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Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: September 1, 2020 at 8:43:54 AM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Asia]: Nadri on Gandhi, 'The Emperor Who Never Was: > Dara Shukoh in Mughal India' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Supriya Gandhi. The Emperor Who Never Was: Dara Shukoh in Mughal > India. Cambridge Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University > Press, 2020. 352 pp. $29.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-674-98729-6. > > Reviewed by Ghulam Nadri (Georgia State University) > Published on H-Asia (September, 2020) > Commissioned by Sumit Guha > > Nadri on Gandhi, _Dara Shukoh_ > > Supriya Gandhi's book on Dara Shukoh, a Mughal prince who was also a > scholar and author of several books, a practicing Sufi, and a > believer in the essential unity of the Islamic and Hindu monotheistic > traditions, is an important and timely contribution to the literature > on the history of Mughal India. The historiography of Mughal India is > very much centered on emperors and their policies and practices. > Seldom have historians focused their narrative on Mughal princes or > princesses. The author of the book under review takes a biographical > approach to reconstruct the fascinating life trajectory of Dara > Shukoh, whose upbringing and intellectual and spiritual growth took > place at a time when the empire was politically, economically, and > culturally at its apex. Supriya Gandhi's text has two main goals: > first, to illuminate the multifaceted personality of the prince and > offer a historical perspective on Dara Shukoh, a man who harbored > great political ambitions and also intensely pursued the path of > Islamic mysticism and spirituality; and second, to provide a > narrative that challenges the misconstrued and generalized images of > the prince created and upheld by both partisans of the prince and > their opponents. Dara's contemporaries and other Mughal chroniclers > during Aurangzeb's reign created a binary image of the prince as a > "scheming, power-hungry infidel" (p. 247), apostate, and heretic on > the one hand and a believer in the essential oneness of the Islamic > and Hindu monotheism and a prophet of Muslim-Hindu unity on the > other. These binary images have been intermittently and conveniently > espoused in colonial and postcolonial South Asia. Gandhi's authentic > and authoritative account of the history of Dara Shukoh from his > birth and early childhood to his failed attempt to succeed his > father, Emperor Shahjahan, in 1657-58 and subsequent execution, > dispels several misconceptions about the prince. The author carefully > weaves the story by delving into primary archival sources, mostly > Persian manuscripts, paintings, and illustrations, and paying close > attention to details of the events that played a vital role in > shaping Dara's religious and political outlook. It is in the > description of those details that the author illuminates many aspects > of social interaction and networking, fraternal relationships and > rivalries, expressions of joy and grief, and many other dimensions of > the peripatetic life of the Mughal imperial family that have > otherwise escaped scholars' scrutiny. > > In nine chronologically arranged, well-written, and appropriately > titled chapters, the author narrates the story of Dara Shukoh's > engagement with both religion and politics. In the first six > chapters, she explores the development of Dara's interest in Islamic > mysticism; his passion for reading and writing books about saints and > their spirituality; his meetings and interaction with the Sufi saints > of the Qadiri order, Mian Mir and Mullah Shah, who became his > spiritual mentors (_murshids_) for the rest of his life; and the role > of his sister, Jahanara, in the pursuit of knowledge and > spirituality. By the early 1650s, Dara Shukoh had been initiated into > the Qadiri Sufi order and accepted the discipleship of Mullah Shah. > It was around this time that Dara's horizon of intellectual curiosity > widened and he became interested in comparative study of Islam and > Hinduism. In chapters 7 and 8, the author explores Dara's interaction > with Brahmin scholars and ascetics, his intensive pursuit of esoteric > knowledge in Hinduism, his realization that Sufis and Hindu ascetics > of monotheistic persuasions shared a mystical truth, and his > representation of that truth in his book, _Majma-ul-bahrayn_ (The > Meeting Place of the Two Seas). Gandhi provides an insightful > analysis of this book and the spiritual, intellectual, and political > motives behind its compilation. Her eighth chapter, which analyzes > Dara Shukoh's other work, a Persian translation of the Upanishads > titled _Sirr-i-akbar_ (The Greatest Secret) as well as his projects > to translate some major Hindu religious texts into Persian and > Hindavi, provides an equally fascinating analysis of the prince's > continued search for truth. Throughout these chapters, the author > pays attention to political developments in the empire and how > closely Dara Shukoh monitored the affairs of the state and related > with his political allies and rivals. The war of succession that > broke out after news of Shahjahan's illness became public in 1657 and > which Dara Shukoh lost to his younger brother, Aurangzeb, forms the > theme of the last chapter. The author details the circumstances > leading to Dara's defeat, capture, and execution. She underscores the > prominent role of Jahanara, his sister and long-term ally in his > pursuit of spirituality and sovereignty, in the war of succession and > her initiative to reconcile the warring princes and find a peaceful > resolution of the succession crisis as well as to secure the fate of > Dara's sons and daughters during the early years of Aurangzeb's > regime. In the concluding chapter, the author analyzes the influence > of Dara's writings on the understanding of religions and religious > culture in late Mughal and colonial India. > > Gandhi's book is a fascinating story of a Mughal prince, a seeker of > spirituality and mystical truth as well as political power. The > author effectively portrays Dara Shukoh's constant struggle to > grapple with the apparent dichotomy between his chosen path of Sufi > spirituality and his relentless ambition to ascend to the Mughal > throne. The book challenges many past and present-day misconceptions > about Dara Shukoh and is therefore an essential reading for scholars, > students, and other readers interested in the history of the Mughal > Empire, culture, Islamic mysticism, and comparative religion. > > Citation: Ghulam Nadri. Review of Gandhi, Supriya, _The Emperor Who > Never Was: Dara Shukoh in Mughal India_. H-Asia, H-Net Reviews. > September, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54923 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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