Unlike what is generally believed, it wasn’t merely the employment of guns or muskets that decided the first Battle of Panipat (1526) in favour of Babur. Indeed, Babar had superior firearms (cannons and muskets), but more than mere possession of them, it was his superior tactics using the guns that tilted the battle in his favour.
Babar arrived in Panipat with just 15,000 troops, against a massive force of more than 40,000 at the disposal of Ibrahim Lodhi. Knowing that he would be outnumbered, he was determined to prevent the enemy from overpowering his men. One of his first acts was to collect about 700 gun carts, and tie them together with twisted bull hides. This, he knew, would block the enemy’s cavalry charge. In the gaps between each pair or carts, he positioned his musketeers.
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The deployment was made in such a way that he had the town of Panipat on his right, his centre was formed by cannons and matchlocks, and on the left he had ditches and a large mango grove. Then he divided his army into three, positioning them on the left, right and centre, leaving a small gap to lure the enemy.
Just as he expected Ibrahim’s army charged into the gap. Babur’s guns and matchlocks, placed between the carts, opened up in response wreaking havoc on the Lodi lines. The few who survived and proceeded with the charge, found themselves blocked by the carts and the ropes, and were fired at by Babar’s matchlockmen.
Meanwhile, as it has often happened, the sound of the guns terrified Ibrahim’s elephants. They ran back into the Lodhi camp, trampling several of the Lodhi troopers.
The battle lasted hardly half a day. By noon, Babur had won, and was presented with the lifeless body of Ibrahim. Ibrahim and 20,000 of his men were killed in the battle. Thousands more died as the army retreated.
Babar also had the complete confidence of his men. They knew that he would share the spoils of the war with them, and he didn’t disappoint them. This confidence stood him in good stead in the subsequent battles that he fought in India.