In the Court of his brother Aurangzeb, Prince Dara said ……”the creator is known by many names. He is called God, Allah, Prabhu, Jehova, Ahura Mazda and many more names by devout people in many different lands.” Further, “Yes, I believe that Allah is the god of all people of the world who simply call them by different names. I believe that there is only one great cosmic creator even if people have different places of worship and revere God in many different ways.” Perhaps a very modern political philosophy for a seventeenth century crown prince who had social harmony and tolerance utmost in his mind.
Few weeks ago, on a Sunday morning I was driving through Luyen’s Delhi when I thought I was crossing Aurangzeb Road. I recognised the road but the name looked different when was told that Aurangzeb Road has now been renamed. In the sombre mood on account of solemn ceremony, I could not think of this more than in terms of current politics of renaming roads and Indian cities.
Later one evening, coincidentally I happened to hear somebody on YouTube talk about the trial of the seventeenth century Crown Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh.
In the Court of his brother Aurangzeb, Prince Dara said ……”the creator is known by many names. He is called God, Allah, Prabhu, Jehova, Ahura Mazda and many more names by devout people in many different lands.” Further, “Yes, I believe that Allah is the god of all people of the world who simply call them by different names. I believe that there is only one great cosmic creator even if people have different places of worship and revere God in many different ways.”
Perhaps a very modern political philosophy for a seventeenth century crown prince who had social harmony and tolerance utmost in his mind.
Unfortunately, Aurangzeb brutally killed his brother Dara and committed the most heinous and barbaric act of ‘’offering’’ his mutilated head to his ailing old father on his dinner table.
How could a man do such cruel painful things to his old infirm father!
For now, I do not see Aurangzeb Road in Delhi anymore
But I do not see any Dara Shikoh Road either to celebrate his vision of social harmony and tolerance. His remains lie buried in an unidentified grave in Humayun tomb in Delhi.
The derelict ‘Dara Shikoh Library’ near Kashmiri Gate, currently a defunct museum and an abandoned office of Archaeological Survey of India is the only reminiscent of his thoughts and intellects.
***
Author: Umesh Prasad
The author is an alumnus of the London School of Economics and a UK based former academic.
The views and opinions expressed on this website are solely those of the author(s) and other contributor(s), if any.
