Ias Mains Question

Panipat, Haryana, India

Historic Battles

Military History and Wars

History

Why were so many battles fought at panipat?

17 Answers
Shreevant Tiwari, History Fan
Written 27 Apr 2013

Therewasn'tanythingspecialaboutPanipat.Historiansjusthappenedtonamethree
importantbattlesafterPanipat.Ifyoucountthenumberofbattlesfoughtinthegeneral
areaof100KmaroundPanipatinpresentdayHaryana,thenumberismuchhigher.
Bythatcriterion,manyimportantencounterswouldqualify:
TheBattleofKurukshetra
MahmudGhazni'sattackonThanesar.
PrithvirajChauhan'stwobattlesagainstMohammadGhoriatTarain.
Timur'sattackonadefencelessDelhi,followingabattleagainstthereigningSultan.

ThebelligerentsendedupfightinginthegeneralareaofHaryanaduetotworeasons:
1.OneofthepartiesalmostalwayscamefromtheNorth/Northwest.
2.BothpartieswantedDelhi,becauseitissmackinthemiddleoftwoofthemost
agriculturallyproductiveregionsoftheworld.ThePlainsoftheIndusandtheGanga.
WhoevercontrolsDelhi,controlsNorthIndia.

Thiswasthereasonevenfarflungkingdoms,basedinKabul,orPunechosetosendhuge
armiestoDelhi,becausetheythoughttheinvestmentwasworthit.Conflictsthatcould
havebeenlongdrawnoutwars(liketheMughalcampaignintheDeccan)oftenbecame
watershedbattlesintheNorth,becauseDelhi/Agrawerebigtimeseatsofpowerandthe
stakeswerealwayshigh.
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The third battle of Panipat was fought in 1761. Why were so many empire shaking-battles
fought at Panipat?
Did famous battle of panipat was fought at kurukshetra?
What was the historical importance of the 1st Battle of Panipat?
Why so many battles were fought in panipat?

Was the Third Battle of Panipat so fatal to consider it one of the deadliest wars in the
world?
Anthony Tauro, Just a fan of history.
Updated 17 Apr 2014

Here'stoaddtoShreevantTiwari'sexcellentanswer.
Battlesinthosedayswerenotorganizedlikecricketmatchesaretoday."Letsmutually
agreetoavenue,flydownthereandplay".Thetwoarmieswouldcircleeachotherlike
wrestlers,becausewarwasalittlelikerealestatebackthen.Thethreethingsthatmattered
werelocation,locationandlocation.Thentheywouldbothsettleintopositionsthatwere
advantageoustothemselvesandtrytomaketheotherattackfirst.ThisiswhatBaburdid
toLodi(andlatertoRanaSanga)andAbdalitotheMarathasin1761.
NowaninvaderfromtheNorthWestwouldfirstcrosstheKhyberPass.Thentheyhadto
conquerPunjab.OnceyouhadPunjabyouhadastrongbaseinafertileregion(meaning
youarewellsupplied).ThenyougoforDelhi.Whatliesinbetween?GoodoldHaryana.
Thusthepatternwas,ifDelhiwasstrongenoughthentheywouldtakethebattleinto
Haryana.ElsetheywouldfightrightoutsideDelhi.
Aftertheinfographicaresomeeventsandbattlesinanearcontinuousnarrativestarting
withMahmudGhazni,wherethepoliticsofCentralAsialeadtoaninvasionofDelhi.
SevenofthesebattleswerefoughtinHaryana(3inPanipat,3inThanesarand1in
Karnal)withina40kmradiusofeachother.

