It is a famous story about Mughal Emperor Humayun that once he fell very ill. His condition was getting worse day by day.

His father and the founder of the Mughal Empire in India, Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur, made three rounds of his bed and prayed that O God, if life can be given for life, then I will give my life for the life of my son Humayun. will

Humayun's sister, Gulbadin, writes in Humayun's biography that, "From that day, Babur's condition began to deteriorate and Humayun began to recover." Babar got out of bed. When it seemed that he would no longer live, Humayun was summoned to Sambhal.

Humayun reached Agra four days before his father's death. Babur assembled all his generals and said that Humayun would be his heir. 

"You have to take care of him the same way you took care of me." It was taught to Humayun that he should take care of his subjects and brothers and be kind to them.

Part of Babur's campaign against Ibrahim Lodhi:

Humayun was born on March 6, 1508 in Kabul. He was only 27 years old when he ascended the throne of India.

It was at this age that he displayed all the good and bad qualities that stayed with him till the end and led to sometimes success and sometimes bitter disappointment.

At the age of 12, Babur made Humayun the governor of Badakhshan. At the age of 17, Humayun fought shoulder to shoulder with his father in the Indian campaign.

Babur wrote in his autobiography 'Babarnama' that 'I sent Humayun to meet the advancing army of Ibrahim Lodhi under the leadership of the governor of Hisar Firuzha. When he defeated the soldiers of Lodhi, I gave Humayun as Hisar Feroza Jagir.

'After the victory at Panipat I sent him to capture Agra. There, the family of the king of Gwalior gave him a huge diamond, the price of which could feed the people of the whole world for two and a half days. When I reached Agra, my son showed me the diamond but I returned it to him.

The desire to consolidate the empire:

At the time of Babur's death, the Mughal government was feeling so insecure that the matter of his death was kept secret from the outside world for three days. Humayun ascended the throne of India on 30 December 1530.

SM Burke in his book 'Akbar the Greatest Mughal' writes: 'Humayun had mastered horsemanship and archery, but lacked the will to consolidate his conquests. He also lacked leadership charisma and many times his teammates abandoned him when he needed them the most. But Humayun also had the virtue of not giving up in the face of obstacles which ultimately led him to regain his lost throne.'

In his first campaign as emperor, Humayun defeated Mahmud Lodhi near Jaunpur in 1531. In 1534 he had to go east to crush the growing power of Sher Shah. But before they could reach there they had to return to face the threat of Bahadur Shah. The result was that Sher Shah's power increased more than before. In 1534-35 Humayun conquered Malwa and Gujarat.

Defeat of Humayun in the Battle of Chosa:

In March 1537, Humayun again moved east to control Sher Shah. He also captured Gaur, the capital of Bengal. Johar Aftabchi, the famous historian of that time, writes in his book Tazkira al-Waqiwaat that after capturing Gaur, Humayun imprisoned himself in his harem and did not come out for a long time. By then Sher Shah had captured Benares and Jaunpur and obstructed Humayun's return to the capital.

He writes that on June 7, 1539, Humayun was defeated in the battle of Chosa. Humayun himself took part in this battle and an arrow also hit him in the arm. When he ordered his soldiers to advance, not a single soldier obeyed his order.

We had to run for our lives. While crossing the Ganges, his horse was swept away by the rapids of the river. A Bhishti saved Humayun from drowning by giving his musk. Humayun later repaid Bhishti by placing him on his throne for half a day.

Defeated in Kanauj too:

The following year, Humayun set out to avenge his defeat, but many of his allies deserted him and he was once again defeated by Sher Shah Suri at Kanauj on 17 May 1540, when Humayun's forces The number was more than Sher Shah.

Johar Aftabchi writes 'Afghan soldiers were looting Humayun's artillery before his eyes. Then Humayun saw an old elephant that once belonged to his father. He sat on that elephant but then he realized that the elephant's mahout was taking him towards the enemy's camp.

A eunuch hiding in the courtyard whispered to Humayun to behead the Mahawat with his sword. But Humayun did not know how to ride an elephant and could not proceed without the Mahawat. But the eunuch told them that he knew how to ride a small elephant and would take them to a safe place. Humayun beheaded Mahawat with his sword.

Abul Fazl also narrated this incident in Akbarnama but he did not mention any eunuch. Haider Mirza Dughalat writes in his book Tarikh Rashidi: "Seventeen thousand soldiers were fighting with Humayun that day." But when he ran, he was alone, with no hat on his head and no shoes on his feet.

