India Culture, Business, Sports and Food. Get all the buzz in India now

Successes Humayun succeeded Babar after his death in 1530 but his effectual rule lasted only for ten years as he was driven out of India by Afghans. He was 23 years of age when he became the ruler of India.  He was very brave and fought many battles along with his father. He had played a decisive role in the battles of Khanua and Panipat. After becoming the King he himself led many expeditions against his enemies. But he lacked the qualities of a clever administrator and of an able military leader. He committed many follies which played important roles in his setbacks. His first campaign was against the Kalinjar’s Chandel King. Mughal forces had lain seize of Kalinjar fort for one month and in the last Chandel king accepted his defeat and acknowledges the lordship of Mughal King. After capturing Kalinjar Humayun fought against Afghans who had united under the leadership of Mehmood Lodhi and had become a big threat to the Mughal Empire. In July 1531 a battle was fought between the Mughals and Afghans in the battlefield of Doraha. Afghans were defeated severely and many of the Afghan chieftains were killed. Mehmood Lodhi deserted his army and ran towards Patna. Humayun succeeded in capturing Jaunpur without any resistance. In September the Mughals laid seize of the fort of Chunar. After four months of seize, Sher Khan acknowledged the lordship of Humayun and agreed to send his army to help the Mughals for their future campaigns. Humayun accepted the agreement and withdrew his forces.



Bahadur Shah Gujarat ruler Bahadur Shah had become a major threat to the Mughal Empire. He was rapidly increasing his military and captured Malwa and Raisin. According to a famous historian ‘the court of Gujarat was now the acknowledged refuge of all who feared or hated the Mughal dynasty’. In 1535 Humayun launched a campaign against Bahadur Shah.  Bahadur Shah was defeated many times in various battles. By the end of 1536 Gujarat had been included into the Mughal Empire. Humayun divided the new won areas into parts and gave their administration into the hands of his generals. He himself headed towards Mandu. But in his absence Mughal governors failed to establish a good administration in Gujarat and Malwa. A rebellion broke out in these areas and Bahadur Shah took the advantage of this situation increased his power manifolds. After getting military help form foreigners he headed towards Surat and succeeded in capturing Surat, Brroch and Kaimbe without any stiff resistance. Many Gujarat Chiefs helped him. He collected a large military and captured Ahmadabad in April 1537. By the end of 1537 Mughals had lost the states of Malwa and Gujara to Afghans.

Hamayun’s Failures There is no doubt that Sher Shah was the most formidable enemy of the Mughals. He was the cleverest and most dangerous enemy of Humayun. He had been acknowledged Humayun’s lordship in 1532 after his defeat of Chunar. But he increased his power manifolds form 1532 to 1537. Accessing the gravity of the situation Humayun marched towards Chunar. After seize of Chunar fort for six months Sher Khan fled from the Chunar fort towards Gaur. After capturing Chunar Mughls headed towards Gaur but Sher Khan had fled from Gaur too along with family members and had taken refuse in Rohtas. Mughals succeeded in capturing Gaur without any military confrontation. But Sher Khan had fully prepared himself for the battle in Rohtas. After military preparations he marched towards Mughals. In April 1539 both the forces met in near Chausa. A fierce battle was fought between them on April 26, 1539 in which Mughals were badly defeated. More than eight thousand Mughal soldiers were killed in this battle and Humayun fled from the battlefield. After the battle of Chausa Shar Khan declared himself the ‘Samrat’ and issued coins in his own name. He had become now Sher Shah. After the defeat of Chausa Humayun recruited new soldiers in his military and once again marched against Shar Shah. Both the forced met at Bhojpur near Kanauj. But none of them attacked their enemies. Here Humayun committed the biggest folly of his life by crossing the Ganga River and attacking the Afghans. Mughals were severely defeated in this battle. Thousands of Mughal soldiers were killed along with their military generals. Thousands of Mughal soldiers drowned in the river. Humayun fought bravely but many of his soldiers deserted him. Afghans won a decisive victory over the Mughals and Humayun barely could save himself and fled towards Agra. From there he went to Delhi. But Sher Shah followed him and forced him to run towards Sindh. Humayun fought for many years against Sher Shah and Bahadur Shah but failed to contain them. There were many reasons behind failures. He lacked qualities of generalship. He himself was very brave but always failed to understand the military situations. He never acted according to the demands of time. He did not take adequate steps to contain Afghans when militarily they were very weak. Indulgence in luxurious pursuits was another reason behind his failures. After every victory he spent most of his time in celebration instead of strengthening his position. He did not get any help or cooperation from his brothers. Instead of helping him his brother created problems for him. Disloyalty of his soldiers and treachery of his nobles also played an important role in his defeats in the hands of Sher Shah. It was his misfortune that he had to fight against able enemies. Both his main enemies, Bahadur Shah and Sher Shah were good administrators and military generals. They were very brave, able, treacherous and experienced.

Humayun’s Successes and Death Humayun had to flee towards Sindh because Afghan forces were constantly following him. There he tried an unsuccessful attempt to capture Bhakar. There he married with Hindal’s Ustad Mir Ali Akbar’s daughter Hameeda Bano. He stayed in Amarkot for some time there his wife gave birth to Akbar on October 15, 1542.  By the year of 1543 he had decided to leave India but fortunately his old and faithful friend and noble Bairam Khan met him. Bairam Khan helped him to sign an agreement with the Shah of Iran. The Iran ruler sent his 14.000 soldiers to help him in capturing Kabul and Kandhar. But it took a lot of time. In 1554 he once again decided to march towards India. By that time both his most formidable enemies Mohammad Shah and Sher Shah had died and three Afghan nobles Aadil Shah, Ibrahim and Sikandar Shah were fighting against each other. In December 1554 Humayun and Bairam Khan crossed Indus along with the Mughal forces. In Punjab he successfully fought against Afghans near Machiwara and Sirhind. In July 1555 he had captured Delhi and after that Agra. But he did not live long to consolidate his power as he died from a fall from his library building in Purana Qila at Delhi while reading a book.