Kannur (Kerala): The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has appointed a committee for the identification of the grave of Dara Shikoh, who was the eldest son and heir-apparent to Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, noted archaeologist KK Muhammed threw some light on the life of Shikoh and how they plan to identify his grave.
Archaeologist KK Muhammed Muhammed, who is a member of the committee, said that Dara Shikoh was executed by his brother Aurangzeb in a war of succession. He said that many historians and foreign travellers had documented the fact that Shikoh was beheaded.
Muhammed explained that Shikoh was later buried in Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, where there are over 140 graves of Mughal descendants.
The Archaeological Survey of India is now trying to determine which of those 140-odd graves belong to Shikoh.
Muhammed explained that generally, graves are identified on the basis of the inscriptions, but many graves at Humayun's Tomb do not have such inscriptions. Hence, he had proposed a novel way to carry out the identification. He suggested that x-rays be carried out over the graves.
The grave which would be without the head would be that of Dara Shikoh, Muhammed said, explaining that there existed conclusive historical evidence that he was buried without the head.
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However, Muhammed said that the work on this approach was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic and things would become clearer only once things settle down.
'Shikoh wanted to unite India, was a Sufi mystic'
Explaining about the life of Dara Shikoh, Muhammed explained that he was considered a liberal, as he was more of a Sufi mystic rather than a warrior.
The best part about Shiko was that he constantly held discussions with Hindu philosophers and had also written a book on the confluence of two cultures - Hinduism and Islam. The book, among his most famous works, was aptly titled Majma-ul-Bahrain (The Confluence of the Two Seas).
Apart from the above, he also translated into Persian several pieces of Hindu literature, including the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.
The shape India eventually took could have been something different had Shikoh ascended the throne, Muhammed said, adding that Shikoh wanted to bring all of India together.
Muhammed, who had served as the Regional Director (North) of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and also served as the Project Archaeological Director in the Aga Khan Trust for Culture from 2013 to 2016. He was honoured with the coveted Padma Shri in 2019 by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Muhammed was part of the ASI team that had carried out the first excavation at Ayodhya in 1976-77. He had always said that there existed a temple at the site, which made him the centre of controversy for many years.
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