Photo Feature : "Humayun's Tomb"

"Photo Feature"

Humayun's Tomb

Friends,

India is well known for a range of historical buildings and monuments. Humayun’s Tomb is one of the finest examples of Persian style of architecture in India. Mr. Indraneel Sen of Delhi is before us with a photo feature on this great monument. Please have a look.

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma

“Nasiruddin Muhammad Humayun was born at Kabul in March 1508. He ruled India from 1530 to 1556 AD. The tomb of Mughal Emperor Humayun is located at Nizamuddin, Delhi (India). The construction of the tomb is said to be started by Humayun's wife, Hamida Banu Begum in 1562 which was completed in the year 1572. However there are evidences which verify the construction of the tomb under the supervision of the emperors’ stepmother Haji Begum. The great tomb was designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, who was a Persian architect. Thus this tomb has an obvious influence of Persian architecture. It is the earliest example in India of “a double dome with slightly swelling outlines standing on a high neck-a form of construction resembling the mausoleum of Timur and Bibi Khanam at Samarqand.” The said tomb is the first garden-tomb in the Indian sub continent. The site for the construction was chosen on the bank of Yamuna adjoining the shrine of the Nizamuddin Auliya, a Sufi saint of Chisti Silsilah. This tomb is also the first structure to use red sandstone at such a large scale. Humayun’s tomb was declared a World Heritage Site in 1993. The inscription of this tomb on the world heritage list concerns the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage. Inscription on this list confirms the exceptional universal value of the cultural or natural site, which deserves protection for the benefit of all humanity. Besides the main tomb enclosure of Humayun, several smaller monuments dot the pathway leading up to it, from the main entrance in the West, including one that even pre-dates the main tomb itself, by twenty years. It is the tomb complex of Isha Khan Niyazi, an Afghan noble in Sher Shah Suri’s court in the Suri dynasty who fought against the Mughals. This was constructed in 1547. Humayun’s Tomb possesses the graves of Humayun, his wife Hamida Begum and numerous other Mughals. In today’s time, this tomb is one of the important historical spots of Delhi. To conclude, due to the historical importance and beauty, Humayun’s Tomb is an asset of Indian culture.”

--Indraneel Sen, Delhi