Context: Recently, Ministry of Culture set up a seven-member panel of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to locate the grave of the Dara Shikoh.

• At a time when incidents of intolerance in the name of faith are being reported from Afghanistan, Dara Shikoh, one of India’s most enlightened thinkers, needs to be remembered.
• He is believed to be buried somewhere in the Humayun’s Tomb complex in Delhi, one of around 140 graves of the Mughal clan.

About Dara Shikoh

• Dara Shikoh (1615-59) was the eldest son and a chosen successor of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
• He was designated with the title Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba (Prince of High Rank) 
• However, he was killed after losing the war of succession against his brother Aurangzeb.

Dara Shikoh as Liberal Muslim

• Dara Shikoh was a champion of interfaith understanding, philosopher, artist, architect, translator, poet and administrator. 
• He is described as a “liberal Muslim” who tried to find commonalities between Hindu and Islamic traditions. He translated the Bhagavad Gita as well as 52 Upanishads into Persian.
• Moreover, his most important works, Majma-ul-Bahrain (Mingling of Two Oceans) and Sirr-i-Akbar (Great Mystery) are devoted to the cause of establishing connections between Hinduism and Islam

The architecture of Dara Shikoh:  Dara Shikoh is credited with the commissioning examples of Mughal architecture such as:

• The tomb of his wife Nadira Begum and Shrine of Mian Mir in Lahore,
• Dara Shikoh Library in Delhi
• Akhun Mullah Shah Mosque and the Pari Mahal garden palace in Srinagar, Kashmir.