Dara Shikoh

Dara Shikoh
Shahzada of the Mughal Empire
Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba
Shah-e-Buland Iqbal
Timurid Prince
Mirza[1]
Prince Dara Shikoh by Chitarman, c. 1654
Heir apparent of Mughal Empire
Reign1633 – 31 July 1658
Subahdar of Multan
Reign1652–1658
BadshahShah Jahan
Subahdar of Kabul
Reign1652–1658
BadshahShah Jahan
Subahdar of Gujrat
Reign1648–1658
BadshahShah Jahan
Subahdar of Allahabad
Reign1645–1658
BadshahShah Jahan
Born(1615-03-20)20 March 1615[2]
Ajmer, Rajputana, Mughal Empire
Died30 August 1659(1659-08-30) (aged 44)[3]
Delhi, Mughal Empire
Burial
Humayun's Tomb
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1633; d. 1659)​
Issue
Names
Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba, Jalal ul-Kadir Sultan Muhammad Dara Shikoh Shah-i-Buland Iqbal
HouseHouse of Babur
Dynasty Timurid dynasty
FatherShah Jahan
MotherMumtaz Mahal
ReligionSunni Islam

Dara Shikoh (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659),[2][4] also transliterated as Dara Shukoh, was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.[5] Dara was designated with the title Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba (lit. 'Prince of High Rank')[6] and was favoured as a successor by his father and his elder sister, Princess Jahanara Begum. He had been given the title of 'Shah-e-Buland Iqbal' by Shah Jahan. In the war of succession which ensued after Shah Jahan's illness in 1657, Dara was defeated by his younger brother Prince Muhiuddin (later, the Emperor Aurangzeb). He was executed in 1659 on Aurangzeb's orders in a bitter struggle for the imperial throne.[7]

Dara was a liberal-minded unorthodox Muslim as opposed to the orthodox Aurangzeb; he authored the work The Confluence of the Two Seas, which argues for the harmony of Sufi philosophy in Islam and Vedanta philosophy in Hinduism. A great patron of the arts, he was also more inclined towards philosophy and mysticism rather than military pursuits. The course of the history of the Indian subcontinent, had Dara Shikoh prevailed over Aurangzeb, has been a matter of some conjecture among historians.[8][9][10]

  1. ^ "Past present: Emperor's new names". DAWN.COM. 1 January 2011.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Jahangirnama461 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Sarkar, Sir Jadunath (1972). Sir Jadunath Sarkar birth centenary commemoration volume: English translation of Tarikh-i-dilkasha (Memoirs of Bhimsen relating to Aurangzib's Deccan campaigns). Dept. of Archives, Maharashtra. p. 28.
  4. ^ Awrangābādī, Shāhnavāz Khān; Shāhnavāz, ʻAbd al-Ḥayy ibn; Prashad, Baini (1952). The Maāthir-ul-umarā: being biographies of the Muhammādan and Hindu officers of the Timurid sovereigns of India from 1500 to about 1780 A.D. Asiatic Society. p. 684.
  5. ^ Thackeray, Frank W.; Findling, John E. (2012). Events that formed the modern world : from the African Renaissance through the War on Terror. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-59884-901-1.
  6. ^ Khan, 'Inayat; Begley, Wayne Edison (1990). The Shah Jahan nama of 'Inayat Khan: an abridged history of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, compiled by his royal librarian : the nineteenth-century manuscript translation of A.R. Fuller (British Library, add. 30,777). Oxford University Press. p. 4. ISBN 9780195624892.
  7. ^ Mukhoty, Ira (17 May 2018). "Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh's fight for the throne was entwined with the rivalry of their two sisters". Scroll.in.
  8. ^ "India was at a crossroads in the mid-seventeenth century; it had the potential of moving forward with Dara Shikoh, or of turning back to medievalism with Aurangzeb".Eraly, Abraham (2004). The Mughal Throne: The Saga of India's Great Emperors. London: Phoenix. p. 336. ISBN 0-7538-1758-6.
    "Poor Dara Shikoh!....thy generous heart and enlightened mind had reigned over this vast empire, and made it, perchance, the garden it deserves to be made". William Sleeman (1844), E-text of Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official p.272
  9. ^ "Dārā Shikōh | Mughal emperor". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  10. ^ Meri, Josef W. (18 August 2006). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Psychology Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-415-96690-0 – via Google Books.