REVIEW IN KASHMIR MONITOR

Of faith and fratricide

SUNDAY, 22 MAY 2016

KASHMIR MONITOR

MUNEEZA SHAMSIE

140 VIEWS

1

OF FAITH AND FRATRICIDE

In recent years, the rise of religious extremism and related violence has led to an increasing literary interest in the historical rivalry between Dara Shikoh the Mughal heir and his younger brother, Aurangzeb. In these writings, the former represents an intolerant religious extremism and the latter a more inclusive, tolerant and multicultural aspect of faith. Now the Indian writer and historian Murad Ali Baig has added to this body of work with his debut novel Ocean Of Cobras which encompasses the sibling rivalry between Shah Jahan’s four sons, but focuses in particular on Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb and the respective partisanship of their sisters Jahanara and Roshanara.

Baig constructs his plot in the form of a lost manuscript, discovered after 1857, by British officers in the Red Fort, Delhi and translated by British scholars from the original Persian into English: the document proves to be written by the fictitious Mubarak Ali, a eunuch at Shah Jahan’s court. The great strength of his narrative lies in the descriptions of different aspects of 17th century India including the precariousness of court life while serving a fratricidal/patricidal dynasty.

Mubarak Ali, the son of a Persian nobleman and an aristocratic French lady, becomes the victim of family misfortune following his father’s support for Khusrau’s unsuccessful rebellion against Jahangir, his father. Mubarak Ali is subsequently imprisoned and castrated by a vicious enemy. He is then bought in the slave market, to serve in the imperial harem. There his background, breeding and personal courage stand him in good stead. He is not only befriended by Shah Jahan’s eldest, the beautiful Princess Jahanara, but is later placed in charge of young Prince Murad and is educated alongside.

The book uses Mubarak Ali’s role as eunuch to great advantage to portray life among both the men and women at the Mughal court. He rides and hunts with Shah Jahan’s sons. He conjures up a vivid description of the royal shikar and of life in the Mughal camp, “a huge tented city”. As Shah Jahan travels to different districts to receive due tribute from their vassals or intimate rebels, the novel also captures the panoply of power which accompanies the imperial caravan — elephants, camels, cavalry and artillery, women (including the pregnant Mumtaz Mahal) carried in palanquins or riding veiled, on horses. Mubarak Ali goes on describes the death of Mumtaz Mahal in childbirth, Shah Jahan’s grief and the monument — the Taj Mahal — that he builds for her. Mubarak Ali’s sojourn with his shikari friend, deep in the forests among the Bhil tribe, teaches him how live and survive in a world close to nature which stands him in good stead during the exile he shares with Dara Shikoh and his diminishing entourage.

Mubarak Ali’s eyewitness account of the sibling rivalries between Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh begins when Mubarak Ali is nine and first joins the royal household. He observes Shah Jahan’s harsh treatment of 11-year-old Aurangzeb, while the Mughal heir Dara Shikoh enjoys the undisguised love showered on him by Shah Jahan: he can do no wrong in his father’s eyes. Mubarak Ali writes of Aurangzeb’s courage, his undoubted competence as a military commander — and his successful campaign in Orchha at 15, followed by his appointment as viceroy of the Deccan.

He reveals that the teenaged Aurangzeb was strongly influenced by a Sunni scholar in the Deccan, during his campaign there. He contrasts the puritanical and orthodox Aurangzeb with the intellectual and literary Dara Shikoh, who translated The Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita into Persian, espoused a mystical, inclusive Islam and was strongly influenced by the Sufis and Mian Mir.

In fact, as the friction between the two brothers grows, the novel continues to describe their rivalry and their power-struggle in the somewhat simplistic terms:

Dara wanted to bring all the people into the loving bosom of a merciful and benevolent Allah but Aurangzeb believed that the Mughals had a moral right to convert all the people of Hindustan into Muslims.

The problem with such a black-and-white reading of Mughal history and indeed Baig’s repeated statement that under the Mughals, India was a Muslim country, is that Baig looks at a pre-modern society through modern concepts of nationalism and statehood. Such interpretations are doubtless common currency in India and Pakistan today, but they do ignore the fact that from the 15th to 19th centuries, the religious wars that raged in Europe (Catholic versus Protestant) defined the nations of modern Europe, whereas in pre-colonial India, although religious conflicts did exist, battles were largely fought for power or territory with Hindu and Muslim rulers, joining forces against a common foe. Aurangzeb’s military allies were frequently Rajputs. As Aurangzeb’s power grew, both Hindu and Muslim princes/warriors joined him, and betrayed his incarcerated father and his defeated brothers.

As a historical novel, Ocean of Cobras does not take advantage of fiction as a creative medium to explore the emotional complexities of Shah Jahan and his fratricidal sons, which did not simply revolve around issues of faith, and whose actions would define the fate of their dynasty — and facilitate a denouement that they could not have imagined: British hegemony. Instead, Dara’s spiritual inclinations and his quest for transcendence, which encompassed many faiths and scriptures, are reduced by the author to a self-conscious post-independence polemic on religious unity. The novel is also peppered with sweeping and sometimes, inaccurate statements on Mughal/Indian history, including a reference to Aurangzeb’s literary daughter Zebunissa, as his granddaughter. 

