Humayun's Tomb is situated in Nizamuddin East of New Delhi and is a complex of several buildings built in Mughal style of architecture. The complex is ranked as a World Heritage Site and is the first example of such architecture in India. The Taj Mahal too was created in the same style of this mausoleum.
The tomb is believed to be built on the orders of Hamida Banu Begum, who was Humayun’s widow since 1562. It reportedly took eight years to be completely built and was done in the “Chahr Bagh Garden Style”, which was a pioneer of its kind.
The tomb was built with red sandstone. There are other tombs in the surroundings, namely Tomb of Iza Khan and Barber’s Tomb. The complex suffered wear and tear during many years and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture completed its restoration in March, 2003.
The restoration also enabled the water to once again flow through its watercourses in the gardens.
Humayun's tomb (Humayun ka Maqbara) is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's wife Hamida Banu Begum in 1562 CE, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect. It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. It was also the first structure to use red sandstone at such a scale. The tomb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.
The complex encompasses the main tomb of the Emperor Humayun, which houses the graves of his wife, Hamida Begum, and also Dara Shikoh, son of the later Emperor Shah Jahan, as well as numerous other subsequent Mughals, including Emperor Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi Ul-Darjat, Rafi Ud-Daulat and Alamgir II.

A Leap in Mughal Architecture
It represented a leap in Mughal architecture, and together with its accomplished Charbagh garden, typical of Persian gardens, but never seen before in India, it set a precedent for subsequent Mughal architecture. It is seen as a clear departure from the fairly modest mausoleum of his father, the first Mughal Emperor, Babur, called Bagh-e Babur (Gardens of Babur) in Kabul (Afghanistan). Though the latter was the first Emperor to start the tradition of being buried in a paradise garden. Modelled on Gur-e Amir, the tomb of his ancestor and Asia's conqueror Timur in Samarkand, it created a precedent for future Mughal architecture of royal mausolea, which reached its zenith with the Taj Mahal, at Agra.

The Chosen Site for Tomb
The site was chosen on the banks of Yamuna river, due to its proximity to Nizamuddin Dargah, the mausoleum of the celebrated Sufi saint of Delhi, Nizamuddin Auliya, who was much revered by the rulers of Delhi, and whose residence, Chilla Nizamuddin Auliya lies just north-east of the tomb.

Architecture of the Tomb
North India was successive ruled foreign dynasties in the coming centuries giving rise to the Indo-Islamic architecture.
Inspired by Persian architecture; the tomb reaches a height of 47 mt. and is 300 feet (91 m) wide, and was the first Indian building to use the Persian double dome on a high neck drum, and measures 42.5 m, and is topped by 6 mt high brass finial ending in a crescent, common in Timurid tombs.
The building was first to use its unique combination of red sandstone and white marble, and includes several elements of Indian architectural, like the small canopies, or chhatris surrounding the central dome, popular in Rajasthani architecture and which were originally covered with blue tiles.

Char Bagh garden
Four central water courses define Char Bagh Garden's quadrilateral layoutWhile the main tomb took over eight years to build, it was also placed in centre of a 30-acre Char Bagh Garden (Four Gardens), a Persian-style garden with quadrilateral layout and was the first of its kind in the South Asia region in such a scale. The highly geometrical and enclosed Paradise garden is divided into four squares by paved walkways (khiyabans) and two bisecting central water channels, reflecting the four rivers that flow in jannat, the Islamic concept of paradise. Each of the four square is further divided into smaller squares with pathways, creating into 36 squares in all, a design typical of later Mughal gardens. The central water channels appear to be disappearing beneath the tomb structure and reappearing on the other side in a straight line, suggesting the Quranic verse, which talks of rivers flowing beneath the 'Garden of Paradise'.
The entire tomb and the garden is enclosed within high rubble walls on three sides, the fourth side was meant to be the river Yamuna, which has since shifted course away from the structure. The central walkways, terminate at two gates: a main one in the southern wall, and a smaller one in the western wall. It has two double-storey entrances, the West gate which used now, while the South gate, which was used during Mughal era, now remains closed. Aligned at the centre on the eastern wall lies a baradari, literally a pavilion with twelve doors, which is a building or room with twelve doors designed to allow the free draught of air through it, finally on the northern wall lies a hammam, a bath chamber.

Barber's Tomb
The Persian caption in 1820 watercolour reads, "Tomb of Kokah" (Milk-brother). Towards the south-east corner, within the 'char bagh' garden, lies a tomb known as Nai-ka-Gumbad, or Barber's Tomb, belonging to royal barber, it is datable to 1590-91 CE, through an inscription found inside. Its proximity to the main tomb and the fact that it is the only other structure within the main tomb complex suggests its importance, however there are no inscriptions suggesting as to who is interred therein, the name Barbers tomb is the local name of the structure, hence still in use.

Source: Wikipedia

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