Battle of Plassey [1757]

 On June 23, 1757, the British East India Company won a decisive victory over a much greater army led by the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies at the Battle of Plassey. The war aided the Company's takeover of Bengal. They took control of the majority of the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, and Afghanistan over the next hundred years.

The war was fought at Plassey, on the banks of the Hooghly River, about 150 kilometers north of Calcutta and south of Murshidabad, Bengal's capital at the time. The antagonists were the Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah, Bengal's last independent Nawab, and the British East India Company. He was Alivardi Khan's successor. The previous year, Siraj-ud-Daulah had been Nawab of Bengal, and he had requested the English to avoid extending their fortifications. Robert Clive bribed Mir Jafar, the Nawab's army commander-in-chief, and offered to make him Nawab of Bengal. In 1757, Clive beat Siraj-ud-Daulah at Plassey and took Calcutta.

The war was followed by Nawab Siraj-ud-assault Daulah's on British-controlled Calcutta and the Black Hole massacre. Colonel Robert Clive and Admiral Charles Watson led reinforcements from Madras to Bengal and recaptured Calcutta. Clive then took the opportunity to take control of the French fort of Chandernagar. Tensions and fears between Siraj-ud-daulah and the British reached a climax with the Battle of Plassey. During the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the French East India Company sent a small contingent to fight against the British, mirroring their European rivalry. Siraj-ud-Daulah made his stand at Plassey with a greatly superior army. Concerned about being outnumbered, the British formed a plot with Siraj-ud-demoted Daulah's army leader Mir Jafar, as well as others like Yar Lutuf Khan, Jagat Seths, Umichand, and Rai Durlabh. Mir Jafar, Rai Durlabh, and Yar Lutuf Khan thus gathered their forces near the battlefield but made no effort to enter the fighting. Col. Robert Clive's 3,000 troops routed Siraj-ud-army Daulah's of 50,000 soldiers, 40 cannons, and ten battle elephants. The fight lasted 11 hours.

This is regarded as one of the pivotal wars in the imperial powers' domination of the Indian subcontinent. The British now exercised tremendous power over the Nawab, Mir Jafar, and as a result obtained considerable concessions for prior defeats and trade revenue. The British used this income to strengthen their military might and drive other European imperial forces, such as the Dutch and French, out of South Asia, thus extending the British Empire.

Battle of Amritsar (1634)

Mukhlis Khan led a plan against Guru Hargobind and the Sikhs on 14 April 1634, which resulted in the Battle of Amritsar. The war lasted two days and was triggered by rising tensions between the Mughal government and Guru Hargobind.

After being abused by the Mughal authorities, the Sikhs started organizing annual training sessions and became a meeting point for those who were dissatisfied with the Mughals. Increasing tensions arose during a clash between two hunting parties, one Sikh and one Mughal. On Vaisaki day, a Sikh hunting party set their hawk on a royal hawk and brought it down. When the Mughal hunting party arrived to collect their hawk, they used aggressive words, and the Sikhs declined to give it up. This altercation resulted in kicks, and the Mughals were forced to flee after their party was decimated. The incident with the hunting parties was used as a pretext to dispatch 7,000 troops, led by Mukhlis Khan, to assault Guru Hargobind. Because of the imminent marriage of Guru Hargobind's daughter, the Sikhs were unprepared to face the Mughal army.

The battle lasted two days in Amritsar. The Sikhs got word of the Mughals' impending assault the day before and fled Lohgarh, a remote mud fort on the outskirts of the district, save for a small garrison. The Mughals overran the garrison at Lohgarh on the first day but were unable to advance.The Mughal force also raided the house where Guru Hargobind was sleeping, but found nothing because it had been vacated earlier.

The second day of the war saw fierce combat near what is now Khalsa College in Amritsar. Bhai Bhanno was killed in the battle, and when he died, Guru Hargobind took over command. Mukhlis Khan's head was "cleft in twain" by a blow from Guru Hargobind, bringing the fight to a close.

This was the second war between the Mughals and the Sikhs, and it legitimized Guru Hargobind's attempts to militarize his followers. Furthermore, the Sikh victory shattered the myth of Mughal invincibility and expanded the Guru's popularity among Punjabi peasants.