1012
GhazniattacksandsackThanesar'sfamousChakraswamintemple.I'mcheatinghereas
Idon'tbelieveDelhiwasanobjectiveofthisincursion.
1191
PrithvirajdefeatsMuizuddinMohammedofGhoriinThanesar
1192
GhoridefeatsPrithviinThanesar
Earlytomid1200's
TheMongolsareravagingCentralAsia.DespitetakingKashmirin1235andlaterinvading
thePunjab,theydon'tattackDelhi.Thischangesinthe1290's.
1303

TheMongolsattack,takeandsackDelhifortwomonths.AlauddinKhiljiwasaway
seigingChittor(clutchinghis..errheartforRaniPadmini,Isuppose)whenthey"sneaked"
in.ThiswasararefailureAlauddindefeatedtheMongolsmanytimesbothbeforeand
after.
1327
ChagataiMongolTarmashirinbeseigesDelhiispaidoffbyMohammadBinTughlaq.
SoonafterTarmashirinbecomesMuslimandtriestomaketheKhanateMuslim.The
ChagataiKhanatecollapses.Theregionisamessallowingtheriseof....Timur.
1398
Timurbeseiges,takesandsacksDelhi.Delhineedsacenturytorecover.Thisbattleis
foughtrightoutsideDelhi.
1526
BaburcomesdownfromKabulandLodimeetshim"far"fromDelhiinPanipat
1556
BairamKhan(forAkbar)defeatsHemuinPanipat.TheMughalshadbeenpushedoutof
Delhi.ThiswasBairam'slastditcheffortandbothheandAkbarwereafewmilesaway
readytofleetoAfghanistaniftheylost.(AgainAkbarwasbasedinKabul)
Foralmost200yearstheMughalsheldbothsidesoftheKhyberPassnoinvasion.
AurangazebleaveswithaweakholdonKabul.
1739
NadirShahmeetstheMughalArmyinKarnal(20milesfromPanipat).HetookKabul
thepreviousyear.
1761
AgainstalloddstheMarathaslosetoAbdaliin1761inPanipat.Thismakesalmost
everyone(HinduMuslimalike)happyinNorthIndia,exceptthepoorMughalwhowas
alliedwiththeMarathasagainstAbdalisince1752.
21.5k Views View Upvotes

Abhimanyu Ghosh, Hobbyist historian, professional fluid dynamics engineer

Written 27 Apr 2013

LookatthegeographyoftheregionandunderstandthebattlesfromthePOVofthe
invaders.
EveryinvaderhadtoattackfromthetheNorthWest.Eventoday,theKhyberPass
betweenJalalabadandPeshawaristhetheONLYlandentryrouteforanarmyora
migratinghordeintotheIndiansubcontinent.

OncetheyhavepassedthroughtheKhyber,theylandinPathantribalprovinces.
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Theseregionsforthemostpartweredottedwithterritoriesoftribalclanswithno
singleauthorityorcitycentreexceptPeshawar.So,whiletheycanspreadout
throughouttheprovinceandmakeallianceswiththelocaltribes,thisdoesnotgive
themalotofresourcesduetothenatureoftheland.

Whydon'tdefendingarmiesfromDelhifightinNWFP?Becausethetriballandsin
NWFPweremostlysatrapsandnotruleddirectlybythecentralauthoritiesinDelhi.
Fightingawarinaprovincewhichyoudon'truledirectlyopensyouuptoahuge
possibilityofdoublecrossing.

Next,theycomedowntothePunjab.Heretheygetaccesstofoodandresourcesfor
theirarmiesbutPunjabbeinganagriculturalsocietywithveryhighyields,hadnobig
cityorpowercentre.Capturingdecentralizedagrorichprovincesisalwaysadifficult
task,especiallyinthepancakeflatgeographyofnorthernIndia.So,theyleavePunjab
aloneandmoveahead.

Now,whydon'tthedefendingarmiesmoveintoadvancepositionsinPunjab?Forthe
samereasonthattheinvadersdon'twantPunjabtobethebattlefield.It'sarich
agriculturallandwithhighrevenuesandnopowercentres.Anywarwouldbe
extended,witharmiesspreadthinandhugecivilianandresourcelosses.

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Related Questions
The third battle of Panipat was fought in 1761. Why
were so many empire shaking-battles fought at
Panipat?
Did famous battle of panipat was fought at
kurukshetra?
What was the historical importance of the 1st Battle of
Panipat?
Why so many battles were fought in panipat?
Was the Third Battle of Panipat so fatal to consider it
one of the deadliest wars in the world?
What was the political impact of the first battle of
Panipat?
What were the causes of the Third Battle of Panipat?
When were the Battles of Panipat fought?
Why did the Marathas lose the third battle of Panipat?
Did the defeat of Marathas in the third battle of
Panipat give rise to the British power?

