Khanzada Mirza Khan Abdul Rahim (17 December 1556 – 1 October 1627), popularly known as simply Rahim and titled Khan-i-Khanan, was a poet who lived in India during the rule of Mughal emperor Akbar, who was Rahim's mentor. He was one of the nine important ministers (dewan) in Akbar's court, known as the Navaratnas. Rahim was known for his Hindustani dohe (couplets) and his books on astrology.
Abdul Rahim was born in Lahore, the son of Bairam Khan, Akbar's trusted guardian and mentor, who was of Kara Koyunlu Turkic extraction. When Humayun returned to India from his exile, he asked his nobles to forge matrimonial alliances with various zamindars and feudal lords across the nation. Humayun married the elder daughter of Khanzada Jamal Khan of Mewat (now the Nuh district of Haryana) and he asked Bairam Khan to marry the younger daughter.
The Gazetteer of Ulwur (Alwar) states:
After Babur's death, his successor, Humayun, in 1540 was supplanted as ruler by the Pashtun Sher Shah Suri, who, in 1545, was followed by Islam Shah. During the reign of the latter, a battle was fought and lost by the emperor's troops at Firozpur Jhirka, in Mewat. However, Islam Shah did not lose his hold on power. Adil Shah, the third of the Pathan interlopers, who succeeded Islam Shah in 1552, had to contend for the empire with Humayun.
In these struggles for the restoration of Babur's dynasty the Khanzadas apparently do not figure at all. Humayun seems to have conciliated them by marrying the elder daughter of Khanzada Jamal Khan, nephew of Babur's opponent, Khanzada Hasan Khan Mewati, and by requiring his minister, Bairam Khan, to marry the younger daughter of the same Mewati.
The Khanzadas, the royal family of Muslim Jadon (also spelt as Jadaun) Rajputs, converted to Islam after Islamic conquest of northern India. Khanzada is the Persian form of the Indic word 'Rajput'. They were the Mewati chiefs of the Persian historians, who were the representatives of the lords of Mewat State.
Khanzada, or "the son of a Khan" is precisely the Musalman equivalent to the Hindu Rajput or "son of a Raja " ...
After Bairam Khan was murdered in Patan, Gujarat, his first wife and young Rahim were brought safely from Ahmedabad to Delhi and presented at the royal court of Akbar, who gave him the title of 'Mirza Khan', and subsequently married him to Mah Banu (Moon Lady), sister of Mirza Aziz Kokah, son of Ataga Khan, a noted Mughal noble.
Later, Bairam Khan's second wife, Salima Sultan Begum (Rahim's stepmother) married her cousin, Akbar, which made Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khan also his stepson, and later he became one of his nine prominent ministers, the Navaratnas, or nine gems. Aside from being a poet, Rahim Khan was also a general and was sent to deal with the rebellions in Gujarat and later served as the overall commander in the campaigns in Maharashtra.
He received the position and title of Khan-i-Khanan (Generalissimus, Persian خان خانان, DMG khān-i khānān, meaning "Khan of Khans").
Abdul Rahim was known for his peculiarly humble manner when giving alms to the poor. He never looked at the person he was giving alms to, keeping his gaze downwards in all humility. When Tulsidas heard about Rahim's behaviour when giving alms, he promptly wrote a couplet and sent it to Rahim:-
"ऐसी देनी देंन ज्यूँ, कित सीखे हो सैन
ज्यों ज्यों कर ऊंच्यो करो, त्यों त्यों निचे नैन"
"Why give alms like this? Where did you learn that? Your hands are as high as your eyes are low"
Realising that Tulsidas was well aware of the reasons behind his actions, and was merely giving him an opportunity to say a few lines in reply, he wrote to Tulsidas saying:-
"देनहार कोई और है, भेजत जो दिन रैन
लोग भरम हम पर करे, तासो निचे नैन"
"The Giver is someone else, giving day and night. But the world gives me the credit, so I lower my eyes."