Homayun

Homayun, also spelled Humayun in English transliteration, was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He reigned from 1530 to 1540 and again from 1555 to 1556. Born in 1508 in Kabul, he was the son of Babur, the empire’s founder, and Maham Begum. Humayun inherited a fledgling realm that covered parts of northern India and took up the task of expanding Mughal authority amid ongoing regional rivalries.

During his first reign, Humayun advanced into northern India but faced sustained resistance from Afghan and Rajput forces. He was defeated by Sher Shah Suri at the battles of Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540), and he subsequently fled to Persia, where the Safavid court offered shelter and support. He remained in exile for about fifteen years, during which the Mughal state fragmented and his successors governed parts of the empire.

With Safavid assistance and the changing political landscape in India, Humayun returned to regain his throne in 1555. He reconquered Delhi and established a renewed Mughal rule, though his second reign was short. He died in 1556 after reportedly falling from the stairs of a house at the Purana Qila in Delhi, and he was succeeded by his son Akbar, who had been born during Humayun’s exile.

Humayun’s reign is viewed as a pivotal period that reestablished Mughal legitimacy and laid the groundwork for Akbar’s later consolidation and expansion. His life reflects the turbulence of 16th-century South Asian politics and the early evolution of the Mughal imperial project.