After the death of Babur in 1530, his son Humayun succeeded him. Humayun means “fortune” but he remained the most unfortunate ruler of the Mughal Empire. Humayun, a cultured and learned person, was not a soldier like his father. He was faced with the problems of a weak financial system and the predatory Afghans.
Humayun’s main difficulty was
- No Administration.
- No Army unified.
- Afghan problem
- Rajput problem
- The biggest problem is Shershah
His brother and relatives created problems for him. Humayun had three brothers,
Kamran, Askari and Hindal. Humayun divided the empire among his brothers but this
proved to be a great blunder on his part. After the death of Babur Hymanyu assigned
Kandahar and Kabul to Kamran. He came Sambhal to Askari, Mevat to Hindal. But
Kamran also occupied Punjab. Humayun captured Gujarat from Bahadur Shah and
appointed Askari as its governor. But soon Bahadur Shah recovered Gujarat from Askari
who fled from there.
Hymayun also faced difficulties from his relative. The husband of his
sister Mehadi Khawaja was also trying to disturb him and some of his cousin Zaman
Mirza also revolted against him.
No Army unified : Babur had a disciplined army they were loyal to Babur only Humayun
could not command that army. He could not emerge as the commander of the army.
Afghan problem: Afghans were the worst enemy of the Mughals; they had the ambition
of reviving their lost empire.
Rajput problem : Babur have broken the power of the Rajput, they were looking for an
opportunity to capture their territory from the Mughals.
Lack of Funds : Babur was called Qalander, and when Humayun the thrown there was no
fund. He did not command the respect of Mughal nobility. Humayun lacks strong
character. He was not pleasure-loving, he was not taking decisions. So Mughal personality
did not accept Humayun.
Humayun defeated Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, drove out Sultan Mahmoud Lodhi from Jaunpur, besieged the castle of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand, and decisively fought the Afghans at Douhrua. His shortcomings, however, meant that his wins were fleeting. After taking control of the Malwa region and a portion of Gujrat, Humayun named his brother Askari as the region’s governor. Because of his incompetence, Bahadur Shah was able to retake this region with the Portuguese’s assistance. This was lost by Humayun.
Shershah : Humayun try to tackle Sher shah, Shershah, was very powerful in the eastern
area. Humayun proceeded toward Bihar and seized Chunargarh but he lost valuable time
in seizing Chunargarh. By that Sher Khan capture Gaur. Now Humayun wanted to
capture Gaur. And finally, in 1539 Sher Khan defeated Humayun in Chausa. Shershah
defeated the battle of Humayun in Chausa and the 1540 Battle of Bilgram (Kannnuj),
Shershah completely defeated Humayun and he declared himself emperor.
Farid, who later came to be called Sher Khan and subsequently Sher Shah, was a son of a Jagirdar under the kingdom of Jaunpur. His father Hasan Khan Sur held the jagir of Sasaram in Bihar during the rule of Lodis. After defeating Humayun he became sovereign ruler in the
year 1540 and assumed the title of Sher Shah. After a gap of 14 years Sher Shah
succeeded in establishing Afghan rule again in India in 1540, (Lodis were the first
Afghans to rule) Sher Shah and his successors ruled for 15 years. This period is known as
the period of the Second Afghan Empire.
He defeated and conquered Malwa in 1542 which was followed by Chanderi. In
Rajasthan, he led campaigns against Marwar, Ranthambhore, Nagor, Ajmer, Merta
Jodhpur, and Bikaner. He defeated rebellious Afghans in Bengal. By 1545 he had
established himself as the supreme ruler from Sindh and Punjab to the whole of
Rajputana in the West and Bengal in the East. Now he turned towards Bundelkhand.
Here while besieging the fort of Kalinjar he died in 1545 in an accidental blast of
gunpowder. After Sher Shah died in 1545 his successors ruled till 1555 when Humayun
conquered India.
In 1555 Humayun attacked the weak ruler of the Sur Empire and defeated them in the
battle of Machiwara and Sirhind. Humayun recaptured the throne in 1555. But after
capturing Delhi, he could not live long and he died in 1556.
Causes of Humayun’s failure
- He ignored Sher Shah’s strength. During the seizer to Chunar he large the
opportunity to sub dew Shershah. He ignored Shershah. - He lost the opportunity to make Rajputs his ally.
- He made a blunder during the battle of kannauj. He made a low land for
encampment was a strategic mistake. - He was a pleasure-loving man; he was always wasting time in taking the decision.
During his exile also, he constantly strived to regain his empire. But he lacked the
military genius of his father. He did nothing to improve the administration or fineness of
his empire.
His character attracts but never dominant. He tumbled
Lane Pool
throughout his life and tumbled out of it. He remained the most unfortunate ruler of the Mughal Empire.
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