Dara Shikoh, also known as Dara Shukoh (Hindi: दारा शिकोह, Urdu: دارا شِكوه‎, Persian: دارا شكوه‎‎) M 20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659 Julian/9 September 1659 Gregorian) was the eldest son and the heir-apparent of the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. His name ″دارا شكوه″ in Persian means "as magnificent as Dara". He was favoured as a successor by his father, Shah Jahan, and his elder sister, Princess Jahanara Begum, but was defeated and later killed by his younger brother, Prince Muhiuddin (later, the Emperor Aurangzeb), in a bitter struggle for the imperial throne.

The course of the history of the Indian subcontinent, had Dara Shikoh prevailed over Aurangzeb, has been a matter of some conjecture among historians.

Dara Shikoh was born Taragarh fort Ajmer on 28 October 1615, the eldest son of Prince Shahab ud-din Muhammad Khurram (Shah Jahan) and his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal. When he was 12, his grandfather, Emperor Jahangir, died, and his father succeeded as emperor. Dara's siblings included his elder sister Jahanara Begum and their youngers siblings Shah Shuja, Roshanara Begum, Aurangzeb, Murad Bakhsh, and Gauhara Begum. Aurangzeb became the sixth Mughal Emperor.

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