First Battle of Panipat
Panipat (present-day Haryana, India)
What happened
Babur, a prince from Central Asia descended from Timur and Genghis Khan, fought Ibrahim Lodi, the Sultan of Delhi. Babur marched toward Delhi with a small army that had cannons and muskets. At Panipat he tied about 700 wagons together in a line, with breastworks for his musketeers. Ibrahim Lodi's much larger army, with about 1,000 war elephants but no gunpowder weapons, attacked, and Babur's gunpowder forces defeated it.
Why it matters
Result: Mughal victory. Leaders: Babur against Ibrahim Khan Lodi. Why it matters: The victory gave Babur new lands and began the Mughal Empire. It was one of the earliest battles in South Asia fought with gunpowder weapons.
What came next
Babur went on to defeat Rana Sanga at Khanwa in 1527 and the eastern Afghans at the Ghaghra River in 1529. He died in 1530.
Did you know?
Babur wrote a memoir of his life, the Baburnama, in Chaghatai Turkic.
Timeline
- 1494 CEBabur's father, the ruler of Fergana, dies.
- 21 April 1526 CEBabur defeats Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat.
- 1527 CEBabur defeats Rana Sanga at Khanwa.
- 1529 CEBabur defeats the eastern Afghans at the Ghaghra River.
- 26 December 1530 CEBabur dies.