The birth took place in the house of Shaikh Daniyal of Ajmer, a holy man whose blessings Akbar had sought and for whom the prince was subsequently named.

[6][7] The emperor, at the time embarking on an expedition to Gujarat, sent the infant Daniyal to be cared for by the queen of Raja Bharmal of Amber.

[8] When Akbar reached Sirohi on his return from Gujarat, he ordered that Madho Singh, son of Bhagwant Das, and other men be sent to fetch Daniyal from Amber and sent along Mariam-uz-Zamani for the mourning of her brother, Kunwar Bhopat, who had fallen in Battle of Sarnal.

[11] The Mughal Emperor Jahangir writes in the Tuzk-e-Jahangiri: "Daniyal was of pleasing figure, of exceedingly agreeable manners and appearance, he was very fond of elephants and horses.

However, when his guardian, his father-in-law Qulij Khan Andijani, returned to court in disgust, Daniyal became apprehensive of the emperor's resulting anger.

[13] In response to defiance displayed by the Sultan of Ahmadnagar, Burhan Nizam Shah II, Akbar launched an invasion of the Deccan in 1593.

Extensive preparations were made, and Daniyal at twenty-two years old was given supreme command of the 70,000 strong army, with Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana and Raja Rai Singh of Bikaner as his advisors.

Prince Murad was told to be prepared to march, Shah Rukh Mirza and Shahbaz Khan were dispatched to raise troops in Malwa and even Raja Man Singh I was summoned from his distant governorship in Bengal to lead an attack from the east.

After having dispatched Daniyal at the head of the army from Lahore in November, Akbar was incensed to learn that his son was still loitering in Sirhind-Fategarh over a month later.

The new sultan, an infant named Bahadur Nizam Shah, was placed under the guardianship of his great-aunt, the dowager queen of Bijapur, Chand Bibi.

Akbar, hearing of this, hastened to Burhanpur and ordered his son to continue his progress to the city of Ahmadnagar and to leave him to deal with the rebel himself.

[17] Hearing of the Mughal army's approach, a Nizam Shahi officer, Abhang Khan attempted to check the advance by occupying the Jaipur Kotly Ghat pass, but Daniyal took an alternate route, reaching the walls of Ahmadnagar unopposed.

Chand Bibi eventually chose to surrender, on the condition of the lives of the garrison, as well as her and the young sultan being allowed to retire safely to Junnar.

On 18 August 1600, mines which Daniyal had planted under the city walls were detonated, resulting in the destruction of a large section, along with one of the towers.

The Mughal troops assaulted and occupied the city, with all the royal children being sent to Akbar and Bahadur Nizam Shah himself being imprisoned in Gwalior.

Afterwards, before returning to Agra, Akbar combined the provinces of Khandesh and Berar with the lands taken from Ahmadnagar to form the viceroyalty of the Deccan, which was then bestowed upon Daniyal, with Burhanpur being named his viceregal capital.

[20][21] The portions of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate which had remained unconquered rallied behind two nobles; the powerful regent Malik Ambar and the former minister Raju Deccani.

[23] Raju meanwhile refused to come out into the open, instead opting to plunder Mughal districts and harass Daniyal's army with his light cavalry.

[1] His nephew Shah Jahan, having seized the throne following the death of Jahangir, had Daniyal's two sons, Tahmuras and Hushang, ordered they sent "out of the world" on 23 January 1628.

[32] Orientalist Henry Beveridge believed, given that Daniyal was fostered with the wife of Raja Bharmal, that the prince was related to her through his mother.

[34] William Finch, an English traveler to the Mughal Court in 1611, visited what he believed to be the tomb of Daniyal's mother, whom he referred to as Anarkali.

[35] The following Persian couplet, composed by Jahangir is inscribed on her sarcophagus:[36] Oh, could I behold the face of my beloved once more, I would give thanks to my God until the day of resurrection.

Akbar threw a great feast, and received such a quantity of presents of gold, and all sorts of precious things, that he was able to equip the army there from.