Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad (6 March 1508-27 January 1556), later known as Humayun, was Badshah of the Mughal Empire from 26 December 1530 to 17 May 1540 (succeeding Babur and preceding Sher Shah Suri) and from 22 June 1555 to 27 January 1556 (succeeding Adil Shah Suri and preceding Akbar).
Biography[]
Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1508, the son of Babur and Maham Begum. Humayun led small forces for his father during his conquest of northern India and proved fairly capable. He and his brothers Kamran Mirza (lord of Kabul and Kandahar), Askari Mirza (lord of Multan), and Hindal Mirza (lord of Malwa) were each given a share of their father's Mughal Empire on Babur's death in 1530, but, in his last moments, Babur made his son promise not to punish his brothers, no matter how much they deserved it. Humayun's reign was marked by misfortune, as his brothers immediately planned to usurp the throne from him. While Kamran marched on the Lahore to secure the allegiance of men loyal to his father, Afghan rebels led by the slain Sultan of Delhi Ibrahim Lodi's brother Mahmud Lodi began raiding the eastern regions of the Mughal Empire. Humayun defeated Lodi at Lakhnau before learning that the Sultan of Gujarat was planning to attack the Mughals with the help of the Portuguese.
In 1535, Humayun defeated the Sultan of Gujarat and captured several strategic forts, but he failed to annex Gujarat in its entirety, as the Afghans returned under the command of Sher Shah Suri. While Humayun struggled with an opium addiction, the clear-minded and brilliant Sher Shah Suri, a former mercenary leader, had seized control of Bengal in 1537 while being financed by a wealthy widow of the Lodi establishment. Humayun attacked Bengal to deal with Sher Shah's threat, but Sher Shah's Suri forces utilized guerrilla tactics to fight off the Mughals. In 1538, Hindal attacked the Mughal capital of Agra and seized the throne for himself, while Kamran marched to Agra to meet with Hindal and strike a deal dividing the empire between themselves. As Humayun marched to confront his brothers, Sher Shah attacked his army and inflicted a major defeat. Humayun pardoned his brothers and sought to form a united front against Sher Shah, but his brothers refused to cooperate, and Humayun was forced to retreat to Lahore. In 1540, the Mughals were again defeated at Kannauj, and Sher Shah pressed on and captured Lahore.
Humayun and Hindal were left without land to rule, while Kamran continued to rule Afghanistan and Sher Shah established the Suri Empire in Delhi. Humayun and Hindal wandered across western India in search of Indian allies, and Humayun finally secured the aid of the Safavid Persian shah Tahmasp after converting to Shia Islam. He conquered Kabul and Kandahar at the head of a Safavid army, and he started planning his invasion of India from Kabul. In 1545, Sher Shah died in a cannon accident, while Humayun invited supporters from all over India to help him with his invasion. In 1553, Humayun defeated Kamran, whom he blinded and exiled to Mecca.
Humayun then invaded India, taking advantage of the Suri Empire's internal problems and seizing Delhi in 1555 with the help of Bairam Khan. Humayun ruled as Padishah of Hindustan for just six more months, during which time he married an Indian Muslim woman and urged his officials to take Indian wives as well, created a centralized government with him in the center, greeted the sun every morning, kept Sher Shah Suri's monetary reforms, and oversaw the Indianization of his empire. In January 1556, he fell from the stairs of his library in Delhi and died, and his 13-year-old son Jalal-ud-Din succeeded him.