Second Battle of Panipat (1556)

 On November 5, 1556, the army of Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, popularly known as Hemu, the Hindu king of north India from Delhi, and Akbar's army battled the Second Battle of Panipat. Khan Zaman I and Bairam Khan, Akbar's generals, won a convincing victory.

Humayun, the Mughal emperor, died in Delhi on January 24, 1556, and was succeeded by his uncle, Akbar. Akbar was just thirteen at the time. Akbar was crowned on February 14, 1556, in Kalanaur, Punjab. Mughal rule was limited to Kabul, Kandahar, parts of the Delhi district, and Punjab at the time. Akbar had been campaigning with his guardian, Bairam Khan, in Kabul.

After defeating Akbar's army in the Battle of Delhi in 1556, Hemu became the emperor of North India. Previously, Hemu served as Prime Minister-in-Chief of Afghanistan's Army under Afghan dictator Adil Shah. He was a Hindu from Rewari, which is now in Haryana. Hemu had won 22 wars as Prime Minister-cum-Chief of the Army from Punjab to Bengal between 1553 and 1556.Hemu had just put down a revolt in Bengal, killing the Bengal king Muhammad Shah in the process, when Humayun died in January 1556. As he learned of Humayun's assassination, he told his commanders that he intended to take the Delhi throne for himself. He then waged a full-fledged insurgency, winning battles across northern India.As he launched his assault on Agra, the commander of Akbar's forces there fled without a contest. Hemu seized possession of the provinces of Etawah, Kalpi, and Agra, which included modern-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Hemu bolstered his army at Gwalior by recruiting more Hindus.

On October 6, Hemu defeated the Mughal army in the Battle of Delhi. Approximately 3,000 Mughals were slaughtered, and Mughal commander Tardi Beg fled with the survivors, leaving Delhi to Hemu. The next day, Hemu was crowned at Purana Qila fortress, restoring Hindu rule in north India after 350 years of Muslim rule.Hemu was preparing for an assault on Kabul, according to Abul Fazl in Akbarnama, and had made some changes to his army.

The fall of Delhi and Agra to Hemu, as well as the defeat of Mughal commander Tardi Beg Khan, caused consternation among the Mughals at Kalanaur. Many Mughal generals urged Akbar to withdraw to Kabul instead of confronting Hemu's greater armies. However, Bairam Khan wanted to go to battle. The army of Akbar marched into Delhi.On November 5, the armies met at Panipat, the ancient battleground where Akbar's grandfather, Babur, had defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat thirty years before.

The Mughal Army had 10,000 cavalry under the command of Shah Ali Quli Khan at its core. The light cavalry was led by Lal Khan of Badakshan to assault Hemu's positions. The vanguard of the Mughal Army was commanded by Muhammad Qasim (Mughal), whose brigade included mounted archers and the standard cavalry of Abdulla Khan (Mughal) and Iskander Khan.

Shah Ali Quli Khan isolated the elephant and captured Hemu after a Mughal archer fired an arrow that entered his eye, leaving him unconscious and in pain. Hemu was placed before the young Mughal Emperor Akbar, who executed him with his own sword and assumed the title "Ghazi" from then on.

Despite Hemu's superior numbers, Akbar's army won the campaign. Hemu was apprehended and beheaded. His skull was sent to Kabul and shown outside the 'Delhi Darwaza.' His torso was transported to Delhi and hung outside Purana Quila on a "gibbet" in order to harass the Hindu people.Hemu's wife fled from Purana Qila with the fortress's jewels and went unnoticed. Bairam Khan ordered mass Hindu killings, which lasted for several years. Many of Hemu's family and close Afghan allies were apprehended and beheaded.Minarets were built out of their skulls in various locations. After six months, Hemu's 82-year-old father, who had fled to Alwar, was apprehended and beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam.

First Battle of Panipat (1526)

 The First Battle of Panipat was fought on 21 April 1526 in North India between the occupying forces of Babur and the Lodi Empire. It was the start of the Mughal Empire. This was one of the first battles fought with gun powder and field artillery.

