First Battle of Panipat

The First Battle of Panipat was fought on April 21, 1526, on a plain north of Delhi, and pitted Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur, a Central Asian prince descended from Timur and Genghis Khan, against Ibrahim Lodi, the sultan of Delhi. Babur had established himself in Kabul and, invited by discontented nobles and drawn by the wealth of India, led a comparatively small but well-organized army into the subcontinent.

Although Ibrahim Lodi commanded a far larger force, including war elephants, Babur made effective use of field artillery and matchlock firearms, weapons still new to Indian warfare, together with skilled mounted archers and clever defensive tactics. His troops were protected behind a barricade of carts, and his cavalry enveloped the larger Lodi army. Ibrahim Lodi was killed in the fighting, and his army was decisively defeated.

The victory gave Babur control of Delhi and Agra and laid the foundation of the Mughal Empire. Over the following years he and his successors extended their rule across much of northern India. The dynasty Babur founded endured for more than two centuries as one of the great powers of the early modern world, reaching its height under emperors such as Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb.