Dara Shikoh

Dara Schikoh

Muhammad Dara Shikoh or Muhammad Dārā Schikoh ( Persian محمد دارا شكوه, DMG Muḥammad Dārā Šukūh ; born March 20, 1615 near Ajmer ; died August 12, 1659 in Delhi ) was the firstborn son of the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan (r. 1627–1657) and his wife Mumtaz Mahal , religious thinker, mystic, poet and author of several works in the Persian language .

Surname

The name is rendered differently in the literature according to the Indo-Persian pronunciation: Dara Schukoh / Shukoh, Dara Schikoh / Shikoh. Dara Sukuh ( DMG ) means "owner of the glory," Dara Šikūh ( DMG ), however, "owner of fear."

In addition, Dārā can be used as a reminiscence of the old Persian king name Dārayavauš (New Persian داریوش, DMG Dāriyūš , short form Dārā ), Greek " Dareios ". This name is also Dārā in classical Persian and in the Iranian national epic Shahname . Persian-speaking rulers like to refer to the heroic sagas of Shahname, which were considered historical until recently. In this case the prince's name means "Darius the Magnificent".

Life

Although raised as an heir to the throne, Dara Shikoh never showed any serious political or military interest. Despite his unsuccessful attempt in 1652 to conquer the strategically important fortress Kandahar from the hands of the Persians , around 1656 his father appointed him commander of an army of over 60,000 men, including 40,000 horsemen.

Instead, Dara Shikoh felt drawn to philosophy and mysticism, and it is said that he only accepted the post of governor of Allahabad in 1645 because there was the most famous interpreter of the philosophy of Ibn 'Arabi (d. 1240) at that time, Muhibbullah Allahabadi (d. 1648), lived. However, Dara Shikoh never moved to Allahabad, but continued to exchange letters with Muhibbullah.

Already his grandfather Jahangir (1605–1627), but also his father Shah Jahan had shown great respect for Sufis and Hindu worshipers , and when he became seriously ill at a young age, he was brought by his father to Mian Mir (d. 1635) in Lahore . This was the sheikh (head) of the Qādirīya order, which had achieved great importance in Sind and southern Punjab in the late 16th century . The boy's healing resulted in his deep admiration for Mian Mir, so that he later joined the order together with his sister Jahanara .

Dara Shikoh surrounded himself not only with Islamic mystics , but also with Hindu yogis and sannyasis , all of whom accompanied him on his fateful campaign to Kandahar . Large parts of his courtiers and especially the religious scholars ( arab. 'Ulamā' ) disapproved of this behavior. The same was true of his apparent disinterest in practical political work.

During the illness of the father Shah Jahan , his younger brothers, including Aurangzeb , took the opportunity in 1657 and 1658 to rise up against Dara Shikoh and the father Shah Jahan and have Dara Shikoh declared a heretic ( mulḥid ). During the ensuing clashes, Dara Shikoh fled the capital, sought refuge, but was captured and handed over to Aurangzeb's followers. A short time later, the trial of heresy was opened against him , which ended with his sentencing to death. On August 12, 1659 (22. Ḏū'l-Ḥiǧǧa 1069 AH) Dara Shikoh was executed and buried in the mausoleum of his ancestor Humayun in Delhi .

Works

"The Ark of the Saints", 1640

( Arabic سفينة الاولياء, DMG Safīnat al-aulīyā ' )

Dara Shikoh wrote his first work Safīnat al-aulīyā ' ("The Ark of the Saints") on January 21, 1640 (27. Ramaḍān 1049 AH). It is a collection of descriptions of the lives of holy men and women based on the model of Nafaḥāt al-'uns ("The Scents of Kindness") of 'Abd ar-Rahman-i Jami (d. 1492) from Herat , in which he has notable members various Sufi orders , but also the first four caliphs , the twelve Shiite imams and the founders of the four Islamic schools of law . In this way he proved that he was always connected to the dogmatic principles of Islam. He repeatedly called himself a " ḥanafi Qādirī, " and his mystical writings largely corresponded to those of other Sufis . Another remarkable aspect of the Ark of the Saints is that he wrongly assigned the mystic poet Jalal ad-Din-i Rumi (d. 1273) and his family to the spiritual chain ( silsila ) of the Kubrawiyya .

The date itself had a special meaning for him, as he had his first mystical light experience on the 27th Ramadan 1040 AH (1630 AD), in the Lailat al-qadr (night of the birth of the Koran), which he referred to the spiritual Presence of the Mian Mir.

