Second Battle of Panipat: Key Facts and Significance

Some battles change borders. Some change dynasties. The second battle of Panipat changed everything — the course of Indian history, the future of the Mughal empire, and the fate of a man who had come closer to ruling Delhi than almost anyone in that era managed to.

It happened on a cold November morning in 1556. Thirty kilometres north of Delhi, two armies faced each other on the same flat plain where thirty years earlier Babur had defeated Ibrahim Lodi and started the Mughal story in India.

The Background: What Led to the Battle

To understand the second battle of Panipat 1556, you need to go back a few years.

Babur founded the Mughal empire in 1526. His son Humayun inherited it — but Humayun was a troubled ruler. He was pushed out of India by Sher Shah Suri in 1540 and spent fifteen years in exile, largely in Persia. He eventually won back his throne in 1555 with Persian support.

Then Humayun died. He fell down a flight of stairs at his library in Delhi in January 1556 — one of history’s more undignified exits for a Mughal emperor. His son Akbar was thirteen years old and stationed far away in Punjab. Bairam Khan, a seasoned military commander and Akbar’s regent, stepped in to manage the crisis.

The Mughal hold on Hindustan was fragile. Barely six months old after the reconquest. Large parts of northern India were not under Mughal control.

Who Was Hemu?

Hemu is one of the most remarkable figures in this period of Indian history — and one of the least celebrated.

He was born into a humble family, probably in the Rewari area of what is now Haryana. He was not a general by birth or training. He started as a market supervisor, supplying provisions to Sher Shah Suri’s forces. Through sheer competence and ambition, he worked his way up.

By the time the Sur dynasty was falling apart in the 1550s — fragmenting into multiple competing claimants after Sher Shah’s death — Hemu had become the chief minister and military commander for Adil Shah Suri, one of the competing rulers. He fought twenty-two battles for Adil Shah. He won all twenty-two.

After Humayun died, Hemu moved fast. He captured Agra. He took Delhi. He defeated the Mughal governor of Delhi, Tardi Beg Khan, in a battle at Tughlaqabad in October 1556. After that victory, Hemu proclaimed himself king — taking the title Vikramaditya.

The Armies at the Second Battle of Panipat 1556

The second battle of Panipat fought between the Mughal forces under Bairam Khan and the army of Hemu was a genuinely unequal fight on paper — but not in the direction most people assume.

Hemu’s army was larger and, in some ways, better equipped. He had around thirty thousand cavalry, a substantial infantry force, and — critically — over fifteen hundred war elephants. War elephants in sixteenth-century India were not ceremonial. They were battlefield assets. They broke cavalry charges, crushed infantry formations, and terrified horses.

He also had a history of winning. Twenty-two straight battles. His troops were confident. His commanders were experienced.

The Mughal forces under Bairam Khan numbered somewhere between ten and twenty thousand depending on the source. Akbar, now thirteen, was present but Bairam Khan held effective command. The Mughals had three significant advantages:

• Artillery — inherited from Babur’s innovations at the first battle of Panipat. Light, mobile cannon that could be repositioned during the fight
• Tactics — specifically the Tulughma formation, a method of flanking manoeuvre Babur had used to defeat larger armies
• Discipline — the Mughal army was a tight, professional force with clear command structure

The Battle Itself: November 5, 1556

The second battle of Panipat was fought on November 5, 1556. The plain outside Panipat, flat and open, suited both cavalry manoeuvre and artillery deployment.

Hemu’s forces initially dominated. His war elephants pushed into the Mughal lines. The artillery, while effective, couldn’t stop the sheer mass of his advance. At several points during the early fighting, the Mughal position looked genuinely dangerous.

Hemu was riding on his elephant, directing the battle from above — a common practice for commanders who wanted visibility across a large field. An arrow struck him in the eye. It pierced through and hit the back of his skull.

