He belonged to the Arghún clan, and therefore traced his descent to Chingiz Khán. Abulfazl in the Akbarnámah gives his tree as follows:—

Chingiz Khán. Túlí Khán. Hulágú Khán (the brother of Mangú Qáán.) Abágh (or, Abághá) Khán, d. 663. Arghún Khán, d. 690. Four generations intervening. Atkú Timur. Shankal Beg Tarkhán. Several generations not known. 'Abdulkháliq Tarkhán. Mírzá 'Abdul 'Alí Tarkhán. M. Muhammad 'I´sá Tarkhán, d. 975. M. Muhammad Báqí Tarkhán, d. 993. Mírzá Páyandah Muhammad Tar-khán. Mírzá Jání Beg Tarkhán. Mírzá Ghází Beg Tarkhán.

Of his ancestors, Atkú Timur had been killed in the war with Tuqtamish Khán, and the Emperor Timur took care of Shankal Beg, and made him a Tarkhán (vide the note at the end of this biography).       Mírzá 'Abdul 'Alí, fourth ancestor of M. Jání Beg, had risen to high dignities under Sulṭán Mahmúd, son of M. Abú Sa'íd, and received the government of Bukhárá. He was treacherously killed, together with his five eldest sons, by Shaibání Khán Uzbak; only his sixth son, M. Muhammad 'I´sá, escaped. The Arghún clan in Bukhárá, being thus left without a head, emigrated to Khurá­sán, where they attached themselves to Mír Zul-nún Beg Arghún, who was the Amírul­Umará and Sipahsálár of Sulṭan Husain Mírzá He also was atálíq and father-in-law to Prince Badí'uzzamán Mírzá, and held Qandahár as jágír. When the prince's career ended, his two sons, Badí'uzzamán and Muzaffar Mírzá, proclaimed themselves kings of Khurásán. Anarchy prevailed; and matters grew worse, when Shaibán Khán invaded the country. Zul-nún Beg fell in battle against him.

Shujá' Beg, better known as Sháh Beg, Zul-nún's son, held Qandahár during the absence of his father, and succeeded him in the government. He was bent on con­quest. In 890, he took Fort Sewe from Jám Nizámuddín (generally called in Histories Jám Nandá), king of Sindh. He continued to interfere, as related by Abulfazl below in the Third Book, (Çúbah of Sindh), and managed at last, in 929, to conquer the country, thus compensating himself for the loss of Qandahár, which had been occupied by Bábar. A short time before his death, which took place in 930,* he invaded Multán, then in the hands of the Langáhs.

Sháh Beg Arghún was succeeded by his son Mírzá Sháh Husain Arghún, who took Multán from Sulṭán Husain Langáh (vide Third Book, Çúbah of Multán). M. Sháh Husain Arghún was afflicted with a peculiar fever, which only left him when he was on the river Indus. He therefore used to travel down the Indus for six months of the year, and upwards for the remaining portion. On one occasion, he went towards Bhakkar, when some of the nobles deserted him, and elected Mírzá Muhammad 'I´sá, third ancestor of M. Jání Beg, as their chief. M. Sháh Husain, assisted by his foster brother, Sulṭán Mahmúd, Governor of Bhakkar, opposed him; but he had at last to come to terms, and cede a large part of Sindh to M. 'I´sá. On Sháh Husain's death, in 963, the whole country fell to 'I´sá.

In this manner the older branch of the Arghúns came to the throne of T'hat'hah.

'I´sá died in 975, and was succeeded by his son M. Muhammad Báqí, who successfully crushed the revolt of his younger brother, M. Ján Bábá. M. Báqí, in 993, committed suicide during an attack of insanity; and as his son, M. Páyandah Muhammad, was also subject to fits of madness, the government passed into the hands of M. Jání Beg, the son of M. Páyandah.