"The nearness of the saints to God", 1642

( Arabic سكينة الاولياء, DMG Sakīnat al-aulīyā ' )

In his second work, Sakīnat al-aulīyā ' ("The closeness to God of the saints") Dara Shikoh described his devotion to Mian Mir and his sister Bibi Jamal Chatun and Mulla Shah Badachschi (d. 1661), who left the spiritual chain after Mian Mir's death continued, and under whose leadership Dara Shikoh and his sister Jahanara joined the order around 1640.

The work provides an excellent first-hand introduction to the life and traditions of mysticism in Lahore and Kashmir .

"The Path of Divine Truth"

( Arabic طريقة الحقيقة, DMG Ṭarīqat al-ḥaqīqa )

This work combines poetry and prose, with most of the poetic quotations from Rumi . Nevertheless, the authorship is ascribed to Dara Shikoh, although certain doubts remain, as this work differs from its previous works in its special complexity.

"Epistle on the Guide to Divine Truth", 1646

( Persian رسالهٔ حق نما, DMG Risāla-i ḥaqqnumā )

This work is considered to be one of his most impressive studies on Sufism . It is based on the style of Ibn 'Arabi of Murcia (d. 1240), whose philosophy Dara Shikoh was profoundly influenced by. Most of the Sufis with whom he maintained lively exchanges, such as Muhibbullah and Shah Dilruba, advocated the idea of ​​the Waḥdat al-wuǧūd (unity of existence) as developed by Ibn 'Arabi . In this little book Dara Shikoh tried to clarify the four different levels of existence: from the human world (arab. Nāsūt ) ascending to the heights of the divine world (arab. Lāhūt ).

He regarded this little book as a summary not only of the two works of Ibn 'Arabi , Al-futūḥāt al-makkiyya ("The Meccan Revelations") and Fuṣūs al-ḥikam ("The Ring Stones of Wisdom"), but also of the Lama'āt ( "Rays of light") of the Fachr ad-Din-i 'Iraqi (d. 1289), who had spent a time in Multan , Panjab , as well as the Lawā'iḥ ("apparitions") of the Jami from Herat (d. 1492). In his closing verse, in which he also mentions the year the work was completed, he affirmed his divine inspiration.

"The most powerful elixir"

( Persian اكسير اعظم, DMG Iksīr-i a'ẓam )

Even in the Risāla , Dara Shikoh called self-knowledge "the most powerful elixir". So he took this statement as a heading for his little Dīwān (collection of poems), which he wrote a short time later , in which he dressed his thoughts in traditional images under the pseudonym Qādirī . The statements of some verses are of extraordinary importance, however, because he takes to the field against the dogmatic narrow-mindedness of the scholars ("Mulla"):

Paradise is where there is no mulla,
Where there is no screaming and noise from the mulla!
Oh if the world were empty of these mullas
And nobody listens to their legal ruling any more!
For where the mulla lives, in that place
there is no wise man; quickly he moves away!

However, in the spirit of the love mysticism of Fachr ad-Din-i 'Iraqi or Ibn' Arabi, he expresses:

O you, from whose name love rains,
from whose letter and message love rains -
whoever found your street fell in love,
from your roof and gate yes love rains!

"The Benefits of the Mystics", 1652

( Arabic حسنات العارفين, DMG Ḥasanāt al-'ārifīn )

In 1652 Dara Shikoh compiled a collection of Šaṭaḥāt (“forays” meaning “paradoxical expressions”) of 107 saints, whom he called Ḥasanāt al-'ārifīn (“the benefits of the mystics”). Many quatrains from it correspond to statements of previous Sufis . This book is considered to be his last work, which dealt exclusively with Sufi literature.

The Talks of Lahore, 1653

These are talks that Dara Shikoh had with the Hindu sage and member of the reformist Kabirpanthi sect, Baba Lal Das, in Lahore , where he was staying after his devastating defeat in front of Kandahar in 1653. These conversations took place in Hindustani and were written down in Persian by Dara Shikoh's secretary Chandar Bhan Brahman . Chandar Bhan Brahman himself was known as a poet and master of the " Persian style ".

This discourse, given this title by the two biographers Clément Huart and Louis Massignon in their work, reveals the prince's solid knowledge of Indian mythology and philosophy . Thus Dara Shikoh placed himself in line with his great-grandfather Akbar I (1542-1605), who had arranged translations of numerous important Sanskrit works into Persian during his reign . The “Conversations of Lahore” moved between purely philosophical thoughts and questions that, among other things, concerned the understanding of Ramayana .

