HISTORY OF BATTLES
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CONTENT LIST :
BATTLE OF KURUKSHETRA 1424 BC
BATILE OF HYDASPES 327
BC MAGADHA 321 BC
KALINGA 261 BC
ANURADHAPURA 155 BC
MAHMUD OF GHAZNI 1001-26
THANJAVUR-MALDIVES 1010
KOPPAM 1059
BURDWAN 1097
TARAI 1191-92
KAMRUP 1205
PATAN 1297
KAUTHAL 1367
DELHI 1398
TALLIKOTA 1465
GAUR 1493
CHAUL 1508
PANIPAT
1526,1556,1761 MALWA
1531
CHAUSA 1539
KANAUJ 1540
SRINAGAR 1540
HALDIGHATI 1576
TORNA 1646
COCHIN 1663
AMRITSAR 1708
DELHI 1739
ARCOT 1751
CALC UTIA 1756
THE BATILE OF PLASSEY 1757
FRENCH-BRITISH WARS 1757-60
POST-INDEPENDANCE
References
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BATILE OF KURUKSHETRA 3000 BC
The Mahabharata war, an event which is unanimously accepted as an actual occurrence, and
subsequently given epic proportions, has been variously dated between 3000 BC and 2500 BC. It
is believed to have been a local feud originally, involving finally most of the tribes of the northern
plains and hills.
As legend has it, the original feud was between the family of the Kuru king and the Pandu
family, cousins of the Kurus, over the tracts of land surrounding Hastinapur and Indraprastha, in
what is Haryana today. The Kurus were in fact, defeated in the battle of Kurukshetra.
BATILE OF HYDASPES 327 BC
Alexander, prince of Macedonia, had set out to conquer the world but death came on the heels of
his Indian/Punjab campaign. The real significance of Alexander’s invasion of the Indus Valley was
in the opening up of the north-west to lands beyond the valley. The most famous of Alexander's
confrontations is the battle of Hydaspes in which he defeated Porus, the king of the jhelum region.
Alexander left behind him anarchy in the north-west which Chandragupta Maurya exploited to his
own advantage.
MAGADHA 321 BC
This battle won Chandragupta Maurya his kingdom. Having earlier defeated the Greek satraps of
the north-west, he founded the Mauryan dynasty only after routing the last of the Nanda kings
in this battle.
KALINGA 261 BC
The battle is famous as the one that turned Emperor Ashoka to Buddhism and to the path of nonviolence. It is said that over one lakh people were killed and nearly twice the number taken captive
in the course of the war which took place in the ninth year of Ashoka's reign. Kalinga, near
modern- day Bhubaneswar, was the capital of a kingdom of the same name, wealthy and
prosperous, rich in the arts and music. Its most famous king was Kharavela who came after
Ashoka (See Archaeology/ ArchitectureBhubaneswar)
ANURADHAPURA 155 BC
The Pandya dynasty captured the capital city of northern Sri Lanka. The Pandyas ruled the area
south of the river Vallaru (the area that later came to be known as the Pudukkottai state). King
Nedunchezian of this dynasty was one of the more renowned warriors. Later, after the Cholas had
almost entirely replaced the Pandyas as the power centre of the region, the Chola king, Rajaraja
I (9851014 AD) conducted a naval attack on the Sri Lankan capital. Anuradhapura was destroyed and
the Cholas moved the capital to Pollonnaruva.
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MAHMUD OF GHAZNI 1001-26
The first 'real' invasion by Mahmud of Ghazni who defeated the Shahiya king, jaipal, near Peshawar
in 1001 AD Mahmud Of Ghazni conducted 14 major expeditions into India between 1001 and
1026.in which period he defeated the Rajput king of Bikaner, the legendary Raja Bhoj of the Parmar dynasty of Malwa, Thaneswar, Matsya, Mathura and Kanauj.
He met failure in Kashmir (1015), but succeeded in annexing Lahore (1021), which then became
the launching pad for future Persian invasions into the Indian subcontinent. His final foray into
India centred on Somnath, one of the richest cities of the region then, particularly its temple (See
Holy Places: Temples).
THANJAVUR-MALDIVES 1010
Chola king Rajaraja I annexed the Maldives Islands.
KOPPAM 1059
A battle for supremacy in the peninsula took place near what is Mysore today between Chalukya
king Somesvara I and Chola king Rajadhiraja, in which the latter was killed. The Chalukya king
also defeated Chedi king Raja Kama soon after and became the most powerful ruler south of the
Vindhyas.
BURDWAN 1097
The Senas began their rule in Bengal, put- ting an end to Pala rule, with the defeat of Madanapala
by Vijaya Sena inthisyear.
TARAI 1191-92
1191 saw the first invasion of the Indian subcontinent by Muhammad Ghori. He was defeated by
the legendary Prithviraj Chauhan of Ajmerin 1191 atTarain, but he routed the Ajmeri forces
(again at Tarain near Ajmer) the following year. The greatest significance of his invasion lay in
that he left behind his 'slave' Qutub-ud-din Aibak to hold the lands conquered. Thus began the
age of the Persian Muslim rule in northern India.
KAMRUP 1205
Bakhtiyar Khilji attempted to annex Kamrup (modern-day Assam) and suffered defeat at the
hands of the 'mlecchas' (barbarians) who held the region. Khilji destroyed Nalanda university and
was later assassinated by one of his own men; 50 years later Kamrup was overrun and held
successfully (till modern times) by the Ahoms who gave the region its name.
PATAN 1297
Ala-ud-din Khilji defeated Raja Kama II of the Chalukyas of Gujarat. This battle brought
independant rule in Gujarat to a virtual end. While it remained subjugated totally till the Mughal
emperor Aurangzeb held powers, later too it was not totally in- dependent. It became a dependent
state of Delhi thereafter.
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KAUTHAL 1367
One of the bloodiest battles in peninsular India, it ended in the defeat of the Vijayanagara rulers,
Harihara and Bukka at the hands of the Bahmani Sultans. But in the long run it did Vijayanagara
no lasting harm. Vijayanagara remained, for the next century, the kingdom south of the Vindhyas.
DELHI 1398
Timur (Tamerlane) captured Delhi, and Hardwar thereafter. These are considered to have been
the worst of the Mongol raids and they also signalled the end of the early Muslim era in India.
Timur's nominee, the first of the Sayyids, was named sultan of Delhi. The central Asian Turks
settled down in India and wielded influence in al- most every important state in India.
TALLIKOTA 1465
The battle signalled the end of the once glorious Vijayanagara empire. Virupaksha II of Vi jay ana
gar a was defeated by the combined forces of the sultanates of Ahmednagar, Bidar, Bijapurand
Golconda.
GAUR 1493
Ala-ud-din Husain Shah defeated Muzaffar Shah Habsi at Gaur.
CHAUL 1508
The rulers of Calicut (the Zamorin) and Gujarat (Sultan Mahmud Begara) combined forces to
defeat the Portuguese navy at Calicut. It is said the sultan of Egypt helped the Indian forces. But
the Portuguese retaliated the following year and destroyed the Muslim navy in a battle off Diu in
Gujarat. Soon after this Sultan Begara allowed the Portuguese to set up a factory at Diu. In 1534
the Portuguese captured Bassein in present-day Maharashtra and then Diu.
PANIPAT 1526,1556,1761
1526 saw the first of three major decisive battles at Panipat, at which Babar, the founder of the
Mughal dynasty, defeated Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. The second battle of Panipat (1556) was between
the forces of Akbar, the most renowned of the Mughal rulers, and those of Sikandar Suri, firmly
setting the Mughals on the throne of Delhi. The third decisive battle at Panipat (1761) was the
last battle for Delhi (through use of arms) between the Marathas led by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao
and the Afghan Ahmad Shah Abdali, at which the former were totally routed.
MALWA 1531
End of the Khilji dynasty with Mahmud Khilji II's defeat and execution at the hands Of Bahadur
Shah of Gujarat.
CHAUSA 1539
Sher Shah of Bengal defeated Humayun at Chausa, near modern-day Buxar, in june of 1539 and
again at Hardoi (in modern-day U
.P.) near Kanauj the following year. This led Sher Shah to hold Delhi for a brief period of five
years, from Shergarh, the sixth capital at Delhi. Humayun fled to the north-west provinces.
Humayun's capture of Lahore in 1555 provided the base,
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finally, for a successful recapture of Delhi. Sher Shah died in an accident in 1545 and Delhi was
then held by the Suris. Humayun Defeated Sikander Suri in 1555, five months after capturing
Lahore.
KANAUJ 1540
Humayun was defeated by Sher Shah of Bengal for the second time. The battle actually took place
near Hardoi (close to Kanauj) in modern-day Uttar Pradesh. This brought Delhi under the
suzerainty of Sher Shah who then established the sixth capital of Delhi region - at Shergarh, the
fort we know as the Purana Qila or Old Fort. Sher Shah died in anaccidentin 1545. Humayun was
able to recapture Delhi on eying 1555.
