The tomb of Nasir al-Din Muhammad Humayun (1504-1556), usually referred to simply as Humayun, is generally considered to be the first great architectural epic of the Mughal empire in India and a forerunner to the Taj Mahal, built a hundred years later. The Mughals, a Muslim dynasty descendant of Tamerlane and, less directly, also of Genghis Khan, ruled much of the central and northern regions of the Indian subcontinent from 1526-1857. Humayun was its second emperor.

The tomb was commissioned during the reign of Humayun’s son and successor, Jalal al-Din Akbar, six years after Humayun slipped on the staircase of his personal library and observatory, which he was ascending in order to view the rise of the planet Venus from an elevated position above the city of Delhi, and cracked his head and died.

The massive mausoleum was constructed in sandstone and white marble between 1562-1571. The architect of Humayun’s tomb was the Persian Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, although Akbar the adoring son was said to have wielded considerable influence over its design and especially its symbols.

Read more at The Tuque Souq: On the Hexagram and Mughal Symbolism.