"The Confluence of the Two Seas", 1655

( Arabic مجمع البحرين, DMG Maǧma 'al-baḥrain )

A work that much clearer intensive on Dara Shikoh study of similarities of Hindu thought and Islamic Sufism refers to is Maǧma 'al-Bahrain ( "The confluence of the two seas", 1655). This title alone , which is taken from the Koran , Sura 18:60 , underlines his intention to prove that the "two seas" of the two religions Islam and Hinduism merge and thus no longer on the level of the unified basic idea of ​​being and reality are distinguishable. The book also contains a number of Hindu terms that he tried to translate into Persian .

"The Immeasurably Great Secret", 1657

( Persian سِرّ اكبر, DMG Sirr-i akbar )

This work arose from the Persian translation of fifty-two Upanishads , which he made with the help of Brahmins and Pandits . According to his foreword, Dara Shikoh was deeply convinced that religious truth was not contained exclusively in those books that are specifically mentioned in the Quran, such as the Torah , Psalms and Gospels , because in the Quran , sura 56 : 78, becomes a "hidden book “Mentioned that has not yet been revealed. Accordingly, he assumed that this hidden book was the earliest revelation in the Vedas and especially in the Vedanta . From his point of view, the Upanishads embody the same concept of the transcendental unity of the Absolute as the Koran. He therefore considered it necessary to make this knowledge available to his Muslim fellow believers. How this work came about, however, is controversial. Possibly it was written by those Hindu scholars , Dara Shikoh wrote down their explanations in Persian. For example, the Hindu gods Brahma , Vishnu and Shiva became the archangels Gabriel , Michael and Raphael .

In 1801/02 a two-volume Latin translation by Anquetil-Duperron under the title " Oupnek'hat (id est Secretum tegendum) " was published in Strasbourg. This also found readers in Germany, including Arthur Schopenhauer .

Other works

As an art lover, Dara Shikoh was also a skilled calligrapher . His talent was reflected in a scrapbook (Pers. Meaning of the Arabic muraqqa ' ), which he had made in 1641 for Nādira Begum and which is currently kept in the India Office Library in London . It contains 78 sheets with miniatures and calligraphy , as was customary in such albums during the Mughal period . Dara Shikoh's calligraphy master was Raschida, nephew of the famous Persian calligrapher Mir 'Imad-i Hasani, who had found refuge at the Mughal court after the murder of his uncle in 1615. Dara Shikoh was not only champion in Nasta'liq - but also gifted in Naskh - and Raihani -Schrift. Among his writings we have received a copy of a Mas̱nawī ("two-line") from Sultan Walad (d. 1312), son of Jalal ad-Din-i Rumi . He also sent a copy of the Koran made by him to the shrine of his master 'Abd al-Qadir-i Jilani (d. 1166) in Baghdad. However, after his execution, his name was deleted from many of the calligraphies he had created or addressed to him.

Meaning and effect

Dara Shikoh, the “unhappy beauty”, was judged differently at all times because of his “unbiased imagination”. European travelers to India in the 17th century, including François Bernier, accused him of “... having too high an opinion of himself ...” and never showing his true religious convictions, like, “... like a Christian among Christians, a Gentile behaves among Gentiles ”. Niccolò Manucci even contemplated that Dara Shikoh did not belong to any religion at all. Accordingly, the Dara Shikoh's lifestyle and his dealings with mystics and unorthodox scholars from both religions gave rise to many misunderstandings and concerns about him.

According to these assessments, the two brothers Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb embodied the two poles of Indian Islam: Aurangzeb won the affection of those Muslims who orientated themselves to a narrowly defined dogmatics of their religion and who value a pronounced Muslim identity. Accordingly, it was unpopular with mystically oriented Muslims and most Hindus.

In contrast, Dara Shikoh's mindset was considered to be truly Indian. In the 20th century, the poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal commented on Dara Shikoh, who "carried on the seeds of heresy that his ancestor Akbar had sown, while Aurangzeb sat like an Abraham in his idol temple [to destroy the idols]".

Even before the reign of Emperor Jahangir , attempts were made to thwart a rapprochement between Islam and Hinduism , as was the case with Emperor Akbar's attempt to build a bridge between the two religions. Nevertheless, a large part of the Shiite population in particular still stood behind Dara Shikoh and thus against Aurangzeb . However, it should not be ignored that Dara Shikoh was less interested in the reconciliation between Islam and Hinduism on a political or practical level, which Akbar I had concentrated on, but rather in the experience-based realization of that above the esoteric Access to both religions a single divine principle can be recognized behind the superficially visible diversity, just as “as there is only one ocean whose waves and patches of foam cannot be distinguished from one another once they have disappeared”.

