Expert panel formed to find Dara Shikoh’s grave
NEWDELHI: The Union ministry of culture formed a seven-member committee last month to locate and conserve the grave of Mughal prince Dara Shikoh, believed to be inside the Humayun’s Tomb complex in Nizamuddin.
“We have formed a committee of senior archaeologists to identify the grave of Dara Shikoh. We believe the world needs to know about it,” culture minister Prahlad Singh Patel said at an inspection of the Humayun’s Tomb complex last month.
While Patel said the committee has not been given a specific deadline for the project, the written order states it needs to submit its report to the ministry within three months.
The committee headed by T J Alone, director-monuments at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), consists of senior archaeologists B S Bisht, K N Dikshit, Satish Chandra, B N Pandey, and Sayeed Jamal Hassan.
“We will study the material available in the form of textual evidence, oral history accounts and conduct field work to ascertain the grave’s location,” said B N Pandey, archaeologist and former director of ASI. He said the committee is yet to begin work.
The eldest son and heir apparent of Shah Jahan, Dara Shikoh was defeated by his younger brother Aurangzeb in the war of succession. He was later executed 1659 on the orders of Aurangzeb.
“Dara Shikoh is seen as a ‘good’ Mughal who stands for an eclectic ethos and often posited against Aurangzeb,” said historian Swapna Liddle.
Evidence of his grave though is scant, even though it is believed to be one among the 150-odd graves located inside the Humayun’s Tomb complex.
Archaeologist Maulvi Zafar Hasan in his treatise ‘Monuments of Delhi’ wrote that “the headless body of Dara Shikoh is said to have been interred here.” “Unfortunately, there are no records available regarding the identification of various graves,” wrote Hasan.
Speaking about the kind of textual evidence available to ascertain the grave of Dara Shikoh, senior archaeologist and retired director of ASI, Sayeed Jamal Hassan, who is also member of the committee said, “The ‘Shahjahannama’, which is a contemporary record of the period, describes how Dara Shikoh was brought to Delhi and executed. His body was then buried in the Humayun’s Tomb complex.”
“The Shahjahannama also mentions that a particular Quranic verse is inscribed on Dara Shikoh’s tomb, so it should not take us much time to identify it,” Hassan said.