Modern weapons have changed the world map in every war, be it the Second World War in which nuclear weapons of mass destruction were used for the first time or Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur’s invasion of India. but what
The establishment of Mughal rule in India is also credited to modern weapons when in the field of Panipat in the year 1526, the king of Kabul, Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, used cannon against the ten times larger army of Ibrahim Lodhi, who dominated the Delhi Sultanate. was killed
About 500 years ago this historic battle was fought which changed the destiny of India and gave it everything that India enjoys today.
In his book ‘100 Decisive Battles’, the famous historian Paul K. Davies has described the war fought by Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur against Ibrahim Lodhi, the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, as very important and says that in the past, just like the Ottoman Empire in modern times, War won by use of technology Similarly, Babur introduced modern technology for the first time in India and won the battle of Panipat.
When Babur planned to invade India from Kabul and crossed the Indus River, Ibrahim Lodhi, who was on the throne of Delhi, came to know about it, he felt the danger and gathered a large army to defeat Babur. A large caravan of elephants was also involved.
Historian RP Tripathi writes in his book ‘The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Empire’ that earlier in the Punjab region, Daulat Khan Lodhi, the governor there, tried to disperse and weaken Babur’s army, but he failed. But he received a letter from Ibrahim Lodhi reprimanding him for inviting Babur to invade India which Daulat Khan Lodhi was not ready to accept at any cost.
He writes that ‘as a result of Ghazi Khan’s escape and Daulat Khan’s acceptance of defeat, Babur captured Punjab without a fight and then Babur’s courageous army started marching towards Delhi.’
However, when the two armies met at a distance of about 25-30 kos from Delhi, Lodhi’s army was almost ten times larger than Babur’s army.
It was the Battle of Panipat that laid the foundations of the Mughal Empire in the subcontinent and saw the first use of explosive cannons.
Babur’s understanding of war
RP Tripathi writes that Babur’s knowledge of the art of war was vast and he had studied the war tactics of the Mongols, Uzbeks and Iranians. Apart from this, they also had foreign military officers who had experience in the use of firearms.
He further writes that ‘At the battle of Panipat, the Afghans had to face for the first time such a formidable army that was fully equipped with magazines and firearms.’
Since Babur had reached Panipat earlier, he started taking war measures in advance. He used the city of Panipat to protect a part of his army. To protect the other side trenches were dug, and thorn bushes were laid out with felled trees, and hundreds of oxen and horse-carts were placed in front, tied tightly together with ropes of dried skins, so as not to block the way at all. Rather, a space was left in the middle of a few vehicles and chest-high mounds of earth were erected there for the gunners and gunners.
He further wrote that ‘along with this, it was also thought that if the right opportunity came, there would be room for the cavalry to leave. Behind this arrangement, Babur equipped his army in the ancient Timurid style and included Uzbek-style troops who could easily relocate.
On the other hand, Ibrahim Lodhi had a large army, said to be more than one lakh, including two thousand elephants, which, if not moved, would have been a wall in themselves.
Babur wanted to force Ibrahim Lodhi to attack as delay would lead to complications and demoralization of the army.
However, the army attacked with full force, but seeing the front line narrow, it hesitated, and when it attacked at once, the order of the army was disturbed and the main part of the army turned into a disorderly crowd.
Taking advantage of this situation, Babur on one side ordered his light infantry to surround the enemy’s army from the left, right and even from the rear and on the other ordered the artillerymen to start shelling. Due to this, the army was thrown into a frenzy and turned into a disorganized mob from all sides and all were under fire from the cannon balls that came with the message of death.
Ibrahim Lodhi’s elephants which were his main battle tactics were not used to the cannon balls and they became confused and turned back and fled due to which Ibrahim Lodhi’s foot soldiers were also killed.
Ibrahim Lodhi rejected Mahmud Khan’s advice to escape from the battlefield and save his life and jumped into the battle with 500 soldiers where all were killed and thus Babur won that great victory in a single day. What happened that changed the course of history.
Although Babur gained control of Delhi from this battle, his kingdom was consolidated by winning a war against the Rajput Raja Rana Sanga.
