RAS question
Dara Shikoh, the Mughal prince who translated the Upanishads, was a follower of which Sufi order?
Correct answer: (A) Qadiri.
Dara Shikoh, Shah Jahan's eldest son and the Mughal prince associated with the Persian translation of the Upanishads, was a follower of the Qadiri Sufi order.
Explanation
Dara Shikoh is linked with the Qadiri order as Shah Jahan's son and a disciple of the Qadiri Sufis. That affiliation fits his wider intellectual profile: he studied Sufi and Vedantic ideas together, wrote Majma-ul-Bahrain, or The Mingling of Two Oceans, to compare those traditions, and translated 52 Upanishads into Persian as Sirr-i-Akbar. Encyclopaedia Britannica notes his translation of Hindu scriptures, including the Bhagavadgita and the Upanishads, into Persian and his close attention to Shankara's commentaries in the Upanishad translation. The order asked in the question is therefore Qadiri, not merely a generic Sufi association.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Suhrawardi is wrong because Dara Shikoh was affiliated with the Qadiri Sufis, not the Suhrawardi order.
- (C) Naqshbandi is wrong because Dara Shikoh is described as a Qadiri disciple, while the question asks for his own Sufi affiliation.
- (D) Chishti is wrong because Dara Shikoh's Sufi connection was specifically with the Qadiri order.
Concept
This tests the medieval Indian history theme of Mughal religious thought and Sufi orders. It recurs in RAS because Dara Shikoh connects Mughal politics, Persian intellectual culture, Sufism, and Sanskritic texts in one high-yield figure.