
Muhammad Bairam Khan (18 January 1501-31 January 1561) was regent of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1560, preceding Maham Anga. Commander-in-chief of the Mughal army under Emperor Humayun, he served as his son Akbar's guardian, chief mentor, advisor, adn teacher before being forced into retirement by Akbar on the latter's coming of age in 1560.
Biography[]

Akbar stopping Bairam Khan from executing Balraj Singh
Muhammad Bairam Khan was born in Badakhshan, Afghanistan in 1501 to the Baharlu Turkmen clan of the Qara Qoyunlu confederation. Bairam Khan's father and grandfather served under Babur, and he entered Babur's service at the age of 16 and played an active role in Babur's conquest of northern India. Bairam Khan went on to serve as Emperor Humayun's keeper of the seals, and he accompanied him during military campaigns in Benares (Varanasi), Bengal, and Gujarat. He was captured at the 1540 Battle of Kannauj, but he made an adventurous escape and rejoined Humayun at Sindh in 1543. He accompanied Humayun during his exile in Persia and helped conquer Kandahar before serving as its governor for nine years, and, in 1556, he played a leading role in the reconquest of Hindustran from the Sur Empire.
On Humayun's death in 1556, Bairam Khan - who was leading a campaign against Sikandar Shah Suri in Punjab, was appointed regent over Humayun's son Jalal-ud-Din (later to be known as "Akbar"). Bairam Khan led the Mughal army against the rebellious Hindu general Hemu, leading the victory at the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556. Bairam attempted to force the 13-year-old Akbar to execute the captured Hemu to prove that he was a ghazi (warrior), but, when Akbar hesitated, Bairam Khan beheaded the Hindu general. Relations between Bairam Khan and Akbar soured as Akbar came of age, as Bairam Khan continued to take several decisions without consulting the emperor first. His firing of Pir Muhammad Khan, execution of two of Akbar's favorite personal mahouts, and attempted murder of the captured Rajput leader Balraj Singh (whom Akbar intended to spare) resulted in Akbar firing Bairam Khan with encouragement from Bairam Khan's rivals Maham Anga and Adham Khan. Bairam Khan responded with rebellion, but Akbar's foster-father Ataga Khan defeated Bairam Khan at Gunecur, near Jalandhar, and Bairam Khan surrendered and was forced into exile. While traveling through Gujarat on his way to Mecca, Bairam Khan was assassinated by a group of Afghans led by the oprhan of a soldier who had been slain at the Battle of Machhiwara.