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The book 'Majma-ul-Bahrain' (The Confluence of the Two Seas) was written by:
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Answer: Option B — Dara Shikoh
Detailed Solution
"Majma-ul-Bahrain" ("The Confluence of the Two Seas") is a book written in Persian by the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Emperor Shah Jahan, in 1654-55.
About Majma-ul-Bahrain:
- It is a comparative study of Islamic Sufism and Hindu Vedanta.
- Dara Shikoh argued that the two traditions express the same basic spiritual truths, like two seas meeting.
- He compared Sufi and Vedantic terms for God, the soul, the elements, the senses, meditation, the stages of spiritual progress and salvation.
- It was also translated into Sanskrit as "Samudra Sangama".
Other works of Dara Shikoh:
"Sirr-i-Akbar" ("The Greatest Secret", 1657): a Persian translation of about 50 Upanishads, made with the help of pandits in Varanasi. Through a later Latin translation by the French scholar Anquetil-Duperron (1801-02), it introduced the Upanishads to European thinkers such as Schopenhauer.
He also arranged translations of the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Vasistha.
"Safinat-ul-Auliya" and "Sakinat-ul-Auliya": biographies of Sufi saints.
About Dara Shikoh (1615-1659):
- He was a follower of the Qadiri order of Sufis, especially the saint Mian Mir of Lahore and Mulla Shah Badakhshi.
- He was Shah Jahan's favourite son and chosen successor.
- In the war of succession (1657-58) among Shah Jahan's sons, Dara was defeated by his brother Aurangzeb at the Battle of Samugarh (1658).
- He was captured, tried for heresy and executed in Delhi in 1659 on Aurangzeb's orders.
- His sister Jahanara Begum supported him; she was also a Sufi follower and wrote "Munis-ul-Arwah", a biography of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
Earlier Mughal translations:
- Under Akbar, the Maktab Khana translated the Mahabharata ("Razmnama"), the Ramayana and other Sanskrit texts into Persian.
- Abul Fazl wrote the "Akbarnama" and "Ain-i-Akbari", and his brother Faizi translated "Lilavati" and other works.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Abul Fazl wrote the "Akbarnama".
- ✗Faizi was a poet at Akbar's court who translated Sanskrit works.
- ✗Jahanara Begum wrote "Munis-ul-Arwah".
Quick tip
Remember: "Majma-ul-Bahrain" (Sufism and Vedanta compared) and "Sirr-i-Akbar" (Upanishads in Persian, 1657) = Dara Shikoh (defeated at Samugarh 1658, executed 1659).
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.