Dara Shikoh: Exploring the Legacy of an Indo-Islamic Mystic Diplomat

DARA SHIKOH; AN AMBASSADOR OF INDO - ISLAMIC  MYSTICISM

Dr. Bilal Ahmad Shiekh

Research Scholar, School of Arts and Languages, Department of Persian, University of Kashmir. 

Research Paper Arts E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 6 | Issue : 11 | Nov 2020

ABSTRACT

 Dara Shikoh (1615-1659) was reknowed Sufi, author, poet, and translator of Hindu Religious Testimonies. He is the eldest son of Shahjahan and designated crown  prince. He occupied a unique position among all Mughal princes because of his comparative study of Islamic mysticism and classical Hindu philosophy. Dara Shikoh  greatly worked for the Indo- Islamic mysticism by highlighting the similarities between ancient Hindu and Islamic Sufi teachings. He not only followed the liberal  religious attitude of his grandfather Akbar but gave a new dimension to Indo-Islamic Mysticism in India and it spread all over the world through his mystical works.  Dara Shikoh being a disciple of Mian Mir Qadari and a great follower of Qadari order of Sufism devoted his much time for the search of truth. And during his study and  research he felt that the search for God (truth) was same at all the times and all over the world. He preached the mingling of classical Hindu philosophy and Islamic  Mysticism and always tried to find the common grounds between these two thoughts so that a healthier tradition could be produced, that will lead to universal  brotherhood among the followers of different religions, which is outmost need of the present world. This was crux of Indo-Islamic Mysticism produced by the Dara  Shikoh. He was executed by his younger brother Aurangzeb on political and religious basis. Aurangzeb was a stanch Sunnie Muslim, who followed the policy of  intolerance with Hindus and spiritual persons like Dara Shikoh and the great Sufi sage and Persian poet Sarmad.

KEY WORDS: Dara Shikoh, Islamic Mysticism, Tawhid, Hindu philosophy, Dara Upanishads, Yoga Vashista. 

INTRODUCTION: 

Sufism is a mystical form of Islam, a school of practice that emphasis the inward  search for God and rejects materialism. The idea after Sufism are the Holy versus  of God and the Hadiths of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). But, this  word “Sufism” is not found at all in Holy Quran. Sufism or mysticism is a prac tice that purifies the Sufi's from evil deeds and makes them able to search for God  and reach the actual truth.

When we look upon the mystical thought in Indian subcontinent, it came here  with the arrival of Sufi saints, along the spreading wave of Islam from the middle  th th eastern countries during the 11 and 12 Century A.D. The Sufi's spread the beau tiful messages of Islam in India not only by demonstrations but by the realistic  conduct and desire to create an evil less society. They worked for the peace and  harmony in the country; their mission was always to serve the mankind and wor ship the Almighty Allah only. They believe in peace, tolerance, compassion and  universal brotherhood.

Dara Shikoh was born at Ajmer (Monday night, the 29 Safar, 1024 A.H). The city  hallowed by the memory of the great mystic Khawaja Maeen-u Din Chesti,  whose tomb was there since centuries, and is being visited by the number of  devoted followers. The king Shahjahan was also one of the great followers of the  mystic saint and frequently visited the tomb of the Chesti saint and prayed ear nestly for the birth of a male child. The prayers were accepted by the almighty  Allah (swt) and Dara was born. It is said that Dara's birth was naturally hailed  with the outburst of feeling of joy by his devoted father. King Jahangir named the  child as Dara Shikoh and poet laureate of the Jahangir's court Kaleem Kashani  said a famous Caught “Gul-e Awaleen Gulistaan-e Shahi”.

Dara Shikoh's was unique among the Mughal family and entirely distinct in all  respects from other princes of the entire Mughal house. In fact the qualities of his  two great ancestors Humayun and Akbar were found in him. The Humayun who  had lost his life while descending from the stairs of royal Mughal library used to  spend most of his time in library to acquire knowledge and the same habit was  inherited in Dara Shikoh who spent his whole life on the study mysticism. While  the interest in comparative religions, universal brotherhood, humanism, communal harmony and peace was acquired from Akbar the Great; these qualities  played a significant role in shaping his mind. His great mission in life was the pro motion of peace and harmony among the followers of Hinduism and Islam.  Throughout his life he worked for the promotion of universal brotherhood and  promoted the ethical and moral thought through his great pieces of literature.

