Introduction

Humayun (1530-1556) ascended the throne after the death of his father Babur. He was born on 6th of March 1508 A.D. Humayun did not inherit the wisdom of his father and had to encounter several difficulties on his accession to the throne. Humayun was threatened from all sides by the imminent danger posed by the Afghan claimants to the throne and dispute over his succession. His own character, his brothers and relatives and the legacy from Babur created several problems for him.

Early Difficulties of Humayun

The Empire that Babur inherited from Babur was unstable as Babur did not get time to consolidate the conquests in India. All the three brothers of Humayun proved not only incapable but disloyal as well to their elder brother. When the Mughal Empire needed the cooperation and unity in the Mughal camp, the brothers of Humayun divided its resources by emphasising on their selfish ends and ambitions. While Humayun needed help from his brothers, they became indifferent towards him. Thus, each of his brothers created problems for Humayun at one time or the other. Babur had assigned large jagirs to his relatives. That made them quite powerful and enhanced their ambitions. One of them Mahdi Khwaja aspired for the throne just after the death of Babur. Another two relations of Humayun, viz Muhammad Zaman Mirza, his brother-in-law and Muhammad Sultan Mirza, his cousin, revolted against him and helped his enemies. The absence of a unified army also created a lot of trouble for Humayun.

Contest with the Afghans

The worst enemies of Humayun were, however, the Afghans. They were the masters of Delhi only a few years back and they did not give up the ambition to capture it again. Mahmud Lodi had fled towards Bihar and was getting active support from Masrat Shah of Bengal to make a fresh attempt to capture Delhi. Bahadur Shah, the ruler of Gujarat was also an Afghan. He was brave and ambitious. He had conquered Malwa and was increasing his pressure on Rajasthan, particularly, on Mewar. Many fugitive Afghan nobles had found shelter under him. Another Afghan chief, Sher Khan, was shrewdly attempting to organise the Afghans against the Mughals. He was an insignificant opponent of Humayun at that time but later on he proved himself to be the strongest enemy of Humayun and finally succeeded to turn out Humayun from India.

Contest with Sher Shah

Humayun was absolutely puzzled, handling Sher Shah Suri. Heedless of Sher Shah`s or Sher Khan`s scheme for his dethronement, Humayan smelt risk only in the eleventh hour. He suffered a depressing defeat in the hands of the extraordinary commander, Sher Shah Suri in the Battle of Chausa, 1539. He escaped to Persia in 1540, to fly away from the clutches of this powerful enemy. Sher Shah proved to be a much better ruler with astonishing administrative capabilities. Akbar later followed the model of Sher Shah`s administrative structure. Humayun spent many years meaninglessly, being housed as a refugee in the Safavid court of Shah Tahmasp, the Shah of Iran. Ultimately his chance of retrieving the lost glory came in the year 1544. Humayun was diplomatic enough to win Shah Tahmasp`s patronage with a gift of a precious diamond. The support of the huge Iranian army recollected for Humayun the land of Afghanistan. Sher Khan`s untimely demise cleared all obstructions for Humayun. Even Sher Shah Suri`s son, Islam Shah died. The dispersed Suri states, fighting among themselves, were no big trouble for Humayun. In 1554 he attacked them. Finally in 1555 the dream hold of Delhi became the reality.

Humayun was a brave person. But, as a king, he suffered from certain weaknesses. He was neither a capable commander nor a diplomat. He failed to understand the magnanimity of his problems, to provide strong leadership to his followers and lacked the capability of continuing hard labour. However, the greatest weakness of Humayun was his extreme generosity which became one of the causes of his failure. As a person, Humayun possessed many qualities of head and heart. He was well-educated and cultured. He knew Turki and Persian well. Besides, he was interested in the study of Geography, Mathematics, Astronomy and Muslim theology. He was an obedient son, lovable husband, affectionate father and a good relative. He was extremely generous towards his nobles and soldiers arc shared with them all his successes and failures. He provided patronage to all scholars without discriminating on grounds of religion or race and, thereby, his court had become the centre of learning and culture. He was a courageous and a capable soldier prepared to face all odds in his life. He participated in all important battles of his life and risked his life many a times.

