- Humayun was the eldest son of Babur. His mother’s name was Mahim Begum. Humayun had three brothers, Kamran, Askari and Hindal. Humayun means “fortune” but he remained the most unfortunate ruler of the Mughal Empire.
Early Difficulties of Humayun
- The throne inherited by Humayun was not a bed of roses. Babur had practically got no time to consolidate his position an authority.Before he could put the whole country on a stable basis, he died. The Rajputs had not been completely crushed. There was no law of primogeniture among the Muslims. The result was that after the death of a king, there followed a war of succession. Every prince asserted his claim to the throne.
- Humayun divided the empire among his brothers but this proved to be a great blunder on his part. Kamran was given Kabul and Kandahar. Sambhal and Alwar were given to Askari and Hindal.
- When Humayun was busy with fighting the Afghans in the east, he got the news that Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was advancing towards Delhi. Therefore, he hastily concluded a treaty with the Afghan leader Sher Khan (later Sher Shah) and proceeded towards Gujarat.
- Humayun had to meet a great rival in Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, who had united the provinces of Malwa and Gujarat and was thinking in terms of conquering the whole of Rajputana. But after the flight of Bahadur Shah, Humayun besieged the fort of Mandu and captured it. Bahadur Shah ran to Champanir which was also besieged and unltimately conquered by Humayun. Ahmedabad and Cambay were also captured by Humayun. Bahadur Shah took refuge in the Island of Diu and by August, 1535 the conquest of Central Gujarat was completed by Humayun.
- He appointed Askari as its governor. But soon Bahadur Shah recovered Gujarat from Askari who fled from there. In the meantime Sher Khan became powerful in the east. Humayun marched against him.
Battle of Chausa (1539) and Battle of Kanauj (1540)
- In the Battle of Chausa, held in 1539, Sher Khan destroyed the Mughal army and Humayun had to escape from there. Humayun reached Agra to negotiate with his brothers. But as they were not cooperative, Humayun was forced to fight with Sher Khan alone in the Battle of Bilgram in 1540. This battle was also known as Battle of Kanauj.
- In May, 1540 was fought the Battle of Kanauj. In this battle, the Mughal Artillery did not play any part as it could not be taken to the front when Sher Khan started the attack.
- The Battle of Kanauj was fought and lost. After losing his kingdom, Humayun became an exile for the next fifteen years.
