In the shadow of swords and scriptures, one prince stood apart — Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Destined to inherit the throne, Dara chose the path of spiritual unity over imperial conquest. His execution in 1659 by his brother Aurangzeb marked not only the death of a prince, but the eclipse of a syncretic, inclusive vision for the Indian Subcontinent.

A Sindhi Saint, a Royal Disciple

Dara’s spiritual mentor was Mian Mir, the revered Sufi saint of the Qadiriyya order, whose roots lay in Sehwan, Sindh. Mian Mir was the grandson of Qazi Qadan (1493-1551), the great Sindhi scholar and poet, who laid the early foundations of Islamic and literary traditions in Sindh. His Sindhi heritage and deep mystical teachings shaped Dara’s sensibilities, grounding his intellect in the soil of a multi-religious, poetic tradition.

From Mian Mir, Dara imbibed a worldview rooted in compassion, mysticism and unity. Mian Mir’s own gesture of laying the foundation stone of the Golden Temple in Amritsar at the invitation of Sikhism’s Guru Arjan Dev exemplified the interfaith harmony that shaped Dara’s soul.

Scholar, translator and heir to the Mughal throne, Dara Shikoh was declared a heretic for believing Hindu sages and Sufi saints spoke the same truth. His killing was more than just fratricide…

Dara was also drawn to the wild and fearless Sufi Sarmad Kashani, whose haunting poetry and public defiance of orthodoxy captivated Dara’s imagination. Sarmad was an Armenian Jew-turned-Muslim mystic who wandered Delhi unclothed, immersed in ecstatic visions. These were not mere affiliations — they formed the spiritual DNA of a prince who dared to see the Divine in all paths.

The Mystic Scholar

Dara’s intellectual legacy is staggering. He saw no contradiction between the Quranic vision and Hindu metaphysics. He translated the Bhagavad Gita into Persian and, in his Sirr-e-Akbar [The Greatest Secret], translated 52 Upanishads — Hindu sacred treatises written in Sanskrit c. 800–200 BCE, expounding the Vedas in predominantly mystical and monistic terms — claiming these were the Kitaab al-Maknn [Hidden........

© Dawn (Magazines)