Nevertheless, this is a very readable book and its insights into Mughal life include particularly interesting details of military battles witnessed by Mubarak Ali. His narrative includes a detailed account of the Battle of Samugarh during which Shah Jahan’s armies led by Dara Shikoh were defeated by Aurangzeb. As a part of Dara Shikoh’s entourage, Mubarak Ali tells of their journey across the subcontinent from Agra to Lahore, where Dara Shikoh regroups his forces and travels through Multan, Thatta and Ahmedabad and encounters Aurangzeb’s armies at the Battle of Deorai. There Dara Shikoh is defeated once more. Mubarak Ali’s account leads up to the brief, shocking and tragic trial of Dara Shikoh for apostasy, instituted by Aurangzeb and his orthodox clerics, culminating in Dara Shikoh’s execution (soon followed by that of his mentor Sarmad) which is all the more chilling for its combination of fratricide, realpolitik and faith.

Ocean of Cobras: The Epic Battle for the Soul of India between Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb

(HISTORY)

By Murad Ali Baig

Tara Press, India

ISBN 978-8183861281

344pp.

Kashmir Monitor 25/05/2016

EXCELLENT REVIEW IN TRIBUNE CHANDIGARH

Sunday November 29, 2015

Kuldip Singh Dhir

The best thing about history is that it can serve as an early warning system. History revisited in Ocean of Cobras has definitely some lessons to share, for it draws our attention to the gory details of an epic battle for secular India. It views the conflict between Dara and Aurangzeb as not one for the throne but between two ideologies. Dara’s love for all religions and secular thinking are poised against Aurangzeb’s staunch Islamic beliefs. Hindus and Muslims have lived together for centuries with little conflict, until alienated by Aurangzeb’s unyielding orthodox beliefs, resulting in widening antagonism in succeeding years. 

Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists will find Dara’s exploration of their core philosophies hard to deny. Though Aurangzeb managed to eliminate all his rivals to rule the mighty Mughal Empire, yet he failed miserably in stopping its relentless slide into ruin. Although it staggered on for another 150 years, it had shattered in body and spirit by the time he died.

Aurangzeb was otherwise a remarkable ruler, intelligent planner, shrewd guide, and wasn’t attracted towards vice, luxury or sloth. A liberal secular empire assiduously built by Akbar was destroyed by his own grandson who mutilated this character with his inflexible bigotry. Murad Ali Baig has portrayed all this in an unputdownable novel. To add drama to dry historical account and transform it into fiction, the novelist has deftly used some literary devices. Mubarak Ali, a fictional eunuch in the imperial Zenana, known to all the princes and princesses, is the narrator of the story. The tools of astrological predictions, soothsayers and omens which was so common in medieval India, have been used to provide psychological justification for behavioural prejudices. Intimate description of moments of romance and desperate yearning make the reader flip pages.

Except for certain brief flashbacks, the narrative moves almost as a whole in a linear manner from 1630 AD and ends with the execution of Dara in 1659 AD. The epilogue takes it further to make the curious readers aware of the fate of all main historical characters in next 50 years, which reads more like history than a novel. The storyline starts with young prince Aurangzeb slipping a small frog down the back of his sister Roshanara’s dress, earning his father’s wrath. Juxtaposed with it is Dara’s similar prank of smearing honey inside Aurangzeb’s cap, which attracts an army of tiny ants making him leap about in frenzy. Unlike Aurangzeb, Dara is not reprimanded. Ordinary events like these have been presented that sow the seeds of distrust, bitterness, prejudice in the psyche of various members of the royal family. 

Kind and merciful Dara’s lofty ideas about unity of all religions and sly and ambitious Aurangzeb’s inflexible orthodoxy are pitted against each other. These leitmotifs take us deeper and deeper into the mysterious ocean of cobras, which is a metaphor for Aurangzeb and his accomplices. Incidentally, the metaphor and the amazing event related to it have been recorded in Storia do Mogor written by Victorian gunner Nicclao Manucci, who served with Dara and the imperial forces in 17th century.

Training and growth of princes, their military expeditions, Deccan diversion, death of Mumtaz, illness of Shah Jahan and the battles for the throne are the foci around which the narrative revolves. This bloody struggle for empire cost more than two lakh deaths in battles at Dharmat, Bahadurpur, Samugarh, Khajua and Deorai. Young men of an entire generation perished in these futile battles. The ruthless killing of Dara is heart wrenching. The novel takes the reader through royal palace into the harem, to royal hunts and to the kingdoms of rivals and rulers. 

Mubarak Ali, the narrator, fights in the armies of rival princes and describes the bloody battles. His adventures take the reader from the limpid lakes of Kashmir to the deserts of Sindh and the lush forests of Central India. 

This is a highly readable and informative tale of adventures, reckless courage, cunning and tender romance, and heart wrenching tragedy, in which fundamentalism vanquished the secular voice. The victory, however, ultimately spelt ruin not only for the victorious ruler, also for his co-religionists and there lies a lesson for us all.

