Dara Shikoh
Dara Shikoh was born on March 20, 1615. See ranking, bio blurb, and everyone else born that day.
About Dara Shikoh
Dara Shikoh (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659), also transliterated as Dara Shukoh, was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba (lit. 'Prince of High Rank') and was favoured as a successor by his father and his elder sister, Princess Jahanara Begum. He had been given the title of 'Shah-e-Buland Iqbal' by Shah Jahan. In the war of succession which ensued after Shah Jahan's illness in 1657, Dara was defeated by his younger brother Prince Muhiuddin (later, the Emperor Aurangzeb). He was executed in 1659 on Aurangzeb's orders after a bitter struggle for the imperial throne. Dara was open to Hindu thought; he authored the work The Confluence of the Two Seas, which argues for the harmony of Sufi philosophy in Islam and Vedanta philosophy in Hinduism. A great patron of the arts, he was also more inclined towards philosophy and mysticism rather than military pursuits. He is often contrasted with his younger brother, Aurangzeb. The course of the history of the Indian subcontinent, had Dara Shikoh prevailed over Aurangzeb, has been a matter of some conjecture among historians.