Hümâyûn

Hümâyûn, in its most common historical usage, refers to Humayun, the second Mughal emperor of India, whose full regnal name was Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Humayun. He reigned from 1530 to 1540 and again from 1555 to 1556, succeeding his father, Babur. Born in 1508 in Kabul, Humayun was part of the Timurid-Mughal lineage that founded the Mughal state in the Indian subcontinent. His early reign sought to consolidate Babur’s conquests in the Ganges plain and the western frontiers, but it was contested by Afghan rulers and Rajput powers, leaving the empire fragmented at times.

Humayun’s fortunes declined after a series of military defeats. In 1540 he was defeated by Sher Shah Suri and compelled to abdicate; he spent about fifteen years in exile, first in the Persian court and then under Persian protection. With Persian support, he regained his grip on northern India and reentered Delhi in 1555, restoring Mughal authority for a short period before his death the following year.

Humayun died on January 27, 1556, after a misadventure on a stairway at the Red Fort in Delhi. He was succeeded by his son Akbar, who would expand and consolidate the empire further. Humayun’s reign is often viewed as a transitional phase that laid the groundwork for the Mughal consolidation under Akbar, despite its interruptions and reversals.

Architecturally, Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, commissioned by his widow Hamida Banu Begum and completed in the late 16th century, became a landmark of Mughal design and an early model for later imperial tombs in the region. The dynasty’s momentum toward a centralized imperial state is frequently traced to the period surrounding Humayun’s era.