Dara Shikoh was a great patron of art, architecture and literature. He was always  surrounded by scholars and artists. He himself was a skilled calligrapher, artist,  poet, writer and translator of Sanskrit books. He wrote several books on Sufism  and translated a few remarkable Sanskrit works into Persian with the help of  some Hindu writers. He used all his skills for the promotion of peace and universal brotherhood throughout his life. His mission of life was to eradicate the hatred  among the human beings on the basis of religion and status. According to his  school of thought God has created humans equally and all religions lead towards  one God. Because of his school of thought he faced so many controversies and difficulties in life but never gave up until he was beheaded by his younger brother  Aurangzeb Alamgir on 10 September, 1659, at the age of 44 years.   

Dara Shikoh Qadari was one of the great Sufi from the royal Mughal family, he  was a good writer, poet, translator, calligrapher and elder son of Shahjahan and  Mumtaz Mahal. Keeping aside his political outlook I mainly try to focus on his  contribution as an ambassador of indo- Islamic mysticism. Dara Shikoh's personality was developed in a mystical and intellectual environment which encour aged him for gaining knowledge of metaphysics and boosted him in the search of  truth. During his life he interacted with different Islamic Sufi's and Hindu yogis  of that time and was impressed by these Sufi's and yogi's. He was attracted  towards Qadari order and attached himself with Miya Mir Qadari and Mullah  Shah Badakshi. The Qadari order was established by Sheikh Abdul Qadar Jilani  (1078-1116). The Qadari teachings emphasize the struggle against the desires of  the ego. Jilani defined it as, “the greater struggle”. This has two stages first  against deeds forbidden by religious law and second against fundamental values  such as greed, vanity, and fear.

He opened a new window in Indian Islamic mysticism and his thought spread  throughout the world by his sufistic works. His works are broadly categorized  into two parts; the first consists of manuscripts on Islamic Mysticism and Muslim  saints, the most important of these being the Safinat ul- Auliya (1640), the  Sikanat ul- Auliya (1642), the Risala-I Haq Numa (1651-1653), the Hasanatul Arifeen (1652) and the Iksir-I-Azam. The second part consists of writings such as  the Majma ul- Behrain (1653), the Mukalama-i- Baba Lal Das Wa Dara Shikoh  (1653), the Sirr-i Akbar (1657) and his Persian translations of the Yoga Vashista  and the Gita.

Safinat ul- Auliya (1640): Dara Shikoh wrote the biography of Sufi saints and  there relation with different orders of Mysticism. He has started the book by  praising Almighty Allah and last prophet of the Universe Hazrat Mohammad  (peace be upon him). He praised the four friends or great Shaba's and two grandsons of prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) then he has discussed all the  Sufi saints one by one. While discussing them he gave the examples of their mira cles. In this master piece of work Dara Shikoh discussed the Sufi saints of  Nakashbandi order, Suharwardi order, Qadari Order and Chesti order. During  writing the book Dara Shikoh took help from Ganiat-ul Talibeen and Kashif-ul  Mehjoob of Abdul Qadir Jilani and Ali Hijwari Daata Gang Bakhsh respectively. 

Sikanat ul- Auliya (1642): Dara Shikoh was the disciple of Qadari order and  was associated to Mian Mir Qadari and mullah shah Badakhshi. He had a great  knowledge of mysticism and has mastery over Persian language. He wrote a  book on the life, works, miracles and golden sayings of his spiritual guides like  Mian Mir Qadari and Mullah Shah Badakhshi. He has started the book by praising Almighty Allah and prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). Dara Shikoh  also discussed some important points of mysticism in this book.

