Symbol and function in the architecture and mausoleum of Humayun Padshah
Date
1979
Authors
Gross, Laurence
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Abstract
In A. D. 1530 the Mughal Padshah Humayun inherited his father Babur's newly-won kingdom in Afghanistan and northern India. During the following nine years Humayun was occupied in a continuous struggle to retain power against rival claims from external foes and members of his own dynasty. In order to silence this opposition Humayun enacted a series of governmental and social reforms , all of which were designed both to raise the personal prestige of the emperor and to legitimize the dynasty's claims to rule over northern India. In accordance with his own faith in the cosmological sciences of astronomy and astrology , Humayun chose to model his socio-political institutions allegorically on the heavenly spheres and the natural elements. By so doing Humayun hoped to align his kingdom with the natural and proper order of the cosmos . At the centre of this microcosmic universe sat the emperor, the nucleus around which revolved Humayun's world. In order to re-enforce the new social order and to give it outward expression Humayun engaged himself in a vigorous building campaign in t he cities of Agra and Delhi. While none of Humayun's architectural projects have survived, descriptions of the buildings can be found in contemporary Mughal histories and in the accounts of European travellers. Some of these architectural projects, which were iconographically related to the cosmologically oriented governmental reforms, functioned as ideal settings for the elaborate court ritual Humayun developed; other buildings served to house the lavish festivals and celebrations that Humayun's Khanzada Begam organized in honour of the emperor and the dynasty. The first chapter of this thesis is devoted to a detailed analysis of Humayun's socio-political reforms and the architectural setting that he provided for them. Both the social reforms and the architectural commissions are examined in their historical context, to which end a short biography of Humayun is included.
In spite of the inflated opinion Humayun held of himself, his inability to govern and his lack of military leadership qualities led to a serious defeat at the hands of the Afghan Sher Shah and the temporary expulsion of the dynasty from India. In the second chapter of the thesis Humayun's monumental mausoleum in Delhi is investigated and analysed in terms of its patronage, architectural symbolism and social function. It is my conviction that the imposing tomb was commissioned and paid for by Humayun's son and successor Akbar in order to honour Humayun, erase some of the tarnish of his unfortunate reign and, by extension, legitimize Akbar's ow position as hereditary heir to the kingdom. The great tomb gave glory in death when there was none in life. As well, the monument's cosmological symbolism ensured that the dead emperor would wait for the final call lying at the centre of the four quarters of the universe in a paradisiacal garden. As in the first chapter, my conclusions regarding the function and symbolism of Humayun's tomb are weighed against their historical environment. For this reason a short biography of the first decade of Akbar's reign is included. Similarly, the mausoleum's special eight-part form, known as "hasht behisht," is analysed in light of the historical development and symbolism of the hasht behisht form in Turkish and Iranian Islamic architecture.