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War of Panipat

Panipat district in India has been carved out and merged with the district of Karnal multiple times throughout history. Panipat was one of five cities founded by the Pandava brothers according to legend. Panipat was the site of three significant battles in Indian history: the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 which ended the Lodi dynasty; the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556 where Akbar defeated Hemu; and the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 where the Maratha Empire was defeated by the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali, weakening many Indian states and paving the way for British rule.

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122 views1 page

War of Panipat

Panipat district in India has been carved out and merged with the district of Karnal multiple times throughout history. Panipat was one of five cities founded by the Pandava brothers according to legend. Panipat was the site of three significant battles in Indian history: the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 which ended the Lodi dynasty; the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556 where Akbar defeated Hemu; and the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 where the Maratha Empire was defeated by the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali, weakening many Indian states and paving the way for British rule.

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Panipat district was carved out from the erstwhile Karnal district on 1 November 1989.

On 24
July 1991 it was again merged with Karnal district. On 1 January 1992, it again became a
separate district. According to the legend, Panipat was one of the five cities (prasthas) founded
by the Pandava brothers during the times of the Mahabharata; its historic name was
Pandavaprastha (Sanskrit: पाण्डवप्रस्थ, lit. city of Pandavas) Panipat was the scene of three
pivotal battles in Indian history. Panipat is first recorded in the Mahabharata as one of the five
villages that the Pandavas demanded from Duryodhana. The five villages are the "panch pat":

 Panaprastha (now known as Panipat)


 Suvarnaprastha (now known as Sonipat)
 Indraprastha (now known as Delhi)
 Vyaghraprastha became Baghpat (now known as Baghpat)
 Tilaprastha (now known as Tilpat)
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. This first battle of Panipat thus ended the 'Lodi Rule'
established by Bahlul Lodhi in Delhi.
The Second Battle of Panipat was fought on 5 November 1556 between the forces of Akbar and
Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, a Hindu King of Delhi.[3][4] Hem Chandra, who had captured states
like Agra and Delhi defeating Akbar's army and declared himself as independent king after a
coronation on 7th Oct. 1556 at Purana Quila 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. Dead Hemu was carried to
Akbar's camp where Bairam Khan beheaded him [5] His head was sent to Kabul to be hanged
outside Delhi Darwaza, and his torso was hanged outside Purana Quila in Delhi. The place of
martyrdom of Raja Hemu is now a famous shrine in Panipat.
The Third Battle of Panipat was fought on 14 January 1761 between the Maratha Empire and the
Afghan and Baloch invaders. The Maratha Empire was led by Sadashivrao Bhau Peshwa with
Dattaji shinde Dattaji and the Afghans were led by Ahmadshah Abdali. The Afghans had a total
strength of 110,000 soldiers, and the Marathas had 75,000 soldiers and 100,000 pilgrims. The
Maratha soldiers were unable to get food because of non-cooperation of other empires of India.
Both the sides fought their heart out. The Afghans were supported by Najib-ud-Daula and Shuja-
ud-Daula for the supply of food, and the Maratha had pilgrims along with them, who were unable
to fight, including female pilgrims. On 14 January, over 100,000 soldiers died resulting in the
victory for the Afghans. However, after the victory, the Afghans facing a hostile North India,
retreated to Afghanistan to avoid casualties. This battle served as a precursor for British Empire
to establish Company rule in India as most of North and Northwest Indian princely states were
weakened.[6]

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