Akbar had often felt annoyed that, notwithstanding his frequent stays in the Panjáb, M. Jání Beg had shewn no anxiety to pay him a visit. In the 35th year therefore (999), when the Khán Khánán was ordered to invade Qandahár, he was told to send some one to M. J. B., and draw his attention to this neglect; if no heed was paid, he was to invade Sindh on his return. Multán and Bhakkar being the tuyúl of the Khán Khánán, he did not move into Qandahár by way of Ghaznín and Bangash, but chose a round-about way through his jágír. In the meantime the conquest of T'hat'hah had been determined upon at Court, and the Khán Khánán set out at once for Sindh (vide p. 335, and Brigg's Firishtah). After bravely defending the country, M. J. B. had at last to yield. In the 38th year (1001), accompanied by the Khán Khánán, he paid his respects to Akbar at Láhor, was made a Commander of Three Thousand, and received the Çúbah of Multán as tuyúl, Sindh itself being assigned to M. Sháhrukh (No. 7). But before this arrangement was carried out, a report reached Akbar that the Arghún clan, about 10000 men, women, and children, moved up the river, to follow M. J. B. to his new tuyúl, and that great distress had thereby been caused both among the emigrants and those who were left behind. Akbar felt that under such circumstances policy should yield to mercy, and M. J. B. was appointed to Sindh. Láharí Bandar, however, became kháliçah, and the Sirkár of Siwistán which had formerly paid peshkash, was parcelled out among several grandees.

In the 42nd year, M. J. B. was promoted to a command of Three Thousand and Five Hundred. He was much liked by Akbar for his character, religious views (vide p. 209), pleasing manners, and practical wisdom. It is perhaps for this reason that Abulfazl has placed him first among the Commanders of Three Thousand, though names much more renowned follow. From his youth, M. J. B. had been fond of wine, but had not indulged in excesses; his habitual drinking, however, undermined his health, and brought on delirium (sarsám), of which he died, in 1008, at Burhánpúr in the Dak'hin, after the conquest of A´sír.

A short time before his death, he offended Akbar by declaring that had he had an A´sír, he would have held it for a hundred years.

M. J. B. was fond of poetry; he was himself a poet and wrote under the takhalluç of Halímí.*

Mírzá Ghází Beg, son of M. Jání Beg. At the death of his father, he was only 17 years old; and though not at Court, Akbar conferred Sindh on him. He was opposed by Mírzá 'I´sá Tarkhán, son of Mírzá Ján Babá (brother of M. Muhammad Báqí, grandfather of M. Jání Beg); but Khusrau Khán Chirgis, an old servant of the Arghúns and Vakíl of his father, espoused his cause, and M. 'I´sá Tarkhán fled from Sindh. The army which M. Ghází Beg and Khusrau Khán had at their disposal, seems to have made them inclined to rebel against Akbar; but the Emperor sent promptly Sa'íd Khán (No. 25) and his son Sa'dullah* to Bhakkar, and M. Ghází Beg came to Court, and was confirmed in the government of Sindh.

After the accession of Jahángír, M. Ghází Beg received Multán in addition to Sindh, was made a Commander of Seven Thousand, and was sent to relieve Qandahár (Tuzuk p. 33, 72, 109), which had been besieged by Husain Khán Shámlü, the Persian Governor of Harát. He also received the title of Farzand (son). Sháh 'Abbás of Persia often tried to win him over, and sent him several khil'ats.

He died suddenly at the age of twenty-five in 1018,* the word Ghází being the Táríkh of his death. Suspicion attaches to Lutfullah, his Vakíl and son of Khusrau Khán Chirgis, who appears to have been treated unkindly. M. Ghází does not appear to have had children.

Like his father, he was a poet. He wrote under the takhalluç of Vaqárí, which he had bought of a Qandahár poet. He played nearly every instrument. Poets like Ṭálibí of A´mul, Mullá Murshid i Yazdjirdí, Mír Ni'matullah Váçilí, Mullá Asad Qiççah­khwán, and especially Fughfúrí of Gílán enjoyed his liberality. The last left him, because his verses were too often used for dakhl (vide p. 102, note 6). In his private life, M. Ghází was dissolute. Not only was he given to wine, but he required every night a virgin; girls from all places were brought to him, and the women of the town of T'hat'hah are said to have been so debauched, that every bad woman, even long after his death, claimed relationship with the Mírzá.