Babur introduced field guns at panipat, 1526

Until 1524, Babur's aim was to only extend his rule to Punjab, mostly to fulfill his ancestor Timur's legacy, as it had previously been a part of his kingdom. Sections of north India were ruled by Ibrahim Lodi of the Lodi dynasty at the time, but the kingdom was collapsing and there were several defectors. He was invited by Daulat Khan Lodi, Governor of Punjab, and Ala-ud-Din, Ibrahim's uncle.He sent an envoy to Ibrahim, pretending to be the legitimate successor to the country's throne; however, the ambassador was arrested in Lahore and released months later.

In 1524, Babur set out for Lahore, Punjab, only to discover that Daulat Khan Lodi had been forced out by forces sent by Ibrahim Lodi. The Lodi army marched out and was defeated when Babur arrived in Lahore. In reaction, Babur burned Lahore for two days before marching to Dipalpur, where he appointed Alam Khan, another rebel uncle of Lodi's, as governor. Alam Khan was deposed easily and fled to Kabul. In reaction, Babur supplied Alam Khan with soldiers, who later joined forces with Daulat Khan Lodi and besieged Ibrahim Lodi at Delhi with approximately 30,000 troops. He beat them and drove Alam's army away, and Babur realized that Lodi would not let him invade Punjab.

Babur's forces were reported to number about 15,000 troops and had between 20 and 24 pieces of field artillery. Babur reported that Lodi had about 100,000 men, though this included camp followers, and that the battle force totaled 30,000 to 40,000 men, including at least 1000 war elephants.

Babur defended his right flank towards the city of Panipat while digging a trench paved with tree branches to protect his left flanks after learning the strength of Ibrahim's force. He arranged 700 carts bound together with ropes in the middle. There were breastworks for his matchlock men between every two carts. Babur also made certain that his soldiers had enough room to rest and fire their weapons.

When Ibrahim's army landed, he discovered that the path to Babur's army was too small for an assau
lt. Though Ibrahim redeployed his troops to accommodate the narrower front, Babur easily exploited the situation to flank the Lodi army. Many of Ibrahim's soldiers were unable to participate in the fighting and left as it turned toward them. 

Ibrahim Lodi, along with 20,000 of his men, was killed on the battlefield. Timurids won a decisive military triumph at the Battle of Panipat. Politically, it acquired Babur new territories and began a new period of his long-lasting Mughal Empire's establishment in the center of the Indian Subcontinent.

Battle of Tarain (1191 & 1192)

The Battle of Tarain, also known as the Battle of Taraori, was a series of two battles fought between Prithviraj Chauhan iii of Ajmer and Ghurid ruler Muzz al-Din Muhammad or Mohd. Ghori in 1191 and 1192 A.D. The battles took place near Tarain (Taraori), near Thanesar in present  day Haryana. 

In 1191, Ghori crossed the Khyber Pass into India and captured the Bathinda fortress. This brought him to Prithviraj Chauhin's kingdom's northwest frontier.Recognizing their condition, the Hindu princes of north India formed a confederacy under the command of Prithiviral Chauhan. Prithviraj's army, led by his vassal prince Govind Tai, marched on to Bhatinda and met his enemy at Tarain (also called Taraori)

Ghori was wounded in a personal battle with Govind Tai, and as a result, Ghori's army retreated, handing Prthviral Chauhan victory. Prithviraj, however, did not pursue Ghor's army, preferring to retake the fortress of Bhatinda rather than invade hostile territory or misjudge Ghari's ambition.

It has also been stated that Ghori's army surrendered and Muhammad was taken prisoner. Prithviraj pardoned Muhammad of Ghor after he begged for mercy. 

Ghori returned to Ghazni after the first battle and began making plans to avenge the defeat. When he arrived in Lahore, he dispatched an envoy to Prithviraj to demand his submission, but the Chauhan ruler refused.

Ghori challenged Prithviraj in 1192, and a battle took place at the same location (Tarain). Ghori and Prithviraj both increased the size of their armies. Ghori, on the other hand, changed his strategy because he did not want to engage in melee combat with the disciplined Rajput warriors. He divided his massive army into five sections, with four units sent to attack the Rajput flanks and rear. Ghori ordered his fifth unit to retreat quickly, expecting a Rajput attack. The Rajputs charged the fleeing Ghurid unit, just as Ghori had predicted. The Ghurids then sent a new cavalry unit of 12,000 men, who successfully repelled the Rajput advance.

Ghori won the second battle of tarain and prithviraj was captured in the battle field and executed.