According to Babur, this battle was his toughest in which he faced a warrior who had never seen defeat in his life before.
Although Babur’s army had increased in numbers, most of his original Uzbek and Mughal warriors had returned home after the Battle of Panipat as they could not get enough of the air of India. They were very worried about the heat.
However, on hearing the news of Rana Sanga’s attack, Babur’s supporters gradually dispersed and his army was reduced to half, but he started aligning his army along the pond at Sikri in the same manner as at Panipat. . This battle was fought at Khanwa in 1527, but Babur’s speech worked more than the sword.
He has written about this in detail in his diary (which has been published as Tzak Babri). When he feared that the army was demoralized because there was an invincible army in front of him, Babur made a rousing speech in which he vowed to fight to the last and at sunset on the third day, Babur was blessed with such a victory. The unimaginable happened.
He wrote, “Due to the large number of the enemy, disorder had spread in the army, so I gathered the entire army in one place and gave a speech.”
“Whoever comes into this world must die.” Life is in God’s hands, so death should not be feared. Swear to me in the name of Allah that you will not turn away when you see death in front of you and will continue fighting as long as you live.
“My speech had a great impact,” he says. This invigorated the army, the battle was frozen and finally I was victorious. This victory took place in 1527.
Babur’s living conditions
Zaheeruddin Babur was born on February 14, 1483 in Andjan Fergana. His father Sheikh Mirza was the ruler of Wadi Ferghana and from the family of Chaghatai Turks and Timur and his mother was a descendant of Genghis Khan. His mother fondly called him ‘Babar’ which means lion.
Professor Nishat Manzar of Jamia Millia Islamia said in an interview that although both his ancestors, Amjad Genghis Khan and Timur Ling, were not literate, they were well aware of the fact that without education Jahan Bani is a difficult matter. So he gave his children higher education. Babur’s education also started at the age of four according to Islamic tradition.
A study of the Babar Nama, a book written by Babur, reveals that his first marriage was to his cousin Aisha, who gave birth to a daughter who did not survive even 40 days, but Babur considered him his own Begum. There was no difference. Babur’s favorite was Mahim Begum, who bore Humayun and later took over the kingdom, while Gulbadan Begum, Hindal, Askari and Kamran were born from other wives.
Babur was only 11 years old when his father died in an accident, thus he had to take over the kingdom at an early age. After that, he wanted to conquer Samarkand, but due to his enmity, he had to lose the kingdom of Ferghana, which he had inherited.
In the Babur Nama, he mentioned his repeated failures and wrote, “The days I stayed in Tashkent, I suffered a lot of hardships and hardships.” Neither the country was in possession nor was it expected to be found. The servants all left and those who were with them could not stay together due to poverty.
But Babur as a warrior never gave up and after a long struggle he conquered Balkh and Kabul in 1504 and in 1511 conquered the Kandahar region.
After the conquests of Kabul, Kandahar, Ghazni and other regions, Babur turned to India. First, they made four small attacks here, the purpose of which was to know the conditions there. At that time there was the rule of Ibrahim Lodhi and after this war the Mughal Empire began.
Regarding Babur’s intelligence and education, famous historian Margaret McMillan writes in her series ‘In Search of Lost Figures of History’ that ‘Babur was the son of two great conquerors, Genghis Khan and Timur. Babur was indeed a very interesting figure and I think he is still interesting, apart from his conquests and other things, what was unique about him was that he wrote a diary (Babur Nama).’
She further says that ‘in the diary i.e. Babar Nama, he has mentioned most of the incidents of his life, which is a rare thing because the rulers were often not literate in those times.’
“I can’t think of any other powerful ruler or king before the last two centuries who wrote a biography.”
However, Babur was very saddened by Humayun’s illness. According to his daughter Gulbadan Begum Bano’s ‘Humayun Nama’, he traded his life for his eldest son and crown prince Humayun. So Humayun began to recover and Babur began to take to the bed.
After some 40 days, Babur bid farewell to this world on 26 December 1530, the farewell of one of the greatest warriors in history.