BY VASUDHA
VENUGOPAL,
ET BUREAU | UPDATED: APR 28, 2017, 12.24 AM
IST
NEW
DELHI: The legacy of Mugahl emperor Aurangzeb is so gory that the Union
government changed the name of a road named after him to APJ Abdul Kalam Road.
But what if he hadn't been the emperor at all and given way to his brother Dara
Shikoh.
Dara Shukoh, also known as Dara Shikoh M 20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659 Julian/9 September 1659 Gregorian was the eldest son and the heir-apparent of the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Wikipedia
Assassinated: 30 August 1659, Delhi
Spouse: Nadira Banu Begum (m. 1633–1659)
The Centre is exploring the personality that was Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who had a great interest in Hindu scriptures and had translated many of them into Persian and other languages. Promoting Dara Shikoh as the good Muslim, who "understood Hindus and India" has been part of the RSS project for many years.
In a
conference on Dara Shikoh -Claiming the Spiritual Legacy of India, on Thursday,
organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Minister of
State for External Affairs M J Akbar said Dara was truly a child of India, who
understood the people of the country and its syncretic culture. "He could
have lost the battle against Aurangzeb but he won the war for India and that is
the victory we are celebrating."
The
minister said the question to be asked was why was Dara Shikoh chosen by Shah
Jahan in his court as his successor as primogeniture was not followed by the
Mughals.
"Shah Jahan knew that he had the moral
right over the throne. He knew that India couldn't be ruled by force alone but
it needed spiritual force to rule the country. And spiritual force could emerge
only out of harmony that had led the people of the nation together."
"Shivaji had written a letter to Aurangzeb
after he won the war against his brother and imposed the Jaziya tax. He had
told him that while the Quran had clearly said Allah was the lord of all
people, not just of the Muslims and that he(Aurangzeb) had forgotten the lord
himself. What we know is if Dara had become the Mughal emperor Shivaji wouldn't
have had to write such a letter," Akbar said, The minister said Dara also
lived at a time that in the seventeenth century and was deeply influenced
by by the Bhakti movement.
"He
would have found Guru Nanak, Kabir, so many powerful influences were shaping
the nation..,the prince himself was overpowered by syncretic culture and would
have contributed to it, brought it into the realm of scholarship and
translation," Eminent scholars, academics and historians from seven
countries --the US, Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and
India are participating in the two-day conference.
Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/58406853.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
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