HUF hosts lecture on Dara Shikoh

Habib University Foundation (HUF) recently hosted a lecture at the second floor, which shed light on the political and theological implications of Dara Shikoh's scholarly work on the Upanishads. Dr Munis Faruqui, Assistant Professor at the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkley delivered the talk titled "New Perspectives on the Mughals: The Case of Dara Shikoh".
Dr Faruqui, whose teaching and research specializations include Islam in South Asia, pre-modern South Asia, Mughal India and Urdu, noted that the life and death of Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb - the first and third sons of the Emperor Shah Jehan (reign 1628-58) - have been shrouded in controversy. He informed the audience that Dara Shikoh (1615 - 1659) was the heir apparent to the throne of Mughal Emperor, Shah Jehan (reign 1628-58), when the crown was usurped by Aurangzeb.
Subsequently, Dara Shikoh a great scholar of Sufism who commissioned the translation of sacred Hindu texts including the Upanishads into Persian - was executed on charges of heresy. "Might the princely careers of the brothers and archrivals been a little more complicated than previously imagined?," Dr Faruqui queried.
Dr Faruqui explored the journey that led Dara Shikoh to proclaim the importance of the Upanishads to Musims and to the world. He highlighted that in the Upanishads, Dara Shikoh believed he had found the lost kitab al-maknun, or hidden/protected book, referred to, in the Quran, as humanity's first monotheistic text.
Dr Faruqui talked about the endgame of imperial succession, especially in relation to the religious and political ideology of Aurangzeb. He said that the political context in which Dara Shikoh was operating helps us understand his idiosyncratic editorial decisions and proclamations. He highlighted the prince's reliance on Shankacharya, the seventh century Hindu intellectual, for commentary on the Upanishads.
The lecture was hosted and organised by Habib University Foundation (HUF), a not-for-profit organisation, which supports educational initiatives, research and innovation. Established in October 2007 by the House of Habib, HUF's primary project is the establishment of Habib University, a world-class liberal arts and sciences university in Karachi.-PR