Dara Shikoh - The unlucky one
Dara Shikoh -The unlucky one
Dara Shikoh also known as Dara Shukoh, (20 March 1615 – 30
August 1659) was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan . Muhammad Dara Shukoh was born on 20 March 1615
in Ajmer, Rajasthan. He was the first son and third child of Prince
Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram and his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal . The prince
was named by his father. ‘Dara’ means owner of wealth or star in Persian while
the second part of the prince’s name is commonly spelled in two ways: Shikoh
(terror) or Shukoh (majesty or grandeur) .
Dara Shikoh had thirteen siblings of whom six
survived to adulthood: Jahanara Begum, Shah Shuja, Roshanara Begum, Aurangzeb, Murad Bakhsh, and Gauhara Begum . 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 . He was a liberal-minded
unorthodox Muslim unlike his father and his younger brother Aurangzeb . In
October 1627, Dara's grandfather Emperor Jahangir died,
and his father ascended the throne in January 1628 taking the regnal name 'Shah Jahan'. In 1633, Dara was appointed as the Vali-ahad (heir-apparent) to his
father.He, along with his older sister Jahanara, were Shah
Jahan's favourite children .
When prince Dara Shikoh was just seven years
old, his father, Prince Khurram rebelled against the then Emperor Jahangir to
stake a claim on the empire above his two elder brothers. The rebellion stood
little chance of success. Four years later, the defeated prince was welcomed back
into the royal family, forgiven for his mistakes. As a check against his son’s
ambitions, Emperor Jahangir took his grandchildren hostage at the palace and
kept them under the watchful eye of their step grandmother, Nur Jahan .
Dara
Shikoh in love
He translated into Persian the Bhagavad
Gita as well as 52 Upanishads . Dara Shikoh realised the greatness of
the Upanishads and translated them, which were earlier known only to
a few upper caste Hindus .
Written by
Dara Shikoh
Dara Shikoh and Nadira Banu Begum Marriage
The 17th century, Dara Shikoh and Nadira Banu
Begum’s wedding cost about 3.2 million rupees!
It was the largest amount that the Mughals had shelled out for such a
celebration . According to the accompanying text, Dara Shikoh’s brothers,
Princes Muhammad Shah-Shuja, Muhammad Aurangzeb and Muradbakhsh, and
other amirs and dignitaries first went to his residence to celebrate and
present gifts to honour the union. Then they mounted the groom on a
“mountainous, heavenly-moving, rose-coloured horse” and set out in his
entourage, some on horseback, some on foot.
The couple were
believed to be quite devoted to one another. Although Dara Shikoh never built
for Nadira Begum anything that could compare to the Taj Mahal that his father
made for his mother, he never
took another wife despite the prevalent practice of polygyny .
Dara Shikoh Marraige
Amidst the
fireworks and sounds of the Nagada, Nadira Banu Begum’s family greets the
Baraat . The shining green nimbus helps one identify Shahjahan; the fireworks,
candles and torches help illuminate the night. Dara Shikoh, in his brocade
finery leads the procession while the women follow on an elephant in the
distance . Shah Jahan’s presentation cost Rs 150,000 that included a gold
elephant Imari (rider’s seat) and Chitr (umbrella) adorned with strings of pearls. Rs
10,000 were allocated for showering (on dancers and musicians perhaps).
Exquisite dresses, fine silver vessels, and rare gifts from different countries
worth Rs 640,000 were also part of it. Rs 100,000 in cash was in addition to
all this. Silver reins and bridle, brocade and velvet covering for the royal
elephant; horses from Arab, Iraq, Turkmenistan with gold and silver saddles,
and some fast mares, carriages etc were also presented. The ladies of
Haremserai and other noble women were presented with bags of expensive cloth;
many bags also contained jewel studded articles .
Even for
Mughal standards, the wedding was expensive. The Shah Jahan Nama gives a detailed account of the cost
of this wedding : the bride’s trousseau of Rs. 800,000 (more than $12 million
in 2009 dollars) was the largest ever; jewellery and precious gems and ornate
pieces cost Rs 750,000; around Rs 1,800,000 alone, were spent on the initial
rites and rituals. Some of the preparations for this auspicious occasion were
carried out by Shah Bano Mumtaz Mahal Begum while she was still alive (upon her
death, the wedding stood cancelled for a year). The rest were met by the
Princess Jahanara Begum Sahib who
was the head of all the affairs of the Heramserai (the royal household) from
her personal expenses .
From start to end, around Rs
3,000,000 were spent. Shah Jahan granted Rs 400,000 and other
articles worth Rs 200,000. The Harem of Sultan Parviz and esteemed Prince Dara
Shikoh provided Rs 1,000,000 . The Nuptials of Dara Shikoh and Nadira Banu Begum took place on
February 12, 1633 . Marriage complete .
After declaring Dara Shikoh as his
successor, Shah Jahan fell ill and was being taken care of by his favourite son
Dara Shikoh in his newly constructed city of Shahjahanabad (present day Old
Delhi) . 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 . 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 . 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 .
