Mirza Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana was the son of Akbar’s trusted caretaker, Bairam Khan who had Turk ancestry. His mother was the daughter of Jamal Khan of Mewat. Abdul Rahim was born in Lahore.
After Bairam Khan was murdered, his wife became the second wife of Akbar, which made Abdul Rahim Khan-e-Khan his stepson, and later he became one of his nine prominent ministers, the Navaratnas, or nine gems.
Although a Muslim by birth, Rahim was a devotee of Lord Krishna and wrote poetry dedicated to him. He was also an avid Astrolger, and the writer if two important works in Astrology Khet Kautukam and Dwawishd Yogavali are still popular.
He is well known for his strange manner of 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 strange method of giving alms, he promptly wrote a couplet and sent it to Rahim:
Aisi deni den jyu, kit seekhe ho sainjyon jyon kar oonchyo karo, tyon tyon niche nain
"Sir, Why give gifts like this? Where'd you learn that?Your hands are as high as your eyes are low"
Realizing that Tulsidas was well 'Aware' of the 'Truth' behind creation, and was merely giving him an opportunity to say a few lines in reply, he wrote to Tulsidas in all humility:
Denhar koi aur hai, bhejat jo din rainLog bharam hum par kare, taaso niche nain
"The Giver is someone else, bestowing, day and night.The world gives me credit: so, down are my eyes."
His two sons were killed by Akbar's son Jehangir and their bodies left to rot at the Khooni Darwaza because Rahim was not in favour of Jehangir's accession to the throne at Akbar's death.
His tomb is situated ahead of Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi. Later, in 1753-4, marble and sandstone from this tomb was used for the making of Safdarjung's Tomb, also in New Delhi.
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