Book review: Ocean of Cobras

 

14 November, 2015

Ocean of Cobras: The Chronicle of a Slave to the Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh, a book by Murad Ali Baig.

Writing history from stories is a major intellectual exercise.   But creating a story out of history requires more – an imagination that reflects what happened, at the same time walking through the spirit of the time.  Murad Ali Baig in his Ocean of Cobras has done precisely that – to give flesh and blood to the skeletal memory of the penultimate moment of Mughal rule on the sub-continent – the final years of Emperor Shah Jahan and the fratricidal struggle for the throne.

The book is a portrait of Dara Shikoh - a neglected ecumenical figure in histories of the period - favorite son of Shah Jahan and one of three brothers of Mughal Badshah Aurangzeb.  The period acquires life through the eyes, ears,  and soul of Mubarak Ali, a court eunuch and slave who enjoyed unique access to the extended royal Mughal family.  This voice renders many tales and tales within tales, bringing alive late seventeenth and early eighteenth century "India" with embroidered detail - the first family, court politics, battles between the brothers, their lust, loves and lives, and their hopes, fears, jealousies and hatreds.

The scenes and acts change: forays into tribal life; the ritual of the royal hunt; the finery of the zenana; seamless seductions; the gossip of the bazaar; culinary journeys into sumptuous banquets; and encounters with visitors from afar.  Beneath the glitter, the hustle and bustle of bazaars and the moving cities of royalty, lurks the rivalry between the siblings.  The tensions surface, pull and fall like the tow of currents in shallow waters - sensuous versus the austere; the laid back versus the disciplined; liberal versus orthodox Islam; the other-worldly versus the here and now; Dara versus Aurangzeb.

Immersed in the struggle and shaped by it are the visions, characters and passions of the two brothers who wrestle for purpose and pre-eminence.  Few may know that Dara commissioned the first translations of the Upanishads and Bhagvad Gita into Persian.  One encounters the first travellers from the West and their impressions of the country when early modern Europe was striking root.  Others would learn more of the intricate and fickle Hindu-Muslim alliances that influenced outcomes of the time.  The two faiths and the family of the ageing and marginalised Shah Jahan were bound and broken by exigencies of temporal power.  A persistent question that lingers in the narrative is what might India have been, had Dara reigned instead of his brother.

Beyond this larger question is the salience of the social and the play of chance which rarely find place in conventional accounts:  the chance encounter of Shah Jahan with a mendicant whose prophecy colors the psyche of a father toward his sons – particularly his suspicion of Aurangzeb and pampering of Dara, and its larger effect on family relations and court politics.  The restrained yet haunting role of the sisters - Jahanara, tenderly passionate but enigmatic; the malevolent but clairvoyant Roshanhara,  and the melancholic Gauharara;  and the shenanigans of the elder king with the wives of his generals who later come to haunt Dara.  These and other anecdotes string the high politics of empire into the human soil of everyday life.

Woven into these tales are excursions into military organization, strategy and technology of Mughal warfare, how armies moved and fought more than three hundred years ago.  Baig's rendition of tactics, maneuvers and sieges, logistics, weaponry and marches is masterful.  One moment you are in the midst of a campaign – the twists and turns in the fog of battle.  At another, on the Malwa plateau, or the climax of the final encounter between the brothers near Ajmer.  It is a ring side view from the howdah of an elephant, of changing fortunes of nobles and soldiers, personal tugs that underlay combat, and the ideas and expectations that compel men and women to act and choose as individuals, while silently a collective destiny forms.

Importantly, the book quietly touches some of the central themes that persist in the governance of modern India:  the intrigues and complications of dynastic politics; the relationship between state and religion; the long misunderstood engagement of the Islamic and Hindu way of life; and the continued distance between the ruler and ruled.  The Ocean of Cobras is an enchanting primer into our late medieval past which has much relevance for understanding the medieval present.

Kishore Mandhyan

Former Political Advisor - Cabinet of the United Nation's Secretary General

- See more at: http://www.merinews.com/article/book-review-ocean-of-cobras-by-murad-ali-baig/15911160.shtml#sthash.f69EfwKo.dpuf

Read more at: http://www.merinews.com/article/book-review-ocean-of-cobras-by-murad-ali-baig/15911160.shtml&cp

Jug Suraiyas review in Times of India today

REVIEW IN OUTLOOK MAGAZINE

The latest issue of Outlook Magazine dated October 5 has a good though rather convoluted review about Ocean of Cobras.

There was a full page excerpt from the book concerning Dara's trial was also published in Outlook in the issue of  September 22.

The first edition of the novel has sold out in less than three months and the next edition is now being printed.

A good start but a long road ahead.

Talk about Dara at Gyan Mandir School

I gave a talk on August 21 to some 200 senior students of Gyan Mandir School about my new novel `Ocean of Cobras' and was most gratified by the enthusiastic response and the interest of many students who said that they knew so little about this exciting period of Mughal history. The interactive session with the students at the end of the talk was most stimulating.

I had not heard of this school before and was very pleasantly surprised that it is one of Delhi’s highly regarded schools with about 1500 students.

