A lecture at The 2nd Floor was conducted to shed light on the political and theological implications of Dara Shikoh’s scholarly work on the Upanishads. Dr Munis Faruqui, Assistant Professor at the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies of the University of California, Berkley delivered the talk titled ‘New Perspectives on the Mughals: The Case of Dara Shikoh’.
Faruqui, whose teaching and research specialisations include Islam in South Asia, pre-modern South Asia, Mughal India and Urdu, noted that the life and death of Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb – the first and third sons of Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan – have been shrouded in controversy. He informed the audience that Dara Shikoh was the heir apparent to the throne of Shah Jehan, but the crown was usurped by Aurangzeb.
Subsequently, Dara Shikoh, a great scholar of Sufism who commissioned the translation of sacred Hindu texts including the Upanishads into Persian, was executed on charges of heresy. “Might the princely careers of the brothers and archrivals been a little more complicated than previously imagined?” Faruqui queried.
Faruqui explored the journey that led Dara Shikoh to proclaim the importance of the Upanishads to Muslims and to the world. Faruqui highlighted that in the Upanishads, Dara Shikoh believed he had found the lost Kitabal Maknun, or hidden/protected book, referred to in the holy Quran as humanity’s first monotheistic text.
Faruqui talked about the endgame of imperial succession, especially in relation to the religious and political ideology of Aurangzeb. He said that the political context in which Dara Shikoh was operating helps us understand his idiosyncratic editorial decisions and proclamations. He highlighted the prince’s reliance on Shankaracharya, the seventh century Hindu intellectual, for commentary on the Upanishads.
The lecture was organised by the Habib University Foundation (HUF), a not-for-profit organisation that supports educational initiatives, research and innovation. Established in October 2007 by the House of Habib, HUF’s primary project is the establishment of Habib University, a world-class liberal arts and sciences university in Karachi. The varsity would prepare students for academic and professional success by offering a holistic, interdisciplinary education in the sciences, engineering, arts, humanities and social sciences. The university has formal partnerships with Carnegie Mellon University and Texas A&M University in Qatar.
The story of Dara Shikoh: Prince Dara Shikoh was the eldest son and the heir apparent of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Dara Shikoh’s name in Persian means ‘Darius the Magnificent’. He was favoured as a successor by his father and sister Princess Jahanara, but was defeated by his younger brother Prince Muhiuddin – later Emperor Aurangzeb – in a bitter struggle for the imperial throne. The course of the history of the Indian subcontinent, had Dara prevailed over Aurangzeb, has been a matter of some conjecture among historians.
On September 6, 1657, the illness of Shah Jahan triggered a desperate struggle for power among the four Mughal princes. Though, realistically, only Dara 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, Dara was defeated by Aurangzeb.
Dara’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, 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 August 30, 1659. WIKIPEDIA
