Murad was born on 7 June 1570 in the house of the saint Shaikh Salim Chishti, at Fathabad (Fatehpur Sikri), Agra. Murad was born barely nine months after the birth of his older brother and heir apparent, Prince Salim. In the year 1581, Prince Murad was temporarily educated by the visiting Jesuit at the Mughal Court, Fr. Anthony Monserrate, also regarded as the first Jesuit geographer in India.