I suggested that the school might consider doing a school project to visit places in Delhi associated with Dara Shikoh like the Diwani Khas in the Red fort where he was tried, the Dara Shikoh library near Kashmiri Gate and Humayun's Tomb where princess Jahanara erected a tomb over his headless body when Aurangzeb was campaigning against the Marathas in the Deccan.

A TOMB FOR DARA SHIKOH

356 years ago, at the end of August 1659, Aurangzeb’s eldest brother Dara was tried in the `Diwan I Khas’ of the Red Fort by the qazis and executed for the crime of blasphemy. He was declared to be a heretic and beheaded and stripped of all his rights as a Muslim. His headless body was then unceremoniously buried in the huge vault below Humayun’s tomb without a shroud or any funeral rituals or prayers. Dara had been Emperor Shah Jahan’s eldest and favorite son who had not only been a scholar of Arabic and Persian but also of Sanskrit. 

In my new novel Ocean of Cabras the narrator recounts… “awe gripped the imperial court when prince Dara had confounded both the mullahs and Brahmins by propounding the astonishing idea that a great shining golden river of common faith ran through both Islam and the faiths of the Hindus. The Maulvis had earlier been aghast when he had started to add Sanskrit to the Persian, Turki and Arabic languages that he had earlier mastered but were alarmed when he had started listening to groups of learned Brahmin scholars that he had summoned. They were not too disturbed when he released the first Persian translations  Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita that earlier had only been in the secret libraries of a few Brahmin priests but they were appalled when he had the audacity to declare that this heretic philosophy was none other than the `Sirr i-Akbar - the great secret, which he suggested, was none other than the `Kitab-al-Muknum’ or the hidden book mentioned in the fifty-sixth chapter of the holy Quran itself.

Dara had believed that Allah, known by many different names to the different people of the world, loved all his creations and had sent his messages and messengers to all the people of the world in their times of trouble to lead them to Jannat (heaven). He believed that it was the bigoted priests of every faith, who could not see beyond what had been taught to them, who refused to accept that Allah was a loving and merciful god for all of mankind. He believed that the priests of all religions were the real creators of Shaitan (devil) and of Jehannum (Hell) and it was they who used the power of fear and hatred to persecute those who differed with their narrow beliefs. Dara had believed that loving surrender to Allah and to all his creations was the path to heavenly bliss for all humanity. How was anyone to know that this simple and lofty idea, that could do injury to no one, was to anger many Muslims especially his puritanical younger brother who was already burning with envy at Dara’s popularity?”

Many years later while Aurangzeb was in the Deccan fighting the Marathas during the last 29 years of his life their eldest sister Jahanara is believed to have built a cenotaph to honour Dara on the platform of the great monument. She may have also built two other cenotaphs near it for their youngest brother Murad who Aurangzeb had also executed at Gwalior. Another cenotaph might have been for Dara’s valiant son Sikander Shikoh who had been slowly poisioned with poshta at Gwalior.

Ocean of Cobras explores the lives of many fascinating Mughals in the cusp between the golden age of Shah Jahan and the gloomy 49 years under Aurangzeb that really marked the end of a great empire.

REVIEW OF OCEAN OF COBRAS

When a glowing Murad Ali Baig announced on Facebook that he had authored a novel called ‘Ocean of Cobras’ I could not get my hands fast enough on it, as his previous work ’80 Questions to Understand India, History, Mythology and Religion’ had proved so fascinating a read that I had not only devoured it but let others participate in the rich mental feast as well. His original, unorthodox approach and answers to questions that might have churned silently in many a mind yet never been asked or, if asked, been answered, fascinated me no end. They also made me conscious how differently historical periods and events can be depicted, analyzed and interpreted and that in a way that truly engages not only the mind, but also the soul and senses.

In ‘Ocean of Cobras’ Murad, a self-professed ‘mongrel of good pedigree’ (from Timur to Mayflower pilgrims via numerous other illustrious characters!) presents from an insider’s perspective not only a rich tapestry of the life and times of Shah Jahan’s reign, but shows, how from early childhood on, the emperor himself incidentally fostered the animosity between the two of his sons, who should later become the main protagonists in the battle for his succession.

While Shah Jahan adored his eldest son Dara Shikoh, an easy going, scholarly aesthete, who was convinced that, ultimately, all religions were one and, thus, there was no need for a conflict between them, the emperor openly rejected the sterner prince Aurangzeb and his narrow interpretation of the Koran.

Keeping the companionable Dara as much as possible by his side, the emperor often got rid of Aurangzeb by sending him to distant trouble spots to subjugate rebellious vassals. Over the years, he thus became a battle-hardened soldier and able administrator, qualities that proved as attractive to some as Dara’s love of humankind to others. Whatever, the hatred and rivalry between the two brothers constituted an important factor in the battles for succession, which cost many a life and an emperor his freedom.

The way Murad juxtaposes Dara’s all-inclusive approach to religious beliefs and Aurangzeb’s narrow interpretation of the Koran makes one wonder what would have happened if not Aurangzeb but Dara had won the crown, - intriguing fodder for thought, indeed, which might nourish a desire to turn the wheel of history a bit backwards –in Dara’s direction.

