Table of Contents
BACKGROUND
- Humayun had lost his inheritance when he was chased out of India by Sher Shah Suri who established the Sur Empire in 1540.
- Delhi and Agra fell into Sher Shah’s hands, but he died soon after in 1545 at Kalinjar.
- He was succeeded by his younger son, Islam Shah Suri, who was a capable ruler. However, upon his death in 1553, the Sur Empire was caught up in a succession battle and was plagued by rebellion and the secession of provinces.
BACKGROUND
- Humayun recaptured what was lost and on 23 July 1555, the Mughals defeated Sikandar Shah Suri and finally regained control over Delhi and Agra.
- Islam Shah’s rightful successor, his 12-year-old son, Firoz Khan, had been murdered by his maternal uncle who had taken the throne as Adil Shah Suri.
HEMU (HEMCHANDRA VIKRAMADITYA)
- After Sher Shah Suri’s death in 1545, his son Islam Shah became the ruler of the Sur Empire and during his rule, Hemu rose to become the superintendent of the market in Delhi with some soldierly experience under his belt.
- Hemu’s soldierly qualities and assigned him responsibilities equivalent to those of a high-ranking officer.
- Islam Shah died on 30 October 1553 and was succeeded by his 12- year-old son, Firoz Khan, who was killed within three days of his accession by his uncle, Adil Shah Suri.
- The new ruler was however more interested in the pursuit of pleasure than affairs of the state. But Hemu threw in his lot with Adil Shah and his military successes led him to being elevated to the position
THE LOST WORLD
- Hemu was in Bengal when Humayun died on 26 January 1556. The Mughal emperor’s death provided an ideal opportunity to defeat the Mughals and reclaim lost territory.
- Hemu started a rapid march from Bengal and drove the Mughals out of Bayana, Etawah, bharthana, bidhuna, lakhna ,Sambhal, Kalpi, and Narnaul.
- In Agra, the governor evacuated the city and fled without a fight upon hearing of Hemu’s impending invasion.
- In pursuit of the governor, Hemu reached Tughlaqabad, a village just outside Delhi where he ran into the forces of the Mughal governor of Delhi, Tardi Beg Khan, and defeated them in the Battle of Tughlaqabad.
SECOND BATTLE OF PANIPAT
- Hemu, besides being a highly capable civil administrator, was also the finest military mind on the Afghan side after the demise of Sher Shah Suri.He is reputed to have waged and won as many as 22 battles against the opponents of Adil Shah.
- On hearing the disastrous news from Tughlaqabad, Humayun’s successor, the 13-year-old Akbar and his guardian Bairam Khan soon set off for Delhi
- On 5 November 1556, the Mughal army met Hemu’s army at the historic battlefield of Panipat. Akbar and Bairam Khan stayed in the rear, eight miles from the battleground
SECOND BATTLE OF PANIPAT
- The Mughal army was led by Ali Quli Khan Shaibani with his 10,000 cavalry in the centre with Sikandar Khan Uzbak on the right and Abdulla Khan Uzbak towards the left.
- Hemu’s army was numerically superior counting among its ranks a 30,000-strong cavalry consisting of Afghan horsemen and an elephant contingent numbering 500.
- Hemu led his army himself into battle, atop an elephant named Hawai. His left was led by his sister’s son, Ramya, and the right by Shadi Khan Kakkar. His army was an experienced and confident lot
LUCK BY CHANCE “THE MUGHALS”
- Hemu began the attack himself and loosed his elephants among the right and left wings of the Mughals. Those soldiers who were able to escape the rampage, rather than retreating.
- It was a desperately contested battle but the advantage seemed to have tilted in favour of Hemu. Both the wings of the Mughal army had been driven back and Hemu moved his contingent of war elephants and cavalry forward to crush their centre.
- It was at this point that Hemu, possibly on the cusp of victory, was wounded when he was struck in the eye by a chance Mughal arrow and collapsed unconscious. Seeing him going down triggered a panic in his army which broke formation and fled.The battle was lost.
AFTERMATH
- The elephant carrying the wounded Hemu was captured and led to the Mughal camp. Bairam Khan asked the 13-year-old Akbar to behead Hemu,but it is said that he refused.
- Hemu’s head was sent to Kabul while his body was hanged on a gate in Delhi. A minaret was subsequently constructed of the heads of the other dead.
- Hemu’s supporters would later erect a memorial for him at the spot in Panipat where he was beheaded. It is now known as Hemu’s Samadhi Sthal.
- The spoils from the battle at Panipat included 120 of Hemu’s war elephants whose destructive rampages so impressed the Mughals that the animals soon became an integral part of their military strategies
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