Now,theinvaderscometoHaryana,alightlypopulatedlandwithgeographythatis
atleastslightlydifferentfromtheflatpancakethatPunjabis.Panipat'sgeography
withlowhillsprovidesatleastsomenotionofseclusionneededtofightpitched,
focusedbattles.Forthedefenders,thisistheirlastchancebeforeDelhi.Bothdecideto
takethewager.

Essentially,Delhiisthefirstpowercentrethatinvadersencounterontheirwayfrom
theKhyber.Iftheyhadtakenadifferentrouteandgoneindifferentdirectionsfrom
Peshawar,theywouldhavegotlockedin.ThefirstArabinvaderstookSindhand
Multan,forexample.SamewouldhavehappenediftheyhadgonetoKashmiror
gonenorthfromPunjabintoHimachal.Crossingthedeserttoencounterthe
multitudeofRajputkingdomswasalsonotanoption.Delhiistheonlypowercentre
whichaffordedaggressiveexpansionatalaterstage.Panipatwastheidealpivotal
locationforDelhi.
10.2k Views View Upvotes

Gaurav Sharma, trying hard to overcome procrascination

Written 3 Oct 2014

Panipathasahistoryofbattlesfromancienttimesasitwasknownaspanduprasthasin
themahabharatperiod.
Itwasamongthefiveprasthaswhichweredemandedbypandavasfromduryodhana.
Thebattlesofpanipatchangedthecompletehistoryofindiaascomparedtootherwars.
Nootherwarscanmatchtheimpactonthiscountryasmuchasthesethreewarshad.
Thereasonbehindthechoiceofpanipatisitsgeographicallocation.Asthemughal
invaderscamethroughthenorthcrossingpunjab,panipatwasalmostthelastareatobe
conqueredbeforeenteringthecapitaldelhi.AsitisalsolocatedontheGRANDTRUNK
ROADitwasconvinientfortheconquererstoapproachthecapital.Duetolargeplain
groundiswasconvenientforbattlebetweentwohugearmies.Theadjacentareakarnal
alsofacedthesamefate.Duetoitsclosenesstotheultimategoalofanyconquerori.ethe
capitolofkingdomitwasabattleground.

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The third battle of Panipat was fought in 1761. Why

were so many empire shaking-battles fought at
Panipat?
Did famous battle of panipat was fought at
kurukshetra?
What was the historical importance of the 1st Battle of
Panipat?

TheFirstBattleofPanipatwasfoughton21April1526betweenIbrahimLodhi,the
AfghanSultanofDelhi,andtheTurcoMongolwarlordBabur,wholaterestablished
MughalruleinNorthernIndiansubcontinent.Babur'sforcedefeatedIbrahim'smuch
largerforceofoveronelakh(onehundredthousand)soldiers.ThisFirstbattleofPanipat
thusendedthe'LodiRule'establishedbyBahlulLodhiinDelhi.
TheSecondBattleofPanipatwasfoughton5November1556betweentheforcesofAkbar
andSamratHemChandraVikramaditya,alsoknownasHemu,aKingofNorthIndia,[1]
[2]whobelongedtoRewariinHaryanaandhadcapturedthelargestatesofAgraand
DelhidefeatingAkbar'sforces.Thisking,alsoknownasVikramadityahadwon22battles
againsttheAfghanrebelsfrom15531556fromPunjabtoBengal,andhadhiscoronation
atPuranaQuilainDelhion7October1556andhadestablished'HinduRaj'inNorth
India,beforethe2ndbattleofPanipat.HemChandrahadalargearmy,andinitiallyhis
forceswerewinning,butsuddenlyHemuwasstruckbyanarrowintheeyeandhelosthis
senses.Onnotseeinghiminhishowdahonthebackofanelephant,hisarmyfled.Hewas
latercapturedandbeheadedbytheMughals.HisheadwassenttoKabultobehanged
outsideDelhiDarwazaandtorsowashangedoutsidePuranaQuilainDelhi.ThisSecond
battleofPanipatthusendedthe'HinduRaj'establishedbyHemuinnorthIndia,albeitfor
ashortperiod.
Accordingtomethebattlewhichchangedtheshapeofmodernindiawasthisthirdbattle.
Asthemarathaswerethegreatestdomesticpowersatthattime,theycouldhaveresisted

Why so many battles were fought in panipat?

