Humayun himself proved to be his worst enemy. Discuss.
Give an estimate of Humayun.
Ans. Three days after the death of his father, on 29th December 1530, Humayun ascended the throne. But for a 23 year old new king, the kingdom he inherited was not a bed of roses but full of thorns. In fact, his throne was surrounded by crises from all sides. Babur had only expanded his kingdom through wars. He did not get the opportunity to organize civil administration properly. The power of the Afghans was not completely crushed after the battles of Panipat and Ghagra. The Rajputs had faced a temporary defeat at the battlefield of Khanwa. They could not be fully defeated. The majority of the kingdom's population was Hindu and they had no sympathy with the victorious Mughals. The elites of Delhi and Agra were not liberal towards Humayun. Moreover, on one hand Babur had emptied the treasury with his lavish grants and on the other hand, Humayun's brothers Kamran, Hindal and Askari were eager to usurp the kingdom. But Humayun's misfortunes did not end here - In Bihar, Sher Shah and in Gujarat, Bahadur Shah were reorganizing Afghan power and strengthening themselves to uproot the Mughals.
Naturally the 23 year old youth Humayun fell prey to circumstances. His innate kindness and generosity further aggravated his condition. He was a cultured and refined person. He did not have the strong determination and dedication of Babur. As a result, he pardoned his enemies at a time when they should have been punished. In fact, his natural qualities proved disastrous for him. He showed unwarranted generosity towards his brothers and partitioned his empire among them. This was his gravest blunder.
He gave Kabul, Kandhar and Punjab to Kamran. Hindal was given Alwar and Askari got Sambhal, along with his cousin Sulaiman got Badakhshan. After dividing the empire among his brothers, he further increased the jagirs of each of his nobles. As a result, the Mughal elites were encouraged to become independent and Humayun had to face many obstacles.
Perhaps Humayun divided the empire on the lines of his father. But by doing so he did not display political wisdom and foresight. Kamran had already made clear his intentions and was ready for conflict. He had also captured Punjab. In such a situation, making Kamran the master of Punjab meant - being perpetually on guard against the soldiers coming from across Afghanistan. This was a military blunder which later cost Humayun very dearly.
In spite of all these difficulties, Humayun started his rule with immense courage and honesty. He dealt honestly with his brothers and faced his enemies. First he laid siege to a fort in Kalinjar but left without complete success to suppress the Afghan revolt in the east. He defeated the Afghans at Daurah and ousted their leader Sultan Mahmud Lodi from Jaunpur. Meanwhile, the widow of the ruler of Chunar married Sher Shah and handed over the fort of Chunar to him. So in 1531, Humayun laid siege to the Chunar fort. But no decisive result emerged and Sher Khan craftily submitted to Humayun's authority to save himself. Thus no attempt was made to completely crush this biggest enemy of the Mughals.
At the same time, a new threat emerged in the south-west. Bahadur Shah of Gujarat had given shelter to many Afghan refugees and after conquering Malwa, he had besieged the fort of Chittor in Mewar. The Rani of Mewar sought Humayun's help. But timely help could not reach. Bahadur Shah captured Chittor. Only after this did Humayun defeat Bahadur Shah and force him to take shelter in Diu. Not much benefit accrued from this victory to Humayun because instead of consolidating and perpetuating the victory, he indulged in revelry with his entire army. Taking advantage of this, Bahadur Shah started reorganizing his power. Although Humayun defeated Bahadur Shah's general Tatar Khan, Gujarat still slipped from his hands. Thus Bahadur Shah regained his lost territory.
Consequently, due to inaction and hedonism, Humayun's prestige kept declining in the south-west. Here in the east, the Afghans gradually increased their power and under Sher Khan's leadership, started preparing to test their strength against the Mughals.