Dara
Shikoh with his Army
On 6 September 1657, the illness of
emperor Shah Jahan triggered a desperate struggle for power among the four
Mughal princes, though realistically only Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb had a
chance of emerging victorious . Despite strong support from Shah Jahan, who had
recovered enough from his illness to remain a strong factor in the struggle for
supremacy, and the victory of his army led by his eldest son Sulaiman Shikoh
over Shah Shuja in the battle of Bahadurpur on 14 February 1658, Dara Shikoh
was defeated by Aurangzeb and Murad during the Battle of
Samugarh, 13 km from Agra on 30
May 1658. Subsequently, Aurangzeb took over Agra fort and deposed emperor Shah
Jahan on 8 June 1658 .
Sword
of Dara Shhikoh
After the defeat, Dara Shikoh retreated
from Agra to Delhi and thence to Lahore. His next destination was Multan and
then to Thatta (Sindh). From
Sindh, he crossed the Rann of Kachchh and reached Kathiawar, where he met Shah Nawaz Khan, the governor of the province
of Gujarat who
opened the treasury to Dara Shikoh and helped him to recruit a new army. He
occupied Surat and advanced towards Ajmer. Foiled in his hopes of persuading
the fickle but powerful Rajput feudatory, Maharaja Jaswant
Singh of Marwar, to support
his cause, Dara Shikoh decided to make a stand and fight the relentless
pursuers sent by Aurangzeb's, but was once again comprehensively routed in the
battle of Deorai (near Ajmer) on 11 March 1659. After this defeat he fled to
Sindh and sought refuge under Malik Jiwan (Junaid Khan Barozai), an Afghan
chieftain, whose life had on more than one occasion been saved by the Mughal
prince from the wrath of Shah Jahan. However, Junaid betrayed Dara Shikoh and turned him (and
his second son Sipihr Shikoh) over to Aurangzeb's army on 10 June 1659 .
Mugal’s Sword
With Shah Shuja and Murad out of his way
and his father jailed in Agra, Aurangzeb then went after Dara Shikoh. Chasing
after him, Aurangzeb declared that Dara Shikoh was not a Muslim anymore and
that he had killed the Grand Vizier Saadullah Khan (neither of these claims were
verified). After many battles, Dara was betrayed by one of his Generals who
arrested him and handed him over to Aurangzeb .
Dara Shikoh pic in British Library
Dara Shikoh was
brought to Delhi, placed on a filthy elephant and paraded through the streets
of the capital in chains . In 1658, Aurangzeb organized
his coronation in Delhi and had Dara Shikoh chained and paraded through the
streets all the way through Delhi, where he was executed on 30th August 1659. The order was given the day after Dara had been
paraded in the streets, on the 21st Zi Hajjah 1069; and Saif Khan, and several
trustworthy chelahs (slaves), as Nazar Beg, killed Dara, in the beginning of
the night at Khizrabad (Tuesday evening, August 30, 1659).* His body was taken
to Humayiin’s tomb, and buried below. (These details are taken from
the Alamgirnamah, pp 218 to 325, 408 to 415, 430 to 435.) . After having gained the throne and becoming
the Emperor, Aurangzeb still kept his father imprisoned in the Agra Fort. Shah
Jahan was not ill treated and on the contrary was taken care of by his
favourite daughter Jahanara Begum.
Dara Sword
After
death the remains of Dara Shikoh were buried in an unidentified grave in
Humayan's tomb in Delhi. 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 .
Dara in Bedroom
Niccolao
Manucci, the Venetian traveler who worked in the Mughal court, has
written down the details of Dara Shikoh's death. According to him, upon Dara's
capture, Aurangzeb ordered his men to have his head brought up to him and he
inspected it thoroughly to ensure that it was Dara indeed. He then further
mutilated the head with his sword three times. After which, he ordered the head
to be put in a box and presented to his ailing father, Shah Jahan, with clear
instructions to be delivered only when the old King sat for his dinner in his
prison. The guards were also instructed to inform Shah Jahan that, "King Aurangzeb, your son, sends this
plate to let him (Shah Jahan) see that he does not forget him". Shah
Jahan instantly became happy (not knowing what was in store in the box) and
uttered, “ Blessed be God that my
son still remembers me". Upon opening the box, Shah Jahan
became horrified and fell unconscious.
Iranian custume by Dara Shikoh
Dara
Shikoh was a follower of the Armenian Sufi-perennialist mystic Sarmad
Kashani, as well as Lahore's
famous Qadiri Sufi saint Mian Mir . 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 in
1657 so that they could be studied by Muslim scholars . He was also a patron of
fine arts, music and dancing, a trait frowned upon by his younger sibling
Muhiuddin, later the Emperor Aurangzeb. The 'Dara Shikoh' is a collection of
paintings and calligraphy assembled from the 1630s until his death. It was
presented to his wife Nadira Banu in 1641–42[52] and
remained with her until her death after which the album was taken into the
royal library and the inscriptions connecting it with Dara Shikoh were
deliberately erased; however not everything was vandalised and many calligraphy scripts
and paintings still bear his mark. Among the existing paintings from the Dara
Shikoh Album .
Dara
Shikoh award awarded by Indo-Iranian society. The award includes a sum of Rs. 1
lakh, a shawl and citation. Sheila
Dixit former Delhi CM (1998–2013) was a recipient in 2010 .
Thank you for read
Please reply comment your thought about Dara Shikoh .
Best wishes from
Suvendu Singha (India , Odisha ,Baleswar , Jaleswar )
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