Sons of Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan had four sons namely Aurangzeb, Dara Shikoh, Shah Shuja and Murad Baksh.

Aurangzeb

The full name of Aurangzeb was Mohyuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb. He was born in 1618 and was the governor of Deccan during the kingship of Shah Jahan.

In 1647, he was ordered by his father to take command of the provinces of Balkh and Badashkhan beyond the Hindukush. The region was recently conquered by the Uzbegs. However, he suffered heavy losses there and somehow managed to retain his hold.

He tried to recover Kandhar in 1649 and 1652 but got failed in his efforts. However, these failures brought the best out of him and made Aurangzeb a good administrator and clever general in the long run.

In 1655, he was sent to Deccan and there he carried out successful campaigns against Bijapur and Golconda. At his juncture, Shah Jahan fell ill and Aurangzeb was recalled to Agra.

Dara Shikoh

Dara Shikoh was favourite of his father. In fact, he was the heir apparent to the throne of Delhi. He believed in harmonious co-existence of all religions. He was a learned and intellectual man. He is credited with translating 50 Upanishads from Sanskrit to Persian. This collection of work is called Sirr-i-Akbar. The prominent among them is Muktika Upanishad. It contains list of 108 Upanishads of the Canon.

Shah Shuja

Shah Shuja was the second son of Shah Jahan. He was in charge of Bengal and Orissa. The Bara katra in Dhaka, Bangladesh was his place of residence.

Murad Baksh

He was the youngest son of Shah Jahan and the governor of Gujarat during the kingship of Shah Jahan.