When the mahout — the elephant driver — saw their commander fall, his instinct was to flee. The elephant turned and ran. The soldiers around Hemu saw his elephant retreating. In the chaos of battle, with dust and noise everywhere, the assumption spread: Hemu is dead, or worse, he’s running.

That was it. The army that had won twenty-two battles broke. Not slowly — quickly. Within a short time, what had been a formidable fighting force became a rout.

Hemu was captured alive. He was brought before Akbar. Bairam Khan urged Akbar to execute him personally — a political act that would announce the young emperor’s authority. Historical accounts differ on what exactly happened, but Hemu was executed. Some sources say Akbar struck the killing blow.

Why This Battle Mattered So Much

If Hemu had won — and he very nearly did — the Mughal presence in India could have ended in 1556. Akbar was thirteen, surrounded by a court that had just returned from exile, controlling limited territory. A defeat at Panipat would likely have meant retreat to Kabul, perhaps permanently.

Instead, the Mughal victory did several things at once. It removed the most dangerous military rival in northern India. It secured Delhi and Agra. It gave Bairam Khan the platform to consolidate Mughal territory across the following years. And it gave Akbar the time to grow from a thirteen-year-old regent’s puppet into the emperor who would genuinely build one of the great empires in Indian history.

The second battle of Panipat 1556 is also historically significant as one of the last serious challenges to Mughal power in the north for a generation. After this, no single commander or kingdom came close to displacing the Mughals from Delhi until much later.

Hemu’s Legacy: The Forgotten Contender

Hemu deserves more attention than Indian history textbooks usually give him.

He was a commoner who rose to the top of a military hierarchy through ability alone. He won more consecutive battles than most commanders of his era. He took Delhi and ruled it, however briefly. He was within a single arrow of changing the entire story.

The circumstances of his defeat — an arrow to the eye at a moment of apparent victory — have a cruel randomness to them. Military historians who study this period note that the battle was genuinely close until that moment.

What Came After

Bairam Khan continued as regent until 1560, when Akbar asserted his own authority and dismissed him. The years following the battle saw rapid Mughal expansion — Malwa, Rajputana, Gujarat, Bengal. The empire Babur had founded and Humayun had nearly lost was rebuilt into something far larger and more organised.

The plain of Panipat had once again produced a turning point. Three great battles were fought there — 1526, 1556, and later 1761. Each time, the outcome shaped the subcontinent’s political direction for decades.

FAQs About the Second Battle of Panipat

1. When and where was the second battle of Panipat fought?

The second battle of Panipat was fought on November 5, 1556, on the plains of Panipat in present-day Haryana, India — the same location as the first battle of Panipat in 1526. The site was chosen partly because of its geography — flat, open terrain suited for large cavalry engagements.

2. Who fought in the second battle of Panipat — what were the two sides?

The second battle of Panipat fought between the Mughal forces, led by the regent Bairam Khan on behalf of the thirteen-year-old Emperor Akbar, and the army of Hemu — also known as Hem Chandra Vikramaditya — who had recently captured Delhi and declared himself king after defeating the Mughal governor of the city.

3. Who won the second battle of Panipat and how?

Who won the second battle of Panipat — the Mughals won, decisively. The turning point was an arrow that struck Hemu in the eye while he was commanding from atop his elephant. He fell unconscious, his elephant fled, and his army — which had been pushing forward — broke ranks and scattered.

4. What role did Bairam Khan play in the second battle of Panipat 1556?

Bairam Khan was the real military commander at the second battle of Panipat 1556. Akbar was thirteen years old and while present at the battle, effective command rested with Bairam Khan, who served as his regent and guardian. Bairam Khan organised the Mughal forces, employed the Tulughma flanking tactics, and managed the battle’s prosecution.

5. What would have happened if Hemu had won the Akbar vs Hemu battle?

The Akbar vs Hemu outcome was not predetermined. Hemu had a larger army, more war elephants, and a twenty-two-battle winning streak. Had the arrow not struck him at that moment — and the battle’s momentum suggested he had a real chance — the Mughals would likely have been pushed back toward Kabul.