Risala-I Haq Numa (1646): This is a small pamphlet written by Dara Shikoh in  Persian language. Haq means Truth and Numa means Pointing. So Haq Numa  means pointing towards truth. Dara Shikoh in this pamphlet described four planes of existence as: Nasut (physical), Jabarut (blissful), Malakut (super physi cal) and Lahut (Divine). Another name of this pamphlet is Darul Nukaat. In this  small piece of literature Dara Shikoh writes that when a mystic seeker gets  deeper and deeper in mysticism and makes a relationship with his spiritual guide  who polishes him has to read and study this pamphlet. This is a small book but is  much more important in understanding the mystical thought given by a great Sufi  scholar of Mughal period who can be rightly called “an ambassador of indo Islamic mysticism”. 

Hasanatul- Arifeen (1652): Dara Shikoh is the author of this great work on mys ticism namely Hasanatul- Arifeen written in 1652 AD, as he attained grasp on Per sian poetry, prose and Mysticism. This book is a Persian prose with some poetry  also, to make this interesting and meaningful for readers. In the introduction of  this book Dara Shikoh says that in the condition of “Wajed”, some secrets of truth  come on tongue, which are not understood by these self -styled “Ulimas”. After  listening to these secrets they put the tag of kufr on me. Dara says in order to get  rid of these tags, i am writing this book.

Dara Shikoh in this literary piece criticized the self-styled 'Ulima' who only  focuses on the external appearance while ignoring the actual eternal faith of  Islam. This is the third book of Dara Shikoh in the track of his Sufistic works. It  has a significant importance in his sufistic thought. 

Iksir-I- Azam: Dara Shikoh was a great poet of his period mentioned by his con temporary intellectuals. The author of “Khazinat- ul Asifiya” Mufti Ghulam  Sarwar Lahori remarks about his poetry that, “his poetry is like the ocean of Uni tarianism flowing out of his pearl scattering tongue; or like the sun of monothe ism, rising from the horizon in the manner of his luminous opening verse  (Malta)”.

Iksir-I-Azam is the Diwan of Dara Shikoh, which has Quatrains and Ghazals. In  this poetic work he has expressed the Sufistic views and described monotheism  in his own unique way. The Diwan was first published by Asiatic society Cal cutta.

Majma ul- Behrain (1653): Dara Shikoh is the author of this incredible manu script known by the name of Majma ul- Behrain, “Mingling of two oceans” origi nally written in Persian language, its Hindi version is called Samudra Sangam  Grantha. This book is considered as one of his top works on comparative reli gions. It was devoted to a revelation of the mystical and pluralistic affinities  between Sufism and Vadantic speculation.

Majma-ul Behrain is one among the earliest works on comparative religions  which was written for the unity of Islam, Hinduism and other religions. Dara  Shikoh was keen for the comparative religions which come out in the form of this  book, which has a literary and universal importance. He studied the common  things in these religions especially the “Unity of God”. He has revealed that there  must not be any reason for religions hatred among different religions because  God has created man equally and all religions lead to one God. 

Muqalama- Baba Lal Das Wa Dara Shikoh- (1653): This is a summary of long  discussion between Baba Lal Das and Dara Shikoh. The discussion was trans lated into Persian by Dara's contemporary writer Chander Bhan Brahman who is  one of the known writer of his period. Baba Lal Das was a good friend of Dara  Shikoh's spiritual guide Mian Mir Qadari. Dara Shikoh was interested to meet  him. When Baba Lal Das came to Lahore, Dara himself went to meet him and  asked some questions regarding Hinduism. Baba Lal Das had a good knowledge  of Hinduism and gave satisfied answers to the questions. Dara Shikoh was  greatly influenced by his answers and his knowledge of Hinduism and Hindu spir ituality. 

Sir-I-Akbar (1657): Dara Shikoh had always quest for the common mystical her itage between Hinduism and Islam. Despite his busy political life, he spent his  much more time in translating the Upanishads. In order to fulfill his quest, he did  a significant task with the help of Hindu writers. This translation of Upanishads is  appropriately called Sir-I-Akbar “the greatest secrets”. He completed the translation of fifty-two Upanishads in 1657.

