The Vice President calls Dara Shikoh a torchbearer of social harmony.
Who was Dara Shikoh?
Dara Shikoh, who was Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s son and expected heir, was killed on the orders of his brother Aurangzeb in 1659 after losing the war of succession.
He was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
Dara was designated with the title Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba (Prince of High Rank) and was favored as a successor by his father and his older sister, Princess Jahanara Begum.
In the war of succession which ensued after Shah Jahan’s illness in 1657, Dara was defeated by his younger brother Prince Muhiuddin (Aurangzeb).
He was executed in 1659 on Aurangzeb’s orders in a bitter struggle for the imperial throne.
His legacy
Dara was a liberal-minded unorthodox Muslim as opposed to the orthodox Aurangzeb.
He authored the work Majma Ul-Bahrain (The Confluence of the Two Seas), which argues for the harmony of Sufi philosophy in Islam and Vedanta philosophy in Hinduism.
His most important works, Majma-ul-Bahrain (Mingling of Two Oceans) and Sirr-i-Akbar (Great Mystery) are devoted to the cause of establishing connections between Hinduism and Islam.
It was Dara Shikoh who was responsible for making the Upanishads available to the West as he had them translated.
He translated the Upanishads and other important works from Sanskrit to Persian.
He was convinced that the Upanishads are what the Qur’an calls ‘Al-Kitab Al-Maknoun’ (The Hidden book).
He had commissioned a translation of Yoga Vasistha.
A great patron of the arts, he was also more inclined towards philosophy and mysticism rather than military pursuits.
Dara Shikoh had a keen interest in the fine arts and architecture. An album he dedicated to his wife is a treasure of Indian art.
A rare miniature painting showing him with his spiritual masters is preserved in the library of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
As a talented architect, he designed the beautiful Pari Mahal Garden Palace in Srinagar and many other monuments.
He wrote ‘Risala-i-hak Numa’ (The Compass of the Truth), the ‘Shathiyat or Hasanat-ul-Arifin’ and the ‘Iksir-i-Azam’.
He also commissioned the ‘Jug Bashist’ and the ‘Tarjuma-i-Akwal-i-Wasili’.
