On this day, 24 January 1556 CE, in the afternoon of Friday, the second Mughal ruler Nasir al-Din Muhammad Humayun fell down when he was descending the staircase of his observatory-cum-library of the Sher Mandal building inside Purana Qila (old fort), Delhi. He died three days later on January 27 saying:
"I accept the Divine summons."
As Humayun was about to retire to his quarters for a moment and stood on top of the steep staircase, the muezzins' call to the late afternoon prayers (Azan) suddenly resounded from the city's minarets. Humayun hastened down the steep and narrow flight of steps, in order to properly face the ‘qiblah’ and start his prayers when his foot got caught in his robe, and he fell headlong down the stairs, receiving a violent blow on his right temple.
The base of his skull must have been fractured, as blood was seeping out of his ear. He lingered on for a couple of days, regaining consciousness now and then, but on the evening of 27 January, he passed away. Thus ended, quite unexpectedly, Humayun's eventful but tragic life.
Source: The Great Mughal and Their India by D. Collier
Photo: AI-generated
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