As we have seen earlier, in 1531 Sher Khan had saved himself by accepting Humayun's authority. But when Humayun was entangled with Bahadur Shah in the west, taking advantage of this, Sher Khan attacked Bengal and compelled the ruler of Bengal Mahmud Shah to cede a part of his kingdom. In 1537, Sher Khan again attacked Bengal and besieged its capital Gaur. On receiving this news, Humayun left to suppress Sher Khan and fruitlessly laid siege on Chunar for 6 months. By then in April 1538, Sher Khan had captured Gaur. Humayun then left Chunar and came to Gaur. Meanwhile Sher Khan captured Rohtas and started attempting to take other Mughal territories in Bihar and Jaunpur. In fact, on one hand Sher Khan was increasing his power and on the other hand, Humayun kept avoiding direct confrontation with him.
Now Humayun realized his terrible plight. He swiftly left Gaur holding the banks of the Ganga. He tried to make peace with Sher Khan. But Sher Khan was not ready for it. Finally in 1539, Sher Khan comprehensively defeated Humayun at Chausa near Buxar. Humayun barely escaped with his life but fortunately a water carrier saved him. The next year again Humayun tried to suppress Sher Khan, who had now assumed the title Sher Shah. But in May 1540 at the battle of Bilgram near Kanauj, he was badly defeated. Humayun had to flee leaving his throne and the Delhi Sultanate went into Sher Shah's control.
After being defeated by Sher Shah, Humayun wandered outside this country for 15 years. He did not even find refuge with his brothers. They treated him in an inhuman manner. The attempt to find asylum in Sindh also failed. While wandering in the deserts of Sindh, he married Hamida Banu in 1542. The ruler of Jodhpur Maldeo also went back on his word. Thereafter, Humayun took refuge in the desert fort of Amarkot. It was in this fort that Akbar was born on 23rd November 1542. Later, Humayun had to leave India with his family and seek asylum in the court of the ruler of Persia. The Shah of Persia agreed to help him on condition that he convert to Shia Islam. Humayun agreed and with the help of Persian soldiers, captured Kandhar in 1545. Then he had to deal with his hostile brothers. He imprisoned Kamran, blinded him and sent him to Mecca.
In 1545, Humayun proceeded towards Hindustan. By early 1555, Lahore came into his possession and Sikandar Shah, who had just been declared king by the Afghans, was defeated and fled to the Shivalik hills. In July 1555, Humayun captured Delhi and Agra. But unfortunately, he could not enjoy his regained kingship for many days. In January 1556, he died due to a fall from the stairs of a library in Delhi.
Humayun's Character and Estimate -
Humayun was an obedient son of his father. He was extremely kind, humble, affectionate and fond of pleasure. He also had a streak of hedonism. He did any work with great deliberation. Humayun was also a scholar of high calibre. He loved mathematics, astrology and theology. He knew Turkish, Arabic, Persian and Hindi. He was also interested in philosophy, history, geography and ethics. Along with a love for painting, he was very skilled in oratory. Artists like Khwaja Abdul Samad and Mir Sayyid Ali stayed in his court. He had bestowed the title of Shirin Qalam to Khwaja. Humayun was not orthodox but a true and devout Muslim. Moreover, Humayun was a brave and daring soldier. He had immense strength and did not hesitate one bit to confront the enemy on the battlefield. Although he was a brave soldier, he was not a great army general, skilled commander or diplomat.
In fact, he did not even have the talent of an efficient ruler. Also he did not get the opportunity for administrative reform. The qualities of kindness, generosity, humility and compassion in him proved very disastrous for him. There was lack of balance and moderation in this.
In conclusion, in brief it can be said that as a human being Humayun was truly great. He was the epitome of generosity, chivalry and benevolence but he failed as an army general and ruler. His biggest vice was negligence and sometimes he would get pointlessly engrossed in a hedonistic life. Due to his indulgence in opium and sensual pleasures, many of his talents were destroyed.
In conclusion, in short it can be said that as a human being Humayun was truly great. He was the epitome of generosity, chivalry and benevolence but he failed as an army general and ruler. His biggest vice was negligence and sometimes he would get pointlessly engrossed in a hedonistic life. Due to his indulgence in opium and sensual pleasures, many of his talents were destroyed.
In essence, from the aforementioned causes and statements it is quite evident that although the word Humayun means fortunate, he turned out to be unfortunate. He himself was responsible for this, it is literally true.