Was the Third Battle of Panipat so fatal to consider it
one of the deadliest wars in the world?
What was the political impact of the first battle of
Panipat?
What were the causes of the Third Battle of Panipat?
When were the Battles of Panipat fought?
Why did the Marathas lose the third battle of Panipat?
Did the defeat of Marathas in the third battle of
Panipat give rise to the British power?

thebritishinvasion,butthisouterinvasionanddefeatleftindiavulnerabletothebritishers
whomadeusslavefor200years
TheThirdBattleofPanipatwasfoughtin1761betweentheMarathaEmpireandthe
AfghanandBaalochinvadersunderahmedshahabdali,whichprovedtobeatotal
disasterformarathasaswellasrestofindia.
11.1k Views View Upvotes

Jitender Aggarwal, Love to read WW 2 heroics

Written 15 Dec 2014

Panipathasbeenwitnesstomanyamajorbattlessincetheearly12thcentury.Thislittle
townhasbeenthesiteformostofthebattlesforpowerinIndia.Thenameofthiscity
occupiesprimacyinIndianhistoryatalaterperiodbecausethreefamouspivotalbattlesof
Panipatwerefoughthereoverthetwocenturiesbetween1526to1756.
PanipatwasanidealbattlegroundforthosewhoinvadedIndiafromtheNorthandthose
whodefendedthecountryfromtheSouth.Thereasonbehindthechoiceofpanipatisits
geographicallocation.
1.ItlayonapieceofrelativelyhighgroundandbetweenvastmarshesontheWestand
theRiverYamunaontheEast.
2.Therewasnogooddirectroadtoitsoitwasnotsuitablefortradeorcommerce.
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3.Alargetractoflandonaflatplateauprovidesidealconditionsforarmiesatthattime
tolaunchcavalryattacks.

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Related Questions
Thebattlesofpanipatchangedthecompletehistoryofindiaascomparedtootherwars.
Nootherwarscanmatchtheimpactonthiscountryasmuchasthesethreewarshad.

The third battle of Panipat was fought in 1761. Why

were so many empire shaking-battles fought at
Panipat?

AstheinvaderscamethroughthenorthcrossingPunjab,Panipatwasalmostthelastarea
tobeconqueredbeforeenteringthecapitalDelhi.

Did famous battle of panipat was fought at

kurukshetra?
What was the historical importance of the 1st Battle of
Panipat?
Why so many battles were fought in panipat?
Was the Third Battle of Panipat so fatal to consider it
one of the deadliest wars in the world?
What was the political impact of the first battle of
Panipat?
What were the causes of the Third Battle of Panipat?
When were the Battles of Panipat fought?
Why did the Marathas lose the third battle of Panipat?
Did the defeat of Marathas in the third battle of
Panipat give rise to the British power?

TherehavebeenthreeBattlesofPanipat:
TheFirstBattleofPanipat (1526),betweentheMughalBaburandtheDelhiSultan
IbrahimLodi,resultinginaMughalvictory.
TheSecondBattleofPanipat (1556),betweentheMughalAkbarandHemuthe
Hindu rulerofnorthIndiafromDelhi,resultinginaMughalvictory
TheThirdBattleofPanipat (1761),betweentheDurraniEmpireofAfghanistanand
theMarathaEmpire,resultinginaDurranivictory
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collapsed unconscious,leading to defeat in the Second Battle...
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turn back without attacking Pune?
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causesfor
by questions,
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hadtopics
lost the Third Battle of Panipat?
people, and
What would have happened in the Third Battle of Panipat? Had the mighty great king
Shivaji Maharaj been alive at that time?

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