The Emperor Who Never Was

by Supriya Gandhi

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  BOTH SHAH JAHAN AND DARA SHUKOH managed affairs of state even as they sought wisdom through their intellectual and cultural activities. The military adventure in Central Asia did not live up to Shah Jahan’s expectations. The beginning was very promising. Murad Bakhsh easily seized Balkh, though the ousted ruler Nazar Muhammad managed to flee to his son, their rift forgotten. When Shah Jahan, waiting in Kabul, heard the news of Balkh’s capture, he announced eight days of celebration.79 The northern part of the kingdom, including Samarqand and Bukhara, was next, he hoped. But soon afterward, Murad Bakhsh sent a letter asking for permission to come home. Governing an alien land was proving to be much harder than the conquest itself. The morale of his men was low, and with a famine in the region they had no idea how they would secure enough provisions to survive the Central Asian winter. Taking Samarqand and Bukhara did not appear at all feasible.80

  Dara Shukoh remained in the Punjab during much of the Balkh expedition. While his father anxiously steered the campaign from afar, Dara helped oversee the governance of Hindustan. It soon became clear that nothing could induce Murad to remain in Balkh. The emperor rushed the experienced Sadullah Khan to take over the operation. Murad returned in disgrace, and was stripped of his rank. Shah Jahan forbade him from coming to court and had him remain in Peshawar for several months. The following year, in February 1647, the emperor sent Aurangzeb to reinvigorate the stalled campaign, albeit with a much smaller army. Shah Jahan moved to Lahore and appointed Shuja to administer Kabul. According to Tawakkul Beg, Shah Jahan also corresponded with Mulla Shah about the campaign, asking him to pray for victory in Central Asia.81 In March that year, he added the Punjab to the portfolio of provinces under Dara Shukoh’s governorship. This time, because the prince was actually stationed in Lahore, he was able to acquire some hands-on administrative experience.

  By October 1647, it was clear that Aurangzeb had not made any headway in Central Asia. Shah Jahan instructed him to retreat, relinquishing Balkh to Nazar Muhammad. The emperor was forced to drop his cherished goal. In total, the expedition had cost forty million rupees and an untold number of lives.82

  While Dara Shukoh’s brothers were entangled in this costly and disastrous mission, the eldest prince expended at least some of his energy on architectural patronage. Building was a passion that he shared with his father, for whom it formed a crucial aspect of his image as a powerful sovereign. While still in Sheikhupura in 1646, Dara sent Tawakkul Beg back to Kashmir to oversee projects that he had been planning there. The Nuskha offers a rare contemporary account of how a site now popularly known as Pari Mahal, the “Fairy Palace,” came into being.

  Today all that remains of the Pari Mahal are the ruins of six pavilioned terraces, set halfway up a mountain overlooking Srinagar’s Dal Lake from the southeast. Apart from the stairs and terraced walls, some built structures survive: a baradari (pavilion), a couple of water tanks, and an arcade on the lowest terrace covered in a lattice of small holes that suggests it once housed pigeons. The expansive views of the sky merging into the translucent lake, the clouds both above and reflected below are magical. To the Pari Mahal’s east, at the foot of the mountain range, lies a garden designed around an effervescent spring known today as Chashm-i Shahi, the “Shah’s Spring.”

  Little is known, though, about the Pari Mahal’s origins or how the site might have been used. In the nineteenth century, a British doctor based in Kashmir heard a legend that it was the abode of an evil magician who kidnapped princesses. One such king’s daughter eventually managed to track him down and have him captured.83 Others believe that Pari was a misspelling of Pir Mahal, named for Dara’s Sufi pir, Mulla Shah, which eventually replaced the original name.84 Several layers of historical memory, including oral tradition, enwrap the site. But the details of Dara’s own involvement with this terraced pleasure palace lie largely buried and forgotten.

