Second Battle of Panipat

On November 5, 1556, Hemu, the Hindu monarch of north India, and the Mughal emperor Akbar's army fought in the Second Battle of Panipat. Hemu had just captured the provinces of Delhi and Agra in the Battle of Delhi, beating the Mughals led by Tardi Beg Khan, and named himself Raja Vikramaditya during a coronation in Purana Quila in Delhi. When Akbar and his guardian Bairam Khan learned of the loss of Agra and Delhi, they marched to Panipat to reclaim the domains. The two armies met in Panipat, not far from where the First Battle of Panipat took place in 1526. Hemu and his forces had a numerical advantage. Hemu, on the other hand, was struck by an arrow in the middle of the combat and knocked out. His army panicked and dispersed as they saw their leader fall. Bairam Khan seized Hemu while he was unconscious and nearly dead and then beheaded him. The Mughals were victorious in this battle.

When Humayun, the son of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, was pushed out of India by Sher Shah Suri, who created the Sur Empire in 1540, he lost his inheritance. Sher Shah took control of Delhi and Agra, but he died at Kalinjar in 1545. Islam Shah Suri, his younger son, was a prosperous ruler, succeeded him. Upon his death in 1554, however, the Sur Empire was engulfed in a succession conflict, wracked by insurrection and province secession. Humayun took advantage of the unrest to reclaim what had been lost, and on July 23, 1555, the Mughals conquered Sikandar Shah Suri and reclaimed control of Delhi and Agra. Firoz Khan, Islam Shah's true heir, had been slain by his maternal uncle, Adil Shah Suri, who had ascended to the throne as Adil Shah Suri. The new monarch, on the other hand, was more concerned with personal pleasure than with the operations of his empire. Hemu, an old Hindu ally of Sher Shah Suri from Rewari, who had risen from meagre beginnings to become Adil Shah's Chief Minister and the Suri army's general, was chiefly responsible for them. Humayun died on January 27, 1556, while he was in Bengal. Hemu saw the death of the Mughal emperor as a perfect opportunity to destroy the Mughals and restore lost territory. Accordingly, Hemu set out from Bengal on a quick march, driving the Mughals out of Bayana, Etawah, Bharthana, Bidhuna, Lakhna, Sambhal, Kalpi and Narnaul. When the governor of Agra learned of Hemu's approaching assault, he ordered the city to be evacuated and withdrew without a fight. In pursuit of the governor, Hemu arrived in Tughlaqabad, a village near Delhi, where he met the soldiers of Tardi Beg Khan, the Mughal ruler of Delhi, and destroyed them in the Battle of Tughlaqabad. On October 7 1556, he took possession of Delhi following a day's struggle and claimed royal status, claiming the title of Vikramaditya (or Bikramjit).

When Humayun's successor, the 13-year-old Akbar, and his guardian Bairam Khan received the awful news from Tughlaqabad, they immediately hurried out for Delhi. Ali Quli Khan Shaibani (later Khan-i-Zaman) came across Hemu's artillery when it was being moved under poor security. He effortlessly captured the entire train of artillery from Afghans who had abandoned the guns and fled without taking a stand. Hemu would suffer a significant setback as a result of this. The Mughal army faced Hemu's army on the historic battleground of Panipat on November 5, 1556. Akbar and Bairam Khan remained eight kilometres from the battleground in the rear.

Ali Quli Khan Shaibani, with 10,000 cavalries in the centre, Sikandar Khan Uzbak on the right, and Abdulla Khan Uzbak on the left, headed the Mughal army.  Husain Quli Beg and Shah Quli Mahram led the vanguard, which comprised Bairam Khan's Turk detachment. Hemu's army had a numerical advantage, with a 30,000-strong cavalry force comprised of Afghan equestrians and a 500-strong elephant corps. Plate armour protected each war elephant, which was mounted by musketeers and crossbowmen. Hemu rode an elephant named Hawai into battle to lead his troops. Ramya, his sister's son, headed his left, while Shadi Khan Kakkar led his right. His army was well-trained and confident, and Hemu had already won 22 wars from Bengal to Punjab. Hemu, on the other hand, lacked artillery in this engagement.

Hemu launched the attack himself, scattering his elephants among the Mughals' right and left flanks. Instead of withdrawing, those troops who were able to flee the rampage chose to turn to the sides and attack Hemu's cavalry's flanks, pelting them with their superior archery. The Mughal centre moved forward, taking up a defensive position in front of a steep ravine. Hemu's elephant and horse units could not cross the chasm to reach their opponents, leaving them susceptible to projectile weapons thrown from the other side. Meanwhile, the Mughal cavalry, riding quick mounts, had made inroads into the Afghan ranks from both the flanks and the rear and began attacking the elephants, slicing at their legs or killing their riders.

Finally, Hemu was forced to retreat with his elephants, and the Afghan assault was called off. Ali Quli Khan led his cavalry out, circled and descending onto the Afghan centre from behind, seeing the Afghan charge slacken. Hemu, watching the battle from his howdah atop Hawai, moved quickly to counter the charge. Even when Shadi Khan Kakkar and another of his capable lieutenants, Bhagwan Das, were killed, he continued to lead counterattacks against the Mughals, slaughtering anyone who dared to challenge his elephants. Despite the fact that it was a fiercely fought combat, Hemu appeared to have the upper hand.  The Mughal army's two wings had been forced back, and Hemu moved his war elephants and cavalry forward to smash their centre. Unfortunately, Hemu, who was possibly on the verge of victory, was injured at this time when a chance Mughal arrow caught him in the eye, knocking him out. The sight of him falling caused terror in his soldiers, which broke formation and fled. The battle was lost; 5,000 people were slain on the battlefield, and many more were killed fleeing.

After several hours of fighting, the elephant carrying the unconscious and nearly dead Hemu was captured and carried to the Mughal camp. Bairam Khan instructed the 13-year-old Akbar to behead Hemu, but he hesitated to take the sword to an already dead man. After persuading Akbar to stroke Hemu's head with his sword, Bairam Khan executed him. Hemu's head was flown to Kabul and hanged outside Delhi Darwaja, while his body was gibbeted on a gate in Purana Quila, Delhi, where he was coronated on October 6. A minaret was later built after several of Hemu's supporters and relatives were executed. This minaret is one of the popular 56 paintings of Akbar's life in his copy of the Akbarnama. Hemu's beheading site in Panipat was commemorated with a memorial. Hemu's Samadhi Sthal is the name given to it currently. Adil Shah's fortunes likewise took a turn for the worst after Hemu died. In April 1557, he was defeated and slain by Khizr Khan, Bengal's Muhammad Khan Sur. One hundred twenty of Hemu's war elephants were among the spoils of the fight of Panipat, and their devastating rampages so enthralled the Mughals that the beasts soon became a vital part of their military plans.