Battle of Khanwa
The Battle of Khanwa was fought on March 16, 1527, between Babur and Rana Sanga
near the village of Khanwa, in Bharatpur District of Rajasthan. Until 1524,
Babur's aim was to only expand his role to Punjab, mainly to fulfill the legacy
of his ancestor Timur, since it used to be part of his empire. Major parts of
north India were under the rule of Ibrahim Lodi of the Lodi dynasty, after the
Battle of Panipat. The victory in the battle consolidated the new Mughal
dynasty in India.
Ibrahim
Lodi was defeated in the First Battle of Panipat, Babur completely
destroyed the Lodi army in the battle and killed the Sultan. Sanga may have
thought that in the event of a Mughal victory, Babur would withdraw
from Delhi and Agra, like Timur, once he had seized the
treasures of these cities. Once he realized that Babur intended to stay on in
India, Sanga proceeded to build a grand coalition that would either force Babur
out of India or confine him to Afghanistan. In early 1527 Babur started
receiving reports of Sanga's advance towards Agra.
After
the First Battle of Panipat, Babur had recognized that his primary threat
came from two allied quarters: Rana Sanga and the Afghans ruling eastern India
at the time. In a council that Babur called, it was decided that the Afghans
represented the bigger threat, and consequently, Humayun was sent at
the head of an army to fight the Afghans in the east. However, upon hearing of
Rana Sanga's advancement in Agra, Humayun was hastily recalled. Military
detachments were then sent by Babur to conquer Dholpur, Gwalior and Bayana,
strong forts forming the outer boundaries of Agra. The commanders of Dholpur
and Gwalior surrendered their forts to Babur, accepting his generous terms.
However, Nizam Khan, the commander of Bayana, opened negotiations with both
Babur and Afghans. The force sent by Babur to Bayana was defeated and dispersed
by Rana Sanga.
Rajputs – Afghan alliance against
Babur
Rana
Sanga had succeeded in building a formidable military alliance against Babur.
He was joined by virtually all the leading Rajput kings from Rajasthan,
including those from Harauti, Jalor, Sirohi, Dungarpur, and Dhundhar. Rao
Ganga of Marwar did not join personally but sent a contingent on his
behalf led by his son Maldev Rathore. Rao Medini Rai of Chanderi in Malwa also
joined the alliance. Further, Mahmud Lodi, the younger son of Sikandar Lodi,
whom the Afghans had proclaimed their new sultan also joined the alliance with
a force of 10,000 Afghans with him. Khanzada Hasan Khan Mewati, the ruler of
Mewat, also joined the alliance with a force of 12,000. Babur denounced the
Afghans who joined the alliance against him as kafirs and murtads (those
who had apostatized from Islam). The alliance weaved together by Sanga
represented a Rajput-Afghan alliance with the proclaimed mission of expelling Babur and restoring the Lodi empire.
The Battle of Khanwa was
fought near on 16th March 1527. Sangram Singh gathered
a coalition of Rajputs from the kingdoms of Rajasthan. They were joined by Muslim
Rajputs from Mewat and Afghans under Mahmud Lodhi, the son of Sikandar Lodhi of
Delhi. This alliance fought against Babur in the Battle of Khanwa to
expel Babur from India. At a critical moment of
battle, the defection of Silhadi and his contingent caused a split in the Rajput
forces. Rana Sanga while trying to rebuild his front was wounded and fell
unconscious from his horse. Rana's army thought their leader was dead and fled
in disorder thus allowing the Mughals to win the day. Khanwa turned into
a disaster for the Rana when Silhadi defected. the Mughal victory was
decisive and turned out to become Rana Sangas first and last defeat.
The
Battle of Khanwa demonstrated that Rajput bravery was not enough to counter
Babur's superior generalship and organizational skills. Babur himself
commented: Swordsmen though some Hindustanis maybe most of them are ignorant
and unskilled in the military move and stand in soldierly counsel and procedure.
Rana Sanga wanted to prepare another army and fight
Babur. However, on 30 January 1528 Rana Sanga died in Chittor apparently
poisoned by his own chiefs who held his plans of renewing the fight with Babur
to be suicidal.
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