Panipat (Hindi pronunciation: [päː.niː.pɐt̪][5] Hi-panipat.oggⓘ) is an industrial planned city, located in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-1. The three major battles fought in 1526, 1556 and 1761 took place near the city
Panipat was the scene of three pivotal battles that changed the history of Indian Subcontinent.
The First Battle of Panipat was fought on 21 April 1526 between Ibrahim Lodhi, the Afghan Sultan of Delhi, and the Turko-Mongol warlord Babur, who later established Mughal rule in Northern Indian subcontinent. Babur’s force defeated Ibrahim’s much larger force of over one lakh (one hundred thousand) soldiers because of the technological advantage of field artillery. This first battle of Panipat thus ended the ‘Lodi Rule’ established by Bahlul Lodhi in Delhi. This battle marked the beginning of Mughal rule in India.
The Second Battle of Panipat was fought on 5 November 1556 between the forces of Akbar and Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, the last Hindu emperor of Delhi. Hem Chandra, who had captured states like Agra and Delhi defeating Akbar’s army and declared himself as independent king after a coronation on 7 October 1556 at Purana Qila in Delhi, had a large army, and initially his forces were winning, but suddenly he was struck by an arrow in the eye and fell unconscious. On not seeing him in his howdah on the back of an elephant, his army fled. The unconscious Hemu was carried to Akbar’s camp where Bairam Khan beheaded him. According to the historic sources Hemu and his army consisted of 1500 war elephants and a vanguard of artillery park.
Panipat is listed in the Ain-i-Akbari as a pargana under Delhi Sarkar and supplying a force of 1000 infantry and 100 cavalry undr Mughal Empire. It had a brick fort at the time which was also mentioned.
The Third Battle of Panipat was fought on 14 January 1761. The Maratha Empire provoked the King of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Durrani. The Maratha Empire forces were led by Sadashivrao Bhau and the Afghans were led by Ahmad Shah Abdali. The Afghans had a 1,00,000 total strength of soldiers, and the Marathas had 50,000 soldiers and 120,000 pilgrims.
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