In 1556, Humayun died a sad death falling off the stairs. With all his weaknesses, Humayun has a significant place in the history of medieval India. He was succeeded by his able and competent son Akbar.

Humayun`s war with Sher Shah Suri is an important chapter in the history of medieval India. There was a number of combat between the Afghan and the Mughal ruler where Humayun had to finally meet with defeat. While Humayun was busy in fighting against Bahadur Shah, the ruler of Gujarat, Sher Khan consolidated his position in Bihar. He had become the master of south Bihar, and was in possession of the strong fort of Chunar and most of the Afghan nobles had gathered under his banner. In Bengal, Mahmud Shah proved an incapable ruler. That gave further opportunity to Sher Khan to strengthen his power at the cost of Bengal. He attacked Bengal in 1526 A.D., besieged its capital Gaur and forced Mahmud Shah to pay thirteen lakh dinars. In 1537 A.D., he again attacked Bengal. Only then Humayun realised that it was necessary to subdue Sher Khan.

In July 1537 A.D. Humayun proceeded towards Bihar and first laid the siege of Chunargarh. Humayun could capture the fort after six months. In the meantime Sher Shah had captured Gaur and looted all its treasure which he kept safe at the Rohtasgarh fort. Humayun, thus, lost valuable time in the siege of Chunargarh. Humayun reached Varanasi and negotiated with Sher Khan for peace. It was agreed that the province of Bengal would be handed over to Sher Khan under the suzerainty of the Mughals and would pay ten lakh rupees annually while Bihar would be taken over by the Mughals. But Humayun broke off the negotiations with Sher Khan and proceeded towards Bengal. Sher Khan deputed his son Jalal Khan to delay the advance of Humayun. Jalal Khan successfully achieved his mission and returned to his father who had successfully finished his campaign in Bengal and returned to Bihar. Humayun therefore faced no difficulty in capturing Bengal. During these months, Sher Khan captured Kara, Bana, Sambhal etc. and laid siege of Chunargarh and Jaunpur. He blocked the way of return of Humayun to Agra.

Humayun took the Grand Trunk Road which passed through south Bihar and which was under complete control of Sher Khan. Humayun crossed the river Ganges and reached Chausa, a place at the boundary between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Sher Shah also reached there. The two armies remained there facing each other for three months (April to June 1539 A.D.). Negotiations of peace were carried on but nothing came out of them. Sher Khan delayed the battle deliberately. He waited for the rains which could create problem for the Mughal army. It did rain and on 25th June he gave the impression to the Mughals that he was proceeding to subdue one of the tribal chiefs in Bihar. But, he returned and attacked the Mughals at night from three sides. The Mughals were completely surprised and the entire army was destroyed. Humayun just saved his life by plunging himself into the river Ganges. The battle of Chausa was an important event in the history of medieval India.

Sher Khan declared himself the Sultan and assumed the title of Sher Shah after this battle. He captured Bengal well and then returned to Kannauj. While Sher Shah was consolidating his position in the east Humayun and his brothers wasted their time at Agra. The Mughals, of course, defeated Afghan army in Malwa which was sent by Sher Shah under his son Qutub Khan. But, they failed to take any effective measure against Sher Shah. However, Humayun finally moved towards the east and reached near Kannauj where Sher Shah had already encamped himself. This time too the two armies faced each other for more than a month and again the rains started. On 17 May 1540 A.D. when the Mughals were shifting themselves to a higher plain, Sher Shah attacked them. The Mughals fought valiantly but were defeated. Humayun again fled away. This battle was the decisive battle between Humayun and Sher Shah. Humayun could reach Agra but had to flee as Sher Shah was pursuing him. Sher Shah captured Delhi and Agra and, thus, the Afghans snatched the throne of Delhi from the hands of the Mughals. Humayun first went to Lahore and finally left India to seek refuge at the court of Shah of Persia.