SRINAGAR 1540
The capital of Kashmir was seized in battle against chieftains of regional principalities by Hyder
Mirza Doghlat, a general of Humayun. He proceeded to establish him- self as an independent king.
Kashmir was in disarray after the death in 1472 of the scholarly Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin who
patronized the translation of the Mahabharata and Rajatarangini into Persian and was Of Ladakhi
origin.
At the time of Hyder Mirza's invasion, Shia-Sunni (See Religion: Islam) quarrels were frequent in
Kashmir indeed decisive in the politics of the region. However, these local factions got together
to oppose the Mughal who was assassinated in 1551. After a further period during which the king
failed to assert himself, Ghazi Khan Chak seized the throne in Srinagar in 1561 and founded the
famous Chak dynasty.
HALDIGHATI 1576
Immortalised in several songs and legends, the battle of Haldighati or Gorgunda at which Rana
Pratap of Me war lost to Akbar. In July of the same year, Akbar defeated Daud Khan Karnani at
the battle of Rajmahal and thereby seized control of Bengal. This brought to an end 236 years of
Afghan rule and virtually ended independant rule in Bengal which henceforth remained dependent
on the Mughals till seized by the British. The battle of Nekujyal (1612) killed the last of the Afghan
kings, Usman Khan Lohori.
TORNA 1646
The start of Shivaji's adventurous career. He captured Torna fort from the Sultan of Bijapur this
year. In 1664 he captured Surat and came into conflict with the British for the first time. In 1665
he entered into a treaty with Mughals at Purandhar. In 1672, at the battle of Salhire the Marathas
completely routed the Mughal army led by Urahabat Khan. In 1674 Shivaji was crowned
'Chattrapati' at Rajgarh.
COCHIN 1663
Captured by the Dutch.
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AMRITSAR 1708
After the assassination of the 10th Sikh Guru at Nanded (See Religion: Sikhism) by an Afghan
hireling of the Nawab of Sir hind, Banda Bahadur Lachman Das became the temporal leader of
the Sikhs and captured Amritsar from the Mughals. A running war continued however, and Banda
Bahadur was finally captured in 1716 at Gurdaspur and executed with hundreds of his followers.
DELHI 1739
Nadir Shah of Persia ransacked Delhi and massacred almost all inhabitants - a massacre that
continued for 58 days and left 20,OOO dead in the region. He took with him the Peacock throne
and the Kohinoor diamond and left behind a crippled Mughal empire. A treaty in May the same
year between Nadir Shah and the Mughal emperor gave Afghanistan a separate and in- dependent
entity.
ARCOT 1751
The year in which Robert Clive captured Arcot from Chanda Saheb. But the battle for Arcot
continued till the death of Chanda Saheb, the nawab who was executed by Clive after his defeat
and capture at the battle at Tiruchirapalli in 1752.
CALC UTIA 1756
Siraj-ud-Daula, nawab of Bengal captured Calcutta on 17thJune and locked 146 British prisoners
in a small room, from which only 23 remained alive the next morning- this is the story of the
infamous 'Black hole of Calcutta.' Clive attacked Calcutta in October of the same year and had
recaptured it injanuary the following year. Soon after, the British captured Bandel from the
Portuguese.
THE BATILE OF PLASSEY 1757
Hostilities resumed with Siraj-ud-Daula, who had never accepted British presence as a
permanency. On 23rd June Clive defeated the nawab of Bengal with the help, through intrigue, of
one of the nawab's ministers - Mir jafar, who was thereafter named nawab of Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa. Siraj- ud-Daula, who escaped the field of battle at Plassey, was captured and assassinated
on the orders of Mir Jafar's son Mirana injuly the same year. Mir Jafar died in 1765. In the
meantime- and this was the real Significance of the battle of Plassey - Clive was declared the
governor of Bengal by Mir Jafar and the 24 Parganas was ceded to the British.
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FRENCH-BRITISH WARS 1757-60
The British under Clive captured Chandernagore from the French in March. In 1750 the French
ceded Madras to the British. The battle of Wandiwash left the British the supreme European power.
POST-INDEPENDANCE
Since 1947 the Indian armed forces have fought defensive wars against Pakistani and Chinese
aggression (1948,1965,1971 and 1962 respectively). From 1987 to 1989, an Indian Peace
Keeping Force (iPKF) was invited to Sri Lanka as a deterrent to Tamil separatists.
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