India has seen some of the fiercest battles in history. These include:
BATTLE OF THE HYDASPES: Alexander the king of Macedonia wanted to explore the eastern side of Asia so he began his campaign against India in May of 326 BC and fought against King Porus of Punjab in the banks of river Hydaspes. The battle is regarded as one of the costliest battles ever fought by Alexander because of the great resistance and difficulty that the Macedonian army faced while fighting King Porus’ men. The historical significance of the battle is that it opened up India to Greek political and cultural influence.
BATTLE OF KALINGA: The battle of Kalinga fought between Mauryan emperor Ashoka, and the ruler of Kalinga is one of the most important and one of the bloodiest battles in Indian history. Bindusara, the son of the Mauryan emperor and the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, wanted to expand his empire and become a great conqueror. So the battle took place in Kalinga in the year 261 BC. Ashoka the great won the battle- one of the bloodiest battles in Indian history, in which over 100,000 men lost their lives and 1,500,000 taken prisoners. Many children were left orphaned and the state of Kalinga in northern parts of Andhra Pradesh came under the rule of Ashoka.
BATTLE OF PANIPAT: The battle of Panipat took place on April 21st, 1526 under the leadership of Babur, and led to the establishment of Mughal Empire in the northwest of Delhi. At that time most of north India was under the rule of Ibrahim Lodi, an unpopular ruler. The nobles were dissatisfied with his rule so they invited Babur to rule over them. Babur had an army of 15,000 men compared to Lodi’s 40,000 troops. However, his secret weapon consisting of 24 pieces of artillery, gave him the upper hand as they defeated Lodi’s forces in the battle of Panipat.
BATTLE OF PLASSEY: The Battle of Plassey took place on 23 June, 1757 and led to the establishment of the British Empire. The British attacked the Bengal province and spread out to other Indian towns after opening a trading post in Calcutta. The British forces were well organized, better paid and had the collaboration of local Indian sepoys, compared to Nawab of Bengal Siraj ud-Daulah’s army, trying to resist the British rule. The British won the battle and dominated the rest of India.
First Battle of Tarain (1191), near Thaneswar in Haryana 150 km from Delhi. Prithvi Raj Chauhan defeated Muhammad Persian invader Muhammad Ghori. Ghori was severely wounded and fled
Second Battle of Tarain 1192, Muhammad Ghori V/s Prithvi Raj Chauhan- Muhammad Ghori attacked India with a force of 120,000 soldiers. Though Prithviraj Chauhan had a force of 300,000 soldiers, the Rajput Army lacked unity and was disorganized central command under an able leader. Prithviraj’s forces were routed. Prithviraj himself was captured and executed. This was a turning point in Indian history and laid the foundation of Islamic rule in India.
Battle of Chanda 1194, Muhammad Ghori defeated the King of Kanauj Jaichand and expanded his empire in India. He appointed his slave Qutb al-Din Aibak as the first emperor of Delhi Sultanate, while another of his generals, Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji captured Bengal and its adjoining regions.
First Battle of Panipat (21 April 1526) was fought between the first Mughal Emperor Babur and Ibrahim Lodhi the Sultan of Delhi and last ruler of the Lodi dynasty. Babur defeated Lodhi and was able to establish the Mughal Empire in India. It was one of the earliest battles using gunpowder and artillery in the Indian subcontinent. Babur introduced field guns at Panipat which proved decisive in battle as Lodhi did not have any artillery. The sound of the cannon frightened Lodhi’s elephants, causing them to trample his own men. Faced with cannon and musket fire and cavalry attacks from all sides, Ibrahim’s troops fled while Lodi himself died on the battlefield along with 20,000 of his troops.
Battle of Khanwa, (16 March 1527) was fought between Babur and Rana Sanga of Mewar near Fatehpur-Sikri in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Rana Sanga put together a Rajput-Afghan alliance with the support of the Rajput kings from Rajasthan and Mahmud Lodi, the younger son of Sikandar Lodi. However despite a gallant fight, Rana Sanga and his allies suffered a crushing defeat. The biggest lesson to be learnt from the Battle of Khanwa is that bravery alone is not always enough. You need superior leadership and organizational skills to win a war. Rana Sanga managed to escape to Chittor, but the alliance he carved out collapsed. Mewar’s reputation was shattered and cast its shadow on the future politics of India. Rana Sanga died in Chittor, after being poisoned by his own confidantes who felt that he should not have fought against Babur. Rana Sanga’s story might have had a different ending had it not been for Babur’s cannons that put an end to outdated trends in Indian warfare. Babur’s victory also consolidated the Mughal dynasty in India.
Second Battle of Panipat (5 November 1556) was fought between Hem Chandra or Hemu the last Hindu Emperor of Delhi and Akbar. After Humayun’s death Hemu who spent his early life as a tradesman in Rewari captured Agra and Delhi and proclaimed himself Raja Vikramaditya at Purana Quila in Delhi on 7 October 1556. 13-year-old Akbar and his guardian Bairam Khan marched towards Delhi. Ali Quli Khan Shaibani a Mughal General sent ahead with 10,000-strong cavalry captured Hemu’s artillery without any resistance. Hemu’s men abandoned the guns and fled even without a stand. This proved to be a costly mistake. Just two days after the coronation, Hemu’s army came face to face with Mughals troops at Panipat. While Akbar and Bairam Khan stayed– eight miles behind in the rear of the main battlefield. Hemu led his army into battle, mounted on top of his elephant Hawai. Though he had a much larger Army of 1000 elephants, 50,000 horses, and 500 falconets, his biggest weakness was that he had no artillery. In the middle of the battle he was struck by an arrow in the eye and lost unconsciousness. Seeing this, his army panicked and fled, and many more were killed while fleeing. Hawai the elephant – carrying the unconscious Hemu was captured and led to the Mughal camp where Bairam Khan asked 13-year-old Akbar to behead Hemu. When Akbar refused to kill the dying man Bairam Khan persuaded him to touch Hemu’s head with his sword and went on to cut Hemu’s head which was sent to Kabul while his body was hung and publically displayed on a gate at Purana Quila in Delhi. Pir Muhammad a Mughal officer tracked Hemu’s family at Machari (near Alwar) and executed Hemu’s father who refused to convert to Islam but Hemu’s wife managed to escape. Even today there is a Hemu’s memorial at Panipat known as Samadhi Sthal.
Third Battle of Panipat (14 January 1761) took place at Panipat, about 97 km north of Delhi, between the Marathas and Afghans led by the Afghan King Ahmad Shah Abdali, and Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh. Ahmed shah invaded India in January 1748, 1750, 1751, 1753, 1756, 1757, 1758, and 1759. The third battle of Panipat starts when Ahmed Shah Abdali invades India in 1759. The highlight of this battle was use of artillery and cavalry by both the Marathas and the Afghans. It is considered one of the largest and most eventful battles in the 18th century, with perhaps the largest number of fatalities in a single day. The battle resulted in the end of Maratha suzaranity over Panipat and Delhi.
The battle started in the wee hours on January 14, 1761. The Afghan forces were larger in number, and by the end of the first day most of the Maratha forces fled, killed or taken prisoner. Their inability to persuade the Rajputs, Jats and Sikhs to fight on their side proved fatal for them. After the victory, the Afghan cavalry ran wild through the streets of Panipat, killing thousands of Maratha soldiers and civilians. The women and children were taken to the Afghan camps and children over 14 years of age were beheaded before their own mothers and sisters. The battle lasted for several days and involved over 125,000 troops.
(Concluded)
