Dara Shikoh: Difference between revisions

Dara Shikoh had thirteen siblings of whom six survived to adulthood: [[Jahanara Begum]], [[Shah Shuja (Mughal prince)|Shah Shuja]], [[Roshanara Begum]], [[Aurangzeb]], [[Murad Bakhsh]], and [[Gauharara Begum|Gauhara Begum]].<ref>{{harvtxt|Sarker|2007|p=187}}</ref> He shared a close relationship with his older sister, Jahanara. As part of his formal education, Dara studied the [[Quran]], history, Persian poetry and calligraphy.<ref name="Magill">{{cite book |last1=Magill |first1=Frank N. |title=The 17th and 18th Centuries: Dictionary of World Biography |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-92414-0 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HaHdAAAAQBAJ&q=dara+military+inclined&pg=PA69 |language=en}}</ref> He was a liberal-minded unorthodox Muslim unlike his father and his younger brother Aurangzeb.<ref name="Magill" />

As was common for all Mughal sons, Dara Shikoh was appointed as a military commander at an early age, receiving an appointment as commander of 12,000-foot and 6,000 horse in October 1633{{cn|date=June 2020}}{{reliable|date=August 2017}}. He received successive promotions, being promoted to commander of 12,000-foot and 7,000 horse on 20 March 1636, to 15,000-foot and 9,000 horse on 24 August 1637, to 10,000 horse on 19 March 1638, to 20,000-foot and 10,000 horse on 24 January 1639, and to 15,000 horse on 21 January 1642.

On 10 September 1642, Shah Jahan formally confirmed Dara Shikoh as his heir, granting him the title of ''Shahzada-e-Buland Iqbal'' ("Prince of High Fortune") and promoting him to command of 20,000-foot and 20,000 horse.{{cn|date=June 2020}} In 1645, he was appointed as ''[[subahdar]]'' (governor) of [[Allahabad]]. He was promoted to a command of 30,000-foot and 20,000 horse on 18 April 1648, and was appointed Governor of the province of [[Gujarat]] on 3 July.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://ir.amu.ac.in/2792/1/T%205283.pdf | title=Dara Shukoh's Contribution to Philosophy of Religion with Special Reference to his Majma Al-Bahrayn | date=1998 | last=Sakaki, Kazuyo | oclc=1012384466}}</ref>

As his father's health began to decline, Dara Shikoh received a series of increasingly prominent commands. He was appointed Governor of [[Multan]] and [[Kabul]] on 16 August 1652, and was raised to the title of ''Shah-e-Buland Iqbal'' ("King of High Fortune") on 15 February 1655.{{cn|date=June 2020}} He was promoted to command of 40,000-foot and 20,000 horse on 21 January 1656, and to command of 50,000-foot and 40,000 horse on 16 September 1657.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

At the end of 1657, Dara Shikoh was appointed Governor of the province of [[Bihar]] and promoted to command of 60,000 infantry and 40,000 cavalry.(roughly equivalent to [[general]]){{cn|date=June 2020}}

Dara Shikoh was brought to Delhi, placed on a filthy elephant and paraded through the streets of the capital in chains.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/828960/bad-muslim-good-muslim-out-with-aurangzeb-in-with-dara-shikoh|title=Bad Muslim, good Muslim: Out with Aurangzeb, in with Dara Shikoh|first=Ipsita|last=Chakravarty|website=Scroll.in}}</ref><ref>"The captive heir to the richest throne in the world, the favourite and pampered son of the most magnificent of the Great Mughals, was now clad in a travel-tainted dress of the coarsest cloth, with a dark dingy-coloured turban, such as only the poorest wear, on his head, and no necklace or jewel adorning his person." {{cite book |title=A Short History of Aurangzib, 1618–1707 |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |year=1962|publisher=M. C. Sarkar and Sons |location=Calcutta |page=78}}</ref> Dara Shikoh's fate was decided by the political threat he posed as a prince popular with the common people – a convocation of nobles and clergy, called by Aurangzeb in response to the perceived danger of insurrection in Delhi, declared him a threat to the public peace and an apostate from Islam. He was assassinated by four of Aurangzeb's henchmen in front of his terrified son on the night of 30 August 1659 (9 September Gregorian). After death the remains of Dara Shikoh were buried in an unidentified grave in Humayan's tomb in Delhi.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Peacock Throne : The Drama of Mogul India |last=Hansen |first=Waldemar |year=1986 |publisher=Orient Book Distributors |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-208-0225-4 |pages=375–377}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.61973|title=Maasir-i- Alamgiri (1947)|first=Jadunath|last=Sarkar|date=9 September 1947|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> On 26 February 2020 the government of India through [[Archaeological Survey of India]] decided to find the burial spot of Dara Shikoh from the 140 graves in 120 chambers inside Humayun's Tomb. It is considered a difficult task as none of the graves are identified or have inscriptions. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/believed-to-be-inside-humayuns-tomb-dara-shikohs-burial-site-set-to-make-experts-panel-walk-in-dark-2510439.html|title=Believed to be Inside Humayun's Tomb, Dara Shikoh's Burial Site Set to Make Experts' Panel 'Walk in Dark'}}</ref>