Western spiritual science first encountered Dara Shikoh's work around 1801, when his Persian translation of the Upanishads , translated into Latin by AH Anquetil-Duperron under the title Oupnek'hat, Id Est Secretum Tegendum , appeared in Europe. This aroused great interest in Indian mysticism and philosophy among European thinkers and created the myth of India as the home of all mystical wisdom.

literature

Supriya Gandhi: The Emperor Who Never Was, Dara Shukoh in Mughal India , Cambridge Mass .: Harvard University Press, 2020. ISBN 978-0-674987-29-6 .

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ H. Junker: Persian-German Dictionary , Teheran 1349 (1970/71), p. 465
2. ↑ Literally also: "wealthy, rich", cf. Junker / Alavi: Persian-German Dictionary , Leipzig / Teheran 1970, p. 295.
3. ↑ H. Junker: Persian-German Dictionary , Teheran 1349 (1970/71), p. 296
4. ↑ See list of names in Schahname .
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Annemarie Schimmel : Dārā Šokōh. In: Encyclopædia Iranica . Ehsan Yarshater , 1994, accessed November 24, 2014 . 
6. ↑ DMG Muḥibbu'llāh Allahabadi
7. ↑ DMG Ǧahān-ārā , means "jewelry of the world"
8. ↑ Dārā Šukūh: Sakīnat al-aulīyā ' ("The nearness of the saints to God", 1642)
9. ↑ DMG Aurang-zīb , means "throne jewelry"
10. ↑ The term al-aulīyā ' literally means “the friends (of God)”, which, however, corresponds to the term “the saints” (literally “the heal / perfect people”) of other religions.
11. ↑ Dara Shikoh: Sakīnat al-aulīyā ' , p. 54
12. ^ A. Schimmel: Gardens of Knowledge , Düsseldorf / Cologne 1982, p. 223
13. ↑ Faḫr ad-Dīn-i 'Irāqī: Kullīyāt-i dīwān-i šaiḫ faḫr ad-dīn ibrāhīm-i hamadānī, mutaḫalliṣ bi-'irāqī , Tehran 1370 (1991/92)
14. ^ A. Schimmel: Gardens of Knowledge , Düsseldorf / Cologne 1982, p. 142 f.
15. ^ A. Schimmel: Gardens of Knowledge , Düsseldorf / Cologne 1982, p. 223
16. ↑ Cl. Huart / L. Massignon: Les entretiens de Lahore [entre le prince impérial Dârâ Shikûh et l'ascète hindou Baba La'l Das] , in: Journal Asiatique 209, 1926, pp. 285–334
17. ↑ Dārā Šokōh: Majmaʿ al-Baḥrayn, or the Mingling of the Two Oceans , ed. And tr. M. Maḥfūẓ-al-Ḥaqq, Calcutta, 1929; ed. M.-R. Ǧalālī Nāʾīnī, in Montaḫabāt-e ās̱ār, Tehran, 1335 š. / 1956; see. also Svev D'Onofrio / Fabrizio Speziale (ed.): Muḥammad Dārā Šikōh - La congiunzone dei due oceani (Majma 'al-Baḥrayn) , Milan 2011
18. ^ E. Göbel-Groß: Sirr-i Akbar. The Upanishad translation by Dara Shikoh , Diss., Marburg 1962
19. ↑ Johann Gottlieb Rhode: About religious education, mythology and philosophy of the Hindus . 1827, first volume, p. 103
20. ↑ Volume 1 (1801), Volume 2 (1802)
21. ^ A. Schimmel: Gardens of Knowledge , Düsseldorf / Cologne 1982, p. 217, quoted in Massignon
22. ↑ Huart et al. Massignon, p. 287
23. ^ F. Bernier: Travels in the Mogul Empire AD 1656–1668 , tr. I. Rock, rev. A. Constable, London 1891; repr. Delhi 1972, p. 6th
24. ↑ N. Manucci: Storia do Mogor or Mogul India 1653-1708 vy Niccolao Manucci Venetian , tr. W. Irvine, London 1906, p. 223
25. ↑ M. Iqbāl: Rumūz-i Bīḫudī , Lahore 1917, p. 113.
26. ↑ This happened in the form of the new religion Dīn-i ilāhī (Divine Religion) which he founded.
27. ^ A. Schimmel: Islam in the Indian Subcontinent , Leiden 1980, pp. 92 f., 103
28. ↑ Dara Shikoh: Risāla-i ḥaqqnumā , p. 17