Dara Shukoh – The Tragedy King of Mughals

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Dara Shukoh History:

Dara Shukoh was the eldest son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and the legal heir to the throne after Shah Jahan. He was born at the Taragarh fort Ajmer on 28 October 1615 AD as the eldest son of Shah Jahan, and his Mother’s name was Mumtaz Mahal. Shukoh means glory or splendour; when he was 12, his grandfather Jahangir died, and Shah Jahan became the emperor of the Mughal Empire. Since then, he has participated in the official works of Shah Jahan.

Dara Shukoh with his son

When he crossed 18, he married his paternal uncle Sultan Parvez Mirza’s daughter Nadira Banu on 1 February 1633 AD. In the Mughal family, the couple was the most successful and bore eight children. Four died at an early age of the children, and two s,ons and two daughters survived.
In the later years, Dara Shukoh loved the beautiful ‘Rano Dil’, an orphan and the dancing girl in the court of Shah Jahan. He didn’t hesitate to bring her into his harem. He has also maintained intimacy with another famous concubine’ the Udaipur Mahal’. During the conflict among the brother, Aurangzeb decapitated Dara Sukoh, bringing the two concubines to his harem. Surprisingly, Udaipur maintained a deep love for Aurangzeb and bore a son,

Dara Shukoh as Military Commander

After the marriage, Aurangzeb appointed Dara Shukoh as a military commander and was frequently promoted to commander of 20,000-foot and 15,000 horses on 21 January 1642 AD. Finally, on 10 September 1642 AD, the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan declared Dara Shukoh was his heir and gave him the title of Shahzada-e-Buland Iqbal as soon as he was appointed as the governor of Allahabad. Again on 18 April 1648, he was appointed as the Subahdar of the Gujarat province. This made jealousy to his brothers and Aurangzeb furious at the declaration of Aurangzeb, and he waited for the opportunity.

Tragic Death of Dara Shukoh:

Unfortunately, Shah Jahan was seriously ill, and the news went to Aurangzeb. Then Aurangzeb took the allies of Murad Baksh and marched towards Agra from Bengal. In the meantime, another brother Sulaiman Shikoh marched to Agra, but Dara defeated him in the battle of Bahadurpur on 14 February 1658 AD. Even though he was defeated at the hands of Aurangzeb during the Battle of Samugarh on 30 May 1658 AD. Then Aurangzeb captured the Agra Fort, deposed Emperor Shah Jahan, and imprisoned him in 1658.
On 6 September 1657, the illness of emperor Shah Jahan triggered a desperate struggle for power among the four Mughal princes, though realistically, only Dara Shukoh and Aurangzeb had a chance of emerging victorious.[10] Shah Shuja was the first to make his move, declaring himself Mughal Emperor in Bengal. Later marched towards Agra from the east. Murad Baksh allied himself with Aurangzeb.

Death of Dara Shukoh :

The defeated Dara Shukoh fled to Sindh, reached Kathiawar, and met Shah Nawaz Khan, Gujarat governor, for help recruiting a new army. With the latest military, Dara occupied Surat and planned to reach Ajmer to maintain relationships with the Rajput feudatory Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Marwar to fight against Aurangzeb. Slowly, Shukoh gathered the army and finally got Malik Jiwan, an Afghan chieftain. But he was loyal to Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, so he turned against Dara Shukoh and handed him to Aurangzeb’s army on 10 June 1659.

He was brought to Delhi and tortured cruelly before the public on the streets; the politicians declared him a demon to demolish the peace according to Islam and sentenced him to death. On 30 August 1659, his head was decapitated and gifted to Shah Jahan, and his remains were buried somewhere in Humayun’s tomb in Delhi.