  Tawakkul Beg provides some tantalizing insights into the Pari Mahal’s creation. There is a mountain, he recounts, overlooking the Dal Lake, named Koh-i Pak, the “Pure Mountain.” Two springs flowed from it. One the Kashmiris called “Salma,” and the other, on the mountain’s spine, they called “Qatalna.” When the prince learned about these springs and realized that at least one of the sites was suitable for building, he sent Tawakkul Beg from Sheikhupura to locate the origins of the Salma Spring and enclose it within a marble tank in such a way that it would bubble from its midst. Jahanara built some grand structures by this spring, which she renamed Chashma-i Shahi, after Mulla Shah. Mulla Shah, however, felt that it would be more appropriately named Chashma-i Sahibiya, referring to the Prophet’s companions, as its original name referenced Salman the Persian, closely associated with the Prophet. But Jahanara’s name for the spring endured through time. Tawakkul Beg’s description corresponds to the site now known as Chashma-i Shahi. Today, though, the word Shah in the place name is generally thought to refer to the emperor.85

  Meanwhile, according to Tawakkul Beg, Mulla Shah had been exploring the mountain with his servant Hasan Raina. The Sufi shaikh discovered another spring farther up the mountain, though this one did not flow as freely. He remarked to Hasan that it would be nice if a portion of the mountain were cut away, so that the spring could gush forth. Then the governor of Kashmir requested from Mulla Shah permission to build in that location. Courtiers in Jahanara’s employ constructed other buildings. It was Dara Shukoh, though, who built an “extraordinary heart-enchanting, pleasure-granting place,” with magnificent views of the Dal Lake and all of Kashmir. According to Neve’s nineteenth-century description, the Pari Mahal’s buildings showed evidence of having been colored chocolate-red, green, and yellow, so we can imagine that decoratively painted plaster covered the stone.86 The spring, now tamed, cascaded down the terraces, filling pools. “This spring should be named Chashma-i shahi,” declared Mulla Shah. He would delight in visiting the Chashma-i sahibiya with some select disciples, then after a night spent there, proceed uphill to the Chashma-i shahi, visiting the Qatalna Spring on the way. The return journey would follow the same pattern. While the place names have not been identified, Tawakkul Beg’s account fits well with the Pari Mahal’s location.87

  The imperial embrace of Mulla Shah continued during and after the Balkh debacle. While stationed in Lahore, Dara Shukoh entreated Mulla Shah to come down from Kashmir to winter there. The weather in Lahore was far more temperate, he argued. So the shaikh set forth. As he approached Lahore, Tawakkul Beg, along with Mir Abu Talib, Jahanara’s deputy in the city, went to greet him reverentially in Shahdara, on the banks of the Ravi River. Jahanara arranged for Mulla Shah’s stay in a mansion that had belonged to the late Firoz Khan, the eunuch superintendent of the female quarters in Shah Jahan’s household. The building seemed to have reverted to her possession. Tawakkul Beg and Abu Talib served Mulla Shah day and night. Qazi Afzal, the religious scholar who a few years ago had interceded with the reluctant Mulla Shah to accept Dara Shukoh as a disciple, now assisted the prince in governing the city, and visited Mulla Shah daily.88

  Tawakkul Beg’s account makes it plain that Mulla Shah was a guest of the entire imperial family. During his stay in Lahore, Jahanara sent food for him and his companions through her deputy, Abu Talib. In April 1647, Shuja was passing by on his way to his new post in Kabul. The prince sent a messenger to pay respects to Mulla Shah, apologizing for not coming in person. As Mulla Shah was housed within the precincts of the Lahore Fort, he could not enter without the emperor’s permission. Shuja gifted the Sufi two thousand rupees, which Mulla Shah promptly refused. Shah Jahan, too, sent a handwritten letter welcoming Mulla Shah to Lahore.89

  When the Sufi returned to Kashmir, he felt comfortable enough with the imperial family to make his own needs known. Mulla Shah desired a khanqah, or Sufi lodge, where his disciples could stay, near his home perched on the skirt of the Koh-i Maran hill overlooking the city. He also wanted a congregational mosque attached to the khanqah, because it was incumbent upon Musli
m men to offer the Friday midday prayer in a congregation rather than in solitude. A mosque of his own would enable Mulla Shah to pray all the five daily prayers in a congregation. Mulla Shah instructed Jahanara’s deputy in Kashmir to gather stones for construction. The official repurposed a heap of stones originally belonging to an idol-temple (but-khana). “Tell your mistress to make a khanqah for God,” Mulla Shah directed. Tawakkul Beg reports that the imperial family released sixty thousand rupees for constructing the mosque-khanqah complex. His figure concurs with the official account.90 It would take at least a couple of years for the building work to be completed.91