‘Ocean of Cobras’ is a heady cocktail of adventure, romance, betrayal, battles of the mind and sword and much more. Well researched, it gives insights into court life, marriage ceremonies, tribal customs etc., and, most important, it is a jolly good read.

Roswitha Joshi

When a glowing Murad Ali Baig announced on Facebook that he had authored a novel called ‘Ocean of Cobras’ I could not get my hands fast enough on it, as his previous work ’80 Questions to Understand India, History, Mythology and Religion’ had proved so fascinating a read that I had not only devoured it but let others participate in the rich mental feast as well. His original, unorthodox approach and answers to questions that might have churned silently in many a mind yet never been asked or, if asked, been answered, fascinated me no end. They also made me conscious how differently historical periods and events can be depicted, analyzed and interpreted and that in a way that truly engages not only the mind, but also the soul and senses.

In ‘Ocean of Cobras’ Murad, a self-professed ‘mongrel of good pedigree’ (from Timur to Mayflower pilgrims via numerous other illustrious characters!) presents from an insider’s perspective not only a rich tapestry of the life and times of Shah Jahan’s reign, but shows, how from early childhood on, the emperor himself incidentally fostered the animosity between the two of his sons, who should later become the main protagonists in the battle for his succession.

While Shah Jahan adored his eldest son Dara Shikoh, an easy going, scholarly aesthete, who was convinced that, ultimately, all religions were one and, thus, there was no need for a conflict between them, the emperor openly rejected the sterner prince Aurangzeb and his narrow interpretation of the Koran.

Keeping the companionable Dara as much as possible by his side, the emperor often got rid of Aurangzeb by sending him to distant trouble spots to subjugate rebellious vassals. Over the years, he thus became a battle-hardened soldier and able administrator, qualities that proved as attractive to some as Dara’s love of humankind to others. Whatever, the hatred and rivalry between the two brothers constituted an important factor in the battles for succession, which cost many a life and an emperor his freedom.

The way Murad juxtaposes Dara’s all-inclusive approach to religious beliefs and Aurangzeb’s narrow interpretation of the Koran makes one wonder what would have happened if not Aurangzeb but Dara had won the crown, - intriguing fodder for thought, indeed, which might nourish a desire to turn the wheel of history a bit backwards –in Dara’s direction.

‘Ocean of Cobras’ is a heady cocktail of adventure, romance, betrayal, battles of the mind and sword and much more. Well researched, it gives insights into court life, marriage ceremonies, tribal customs etc., and, most important, it is a jolly good read.

Roswitha Joshi (author)

TRIAL OF DARA SHIKOH

Dara’s trial by the Qazis was a mockery of justice; an absolute sham! But I was not surprised. The Qazis all knew that the patronage of the emperor was important for their power. Four mullahs, all dressed in black robes, with a few nobles and family members in attendance assembled in the Diwani-i-Khas, or hall of private audience, at Dilli, to debate the matter and pronounce their judgment. To further humiliate him, they made Dara stand before them stripped to the waist like a common slave.

After they were assembled Aurangzeb entered the hall and first summoned the jackal Malik Jiwan (who had betrayed Dara) and ceremoniously raised him to the rank of one thousand and given the grand title of Bakhtiar Khan. Bakhtiar meant fortunate but Malik Jiwan had little idea of what misfortune lay ahead of him. There is a Hindustani proverb which says… “Khuda ki lathi mien awaz nahin.” (The stave of God strikes without making a sound.) After the ceremony the malik was curtly dismissed with a few presents. We later learned that he had been waylaid and killed while returning to Dadhar. It was rumoured that the assassination had been carried out on the command of the emperor who despised treachery even though he unashamedly used treachery to serve his ambitions.

The trial began. We all knew that the mullahs could be relied upon to give a verdict they thought would ensure the emperor’s patronage. They were in any case hostile to Dara who had frequently reviled the narrow minded orthodoxy of priests. The first Qazi asked Dara to hand him the jade thumb ring that was still on his left hand. He turned it over and examined it slowly and asked, “This green stone is inscribed with the words ‘Allah’ on one side and ‘Prabhu’ on the other. Does this mean that you consider this Hindu god to be equal to our Muslim Allah?”

Dara raised his head and answered, ”Honorable clerics, the creator is known by many names. He is  called God, Allah, Prabhu, Jehova, Ahura Mazda and many more names by devout people in many different lands. ”

“So you are saying that the Allah worshipped by Muslims is no different than the Hindu Prabhu!”

 “Yes, I believe that Allah is the god of all people of the world who simply call them by different names. There is only one great cosmic creator even if people have different places of worship and revere God in many different ways.’’[1]

A second Qazi asked, “Will you deny that it was under your personal orders that a group of Brahmin scholars translated Hindu holy books like the Upanishads and the Bhagavat Gita into Persian?”

Dara replied, “No, your honour. How can I deny what is so widely known. I did indeed commission these translations.”

