Battle of Panipat, 1526

Click here to view animation.

(Ensure you hit F5 or View Show)
Animation not displaying properly?

Babur versus Ibrahim Lodi: An Afghan army under Ibrahim attacks a Mughal army under Babur, which is protected by a line of wagons and two safe flanks. Babur has something Ibrahim does not, namely cannons, but they are just a taste of the Mughal firepower; will Babur’s firepower be enough to defeat Ibrahim?

Significance

Babur’s victory laid the foundations of an empire that would eventually unite most of India. This battle should be significant to Western historians because it makes it abundantly clear that India had a rich culture and military history before any European arrived, and that history does not begin when Europeans arrive to record it.

Analysis

The use of wagons in battle is always intriguing especially when used successfully. Babur used his wagons offensively, not defensively: “Men do not leave wide gaps in a wall intended to protect them from attack . . . Even as his objective was to provoke combat so his wagon-line was a device to destroy the enemy” (Williams quoted by Sandhu, 2003: 440). Babur’s wagons were just as necessary in actively destroying the enemy as his heavy cavalry, which were combined with his artillery and firepower. Sarkar notes that Babur perfected the art of fire-and-movement 300 years before the general Napoleon and the theorist Jomini (1984: 219).

.
This battle was requested by someone in the early development of this website all the way back in 2008. When beginning such a project, encouragement is crucial to continuing it, so Sameer, if you’re still following the site: thanks for the support and sorry for the wait.I anticipate that this will be another animation that stirs controversy over my choice of numbers for each side. I chose to rely upon Sandhu’s A Military History of Medieval India because it provides the most detail regarding the composition of each army. Most sources place the size of the Mughal army at 8-15,000 but they rely upon Babur’s own estimates of having 12,000 cavalry and a few thousand infantry. Babur’s estimate only includes his 12,000 Turkish cavalry which he felt he could rely upon (Sandhu, 2003: 435). As a historian writing centuries later, I cannot set a precedent for counting only forces the commander felt most confident in. 

– Jonathan Webb

 .

If you enjoyed the Battle of Panipat 1526 battle animation, you may also enjoy these other battle animations:

Battle of the Hydaspes River 326 BC, another battle fought in modern day India:

Battle of Nagashino 1575, another battle featuring an attack on a prepared defensive position loaded with firepower in the 1500s:

Battle of Thymbra 546 BC, another battle featuring an envelopment of both flanks from a defensive position using cavalry:

Thank you for visiting The Art of Battle: Animated Battle Maps.