Dara Shikoh: Assasination Can we call it a Black Swan Event?

 Does this name strike a bell or a cord in any of us from the Indian common folk? Probably not but the name Aurangzeb is as well known as Dara Shikoh is unknown. In the present day of an increasingly polarised Hindutva agenda Aurangzeb is a name used almost as a slur or abuse for reasons which seem justifiable. Had  his assassination not occurred Dara Shikoh would have been an object of veneration and Aurangzeb would have been an unknown person, certainly not the puritanical radical Islamic emperor who hated and persecuted Hindus, imposed taxes and promoted a radical line of Islamic extreme religion. To understand this we must try and decipher the Mughal empire and how it influenced India and conversely how India influenced the Mughal rulers.

While this blog is not a scholarly piece on the Mughal rulers, the popular narrative that native India was a homogeneous society under foreign rulers for centuries including about the last 150 years under British rulers were all bad for Indians is not the whole truth. The reality is that even though the initial rulers King Babur and Humayun were conquerors and like all conquerors unsettled and prone to use force to establish themselves and in the process could have been a cruel despots things changed later. Akbar was young and had ferocious generals to create the stability and power structure. This in turn also made him strike strategic alliances with different groups and alliances were made using the instrument of marriage. The crucial difference between the Mughals and the British rule is that the British never became “Indian” whereas the Mughals did so culturally to a large extent. All this while the local Hindus and Brahmins in particular reacted to the influence of Abrahamic religions by arguing and contesting their claims to superiority and showing that they had no reason to embrace their faith. Akbar started this multi religious dialogue and made great strides in trying to make his rule a tolerant just and benevolent regime. The stories of the Nav ratnas of his court was like a cabinet of modern governments. He encouraged debate and was curious about everything. He was followed by Shah Jehan who continued this and in the stability of his regime became a builder of various structures the Taj Mahal in memory of his love Mumtaz Mahal being the most famous. At every stage of the rule of Shah Jehan it was the eldest Dara Shikoh who was named a successor and he was well known for his liberal views and he was author of books and works which saw a synthesis of Sufi and Hindu traditions. He was promotor of arts and also talked of a composite culture and got Upanishads translated into Persian. This invoked the ire of the orthodoxy and his brothers especially Aurangzeb took advantage of this and managed to defeat him and capture Agra after which Dara Shikoh retreated to Delhi then Lahore etc. He rallied an army and tried to fight back but it was an exercise in futility as Aurangzeb proved too strong for him. He tried his best to humiliate him and paraded him on a filthy elephant to try and make out that he was a threat to Islam. These actions created a wave of sympathy for Dara and there arose the possibility of rebellion by the people and mass protests. So Aurangzeb using the most foul means got him assassinated and in an ultimate act of brutality sent his brothers head on a tray in a mutilated state to an ailing Shah Jehan. 

This begs the question of “What if?” and I am quite convinced that the survival and the ascension of Dara Shikoh would have changed the history of India and created a climate of tolerance and communal harmony which might have not allowed the British and subsequent rulers to create the climate for partition. It maybe a stretch of imagination but I still think and believe that we as people have so much in common that if we had rulers with some vision like Dara Shikoh the countries will eventually unite and become a larger stronger entity working to create a climate of peace and prosperity and development for its citizens. 

Why Dara Shikoh’s death qualifies to be a black swan event is  that it was unexpected.  Had ShahJehan not fallen ill and Dara been more vigilant and careful to ensure that his brother wouldn’t have been allowed to gain ascendancy the subsequent events would not have occurred. The theory of probabilities was overturned in those fateful times and the history of India took a path which has given more despair than hope. I hope someday another such black swan event occand create a climate of positivity.