The Qazi continued, ”Is it true that you had yourself said that these Hindu works are God’s most perfect revelation and that there are references to them even in our holy Quran?”

“Yes, your honour. I do believe that these sacred texts show that underneath the idolatrous outward forms of Hindu worship lies a monotheistic core that is older than those of Judaism, Christianity or Islam.”

The Qazi angrily retorted, “So you are equating Hindu doctrines with the holy words of Islam?”

“Only in essence, your honour. I have already said that the outward forms are very different. My studies have led me to most sincerely believe that the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita are none other than the ‘Sirr i-Akbar’  or the great secret - which our holy Prophet suggested was none other than the ‘Kitab-al-Muknum’ or the hidden book mentioned in the fifty-sixth chapter of the holy Quran itself.”

The Qazi continued, ””Is it true that you have written with your hand a book called Majma-ul-Bahrain - ‘The Mingling of the Oceans' that dares to suggest that there is a common thread between the messages of our holy Quran and the Brahma Shastras of these idolatrous Hindus?’”

Dara replied, ”Yes there are many great pearls of wisdom in the scriptures of every religion and I believe that mankind is richer when these are displayed before them. You will surely recall that it is written in our own Quran that the merciful Allah had sent one hundred and twenty four thousand messengers to show all the people of the world the way of righteousness. I believe that the merciful Allah’s messengers carrying his messengers had been sent not only to Muslims but to all the people of the world in every age. I believe that people have a pious duty to try to seek out these messages that have become obscured by the confusion of languages and ignorant interpretations of narrow minded priests of every faith.”

A third Qazi now asked, “Is it correct that the Sikh faith has its roots both in Islam and Hinduism?”

Dara replied, “It would appear so, your honour, as the Sikhs have deep respect for both religions.”

”Yet is it not these very same Sikhs who are now such troublesome rebels to our governors in Punjab? Does this not prove that by allowing the pure stream of Islamic law to become contaminated by heretic pagan ideas we are inviting trouble and confusion?”

Dara slowly replied, “Your honour I know that some Sikhs are fighting a violent political war over land and taxes with the officers of our empire but I do not believe that there is anything of a religious nature in this purely political dispute.”

The Qazi resumed, “Is it correct that a Guru Nanak, founder of this faith has equated the Hindu god Ram with Rahim?

Dara answered, ”I am not very conversant with the writings of the Sikh faith but I have heard it said that both Ram and Rahim convey the idea of mercy.”

The Qazi quickly continued, “Has this Nanak not also said, “The Qazis sit in the courts to minister justice with a rosary in one hand and the name of God on their lips but commit injustice if the other hand does not receive a tribute of gold, and that if someone challenges them they seek refuge in the pages of their scriptures?”

Dara quietly said, “What you quote is possible but I cannot be certain. It is well known that the hypocrisy of many clerics of every religion does not always go hand in hand with the pure spirituality of the faiths that they profess.”

One of the Qazis now angrily added, “But you have yourself condemned and mocked the Mullahs and clerics of your own religion… not once but on many occasions.”

Dara paused and then slowly replied, “Honoured clerics, may I respectfully ask where in our holy Quran does it say that the Mullah’s and Qazis’ are to be honoured? Verily their names are not even mentioned in the holy book.[2] You are aware that the holy prophet had never wanted Islam to have any order of priests but wanted any good person who was knowledgeable about the Quran, to lead the prayers of every congregation. You will recall that our own sacred book itself very clearly says… “many are the clerics and monks who defraud men of their possessions and debar them from the path of God.” Is it heretical to quote from the holy Quran itself that clearly states... “all prophets and saints had suffered torment because of narrow minded priests.” Yes, learned clerics, I have indeed spoken out strongly against the priests, but I have not spoken against the priests of Islam but of all religions who claim that they are the only representatives of almighty God. Where in our scriptures is there any authority that gives Mullahs, Maulvis and Imams the right to represent Allah.”

Some of the nobles in the gallery who had been listening began to shout in anger, while others looked at each other and then joined the discussions that quickly became loud and confused as they jostled with clever words to show themselves to be enemies of Dara until the shrill voice of princess Roshanara silenced them all from behind the red sand stone screen screaming... “Enough of this nonsense! Why do we have to listen to all this heresy? You have all heard this blasphemer condemn himself time after time. Why do you waste so much time on this empty nonsense? Do your duty as is enjoined upon you in our holy books. Punish the heretic as a warning to all.”

The Qazis resumed asking their questions until the chief Qazi finally said, “Enough has been heard and it is now almost time for the evening namaz. We will now retire and consider what the accused has said and judge whether the words and writings of the accused are blasphemous and whether or not he is an apostate who has abandoned the straight path of our religion to become a heretic. The four imams of the four schools of Islamic law - may Allah have mercy upon them - agree that the apostate who falls from Islam must be killed, and his head may be cut off and his blood may be spilled without reservation.” [3]

Dara was led away and a few hours later Aurangzeb, who had kept studiously aloof from the deliberations, studied the judgment when it was presented to him. There was not the faintest flicker of expression on his face as he casually signed the order for execution, betraying no emotion. But we did not have to wait very long as he hurriedly put the orders for execution through, gauging the resentful mood of the citizens of Dilli.