Differences with brothers:

Humayun traveled from Kanauj to Agra on a borrowed horse, but the news of the defeat had already reached him. Johar writes that 'about 3000 villagers stopped Humayun near the village of Bhan, halfway to Agra.

These villagers were skilled in looting from the defeated army. Humayun sought help from his brothers Hindal and Askari to deal with these villagers, but they started fighting among themselves. Somehow Humayun managed to get away from these villagers and reach Agra.

However, 10 years after his father's death in July 1540, Humayun had to leave Agra as well.

When Humayun fled from Agra, Sher Shah sent his Rajput general Beham Dut Gaur with a large army to pursue him.

Abbas Sarwani writes that Gaur was instructed to follow Humayun instead of fighting him. The purpose of pursuing Humayun was not to capture him but to drive him out of India. Both Hindal and Askari supported Humayun in the first campaign against Sher Shah, but at Gaur Hindal decided to leave them and return to Agra.

There Hindal assumed power in Humayun's absence and a sermon was delivered in his name. Humayun proposed an alliance to his brothers to fight Sher Shah, but his brother Kamran did not accept it. He left for Lahore with his soldiers.

Gulbadan Begum writes: 'Humayan sent a message from Lahore to Sher Shah, I have left the whole of India for you. At least let me stay in Lahore. Sher Shah's reply was that I have left Kabul for you. Why don't you go there? Humayun spent the next 15 years away from the throne of Delhi in Iran, Sindh and Afghanistan.

Attack on India:

Sher Shah was killed in an explosion in May 1545. After the death of his son in 1553, the empire began to disintegrate. In 1554, news began to arrive from Kabul that Salim Shah Suri had died and his son had been killed by his uncle. That is why Humayun decided to invade India and regain his lost empire.

When Humayun marched from Kabul to India in mid-November, he had three thousand soldiers with him. When Humayun crossed the Indus in December 1554 during his campaign to invade India, the Suri dynasty had three claimants. The most prominent among them was Sikandar Shah who had control from Delhi to Rohtas in Punjab. Humayun called Bairam Khan from Kandahar to take part in this campaign. His 12-year-old son Akbar was also with him.

When Humayun entered Lahore on February 24, 1555, he did not face any opposition. Akbar led a division in the Battle of Sirhind. Sikandar Shah fled from the battlefield and hid in the forests of Punjab. Humayun's army entered Delhi on 23 July 1555. But fate did not favor him for long.

Slipping down the stairs:

On January 24, 1556, Humayun took his last dose of opium by ordering rose water. In the afternoon he met some people who had returned from Hajj.

He invited them to meet him in his red stone library on the roof. Another reason for meeting on the terrace was so that people gathered for Friday prayers in the adjacent mosque could catch a glimpse of their emperor.

After the meeting, Humayun called his mathematician to confirm that Venus would be visible in the sky that day, so that he could issue orders for the advancement of some people on this auspicious occasion.

Gulbadan Begum writes in Humayun's biography that it was very cold that day and there was a strong wind. Humayun started descending the stairs. He had just reached the second floor when a call to prayer came from the nearby mosque, 'Allah Ho Akbar'. Humayun was a religious person. As soon as the call to prayer reached his ears, he bowed down and tried to sit in prostration.

That's why his leg got stuck in the circle of his clothes. His foot slipped and the emperor fell down the stairs. While running, his assistants tried to catch him, but were unsuccessful. When they all came down running, Humayan was lying on the ground. He had a deep injury on his head and blood was flowing from his right ear.

Humayun did not open his eyes again. Sultan died three days after falling down the stairs.

Humayun was fond of books:

Humayun's ability to lead was always in question, but he had other qualities. He loved the company of learned people and poets. He carried many rare books with him during his campaign in the South.

Abul Fazl writes that 'After the victory at the village of Ashtar, Humayun was overjoyed when he found some of his lost books during the defeat near Kapchak. During his stay in Iran, he always had a librarian in his team. Wherever there was a royal camp, the presence of a librarian was essential.

Humayun had great faith in astrology. They used to wear clothes according to the color of the planets every day.

Badayuni writes in his book "Muntakh al-Tawarikh" that "before starting to walk, Humayun used to take his right step." If a person entered their room with the left step, they would throw him out and ask him to re-enter with the right step.

Humayun's interest in nature and art was such that once a beautiful bird entered his tent in Sindh, he closed the door of the tent and called an artist to paint a picture of the bird and then the birds. Freed.