The First Battle of Panipat was fought on April 21, 1526, between Babur of Kabul and Ibrahim Lodi, the Sultan of Delhi. The battle took place in Panipat, around 80 km north of Delhi, marking the end of the Delhi Sultanate and the beginning of the Mughal Empire in India. Babur’s strategic warfare and artillery use changed the course of Indian military history.

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• Battle fought on April 21, 1526, at Panipat between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi.

• Marked the fall of the Lodi dynasty and rise of the Mughal Empire.

• Babur’s army: around 13,000–15,000 troops, mostly cavalry with 20–24 cannons.

• Lodi’s force: 30,000–40,000 soldiers and hundreds of war elephants.

• Babur used two key tactics — Tulughma (flanking) and Araba (cart barriers).

• Cannons frightened Lodi’s elephants, causing chaos within their own lines.

• Babur’s disciplined artillery and cavalry encircled and crushed Lodi’s troops.

• Ibrahim Lodi was killed on the battlefield, abandoned by his men.

• Victory secured Babur’s control over Delhi and northern India.

• The battle introduced gunpowder warfare in Indian history.