---

[1] the Quran’s Sura 35:24 says… “To every race, great teachers have been sent. God has not left any community without a prophet, warner and true guide.” The Quran’s Sura 23:24 further says… “To people after people have we sent Apostle after Apostle: mostly, though the people have rejected or even killed them.”

[2]

Quran, Sura 3.78 says: “There is among them a section who distort the Book with their tongues: (As they read) you would think it is a part of the Book, but it is no part of the Book; and they say, "That is from God," but it is not from God: It is they who tell a lie against God, and (well) they know it!”  

[3] The account has been described in Mohammad Kaim’s ‘Alamgir-nama’ as well as by Khafi Khan and Jadunath Sarkar

REQUIEM TO DARA SHIKOH

Oh Dara!

If memorie remain a lustrous sea shell

washed upon the shore of times inner eye
then pressed to ear discover
not one ocean but two

singing together a melancholy refrain

of wave on wave of sorrow

Oh Dara! Oh Dara!

All prayers are but a veil upon death’s dark door.
But how mourn the loss of a living bridge
between two oceans of faith and wisdom  

Oh you noble gentle invader
You were
You are
A broken bridge

between us and a golden dream

Oh unkempt forces of dark resentments

Oh crimson line on golden throat

Oh unkept tryst with unmet aspiration

  
A golden bird sings your requiem

No more poems for you Oh Dara
The heart can cup but so much sorrow  

Oh Dara! Oh Dara!

Amit Dahiya Badshah

SAMUGARH – TURNING POINT OF FUNDAMENTALISM

It was on an exceptionally hot day on May 29 1658 that India’s history changed forever. Two great Mughal armies led by Shah Jahan’s eldest son Dara Shikoh and his third son Aurangzeb clashed on a dusty plain about twenty kilometers south east of Agra. It was not only a battle for the Mughal throne but a battle for the very soul of India pitting Dara an eclectic scholar who respected all religions against Aurangzeb who was an orthodox Sunni Muslim. Dara had first translated of the Bhagavat Gita and the Upanishads from Sanskrit into Persian to make them known to the public for the first time. But he had been a pampered prince facing a smaller battle hardened army that Aurangzeb had marched up from the Deccan.

My forthcoming novel `Ocean of Cobras’ graphically describes the epic battle through the words of a narrator who writes… Aurangzeb moved as fast as his army could to quietly slip behind Dara’s lines before they were aware of his movements. They reached a secret ford across the Chambal at Ater by nonstop double marches over two days. Then there was consternation when Dara realized that Aurangzeb’s armies had come very close to Agra so he was forced to abandon much of his heavy canon and rush eastwards to intercept them.

The two armies met on a flat dusty plain east of a village called Samugarh on an unbelievably hot day at the end of May and the sun was like a furnace in the cloudless sky. There was not enough water to drink so many soldiers and horses simply collapsed with heat and sun stroke. The crash of the opposing mass of horse and men with the thunder guns and the screams of the wounded soldiers and the whinnying of the terrified horses would haunt the sleep of the survivors for the rest of their lives. I began to see that the battle was no longer just a contest between Dara and his rebel brothers but was beginning to be a religious war with the Hindus valiantly supporting Dara and many Muslim mansabdars supporting Aurangzeb.

It was with great difficulty that I was able to reach the side of Dara’s magnificent elephant but was unable to get his attention as my voice was drowned by the deafening sounds of gunfire, clashing swords and the screams of the wounded.  Dara was oblivious to all except the prospect of his immanent victory. His elephant was to soon become a signal of his doom. One of the enemy rockets exploded near it and our commander Khalilullah Khan rushed up and insisted that he must dismount and finish the battle on a horse. I heard him urgently shout… ”Praise be to Allah this victory is your own! But my God! Why you are still mounted on a lofty elephant? Have you not been sufficiently exposed to danger? If one of the numberless musket balls or arrows touch your royal person who can imagine the dreadful situation to which we will all be reduced? In God’s name descend quickly, mount this horse and pursue the miserable fugitives with all vigour.” As Dara descended, a huge shout was sent up by Khalilullah Khan’s squadron that Dara Shikoh had been killed. When the bewildered soldiers saw through the thick swirling clouds of dust and smoke that the howdah of Dara’s elephant was empty they feared the worst and quickly fled towards Agra.

The noise of battle quite quickly subsided and the dust and smoke began to slowly clear to reveal some fifteen thousand corpses lying on the dusty battlefield in hundreds of piles coated in vivid crimson blood. The Rajput corpses in their yellow jamas looked like untidy fields of saffron. For every dead body there were another three who had been wounded and were lying on the ground crying out piteously. But the intense heat quickly parched their throats so the devastating silence that followed the thunder of battle was almost uncanny. A sharp summer wind suddenly blew from the south and all the fallen bodies were quickly shrouded by a huge cloak of choking yellow dust. A few swirls of spiraling dust curling above the scene looked like ghosts rising up from the devastated plain until they too subsided and absolute silence pervaded the scene.