It is Sir-I-Akbar, which spread the upanishadic knowledge to the rest of the  world. Different writers translated the Upanishads but it was Dara Shikoh's trans lation which did the great job in this regard. It was two years after Dara Shikoh did this translation, he was executed by his younger brother Aurangzeb in 1659.  After the deep analysis of Dara's spiritual thought, we came to know some points  about him which are discussed under followings headings.

Explanation of Sufi's and Sufism: Dara Shikoh explained Sufi's and Sufism in  his unique style which he felt missing during his time. His faith in the spiritual  power of saints and his interest in this field were firmly established after visiting  Hazrat Mian Mir. He wrote a biography of the Sufi's namely Safeenatul Auliya,  starting by the praise of Almighty Allah and praise of prophet Mohammad (peace  be upon Him) as usual. He discussed the saints of different orders such as  Nakashbandi, Suharwardi, Qadari and Chesti and wrote their marvels as well.

He wrote another biography of his spiritual guides Mian Mir Qadari and Mullah Shah Badakshi. Beside that he wrote marvels, sensational works and their  sufistic thought. By writing this book Dra Shikoh showed his gratitude for Suf ism Sufi's and his spiritual guides. 

Mingling of Islamic Mysticism and Hindu mysticism: Dara Shikoh gave new  dimensions to Sufism in India by mingling Sufism and Hindu spirituality and  revealed that both of these lead to the same truth. His comparative religious study  gave him a unique way of thinking and led him to a new thought that can be seen  in his book Majma ul- Behrain (Mingling of two oceans). During study he  searched the similarities between Hinduism and Islam and gave a sufistic  thought of religious tolerance, peace, humanism and universal brotherhood. For  example, he says the Hindu notion of mukti, is similar with the concept of salva tion, denoting the annihilation of the self in God. The Sufi concept of love is said  to be similar with the concept of Maya of the Hindu monotheists.

The basic message of Dara Shikoh's spiritual thought mentioned in Majma ul  Behrain is summed up in his own words as; 'Mysticism is equality' ; 'if I know that  an infidel, immersed in sin, is in a way, singing the note song of monotheism, I go  to him, hear him and i am grateful to him'.

Dara Shikoh has written in the translations of Upanishads that a strong strain of  monotheism may be found in the Vedas and is of the opinion that the monotheis tic philosophy of the Upanishads may be 'in conformity with the Holy Quran and  a commentary thereon. This translation of Upanishads by Dara Shikoh played a  vital role in awakening the west to the wisdom of the Upanishads.

Concept of Monotheism “Tawhid”: Dara writes,

'man is a drop and God is ocean’

 'look where you can, All is He,

God's face is ever face to face.

The absolute is the one creator of all creations and is pervading into all. Dara  Shikoh was fully faithful in the existence of one God. He searched for the unity of  God in comparative religions. He felt that all religions lead to one God who is  omnipotent and worthy of worship. During study of Upanishads, he reached to  the conclusion that the upanishadic knowledge also verifies the unity of God. He  opines that the 'great secret' of the Upanishads is the monotheistic message,  which is similar to that, on which the Holy Quran is based.

Anti-mullah concept: Dara Shikoh was against the fundamental molvi's  because his attitude was always friendly with the people of other religions and  against religious intolerance. He in his book Hasanat ul- Arifeen criticized bit terly the molvi's who ignore the inner dimensions of faith, and focus simply on  external faith and external appearance. 

Dara in this regard followed the anti-mullah trend of famous Persian poet of Shi raz namely Hafiz Shirazi who was eagerly against the externally looking molvi's  (zahir parist molvi's), he says that these molvi's are demonstrating the religion  and morality on the dice and in Masjids but when are alone do the other things  instead. Dara Shikoh in his poetry says, 'Paradise is a place with no Mullah and it  is free from their noise and quarrel'. Against this, the then Ulima's gave the fatwa  of traitor (Mulhid) with regards to his translation of Upanishads and Majma ul Behrain. These fatwahs became one of the reasons for Aurangzeb Alamgir to kill  Dara Shikoh. 

