HUMAYUN'S TOMB-A MASTERPIECE!

Precursor of the Taj!

Little did Bahadur Shah Zafar know in 1857, that the last resting place of his ancestor Humayun would not let him relax for long. Fleeing from Shahjehanabad( Red Fort) from the British, he along with his three sons and wife took refuge at Humayun's Tomb near Nizammuddin. Captain Hodson however captured him, took his two sons to the Khooni Darwaza near the Maulana Azad Medical College of today, and slaughtered both the princes. Bahadur Shah  himself along with his wife Zeenat Mahal and prince Jawan Bhakt were exiled to Rangoon after an apology of a trial, where the Last Mughal died unsung. He was a poet and wrote “Lagta nahi hai dil mera ujde dayar me….itna hai badnaseeb Zafar, dafn ke liye  do gaz zameen bhi na mili kooye yaar mein”. Translated  it means,”I am not happy in this deserted place….I am so unfortunate that I did not  even  get  2 yards of land for my burial in my own land.” It was the lament of an Emperor who died and was buried in a foreign land.

Humayun's tomb was a witness to this sad end of the once fabulous Mughal Empire.The Empire founded by Babar in 1526 ended with Bahadur Shah Zafar in 1857.

Latticed windows

If only walls which are supposed to have ears, could narrate what they had seen. Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor. He was the son of Babar who came from Uzbekistan via Kabul. The Lodis lost the 1st battle of Panipat in 1526, and Babar became the founder of the Mughal Empire. Humayun,  was not a great ruler  as he was either fighting or fleeing. He lost his kingdom to Sher Shah Suri and went off to Persia, he later regained it and  ruled from 1530 to 1540 and then again from 1555 to 1556. He also met an inglorious death, while climbing down the steps of his Library in the Purana Quila of Delhi. Hearing the call for prayer(Azaan), he bent down to kneel, tripped and fell down the narrow steps. He died three days later at the age of 48. His 13 year old son Jalaludin Akbar then became the Emperor.

The tomb

To begin with Humayun was buried in his palace at Din Panah, which is now called Purana Quila. Later his wife Hamida Banu Begum got his mausoleum constructed.  The Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyath who had designed buildings and tombs at Herat in Afghanistan and Bukhara in Uzbekistan was invited to design this tomb. The tomb is made of red sandstone and marble and has huge gardens surrounding it. The garden was laid out in a square pattern and was called Char bagh. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Babar was incidentally buried in Kabul, and did not have a grand tomb.

This  tomb has many vaulted chambers and a number of lesser known Mughals with unmarked graves are buried here. Humayun himself occupies the central hall alone. Amongst those buried here are  Dara Shikoh son of Shah Jehan, and Hamida Banu wife of Humayun. 

The Grand lay out 

Besides these tombs there are a couple of other tombs located  in this complex. One is called Nai( Barber) ka Makbara. The other is the tomb of Isa Khan who was a nobleman of Sher Shah Suri. There is also a Nila Gumbad which was built by Abdur Rahim Khankhana, son of Bairam Khan, who had ably helped Akbar rule when he ascended the throne at the age of 13. Rahim was a very well known poet and his doha(s) were learnt by us in school. He was a nauratan (nine gems) of Akbar’s court. My favourite doha was :-

 रहिमन धागा प्रेम का, मत तोड़ो चटके,
टूटे से फिर न जुड़े, जुड़े गाँठ पड़ जाये.

"Says Rahim, don't allow the (delicate) thread of love (between individuals)  snap. Once it snaps, it cannot be rejoined and if you do rejoin it, there is a knot in it."

No marks for guessing this structure!

Humayun's tomb is a precursor to the Taj Mahal. One can see similarities in both the tombs. The long verandah all around, the beautiful dome, the lay out of the garden in squares and water flowing down like a nahar(canal),  huge shady  trees planted alongside, the river Jamuna meandering behind the tombs. Undoubtedly Taj is grander, more magnificent, ethereal and almost divine. Humayun’s tomb seems more earthly, human and approachable.

Humayun's tomb has not got the importance it deserves. I visited the place thanks to my daughter, who wanted her children to learn about Delhi. Purana Quila is incidentally the 6th city of Delhi.

Another view from the entrance.

All Dilliwallas, do please find time to visit these beautiful places, see the magnificence, grandeur and architecture of the structures. Revise your History lesson. We owe it to all those people who gave us our History, our culture which is coloured. Our land was the cauldron where various ways of life, art, craft, dress, language, style, calligraphy, poetry, cuisine from Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Persia and Afghanistan amalgamated. What we are today is what all these people introduced to us.

As an added bonus you can visit the Sunder Nagar nursery, which is right next door. This is a government nursery where you can find lovely plants at reasonable rates. The Nursery is laid out in acres and acres of land. It also has a couple of tombs located within its premises. The Nursery is open from 10 to 4 on working days. You also get good manure for your garden and  potted plants. One only needs to bring ones own sack or bag to carry the manure.

So friends, from the great Mughals to manure…how mundane and down market can I be?? Never mind, that’s just how life is. These are the days of "Buy one get one free!". You buy the ticket to visit Humayun's tomb and get to visit the Nursery free!