  The following year, in 1648, Mulla Shah decided to winter in Lahore again. “Kashmir is paradisical only in the summer,” his disciples told him. Tawakkul Beg received the group near Lahore. He was accompanied by Muhammad Hakim, the son of Qazi Aslam, who years before had participated in issuing the fatwa against Mulla Shah. Now the same qazi made arrangements for Mulla Shah’s accommodation in the mansion of Shaikh Abd-ul-Karim.92

  Mulla Shah did not meet his imperial hosts empty-handed. That year, he prepared a handsome manuscript of his poetry, containing ten masnawis, long narrative poems, interspersed with occasional prose passages. Its folios brim with Persian calligraphy penned in an excellent hand and glisten with gold leaf. Mulla Shah corrected the manuscript, annotating it here and there with notes written in the margins, and at regular intervals, he certified that he had inspected the text.93 Several of his masnawis meditate on religious topics—the diwanas, or those crazed with spiritual ecstasy, or the basmala, “In God’s name” with which the Quran begins. But two masnawis directly speak to Mulla Shah’s imperial connections, though he infused these also with a spiritual dimension. One is about Kashmir and its delights—starting with his home and proceeding on to sights such as the hammam, the chinar trees, the main congregational mosque, the water of Dal Lake, the imperial gardens, including the Nishat, Faiz-Bakhsh, and Farah-Bakhsh gardens, and a lone cypress tree. In this poem, Mulla Shah also journeys onto the gardens and residences of Jahanara, Shah Jahan, and Dara Shukoh. The other masnawi, the Risala-i Shahiya (The Imperial Epistle), begins with an address dedicated to Shah Jahan and his two eldest children: “O Shah Jahan, and you, Dara! / And O Dara and you, Jahanara! // To you, the eternal rulership of the world / May you possess the world, forever // Dara, to you, in entirety, is world-rulership / To you all the ornaments of the world.”94

  Mulla Shah puns with the names of these three members of the imperial family, wishing for their continued power and authority. Dara, the heir, receives special mention. The poem exploits to full effect the literal meanings of their names: Shah Jahan, “emperor of the world,” Jahanara, “ornament of the world,” and a form of the Persian infinitive dashtan (“to have” or “to possess”), which sounds similar to “Dara.” The rest of the masnawi continues to laud Mulla Shah’s imperial patrons. We can glimpse this poem’s reception at the court through a painting in an album produced for Shah Jahan; it has an elaborate, illustrated border, and is attributed to the artist Bichitr, On the top right-hand corner of the border sits a poet with an open book on which is inscribed the first verse from this poem.95

  The Sufi struck a fine balance between his lavish poetry of praise and his own independence. While he was in Lahore, Shah Jahan sent a message citing his great desire to see him. The emperor also mentioned the agreeable air in the Faiz-Bakhsh and Farah-Bakhsh imperial gardens. Mulla Shah was reluctant. It was raining, and the gardens were far away. If the emperor really wanted to meet there, he could make it in a week’s time. Shah Jahan persisted, “Your desire to meet is evident, delay is not suitable.” The emperor suggested Shah Burj—a secluded quadrangle in the northwest corner of the Lahore Fort with a sparkling mirrored hall—as an alternative. There he interrupted his private audience to enjoy Mulla Shah’s company.96

  On another occasion, the emperor sent Sadullah Khan to fetch Mulla Shah. It was time for the evening prayer, but the Sufi sensed that the emperor needed his company. Shah Jahan left the meeting that he was holding in his bathhouse and met Mulla Shah privately. A new crisis had erupted. In late 1648, the young Safavid emperor Shah Abbas, emboldened by the Mughal debacle in Balkh, managed to recapture Qandahar in a surprise winter attack.97

  Daulat Khan, the Mughal governor stationed there, quickly capitulated. For over a decade, the Mughals had managed to retain their grasp on this strategic city. But ever since Shah Safi’s sudden death, the threat of another Safavid invasion loomed. Shah Jahan dispatched Aurangzeb, now governor of Multan, to recapture Qandahar. He was the obvious choice for this mission after Murad’s poor showing in Central Asia.

