Delhi - Humayun's Tomb

Date of visit: July 2009 & December 2011

I first visited Humayun's Tomb in July 2009 as a solo tourist. Second time was in December 2011 with my family. I must say that among all places in Delhi, Humayun's tomb is my most favourite. It is well maintained, its landscape (financed by Agha Khan foundation) is well blended with the history and meet the purpose of a mouseleum to a great conqueror built by his grieving widow under a supervision of a great succcessor, his son, Emperor Akbar.

Humayun's tomb is the tomb of the second Mughal Emperor, Humayun the son of Babur, a descendant of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's wife Hamida Banu Begum in 1562 AD, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect. It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent, and is located in Nizamuddin East, Delhi, close to the Purana Qila (Old Fort), that Humayun founded in 1533. It was also the first structure to use red sandstone at such a scale. The tomb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, and since then has undergone extensive restoration work, which is still underway.

The complex encompasses the main tomb of the Emperor Humayun, which also houses the graves of his wife, Hamida Begum, and also Dara Shikoh, son of the later Emperor Shah Jahan, as well as numerous other subsequent Mughals, including Emperor Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi Ul-Darjat, Rafi Ud-Daulat and Alamgir II.

The Tomb with spider web tiles design, a deeper understanding of chapter 29 of the Quran

A verse from Surah An-Nur, 24:35 in Al-Quran (the verse from Allah to Prophet Muhammad) was crafted on Humayun's tomb entrance hall that has thousand meanings...

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth;

The Lamp enclosed in Glass;

The glass as it was a brilliant star;

Lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it;

Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light;

Allah doth set forth Parables for men;

and Allah doth know all thing...

On 20th December 2011, I had a better opportunity to appreciate the wole mouseolum  in details with my husband who is also passionate with the grandeur of Persian's architecture during a family vacation to India. Our 2 boys and Ram are more than happy to fit in as the morning winter walk was indeed very pleasant.

Ram and I with the mausoleum side elevation view in below photo. You may see that the main architecture features of the tomb are an influence of Turkic and Mughal rule in the Indian Sucontinent, which merely introduced Central Asian and Persians styles of Islamic architecture. By the late 12th century, early monuments in this style were appearing in and around Delhi being the capital of Delhi Sultanate. Starting with the Turkic Slave dynasty which built the Qutb Minar. North India was successively under foreign dynasties rules in many centuries giving rise to the Indo-Islamic architecture. 

It was foggy in December 2011 unlike a sky clear weather in June 2009. The first 3 photos are sharing from 2009 folders, whilst remaining all are with the boys in 2011.

From the upper and below photo, we can see that the tomb was designed in the centre of a large garden, laid out in char baah (four-fold) style, with pools joined by channels. A pavilion and a bath are located in the centre of the eastern and northern walls respectively. The mausoleum itself is on a high, wide, terraced platform with small arched cells along the sides.

In plan the complex seen as an irregular octagon with four long and four short sides. It is surmounted by a 42.5 m high double dome clad with marble flanked by decorative pillared kiosks (chhatris). The middle of each side is deeply recessed by large arched vaults with a series of smaller ones set into the face. The interior is a large octagonal chamber with vaulted roof compartments interconnected by galleries or corridors. This octagonal plan is repeated on the second storey. The structure is of dressed stone clad in red sandstone with white and black in laid marble borders. Within the enceinte to the south-east of Humayun's Tomb there is a fine square tomb of 1590-91, known as the Barber's Tomb (in below photo).

Besides the main tomb enclosure of Humayun laid several smaller monuments dot the pathway leading up to it, from the main entrance in the West. It includes a pre-dates main tomb itself, by twenty years; a tomb complex of Isa Khan Niyazi, an Afghan noble in Sher Shah Suri's court of the Suri dynasty, who fought against the Mughals, constructed in 1547 CE.

The octagonal tomb is positioned within an octagonal garden, which was built during Isa Khan's reign of Islam Shah Suri. It later served as a burial place for the entire family of Isa Khan. On the western side of the tomb lies a three-bay wide mosque, in red sandstone. The octagonal tomb bears a striking resemblance to other tombs of the Sur Dynasty monuments in the Lodhi Gardens and demonstrates a marked progression in the development of the exquisite architectural style of the main tomb. Some of the architectural details present here were seen later in the main Humayun's tomb, though on a much grander scale, such as the tomb being placed in a walled garden enclosure.

The importance of Humayun's Tomb in the evolution of Mughal architecture is great. It is the first of a long series of dynastic tombs and innovative in a number of ways, notably by virtue of the fact that it introduced the garden tomb to the subcontinent. Humayun had travelled widely in the Islamic world, throughout Persia and central Asia. He brought back with him ideas that were applied by the architect of his tomb, under the direction of his widow, in this tomb. The tomb has been respected throughout its history and so has retained its original form and purpose intact.