2. HUMAYUN (1530-56 AD)

Humayun succeeded Babur at the young age of 23 years. He was the second Mughal emperor, who ruled over the territory in what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of Northern India from 1530-1540 AD and again from 1555-1556 AD. When he occupied the throne, he found himself surrounded by enemies from all the sides.

In the East were Mahmud Lodhi and other Afghans under Sher Khan, in the South was Sultan Bahadur Shah, the ruler of Gujarat and in the North-West, Kamran, the younger brother of Humayun.

Humayun’s early expeditions were against Kalinjar, Jaunpur and Chunar. About the same time he built Dinpanah at Delhi as his Second Capital.

HUMAYUN’S EXPEDITIONS

Humayun’s famous expeditions may be listed as follows

EXPEDITION OF KALINJAR (1531 AD)

Six months after his accession, Humayun besieged the powerful fort of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand. This fort, along with Bayana, Gwalior and Dholpur, formed the chain of forts protecting Agra from the South. The Chandela ruler surrendered Kalinjar to Humayun after a siege of a month. He was allowed to keep the fort in return for accepting Humayun’s suzerainty and giving 12 tonnes of gold.

BATTLE OF DAUHARIYA (1532 AD)

Humayun defeated Mahmood Lodhi, the Afghan of Bihar in this battle.

SIEGE OF CHUNAR (1532 AD)

In 1532 AD, Humayun seized the fort of Chunar which was under Sher Shah Suri. It was also known as Gateway of Eastern India. But instead of following up his success by crushing the routed Pathans, Humayun accepted the submission of Sher Shah, who promised to be loyal to the Mughals and sent one of his sons to Humayun as a hostage. Thus, the fort was returned to Sher Shah Suri. The abandoning of Chunar siege was actually induced by the fear of the Bahadur Shah, who was aiming at the conquest of Delhi.

WARS WITH BAHADUR SHAH (1535-36 AD)

Humayun waged wars with Bahadur Shah from 1535-36 AD and conquered the provinces of Sarangpur, Mandesar, Fort of Mandu, Champaner and Diu. With the conquest of Gujarat, Humayun completed his conquest in Central India.

BATTLE OF CHAUSA (1539 AD)

The battle was fought between Humayun and Sher Shah Suri in which Humayun was defeated. It facilitated Sher Khan to march on to Delhi and Agra and occupied them.

BATTLE OF KANNAUJ (1540 AD)

Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun in the Battle of Kannauj. After the battle, Humayun fled to Iran and Sher Shah occupied Delhi.