  Aurangzeb and the Mughal forces embarked on the difficult journey. The prince sent regular dispatches to his father, who liked to be apprised of every detail. But he also found time to write his sister, Jahanara, addressing her as the sahiba (mistress) of the age, or merely sahib (master). All the way from Kohat to Ali Masjid (both today in northwest Pakistan), recent rains had made the mountains verdant. She was on her way to Kabul with the emperor and would be taking the same route. “If the weather remains in this state, perhaps Sahib too will be much cheered by this landscape.”98

  The rest of Aurangzeb’s journey was less pleasant. Near Ghazni, he found that provisions were scarce, but Shah Jahan urged him to soldier on. Marching through bad weather, delayed by snow, the Mughal forces finally laid siege to the walled city at the end of May. Within three months, the hastily assembled army was forced to withdraw, bruised by its lack of heavy artillery, its rations depleted. Plans would have to be made for another attempt, this time with due preparation.

  At the beginning of 1651, Aurangzeb went all the way from Multan to Delhi at his father’s summons. While traveling, he kept a brisk correspondence with his oldest sister. Or rather, she was a more regular correspondent, and he often apologized for his neglect or delay in writing her.99 En route, Aurangzeb stopped in Lahore, where Dara still served as governor. There, he tells her, he reveled in the poppies, yellow jasmine, and irises of the imperial family’s gardens. But he also suffered an annoying experience. Dara Shukoh’s gumashta, or agent, emerged from the city to welcome his master, when Aurangzeb had dismounted in the environs of Lahore. When he saw Aurangzeb, the gumashta got on his horse and rode off. There was no ceremonial obeisance, or acknowledgment of the prince’s presence. This must have been a deliberate ploy by Dara to insult him, Aurangzeb thought: “The reason for this depraved action wasn’t clear. He probably committed these unbecoming gestures on his own master’s direction.”100

  Jahanara, ever the peacemaker, facilitated Aurangzeb’s meeting with Dara. The younger prince seems to have been mollified. “Thanks to God the Most High, due to the sublime one’s [i.e., Jahanara’s] favor, I had a good conversation. I was most pleased by our meeting. Because no music is performed on the tenth of Muharram, we did not have a musical gathering (suhbat-i rag).” This little snippet from the prince’s letter shows us that Aurangzeb was quite accustomed to musical performances and that it might well have been Dara’s decision not to listen to music on Ashura, a day of fasting for Sunnis and mourning for the Shia. Aurangzeb also thanks his sister for arranging a meeting with their younger brother, Murad.101

  During his journey, Jahanara plied Aurangzeb with gifts and letters, including fruit preserves from the imperial provisions. As he neared Delhi, she sent a document drawn up by her astrologer. It contained the calculation of the auspicious time at which to meet the emperor. This one example reflects the integral role of astrology in Mughal court functioning. Aurangzeb was much appreciative of his sister’s gesture. The prince also speaks of visiting the tomb of his great-great-grandfather, Humayun.102 He no doubt experienced other visual delights as well. After his losses in Central Asia and Qandahar, Shah Jahan had attacked an older project with fresh enthusiasm—turning Delhi into a magnificent new capital—with Jahanara’s and Dara Shukoh’s participation as well.

  That year, 1651,
Shah Jahan and his eldest two children summered in Kashmir to escape the heat of the plains. The emperor visited Mulla Shah’s newly completed mosque complex. Jahanara’s attendants gave the shaikh a valuable diamond, which he apparently accepted. The shaikh composed a poem commemorating its completion, beginning, “Of stone did Begam Sahib make a building / The noble child of the faith-protecting emperor of the worlds.”103 It ends with a chronogram that he coined, “The date of my khanqah is ‘Khanqah-i Shah,’ ” corresponding to the year of the edifice’s foundation.104

  While in Kashmir, Dara Shukoh, with the emperor’s permission, organized the marriage of his sixteen-year-old son, Sulaiman Shukoh, to the granddaughter of Khwaja Abd-ul-Aziz Naqshbandi. The Khwaja had been Jahangir’s general in Qandahar during Shah Abbas’s capture of the city in 1623. His name reflects a link with the originally Central Asian Naqshbandi order. Dara Shukoh must have thought it expedient to forge networks with Naqshbandis as well as with the Central Asian nobility at this time. Of late, the Turanis, as they were called, were forming an increasing proportion of the rank-holders in the Mughal state, though their numbers did not supersede the Iranians.105