Babur is acknowledged as a great strategist and tactician, as his several battles bear out. In the battle of Panipat against Ibrahim Lodi, it was his tactical brilliance, rather than the size of the army, that carried the day. He deployed his cannons and musket-men in such a way as to wreak havoc in the enemy lines, and used chained carts to block the enemy from foraying into his own phalanxes.
His son Humayun, however, didn’t inherit Babur's military genius. He only inherited his father's vast army, and that helped him overcome the several challenges that arose during the first ten years of his reign. Till another battle genius, Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan ruler of Bihar, raised the flag of rebellion against Mughal rule. In the Spring of 1539, Humayun, determined to suppress the rebellion, marched with a large army against Sher Shah.
Sher Shah didn’t want to take on the mighty Mughal army head-on. Nonetheless, he sent small units to needle the marching Mughals on their way and delay their advance as much as possible, till the conditions were suitable for him. He waited for the enemy at a place called Chausa on the other side of the Ganga, having chosen a suitable battlefield.
By April, early summer, the Mughal army crossed the Ganga. The crossing was easy since there wasn’t much water in the river, and it offered several shallow crossing points.
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Soon, the summer peaked. The snow in the Himalayas melted, and the water level in the great river kept rising. Humayun found himself trapped, unable to cross back.
Nevertheless, Sher Shah waited. He knew that the Mughal army had an advantage in terms of size and artillery. He calculated that as the monsoon season approached, the water level in the river would rise again, and the place where the Mughal army was encamped might get flooded. Finally, June arrived, the rains came, and the river began to overflow. Realising the danger, the Mughal army tried to shift its camp. At that moment, when the deployment of the Mughal army was in disarray, Sher Shah struck. He divided his army into three parts. One division was sent to attack the enemy’s new encampment, another division to the middle of the Mughal army, and the third division to the old Mughal encampment.
Faced with this three-pronged attack, Humayun's army was scattered. About 8,000 Mughals were killed in the attack. Twice that number drowned in the river.
The emperor’s own life was in danger. He had to cross the river somehow to avoid being captured by the enemy. Finally, a bisht, one who supplies water to the troops, emptied his leather water bag, inflated it, and made the emperor sit on it. Then he swam across the river, pushing the inflated water bag carrying the emperor.
Though the tactical oaf, Humayun was kind-hearted. The story goes that he asked the water-carrier what he wanted in return for saving the emperor’s life. The fellow’s reply was, "Can I be made emperor for a day?" Upon reaching Agra, Humayun seated the water-carrier on the throne for a full day and crowned him emperor. It is said in that one day, he emptied the treasury. It is believed that this incident led to the origin of the popular expression "Ek Din Ka Sultan" (emperor for a day).