Dara Shikoh subsequently developed a friendship with the seventh Sikh Guru, [[Guru Har Rai]]. Dara Shikoh devoted much effort towards finding a common mystical language between Islam and [[Hinduism]]. Towards this goal he completed the translation of fifty [[Upanishads]] from their original [[Sanskrit]] into [[Persian language|Persian]] in 1657 so that they could be studied by Muslim scholars.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/814923/lahores-iconic-mosque-stood-witness-to-two-historic-moments-where-tolerance-gave-way-to-brutality|title=Lahore's iconic mosque stood witness to two historic moments where tolerance gave way to brutality|first=Haroon|last=Khalid|website=Scroll.in}}</ref><ref>Dr. [[Amartya Sen]] notes in his book ''[[The Argumentative Indian]]'' that it was Dara Shikoh's translation of the Upanishads that attracted [[William Jones (philologist)|William Jones]], a Western scholar of Indian literature, to the Upanishads, having read them for the first time in a Persian translation by Dara Shikoh.{{cite book |title=The Argumentative Indian |date=2005-10-05 |url=https://archive.org/details/argumentativeind00sena |url-access=registration |last=Sen |first=Amartya}}</ref> His translation is often called ''[[Sirr-i-Akbar]]'' ("The Greatest Mystery"), where he states boldly, in the introduction, his speculative hypothesis that the work referred to in the [[Qur'an]] as the "''Kitab al-maknun''" or the ''hidden book'', is none other than the [[Upanishads]].<ref>[https://mailman.rice.edu/pipermail/sasialit/2002-February/008773.html Gyani Brahma Singh 'Brahma', ''Dara Shikoh – The Prince who turned Sufi'' in The Sikh Review]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}"the reference in Al Qur’an to the hidden books – ummaukund-Kitab – was to the Upanishads, because they contain the essence of unity and they are the secrets which had to be kept hidden, the most ancient books."</ref> His most famous work, [[Majma-ul-Bahrain]] ("The Confluence of the Two Seas"), was also devoted to a revelation of the mystical and pluralistic affinities between [[Sufism|Sufic]] and [[Vedanta|Vedantic]] speculation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/prince-of-peace/article7015511.ece|title=Prince of peace|first=Nadeem Naqvisanjeev|last=Arora|date=20 March 2015|via=www.thehindu.com}}</ref> The book was authored as a short treatise in Persian in 1654–55.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/emperor-s-old-clothes/story-myjjDFPaNeS9JoLCrIY7NP.html|title=Emperor's old clothes|date=12 April 2007|website=Hindustan Times}}</ref>

The library established by Dara Shikoh still exists on the grounds of [[Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University]], [[Kashmiri Gate (Delhi)|Kashmiri Gate]], [[Delhi]], and is now run as a museum by [[Archaeological Survey of India]] after being renovated.<ref>[http://delhigovt.nic.in/archeology/showMonu.asp?mId=3 Dara Shikoh's Library, Delhi] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411005317/http://delhigovt.nic.in/archeology/showMonu.asp?mId=3 |date=11 April 2009 }} [[Govt.]] of [[Delhi]].</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/Battling-time-Dara-Shikoh%E2%80%99s-Library-cries-out-for-help/article17244376.ece|title=Battling time, Dara Shikoh's Library cries out for help|first=Damini|last=Nath|date=8 February 2017|via=www.thehindu.com}}</ref>

* [[Ranveer Singh]] has been cast as Dara Shikoh in the upcoming [[Karan Johar]] directorial Takht, stated for a 2020 release.

''Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba, Jalal ul-Kadir, Sultan Muhammad Dara Shikoh, Shah-i-Buland Iqbal''{{cn|date=June 2020}}

|3= 3. [[Mumtaz Mahal]]<ref>{{harvtxt|Sarker|2007|p=187}}</ref>

|6= 6. [[Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan]]<ref>{{harvtxt|Thackeray|Findling|2012|p=254}}</ref>

|7= 7. Diwanji Begum<ref>{{harvtxt|Thackeray|Findling|2012|p=254}}</ref>

|10= 10. [[Udai Singh of Marwar|Udai Singh]], Raja of [[Jodhpur State|Marwar]]<ref>{{cite book |first=Soma |last=Mukherjee |title=Royal Mughal Ladies and Their Contributions |year=2001 |p=128}}</ref>