Humayun’s Tomb (Historical landmark in New Delhi)

Humayun tomb is located near Nizamuddin East, India, Delhi, and Dina- panah Citadel and is also known as Purana Qila. Humayun tomb was built in 1570. It was also the first creation to use red sandstone on this tomb. The Humayun tomb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 and has since undergone extensive restoration work, which has recently been completed.Today we are going to talk about Humayun tomb. This tomb is also known as Maqbara-i Humayun. Humayun tomb is the tomb of Mughal Emperor Humayun in Delhi, India. Humayun tomb was run by Empress Bega Begum, the first wife and chief wife. The monument is a masterpiece of Mughal architecture. This monument has special cultural significance as Humayun tomb is the first garden-mausoleum in the Indian subcontinent. So let us gather a little more information about Humayun tomb.

Humayun tomb is located near Nizamuddin East, India, Delhi, and Dina- panah Citadel and is also known as Purana Qila. Humayun tomb was built in 1570. It was also the first creation to use red sandstone on this tomb. The Humayun tomb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 and has since undergone extensive restoration work, which has recently been completed.

In addition to the darkness of the Humayun tomb, from the main entrance to the west, there are several small monuments leading to the passageway and in which the pre-date of the main tomb is also twenty years. The monument contains the main tomb of Emperor Humayun and includes Empress Bega Begum, Hamida Begum and Humayun's great-grandson Dara Shikoh and the son of the later emperor Shah Jahan, as well as many other successors.

Humayun tomb represents a leap into Mughal architecture. And with the perfect Charbagh garden of Humayun tomb, it is typical of Persian gardens. But it has never been seen before in India like a garden and set an example in Humayun tomb for later Mughal architecture. In Afghanistan, Bagh-e Babur, his father, the first Mughal emperor, is seen as a clear departure from the most ordinary tomb of Babur.

Humayun tomb was chosen by the rulers of Delhi because of its proximity to the Nizamuddin Dargah on the banks of the river Yamuna and its residence, Chilla Nizamuddin Auliya, located on the banks of the river Yamuna. And the last Mughal emperor in later Mughal history, Bahadur Shah Zafar with three princes took refuge in Humayun tomb during the Indian uprising of 1857 and was captured by Captain Hodgson before being deported to Rangoon.

At the time of the Slavic Dynasty the land of Humayun tomb was under 'KiloKheri Fort' which was the capital of Sultan Kequbad, son of Nasiruddin. The two complexes of the Humayun tomb are separated by a small road but the Humayun tomb's own compound is enclosed within a wall.

Architecture of Humayun tomb

It is said that the unique beauty of the Humayun tomb has inspired many major architectural innovations and led to the construction of the unique Taj Mahal. In many ways the Humayun tomb is a red and white sandstone as spectacular as the famous ‘monument to love’ in it. The Humayun tomb was built at a cost of about Rs 1.5 crore. Humayun brought the architectural style of construction with the arches and beams of the tomb and which was developed under the auspices of the Mughal Empire.

The high debris on the Humayun tomb enters through a two-story double-story gateway to the west and south of the built exterior. There are rooms on both sides of the road to Humayun tomb and a small courtyard upstairs. Humayun tomb uses white marble as the cladding material.

The floor of the mosque, lattice curtains, door frames, images and the main dome stand on a vaulted terrace at 8 m and it extends up to 12,000m². The mosque is essentially square in beautiful design to prepare the ground for the interior design of the Humayun tomb and to make it look octagonal. In addition, the entire base structure on the Humayun tomb is on the raised platform and some of the steps are high.

The Humayun tomb reaches a height of 47 meters and the plinth is 91 meters wide and was the first Indian building to use a Persian double dome on a high neck drum. The Humayun tomb is topped by a crescent-shaped 6 m high brass end and is common in Timurid tombs.

This is in contrast to the pure white outer dome of the tomb and the rest of the building is made of red sandstone with details of white and black marble and yellow sandstone to remove the monotony. This tomb is arranged on the north-south axis according to the Humayun Islamic tradition and in which the head is placed towards the north while the face is turned towards Mecca.

The monument with Humayun's burial technique on the pietra dura and around the marble and in the number of Arabs in numerous geometric and Arabic patterns of stone inlaid decoration and which is an important legacy of Indo-Islamic architecture and developed as in many later masalas of the Mughal Empire.

The main chamber of the Humayun tomb also has a symbolic element and is an arch design on a central marble lattice or to the west towards Mecca. This monument replaces the traditional Surah 24 and the An-Noor of the Qur'an which is inscribed on the mihrabs.

History of Humayun tomb

According to Ain-i-Akbari, a detailed 16th century document written during the reign of Emperor Akbar, Humayun's Begum returned from Mecca and oversaw the construction of his tomb after the Hajj pilgrimage. According to one of the historians, Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni, the Humayun tomb was designed by the Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyas and was chosen and brought by the Empress Humayun.

Ghiyas died before the structure of the monument was completed and Ghiyas was completed by his son Sayyed Muhammad ibn Mirak Ghiyathuddin. William Finch, an English merchant, visited the Humayun tomb in 1611 and described the rich interior decoration of the central chamber of the Humayun tomb.

In 1882, the official curator of ancient monuments in India published his first report, mentioning the four gardens of Humayun tomb, which were abandoned to various farmers who had grown cabbage and tobacco.

During the Partition of India, August 1947 became the main refugee camp for Muslims in newly established Pakistan, along with the Puran Fort and this monument, and was later managed by the Government of India.

An important phase of the restoration of the Humayun tomb began around 1993 when the monument was declared a World Heritage Site. This led to a new interest in the restoration of the Humayun tomb and the process of extensive research and excavation under the leadership of the Aga Khan Trust and ASI began. Then in 2003 many of Humayun Tomb's complexes and gardens were restored.

On May 30, 2014, the final dome of the Humayun tomb was torn down by a hurricane. On April 19, 2016, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of Culture of India, unveiled the restored funeral of This Tomb.

The fountains at this monument were functioning in India during this period with general and highly developed engineering skills. UNESCO has declared the beautiful design of Humayun tomb a World Heritage Site.