Humayun's Tomb, New Delhi

Woman cleans leaves from bench in gardens of Humayun's Tomb

People all around the world have heard of the Taj Mahal and it is on the top list of sites for anyone coming to India, but what many do not know is that these type of majestic tombs are enduring architectural legacies to the time when the Mughuls ruled northern India, a reign that lasted until the British seized India in the 19th Century.

One of these tombs is Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, not far from the tomb that gives my neighborhood its name, Safdarjung. Humayun was the second Mughal emperor, son of the Mughal that ended the Afghan rule of northern India, and Safdarjung was prime minister to the last Mughal. That their tombs should stand so close together is somewhat poetic.

Humayun's Tomb has just been restored (in fact they are still working on one outer building) through collaboration of the Aga Khan Trust and the Archaelogical Survey of India. There is an interesting film on the restoration here, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal blog:

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/09/18/before-the-taj-mahal-there-was-this/

Unlike his father, according to information from the Archaelogical Survey of India in its brochure on Humayun's Tomb, Humayun liked to write poetry and party more than fight. He was also an astronomer in what would be a long line of rulers who cared as much for the arts and sciences as the art of warfare. He was actually deposed by another dynasty from 1539-1555, and reinstated just a year before his death.

Humayun's tomb was constructed under the supervision of his widow and actually set the template for what would become known as the Mughal Indian architectural style: a bulbous dome set on top of an inner dome, sandstone, white marble inlay, incorporation of the lotus flower motif and the use of jali screens, which are intricate carvings into stone that are seen throughout India even in modern architecture. So, in fact, Humayun's tomb set the stage for the Taj Mahal.

Here are some more pictures:

The top picture is a picture of the inside of the main tomb, looking upward from the cenotaph that marks the emperor's tomb. The picture to the left directly above is the tomb of Humayun's barber. Note the jali screen. These screens are beautiful and characteristic of Indian architecture. They keep animals out but not mosquitoes. The photograph to the right is the inside of the dome of his barber's tomb, which is its own building set within the gardens of the emperor's tomb. The barber was honored with his own tomb because of his loyalty as the person who regularly held a blade to the throat of the emperor.

Humayun died after falling down stairs in the palace fort he took from his conqueror. He kicked out the Afghan shah with the help of a borrowed Persian army and took over the fort the shah had built. The Afghans/Pakistanis and the descendants of Humayun continue to wrestle for control of the northernmost borders of India.