Stages of Sufism: Dara Shikoh's interest and love towards Sufism was enriched  and shined by his deep study and meetings with different Muslim and Hindu  saints. His spiritual guides like Mian Mir Qadari and Mullah Shah Badakhshi  played a significant role in developing his spiritual thought. 

Dara Shikoh, in one of his booklets namely Risala-Haq Numa discussed different  stages of mysticism. According to him a seeker starts from Alam-I nasut (physi cal plane) and passes through different stages and finally reaches to Alam-I lahut  (plane of absolute truth). He talks about four stages through which the Sufi  seeker's journey takes him like Nasut (Human World), Malakut (invisible world),  Jabrut (Highest Heaven) and Lahut (Divine essence). 

CONCLUSION: 

Dara Shikoh was a Sufi seeker (salik), who never wished to abandon the Islamic  thought but to expand its boundaries. He spent most of his time in search of truth  like a professional scholar besides political inclination. He searched for the  (Unity of God) in different religions and found that all religions lead to one God,  Who is almighty, omnipotent and creator of the whole Universe.

 Dara gave new dimensions to Indo- Islamic mysticism by mingling Islamic mys ticism and Hindu spirituality and found so many similarities which remained the  basis for unifying these two oceans. This is actually the fundamental mystical  concept of Dara Shikoh which differentiates him from others and really make  him the ambassador of indo- Islamic mysticism. 

Dara Shikoh throughout his life worked for the unity and communal harmony  among the Muslims and Hindu communities of India. He was always against reli gious intolerance and priest dominant society. But his dream wasn't fulfilled as  his younger brother Aurangzeb killed him for the throne of Mughal kingship.

Dara Shikoh despite of his mystical life, himself fought some battles with his brothers, every time he wanted peace and prosperity among his brothers but they  were much greedy for the royal throne and never gave positive response to his attempts in bringing peace and prosperity. 

Present circumstances throughout the world especially in India are going worse to worst by illogical and unethical religious intolerance which is a big hurdle to form a peaceful and prosperous society. So if we wish a peaceful society we have to follow the message of Universal brotherhood given by Dara Shikoh Qadari in his writings.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

I. Ahmad Nabi Khan, Diwan of Dara Shikoh, Iksir-I-Azam, Research Society of Paki

stan University of Punjab, Lahore, 1969.

II. Brahman, Chander Bhan, Lahore Ki Mulakat, Urdu translation by Professor Mazhar

ur-Allah Qureshi, March- April 2018.

III. B.J. Hasrat, Dara Shikoh; Life and Works, Calcutta, 1935.

IV. Dara Shikoh, Sikanat-ul-Auliya, Urdu translation by Professor Maqbool Beg 

Badakhshani, Lahore, 1976.

V. Dara Shikoh, Safinat-ul-Auliya Urdu translation by Mohammad Ali Latufi, Farid 

Book Depot, Delhi.

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VII. K.R. Qanungo, Dara Shikoh: Biography, Calcutta 1935.

VIII. Muhammad Dara Shikoh, Risala- I-Haq- Numa, English translation by Rai Bahadur 

Srisa Chandra Vasu, Allahabad 1912.

IX. Shakeel-Ur-Rehman, Mohammad Dara Shikoh Aak Taruf, Urfi Publications, 2012.

X. Syed Mohammad Islam Shah, Dara Shikoh Kay Mazhabi Akayad, Lahore, 1968.

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RESEARCH JOURNALS & PAPERS:

I Afghanistan Quarterly Vol-11.

II. International Journal of History and Research. ISSN 2249-6963, Vol 2.

III. Shahid Latif & Abdul Qadir Mushtaq, Dara Shikoh: Mystical and Philosophical Dis

course, International Journal of History and Research (IJHR) ISSN 2249-6963, 

vol.3, Issue 2 June 2013.