Dara shikoh head

Dara Shikoh | UPSC | Why In The News ?

The Ministry of Culture recently set up a seven-member panel of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to locate the grave of the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh (1615-59).

• He is believed to be buried somewhere in the Humayun’s Tomb complex in Delhi, one of around 140 graves of the Mughal clan.
• Dara Shikoh is described as “one of the greatest free thinkers of that time”.

Who was Dara Shikoh?

• He was the eldest son of Shah Jahan.
• His father became the king when he was 12 years old.

• In 1633, he married his cousin Nadira Banu and did not marry ever again.
• In 1652, he became the governor of Kabul and Multan.
• He was perhaps not as successful a military man as much as a philosopher and intellectual.
• He was killed after losing the war of succession against his brother Aurangzeb.
• He is described as a “liberal Muslim” who tried to find commonalities between Hindu and Islamic traditions.

• He translated into Persian the Bha