HUMANITARIANS

humanitarians, a term applied (1) to a school of theologians who repudiate the doctrine of the trinity and hold an extreme view of the person of christ as simply human. the adoption of this position by men like nathaniel lardner, joseph priestley and theophilus lindsey in the middle of the 18th century led to the establishment of the first definitely organized unitarian churches in england. (2) it is also applied to those who believe in the perfectibility of man apart from superhuman aid, especially those who follow the teaching of pierre leroux (q.v.). the name is also sometimes given to the positivists, and in a more general sense, to persons whose chief principle of action is the desire to preserve others from pain and discomfort. humayun (1508-1556), mogul emperor of delhi, succeeded his father baber in india in 1530, while his brother kamran obtained the sovereignty of kabul and lahore. humayun was thus left in possession of his father's recent conquests, which were in dispute with the indian afghans under sher shah, governor of bengal. after ten years of fighting, humayun was driven out of india and compelled to flee to persia through the desert of sind, where his famous son, akbar the great, was born in the petty fort of umarkot (1542). sher shah was killed at the storming of kalinjar (1545), and humayun, returning to india with akbar, then only thirteen years of age, defeated the indo-afghan army and reoccupied delhi (1555). india thus passed again from the afghanis to the moguls, but six months afterwards humayun was killed by a fall from the parapet of his palace (1556), leaving his kingdom to akbar. the tomb of humayun is one of the finest mogul monuments in the neighbourhood of delhi, and it was here that the last of the moguls, bahadur shah, was captured by major hodson in 1857.