First battle of Panipat

1526 battle.

Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the first battle of Panipat in 1526. In this Babur used the Rumi (Ottoman) device of lashing a large number of carts to form a defending wall with breastwork in between to rest guns (Tughlama system of welfare). His artillery was led by Ustad Ali and Mustafa. It marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire. This was one of the earliest battles involving gun powder firearms and field artillery.[5]

First Battle of Panipat
Part of Mughal conquests

The battle of Panipat and
the death of Sultan Ibrāhīm
Date20 April 1526
Location
Panipat
(present-day Haryana, India)

29°24′11″N 76°58′24″E / 29.40306°N 76.97333°E / 29.40306; 76.97333
Result

Mughal victory

Territorial
changes
Delhi Sultanate annexed by the Mughals
Belligerents
Mughal Empire Delhi Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Babur Ibrahim Lodi 
Strength
12,000[1]–25,000 soldiers [2][3]
15–20 field guns[1]
20,000 regular cavalry[3]
20,000 irregular cavalry[3]
30,000 infantry armed with swords, pikes, bows and bamboo rods[3][2]
Casualties and losses
Unknown 6,000 killed in battle[4]
thousands killed while retreating[4]

The Mughal forces of Babur, the Timurid ruler of Kabulistan, defeated the much larger ruling army of Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi. The battle was fought on 21 April near the small village of Panipat, in the present day Indian state of Haryana, an area that has been the site of a number of decisive battles for the control of Northern India since the twelfth century.

The use of guns by troops of Babur helped them claim victory in the battle. The Lodi troops were lagging in terms of artillery skills and the sound emitted by canons frightened the war elephants of Lodi.

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 Watts 2011, p. 707.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Chandra 2009, p. 30.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Jadunath Sarkar, Military history of India, p. 50.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Jadunath Sarkar, Military history of India, p. 52.
  5. "First Battle of Panipat (1526) | Panipat, Haryana | India". Retrieved 2021-10-24.