Babur had wrested the throne of Delhi from Ibrahim Lodhi in the First Battle of Panipat on April 21, 1526. The easy victory over an enemy twice his force gave him a foothold in India. Yet to truly establish the Mughal Empire in India, he had to contend with the Rajputs under their charismatic chief Rana Sanga.
Rana Sanga, the one-eyed, one-limbed Rana of Mewar, was the victor of over 80 battles and had assembled a confederacy of Rajput chiefs against the Mughal invader. In fact, in 1525, Rana Sanga had sent a letter to Babur, asking him to attack Ibrahim Lodhi and promising to attack Agra during the battle, but he reneged on the promise. After Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodhi at Panipat, Rana Sanga thought that he would loot and depart, leaving Delhi up for the taking. Babur’s decision to stay in India led Rana Sanga to form a coalition of Rajput and Afghan chiefs to evict the outsider.
In December 1526, he moved out of Mewar towards Agra, the seat of the Mughal Empire. The Rajput armies, with over seven major chiefs, 40 minor chieftains and 12,000 Afghans, had a combined strength of 80,000 well-trained and courageous fighters. Yet, they depended on individual valour and skill and had no exposure to cannons and guns or the concepts of fire and manoeuvre, which Babur had developed. Their rigid adherence to outdated concepts of war would cost them dearly.
They crossed the River Gambhir and entered the Mughal Empire, capturing the forts of Dholpur, Gwalior and Bayana. A large Mughal force that had been sent to relieve the siege of Bayana was comprehensively defeated. The Rajputs also got the better of their adversaries in most of the skirmishes that occurred. At that time, the bulk of the Mughal army, under Humayun, was in the East, quelling an uprising of Afghan chiefs. They were hastily recalled, and on February 11, 1527, Babur moved out to contest the advancing Rajput armies. As they advanced from Agra towards Khanua, the Advance Guard of over 2,000 was intercepted by a force of Rajput cavalry and virtually decimated. News of Rajput valour and their skill at arms percolated down, and a sense of defeatism crept into the Mughal camp.
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Seeing the flagging morale, Babur assembled his army and, in an emotional speech, smashed his bejewelled goblets and wine caskets, vowing to never drink again. He also declared a “jihad against the infidels”. The call had the desired effect. It galvanised his men out of their despondency and rejuvenated them for the battle ahead.
Babur now set about making preparations. Additional reinforcements came in from Kabul, which beefed up his strength. He set up camp in the area of Fatehpur Sikri, in which he established a defensive perimeter with carts yoked together and linked with chains, with the gaps covered by the fire of his cannons. He also developed a new invention, a movable tripod. This was a triangular fortification on wheels which could allow his matchlock men and archers to fire behind its protection, and still move across the battlefield. In effect, he developed his camp to be a mobile defensive platform.
For over a month, Babur remained in his camp. Surprisingly, the Rajputs did little to attack, thus allowing Babur to consolidate. Negotiations also began between the two sides, conducted by Taur Silhadi of Raisen, who was an important chief of the Rajput Confederacy. He had recently converted to Islam and, during the negotiations was convinced by Babur to change sides and defect during the battle. That month-long period of inactivity also saw the differences between the perpetually warring Rajput chiefs come to the fore, and signs of rift emerged in the alliance.
Finally, on March 17, 1527, at the urgings of his chiefs, Rana Sanga decided to attack Babur’s camp. Babur had deployed his guns in the form of an all-round defence and had placed his infantry and archers in the centre, with light cavalry in the flanks and a 10,000-strong force of heavy cavalry as the reserve. The initial Rajput charge was met with a fusillade of fire – something they had never encountered before. The faceless rain of shots and pellets took a huge toll that valour and individual skill could do little against. The Rajput Centre, led by Rana Sanga himself, tried valiantly to close in with the enemy, but the elephants refused to attack, terrified by the cannon fire that they had encountered for the first time. Rana Sanga ordered the left and right flanks to attack, and in spite of dreadful casualties, the Rajput ranks managed to close in. Taur Silhadi, who had been entrusted with the important task of leading the left flank, now abruptly left the battlefield with his entire contingent and deserted to the Mughal side—something that must have been agreed upon earlier. His departure left a gap in the Rajput formation, and seeing his moment, Babur launched his tulugmas—his cavalry reserves—that scythed their way through the open flank and into the Rajput ranks.
With Mughal Cavalry on their flanks and fire pouring in from the front, the Rajputs fought desperately to break out of the encircling ring that surrounded them. Babur now moved his movable fortifications and guns forward, hemming them into a tight knot in which they could neither manoeuvre nor fight effectively. Rana Sanga, leading the attack, had been repeatedly wounded and collapsed in the howdah of his elephant. The unconscious Rana was carried away to safety while the Rajputs tried to fight their way out of the closing Mughal ranks. But it was no longer a coordinated battle. By around four in the afternoon, the battle had been decided, and it was all over.
Over 25,000 lay dead on the battlefield, and the Mughals began the grisly practice of creating a mound of human heads on a hillock by the battlefield to commemorate their victory. Rana Sanga and the remnants of his army withdrew towards Mewar. He pledged never to enter Chittor, his capital, till he attained victory. It was a promise he could not keep. Within a year, he was dead, most probably poisoned by his own ministers in the incessant power play of politics, which has been the curse of Indian rulers. The Rajput chiefs, who had been unified by his personality, went back to their internal squabbling and infighting, and with him, the last major opposition to Mughal rule disappeared.
From then on, the Rajputs continued to hold on to their kingdoms but were never able to present a united front again. Babur consolidated his position with other victories and slowly expanded his empire, laying the foundation for a three-century-long rule of the Mughal Empire over the Indian sub-continent.
