Hyumaun Tomb: Humayun inherited the Mughal
dynasty when his father Babur died in 1530. His reign got off to a
good start, but his addiction to luxury at the palaces at Agra left
the door open for ambitious men to plot behind his back. Ten years
into his reign, Humayun was overthrown by the opportunist Sher Shah,
who took advantage of Afghan tribesmen to force Humayun into exile
in Iran, which was then ruled by the Safavid dynasty.
Sher Shah died in 1545 and his sucessor was never able to assert the
authority over the Afghani tribes that Sher Shah had enjoyed. As the
remnants of the Shah's regime unraveled, Humayun mounted a
restoration army and marched into Delhi in 1555. The aged Humayun
had little time to celebrate, however, for barely six months later
he died from a fall in his library at Sher Mandai.
Humayun's tomb is believed to have been designed by his widow. Its
plan, based on the description of Islamic paradise gardens, is known
to have inspired the Taj Mahal and many later Mughal tombs. This
type of garden is known as a charbagh and is based on a grid (see
below).
In 1857, the tomb was used as shelter by Bahadur Shah Zafar and his
three princes during the first war of Independence.
