Mughal Emperor In Detail Part-1

Babar [1526-1530 AD]

About Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur 
Babur, a Turk with Mongol blood relation was the founder of Mughal Empire and established the powerful Mughal Dynasty after defeating Ibrahim Lodi in the first Battle of Panipat in 1526 AD. On his mother's side Babur was related to Timur and he was related to Mongol invader Chengiz Khan on father's side. Babur was born on 14th February, 1483 AD in Uzbekistan. 

His father Omar Sheikh Mirza was also a ruler of a small territory of Uzbekistan. First Emperor of Mughal Empire Dawlat Khan Lodi, the governor of Punjab of Lodi Dynasty didn't have a good relation with Sultan Ibrahim Lodi and fearing his own safety he called Babur to attack Delhi. 

Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi and started the Mughal Empire. He ruled the Mughal Empire from 1526 AD to 1530 AD. During his small period as Mughal Emperor he acquired a large territory, mainly from Rajputs and Afghans. In 1527 AD, Babur defeated powerful Rajput ruler Rana Sanga (Rana Sangram Singh) in the Battle of Khanwa. After the Battle of Khanwa, Babur defeated Afghans and eliminated their threats. In 1529 AD, Babur defeated Nasrat Shah of Bengal in the Battle of Gogra, the final major battle of his life.

First Battle of Panipat 

The first battle of Panipat is considered in the Indian History as the beginning of the Mughal Empire and ending of Delhi Sultanate. With the request of Dawlat Khan Lodi, governor of Punjab, Timurid ruler Babur attacked Ibrahim Lodi in 1526 AD in the village of Panipat. Babur had a much smaller army than Ibrahim Lodi but Babur used Cannons in this battle and defeated Lodi. Ibrahim Lodi died in the battle field.

Battle of Khanwa 

The Battle of Khanwa was the second major battle by Babur after the Battle of Panipat. In 1527 AD, Babur defeated the powerful Rajput ruler of Mewar Rana Sanga in the Battle of Khanwa. Raja Hasan Khan Mewati, ruler of Mewat provided the support to Rana Sanga. The combine forces fought very bravely but in front of cannon of Babur, Rajput army had to accept the defeat.

Successor of Babur Babur died in 1530 AD at the age of 47. After his death, Humayun succeeded his father and became the emperor of Mughal Empire in 1530 AD.

Introduction to  battle of Panipat  I

The first battle of Panipat is considered in the Indian History as the beginning of the Mughal Empire and ending of Delhi Sultanate. Dawlat Khan Lodi, the governor of Punjab of Lodi Dynasty didn't have a good relation with Sultan Ibrahim Lodi of Delhi Sultanate and fearing his own safety he called Timurid ruler Babur to attack Delhi. 

Babur accepted the request and attacked Lodi Dynasty. The battle took place in 1526 AD between Babur and Sultan Ibrahim Lodi in the village of Panipat of present day Hariyana. Babur had much smaller army than Ibrahim Lodi but he used advance war artillery Cannons in this battle and defeated Lodi. Ibrahim Lodi died in the battle.

The Battle After accepting the request of Dawlat Khan Lodi, Babur marched to Delhi with a force of about 12,000 soldiers. In April 1526 AD, Babur army reached Panipat. Hearing the news of Babur's advancement towards Delhi, Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi led a large army towards Panipat. In 21st April 1526 AD, Sultan army met the Babur's force in Panipat.

The battle started from the morning. Sultan had a much larger army than that of Babur but Babur used Cannons, the war artillery. Sultan's elephants were terrified due to noise and smoke of cannons fired by the Babur's force. Sultan's elephants crushed the own army of Ibrahim Lodhi and it started to scatter in every directions. Babur adopted the the tulughma war tactic in this battle. This was the first battle in India where artillery was used. 

Ustad Ali and Mustafa were the commanders in the artillery division. Ibrahim Lodi died in the battle field. It was a very important battle for Babur and after the victory in the first battle of Panipat, he established the Mughal Empire that ruled until 1857 AD.

About Battle of Khanwa 

The Battle of Khanwa was the second major battle by Babur after the Battle of Panipat. In 1527 AD, the powerful Rajput ruler of Mewar Rana Sanga launched the attack against the Mughal Empire. Raja Hasan Khan Mewati the ruler of Mewat, provided support to Rana Sanga. In 17th March 1527 AD the combine forces started the battle against Mughal Emperor Babur in Khanwa, near to Agra.

Rajput fought brilliantly and was successful in the beginning but the artillery used by the Mughal army proved to be fatal for Rajput combine forces. The cannons were very new to Rajput and the war elephants were not trained to fight against cannon. Elephants were terrified due to sound and smoke of cannon fire and started to scatter in all directions. Elephants of the combine forces crushed their own soldiers. Babur defeated the army of Rana Sanga. Raja Hasan Khan Mewati died in the battle and Rana Sanga fled away from the battle ground. The victory of this battle provided Babur a superior control over North India.

This battle was very important for Babur to provide the strong foundation to Mughal Empire. Without defeating Rajput it wouldn't have possible for Babur to build the strong base of Mughal Dynasty.