, where they stayed for several months before Akbar heard of their plight and had them escorted to Agra. Bairam's wife, Salima who was also the cousin of Akbar, married Akbar after his death. Bairam's son, Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, became an important part of Akbar's administration and was one of the nav-ratans (nine gems) of Akbar's court. Personal life Bairam Khan was a Shia Muslim and was disliked by some of the Sunni Turkic nobles. Although a Shia, he attended Friday services in the mosque of a noted Sufi. He also promoted Sheikh Gadai, the son of Sikandar Lodi's court poet Jamali Kamboh, to the position of sadurat-i-mamalik (Chief Justice) in 1559. Marriages The Gazetteer of Ulwur states: In these struggles for the restoration of Babur's dynasty Khanzadas apparently do not figure at all. Humayun seems to have conciliated them by marrying the elder daughter of Jamal Khan, the nephew of Babur's opponent Hasan Khan Mewati, and having his minister, Bairam Khan, marry Jamal's younger daughter. Bairam's other wife was Salima Sultan Begum, who married Akbar after his death. In popular culture Behram Khan, a 1946 Indian Hindi-language film by Gajanan Jagirdar (who also starred in the titular role), is based on the life of Bairam Khan and his role in the founding of the Mughal Empire. He was portrayed by actor Yuri Suri in