The First Battle of Panipat:
| Babur marched towards Delhi at the head of about 12000 brave disciplined and well-trained soldiers. The Sultan of Delhi Ibrahmin Lodi inexperienced young man gathered together a huge army of about 100,000 soldiers and came out of Delhi to give fight to the invader. The two armies met on the historic field of Panipat on the 21st April 1526. Babur had the strength of character and experience of a veteran general while Ibrahim Lodi was an inexperienced man careless in his movements. Thus by superior strategy and generalship and the use of artillery Babur won a decisive victory over the Lodi Sultan. The Sultan’s army was mainly composed of mercenaries. They were attacked by Babur’s artillery and were completely taken aback and ran pell-mell Babur’s soldiers were well trained and expert in creating confusion and disorder among the enemy. Babur’s artillery worked havoc and Ustad Ali and Mustafa poured death upon the disorderly Afghans. Ibrahim’s army was completely defeated and within half a day about 15,000 soldiers lay dead on the battlefield, Ibrahim Lodi among them. Babur himself remarked, “By the grace and mercy of the Almighty God, this difficult affair was made easy to me and that mighty army, in the space of half a day was laid in the dust”. The First Battle of Panipat sounded the death knell of the Lodi Dynasty and laid the foundation of the Mughal rule in India. Babur quickly occupied Delhi and Agra etc. The Mughal conquest of Hindustan was not an accomplished fact as a result of Babur’s victory over Ibrahim. It did not give him virtual control over the country because there were other strong powers like the Afghan military chiefs and the Panipat’s under Rana Sanga, who also aspired after political supremacy. The victory of Panipat was, in fact, the beginning of the difficult task ahead. Panipat set his first on the path of empire building. Nevertheless, the battle of Panipat has its own significance in the sense that it marked the foundation of Mughal dominion in India. |
Comments (No)