Created by Bethan | Last printed 7/12/2002 4:50 PM
Staffroom – Background Information – Key Battles
Key Battles
These two key battles illustrate a variety of tactics used in war situations by the Mughals.
1) The battle of Panipat
Most significantly, the battle of Panipat was strategic in securing Babur’s grasp on power. Victory here launched his reign as the first Mughal Emperor in India, as he secured the capital, Delhi, and subjugated the sultan Ibrahmin Lodi, once and for all.
The defining feature of this particular battle was the vast imbalance between the opposing armies. The Mughals brought only 12,000 men to the battlefield, whereas the defending Lodi had some 100,000 men and 1500 elephants at the ready.
However, Babur had reason to be confident, even with these dubious odds. Babur’s men were war hardened, experienced soldiers. Babur had had years of battle strategy experience, whilst he knew his opponents were very poor soldiers.
In addition, Babur had the advantage of ‘new technology’ – cannons. In his command, Babur had the talents of two Turkish gunners, masters of gun and cannon warfare – weapons which were at this point, unknown in the subcontinent. Babur set about maximising this advantage by tying his 700 carts into a large defensive circle. His men were then positioned between the carts with their horses and cannon.
When Ibrahim Lodi eventually began his attack on the morning of April 21st 1526, he was quickly overwhelmed by cannon fire. His elephants, who were unused to the noise, simply bolted leaving the Lodi’s ranks vulnerable and in chaos.
By midday, Ibrahim Lodi’s camp was destroyed and Babur had his remains decapitated.
2) The storming of the fort at Chitor
During the reign of Akbar, the figurehead for the Hindus in the north of India, was the Rana, Udai Singh. The Rana’s family held their capital at the great fort of Chitor.
As Akbar was the leading Muslim power, a clash with the leading Hindu power was itself, inevitable, but matters had been further stirred up by the fact that the Rana highly disapproved of Akbar’s policy of ‘matrimonial diplomacy’ – taking Hindu wives for his harem.
Although the fort at Chitor had a reputation for being impenetrable, Akbar remained undaunted. He set up camp with his vast army below the fort of Chitor in the October of 1567.
Akbar planned to use two methods of attack – mining beneath the walls of the fort in order to blow them up from underneath, and approaching the walls using a covered walkway called a sabat.
Mining could be an effective method of attack, but was laborious. Tunnels were begun at a safe distance, so that sappers could reach the ramparts at an undisclosed place and dig chambers beneath the fortress walls. These chambers were than packed with explosives.
Two such channels were built at Chitor. Defenders would try and counterattack the tunnel attack by listening for digging and scratching sounds underground. Once located, they would start a tunnel inside the walls with the intention of meeting the attack tunnel. If they were successful, not only would they avoid a catastrophic explosion, but they would also remove a tidy store of new explosive supplies for their own offences!
At Chitor, the plan was for the two stores of explosives to be set off at the same time, thus blasting two breaches in the defence walls. However, only one store blew up as planned. Whilst Babur’s troops advanced through the breach, the second set of explosives finally ignited. The delay meant that about 200 of Babur’s own men were killed.
The second attack strategy that Akbar used was the sabat. This was a covered way high and wide enough to allow ten horsemen to ride side by side, and even for elephants to travel through. The walls of the sabat were made of rubble and mud, and the roof was made of wood and animal hide. Although treacherous for much of its construction, by the time the sabat was in close reach of the walls, the advantage swung to the attackers. Cannon at close range could do serious damage to the fort’s ramparts, and when right against the wall, elephants and men could reap their destruction whilst fully protected.
Akbar was not lead his troops from afar, but would join them in the sabat himself, using his own shooting skills to fire at those who dared to look over the parapets.
After the commander of the fort was killed, victory was swift for the Mughals. However, unlike the general policy that Akbar held, there followed a great massacre of those Rajputs captured in defeat.
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