Dara rode in silence to his mansion from where he collected his family and valuables and left for Dilli shortly before dawn. Dara retreated to Lahore and then down the Indus and a year later was able to muster a big army to fight a fierce three day battle against Aurangzeb at Deorai near Ajmer. He then fled towards Kandahar to be betrayed once again and brought to Delhi where the imperial Qazis sentenced him to death for the crime of heresy. He had written a book called the `Mingling of the Oceans’ showing the many similarities between the Quran and the Brahma Shastras of the Hindus. 

Aurangzeb’s greatest weakness was his inflexible religious bigotry that made him lose the support his Shia subjects as well as his many Hindu and Rajputs followers. His intolerance became more acute after twenty years of rule as he became frustrated by endless rebellions. Though he did no more than Jehangir or Shah Jahan by permitting Hindu worship at old temples and forbidding the construction of new ones his reputation as a destroyer of temples became widespread. He was very unforgiving and by persecuting his Rajput followers cut off his own arms and weakened his military power. The Maratha leader Shivaji initially had no anti Muslim sentiment and had been quite willing to become a Mughal Amir. Aurangzeb’s obstinate pride however alienated him and gave him a new weapon to turn a purely political war against the Mughals into a religious war. The rebellion of the Marathas not only encouraged the Sikhs to revolt but spawned many other Hindu rebels. Aurangzeb died a feeble, broken and a deeply disappointed old man and is buried in a plain grave near Aurangabad. His bigotry was to make the Indian sub-continent the hotbed of Islamic extremism for the next four centuries. If Dara had won at Samugarh it is possible that his rule might have promoted harmony between India’s turbulent peoples and a united Mughal empire might have prevented India becoming so easily colonized by European powers. Samugarh was the turning point.

OCEAN OF COBRAS

Synopsis of my forthcoming novel

The chronicle of a slave to

The Mughal prince Dara Shikoh

The story about a beautifully tragic life as related in a long lost manuscript written by Mubarak Ali, a faithful palace eunuch who was Prince Dara Shukoh’s constant companion and witness to all the battles, intrigues, scholarship, trial, death and events of his tumultuous life. The book is packed with military action, the magnificence and intrigues of the Mughal court and a battle for the very soul of India with Dara’s religious tolerance pitted against the puritanical Islamic intolerance of Aurangzeb.

Mubarak Ali’s adventures are pure fiction set in the actual history of the Mughal empire between 1620 and 1660 where emperor Shahjahan’s eldest and favorite son Dara battles against his brothers Shuja, Aurangzeb and Murad for the Mughal throne after Shahjahan becomes seriously ill. Over five battles, the conflict eventually narrows to one between the liberal Dara and the orthodox Aurangzeb. Betrayal gives Aurangzeb a very narrow victory.

Dara was a liberal thinking scholar (also of Sanskrit) who first had the Upanishads and Bhagavat Gita translated from Sanskrit to Persian to become widely known for the first time. He also wrote his own book `Mingling of the Oceans’ showing the commonality between the Quran and the Hindu Shastras. If Dara had won the Mughal throne India might have enjoyed a long period of Hindu – Muslim amity instead of centuries of communal strife.

Mubarak, the fictitious narrator of this epic story, is a faintly foreign eunuch of the emperor’s Zenana. Aged six years younger than Dara he is intimate with all the members of the imperial family from their childhood to their adult years. Over the years he develops from a nine year old boy into a capable soldier and reveals intimate insights into the lives of the powerful men and women of the court. In the cloistered zenana he also develops a secret and strictly forbidden intimate relationship with a royal princess.

His adventures describe the exciting royal hunts, the passing of Mumtaz Mahal, the building of the magnificent Taj and the new city of Delhi. He shares his experiences while among tribals in the jungles, worship in Hindu and Muslim holy places, Dara’s grand marriage to Nadira Bano and the trade at the sea port of Surat with its many taverns and brothels. He shares Dara’s spiritual quest for Hindu-Muslim brotherhood exploring the many religious ideas of a time when Hindu’s were just beginning to assert their position in a Mughal world. The reader will follow Mubarak on a colorful tour of Hindustan from the limpid lakes of Kashmir to the craggy terrain of the Deccan and Kandahar, the lush pastures of the Punjab, the forested hills of the Himalayas to the sandy wastes of Sind and Baluchistan.

Mubarak describes many scenes of battle where the Mughal strategies and command structures are described for the first time. He rides with Dara at the battle of Samugarh and follows him on the long retreat to Lahore and then down the Indus. He then assassinates an enemy commander and helps rally Dara’s forces for his final battle at Deorai near Ajmer. He then travels with Dara’s family and retainers through the cruel deserts of Sind and Baluchastan until Dara is again betrayed and taken to Delhi as a prisoner. He is with Dara when he is paraded through Delhi and taken before the imperial Qazis where he is tried for heresy and condemned to death.       

The Ocean of Cobras is a tale of love and war, of compassion and cruelty in a period of Mughal grandeur and passionate pride. The story of Dara is a true story that many people in India still remember despite the passage of the centuries. 

105,000 words with three maps.

Rs. 350