Humayun Tomb

Humayun Tomb

Humayun's Tomb is an architectural marvel of India and a very substantial example of the magnificence of Mughal Culture..

The tomb was built by Humayun's senior widow Bega Begam, popularly known as Haji Begam, nine years after his death in 1565 according to some, but fourteen years according to the manuscript of an 18th century text. It is the first relevant form of the Mughal architecture, with high arches and double dome, which occurs here for the first time in India. Although some tombs had already been sited within gardens, it is also the first mature example of the idea of garden-tomb, which culminated in the Taj-Mahal at Agra.

The architect, Mirak Mirza Ghiyuath, was Persian and had previously designed buildings in Herat (now northwest Afghanistan), Bukhara (now Uzbekistan), and elsewhere in India. The location chosen for the building on the bank of the Yamuna river adjoins the shrine of an important Sufi Chistiyya order saint, Nizam al-Din Auliya. The Chistiyya was particularly venerated by the Mughals; Humayun's son, Akbar, would build his new palace at Fatehpur Sikri next to the shrine of another saint of the Chistiyya order.

About Humayun

The first Mughal Emperor, Babur, was succeeded by his son, Humayun, who ruled in India for a decade but was expelled. Eventually he took refuge with the Safavid Shah of Persia, who helped him regain Delhi in 1555, the year before his death.

Architecture

High rubble-built walls enclose here a square garden divided initially into four large squares separated by causeways and channels, each square divided again into smaller squares by pathways ('Chaharbagh') as in a typical Mughal garden. The lofty mausoleum is located in the centre of the enclosure and rises from a podium faced with series of cells with arched openings.

The central octagonal chamber containing the cenotaph is encompassed by octagonal chambers at the diagonals and arched lobbies on the sides, their openings closed with perforated screens.

Arches

Three emphatic arches dominate each side, the central one being the highest. This plan is repeated on the second storey, and a 42.5 m high double dome of marble surmounts the roof with pilliored kiosks ('chhatris') placed around it. The structure is built with red sandstone, but white and black marble has been used to relieve the monotony, the latter largely in the borders.

The enclosure is entered through two lofty double-storeyed gateways, one on the west and the other on the south, the latter now remaining closed. A 'baradari' (pavilion) occupies the centre of the eastern wall of the enclosure and a bath-chamber that of the northern wall. A Homage To The Royal Dynasty Several rulers of the Mughal dynasty lie buried in the mausoleum, although it is not possible to identify their graves.

Location : On Mathura road, near Nizamudding Railway Station, New Delhi.