Humayun’s War with Bahadur Shah

Humayun`s war with Bahadur Shah, the ruler of Gujarat is an important part of the medieval history of India. Bahadur Shah had entered into treaties with a few states in India. He conquered Malwa in 1531 A.D., captured the fort of Raisen in 1532 A.D. and compelled the ruler of Mewar to accept a treaty. He was correspondence with Sher Khan and Nusrat Shah of Bengal against Humayun. He had strengthened his forces and built up strong artillery by securing the services of a Turkish gunner, Rumi Khu. He provided shelter to Muhammad Zaman Mirza and refused a return him to Humayun. He desired to capture Delhi itself and thus, was posing a threat to the Mughals. Humayun decided to settle his score with Bahadur Shah entered Malwa with this view.

Bahadur Shah had besieged the fort of Chittor, Karanwati, Rajamata of Mewar and sent a rakhi to Humayun and sought his assistance as a brother. Humayun proceeded towards Chittor but stopped at Sarangpur because he wanted to consolidate his army, win over those people of Malwa who were against Bahadur Shah and arrange for the stoppage of help coming to Bahadur Shah either from Mandu or Ahmedabad. He was suspicious of activities of the friendily states of Bahadur Shah in the south and desired to take all precautions against their activities. He did not desire to attack Bahadur Shah till he was engaged in jihad against the infidels of Mewar.

Bahadur Shah freely looted Chittor for three days whereas Humayun proceeded forward and reached Mandasor which is sixty miles from Chittor and restricted the route of return of Bahadur Shah. Bahadur Shah also reached Mandasor and instead of attacking Humayun took defensive postures. Humayun kept his army out of reach of the artillery of Bahadur Shah and stopped his supplies. Bahadur Shah felt short of supplies and his army lost its confidence. Bahadur Shah fled away without fighting during the night of 25 April 1535A.D. and took refuge in the fort of Mandu. Humayun pursued the fugitive. From Mandu, Bahadur Shah fled away to Champaner, then to Cambay and afterwards to Diu. Humayun pursued Bahadur Shah up to Cambay but then, leaving the task of pursuing Bahadur Shah he returned to besiege the fort of Champaner. It was captured by him and he got large valuables from there which he generously distributed among his followers.

By that time, entire Malwa and Gujarat had surrendered to the Mughals. It was a grand success and so were the capture of the forts of Mandu and Champaner. Humayun appointed his brother Askari as the governor of Gujarat, left Hindu Beg for his assistance and came back to Mandu. Askari, however, failed to manage the affairs of Gujarat which resulted in a revolt by the people under Inad-ul-mulk, one of the trusted officers of Bahadur Shah. Bahadur Shah himself arrived in Gujarat after some time. After a minor battle against the forces of Bahadur Shah, Askari decided to retire from the fort of Champaner. Tardi Beg, the governor of the fort, however, refused to hand over the fort and its treasure to Askari as he was suspicious of the designs of Askari. Askari, then, proceeded awards Agra. Bahadur Shah captured Champaner very soon and Tardi Beg retreated to Mandu. Thus, the whole of Gujarat was lost by Humayun to Bahadur Shah.

Fearing that Askari might capture Agra for himself, Humayun also left Mandu and proceeded towards Agra. The two brothers met in the way and Humayun was assured of the loyalty of his brother. He gracefully pardoned him and all their officers and reached Agra. Mandu was occupied by Mallu Khan in the name of Bahadur Shah. Therefore Malwa was also lost by the Mughals. Thus, within a year, both Malwa and Gujarat were lost by the Mughals. The incapability of Askari and the neglect of personal attention towards the affairs of Gujarat and Malwa by Humayun were the primary reasons of this loss of the Mughals.