Times of India carried this article on the edit page on May 28.

Not Plassey 1757 but Samugarh 1658: Fateful tipping point

that fixed the subcontinent’s future course

Murad Ali Baig

On May 29 1658 India’s history changed forever. Aurangzeb’s victory over his brother Dara Shikoh marked the beginning of Islamic bigotry in India that not only alienated Hindus but the much more moderate Sufis and Shias as well. His narrow Sunni beliefs were to make India the hotbed of Muslim fundamentalists long before the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia sponsored the fanatics of the Taliban and ISIL.

Samugarh marked the beginning of Islamic bigotry that led over the centuries to the partition of India, the creation of Pakistan and backlash of radical Hinduism.

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. The fact that he had been a Sanskrit scholar shows that there had been considerable Hindu – Muslim amity in the time of Shahjahan. But Dara had been a pampered prince who faced a smaller battle hardened army that Aurangzeb had marched up from the Deccan after defeating an Imperial army at Dharmat near Indore.

Blocked at the Chambal River Aurangzeb quietly slipped behind Dara’s lines to reach a secret ford across the Chambal by nonstop double marches over two days. Dara now realized that Aurangzeb’s armies had outflanked his army and come very close to Agra so he had to rush east without most of his cannons. The two armies met on a flat dusty plain east of a village called Samugarh on an unbelievably hot day with the sun was like a furnace in a cloudless sky. There was not enough water so many soldiers and horses collapsed of heat and sun stroke. The battle was more than just a contest between Dara and his rebel brothers but was beginning to become a religious war with the Hindus supporting Dara and many Muslim nobles supporting Aurangzeb.

Dara was on the brink of victory when he was betrayed. One of his commanders, Khalilullah Khan rushed up and insisted that he must dismount and finish the battle on a horse. He is reported to have cried out… ”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 terrible 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.” But as soon 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 swirling clouds of dust and smoke that the howdah of Dara’s elephant was empty they feared the worst and 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 but all the fallen bodies were quickly shrouded by a huge cloak of choking yellow dust. Dara rode back to his mansion from where left for Delhi. He then 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 south of 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. 

At the trial the first Qazi asked Dara to hand him the jade thumb ring that was still on his left hand. He is reported to have turned it over and asked why the green stone was inscribed with the words ‘Allah’ on one side and ‘Prabhu’ on the other. Dara evidently replied that the creator was known by many name and called God, Allah, Prabhu, Jehova, Ahura Mazda and many more names by devout people in many different lands. He added that it is written in the Quran that Allah had sent down one hundred and twenty four thousand messengers to show all the people of the world the way of righteousness and he believed that these messengers had been sent not only to Muslims but to all the people of the world in every age. He said that this belief had inspired him to write the `Mingling of the Oceans’ showing the similarities between the Quran and the Hindu Brahma Shastras. Aurangzeb casually signed the order of execution after the Qazis found him guilty of heresy.

Aurangzeb’s greatest weakness was his inflexible religious bigotry that made him lose the support his influential 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. By persecuting his own Rajput followers he 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 weapon to turn a purely political war against the Mughals into a religious war.

If Dara had won at Samugarh his rule might have promoted harmony between India’s turbulent peoples and a united Mughal empire may have prevented India becoming so easily colonized by European powers. Samugarh marked the beginning of Islamic bigotry that led over the centuries to the partition of India, the creation of Pakistan and the backlash of radical Hinduism. Samugarh was a tipping point in India’s history.

Did you see the review of Ocean of Cobras in the Sunday Business Standard?

BEYOND BUSINESS » PEOPLE » PEOPLE

The Mughal fusion of Hindu-Muslim culture is a tradition to be cherished: Murad Ali Baig

Interview with author
Uttaran Das Gupta August 8, 2015 Last Updated at 21:31 IST

The majestic tomb of the second Mughal emperor, Humayun, in New Delhi hides another grave - of Dara Shikoh, scholar, philosopher and the man who would have ascended the Peacock Throne if history had not intervened. Murad Ali Baig's novel, Ocean of Cobras, which will be launched on Monday, fictionalises the Mughal War of Succession (1657-1661) that sealed Dara's fate.Uttaran Das Gupta talks to the author about his upcoming book

From writing on cars to a historical novel - how did this happen?

I have written on cars, travel, environment, rural India as well as history, mythology and religion. My last book, 80 Questions to Understand India, sold about 30,000 copies. I follow my passions: a man can love his wife and also his dog.

Hillary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, said writing historical novels was a second choice when she realised she would not be a historian. You were already well-reputed as a journalist and a non-fiction writer. Why the move to fiction?

I am a historian with an MA in history. So access to records was not too difficult. Textbooks unfortunately mention Dara only as a footnote to the history of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb and others.

My experience in marketing tractors and motorcycles took me to every part of India, and I visited many of the sites where battles took place, and other places mentioned in the book.

It was not easy learning to write fiction after straight narratives on many different subjects. Ocean of Cobras is authentic history as told by a fictitious narrator - a eunuch in the Mughal court, who is a witness to everything, from the intrigues of the harem to the battlefields.

Can you tell us something about the title of the book?

The Mughals took omens very seriously. Strange events like millions of snakes suddenly appearing in Bengal or the predictions of a wandering fakir prejudiced Shah Jahan against Aurangzeb, which in turn made the prince bitter and determined.

Dara has gained a sort of mythical reputation as a poet and secular-minded leader. Do you think he would have made an able administrator of the Mughal empire?

Dara, Shah Jahan's favourite son, was a great scholar but also an able military commander, who continued the armed struggle against his brother Aurangzeb for more than a year. The Persian scribes of the Mughal court wrote off Dara after the Battle of Samugarh. European writers depended mainly on street gossip.

Dara had deep respect for Hindu and Sufi philosophy, and his ascent to the throne might have led to a continuation of religious harmony for keeping the Mughal empire together. This was shattered by Aurangzeb's bigoted interpretation of Islam. But my novel does question if Dara was strong enough to hold such a turbulent empire together.

On the contrary, don't you think Aurangzeb earned a reputation of a ruthless bigot and religious fundamentalist?

Aurangzeb really became bitter and bigoted in the last 30 years of his life. (He lived to be nearly 90.) He usually tried to be just to all his subjects.

There has been some speculation of how different Indian history would have been if Dara had ascended the throne.

Indian history would have been different. Many would be surprised to learn that Dara had translated 59 Upanishads, and the Bhagwad Gita from Sanskrit to Persian so that the Hindu religious texts would gain wider circulation in the empire. Others would find it surprising the Dara considered Allah to be god to everyone and not just Muslims, like Aurangzeb did.

Mughal history has served as inspiration for fictional work in India for centuries. Do you think your novel has contemporary relevance?

I think my novel is very relevant: many Mughal customs of governance and taxation survive to this day.

The fusion of Hindu and Muslim culture during Mughal times is a tradition all Indians could cherish.