Humayun's senior widow Bega Begum, popularly
known as Haji Begum, built the magnificent Humayun's Tomb in
Delhi, in 1565. It is one of the most beautiful Mughal monuments,
with features like high arches and a full double dome. Located
on Mathura Road, near its crossing with Lodi Road, Humayun's
Tomb is built on a large stone platform, surrounded by green
lawns and has a crescent on the top of the dome, instead of
the usual lotus. It is said that the Begum spent one and a half
million rupees on the tomb, which was constructed between nine
and fourteen years after the death of the Emperor Humayun in
1556. You can see a beautiful view of Humayun's Tomb from the
Humayun Darwaza, a gateway in the Purana Qila or Old Fort in
Delhi. Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, the architect of Humayun's Tomb,
designed it in a Persian 'charbagh' or square four-garden style
enclosed by high walls on three sides, and the River Yamuna
on the other. The style was introduced in India by Babur, the
first Mughal emperor. It reached its zenith over the years of
Mughal rule, culminating in the magnificence of the Taj Mahal
in Agra. According to the historian Laura Sykes, Humayun's tomb
is perhaps the Taj's 'masculine equivalent, both literally and
to some extent architecturally, as the epitome of solid imperial
style'. The carvings, the inlaid work on the marble of the walls
and the trelliswork in red sandstone, are the other special
Mughal features of Humayun's tomb.
The passage to the tomb is long and one has
to cross through three gardens and two lofty double-storeyed
gateways, one on the west and the other on the south. The gardens
measure 348 sq. meters and are divided into 36 squares by a
network of water channels and fountains. The architecturally
beautiful mausoleum, built of red sandstone and red and white
marble, is located in the center of the enclosure on a large
platform and has a series of cells with arched openings. The
central octagonal chamber has the cenotaph of Humayun, which
is encompassed by octagonal chambers at the diagonals. It also
has arched lobbies on the sides and their openings are closed
with perforated screens. Three emphatic arches dominate on each
side, of which the central one is the highest. The second storey
also has a similar design, with a roof surmounted by a 42.5
meters high double dome with marble and pillared kiosks or chhatris
placed around it, which occurs here for the first time in India.
This architectural design is known as hasht bihisht (Eight Paradise)
and is typical of Iranian buildings from the time of Timur the
Lame. The stone windows are placed in such a way on all the
floors that they allow light to stream into the central hall
throughout the day. In the vaults below the platform in the
mausoleum, lie the graves of several rulers of the Mughal dynasty.
These include the graves of Dara Shikoh, Shah Jahan's favorite
son and Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor of Delhi, who
took shelter in Humayun's tomb and was later captured here by
Lieutenant Hodson during the Revolt of 1857. There are so many
graves here that the tomb is also called 'The Dormitory of the
House of Timur'.
Humayun's Tomb can be said to be a monumental
landmark in Indo-Islamic architecture. The beautiful gardens,
imposing high arched entrances, the bulbous round dome and the
mausoleum, make the tomb a perfect synthesis of Persian architecture
and Indian traditions.
