Kargil War (1999)

 Kargil War took place in the year 1999 betweenIndia and Pakistan from May to July, it was the geo- political conflict which occurred at the Kargil district of Kashmir along the line of control between both the nations. The main cause of the war was the penetration of Pakistanisoldiers on Indian side of the LOC.

Initially, Pakistan didn’t accept the fact and blamed independent Kashmiri rebellions for this illegal act but later the involvement of thePakistan became clear by the statements of Pakistani Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff.

Indian Army bravely fought the war and later on was also supported by Indian Air Force and recaptured most of the infiltrated site and finally in July, Pakistani troops surrendered and withdrew from thepositions along LOC.

 The Kargil conflict resulted into further deterioration of relations between two nations. High Political and Economic tensions were caused in Pakistan as the consequence of this Kargil conflict whileIndia faced the 13th Indian General Elections to the Lok Sabha just after the conflict and undoubtedly NDA govt. was reelected to power

Indo-Pakistan War (1971)

  Illustration showing military units and troop movements during operations in the Eastern sector of the war.

The military war between India and Pakistan is associated with the secession of East Pakistan to form an independent nation of Bangladesh. The war lasted for 14days starting from 3rd December’71 and ended on 16th December’71. 

After the war, around 90,000 West Pakistaniresidents, 54,000 Army officials and 12,000 civilians who were in East Pakistan during partition were all taken by India as the prisoners of War (POW). 

The Indo-Pak war was closely associated or sparkled by the BangladeshLiberation war. The Bangladesh Liberation war was fought in 1970 between the East and West Pakistani troupes over the issue of governance. The war finally resulted in the liberation of East Pakistan that formed Bangladesh on 27th March 1971. 

The Bangladesh Liberation war did not end with the independence ofBangladesh as the West Pakistani Army started to conduct mass-genocide on the population of East Pakistan. Millions of people thus fled towards the Indian state of west Bengal to seek refuge. 

The Then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi expressed her full support to the refugees of East Pakistan and promised to protect them. Many Eastern states of India organized refugee camps for East Pakistanis and even theBangladesh-India border was opened for refugees to come in. 

Finally, under Indira Gandhi’s leadership it was decided that instead of a refuge support, they would strike an armed rebellion against Pakistan. 

The period thereafter saw a series of Ground, Air and Naval operation from both sides that at a point seemed unending. Finally a “Instrument of Surrender” was signed by Pakistani Army to flee away from Bangladesh leaving  it to claim independence.           

Battle of Plassey (1757)

 

Battle of Plassey is the most critical war which is mentioned in the dark pages of Indian history. As, this war turned the country into the slave under the British rule for about long period of two centuries. 

The Battle of Plassey took place on June 23, 1757 at Palashi village of Murshidabad, on the bank of Bhagirathi River between British East India Company and Nawab of Bengal and his French allies. 

The Nawab Siraj Ud Daulah, the last Nawab of Bengal fought the battle to survive as independent ruler from the British rule and was supported by French East India Company.  

The forces of the East India Company under the commander ship of Robert Clive defeated the army of Nawab Siraj-Ud-Daulah from Bengal. The battle was actually the programmed one as Mir Jafar, the army commander of Nawab along with the large number of soldiers from the Nawab’s army were convinced and bribed by East India Company. 

This resulted into the defeat of Nawabs and the major ladder for the ascendancy of British rule in India. The East India Company flourished by winning the battle and strengthened its military by gaining treasure of Bengal and later captures most of the parts of South Asia.

Battle of Buxar (1764)

The Nawab released a `Farman` in 1717 said that the goods for sale locally as well as abroad should be free of duties. Mirqasim took measures to stop the illegal selling of free trading passes (Dastaks) to the Indian businessmen. 

The Zamindars were forced to pay gift or bribes to the Company officials. Mirqasim tried to put a check to this. The English merchants were not ready to accept to consider Indian merchants equal to themselves. Both English and Mirquasim wanted to be the masters of Bengal. The conflict initiated with a clash between an English Chief and a Nawab. 

The Battle of Buxar was fought in 1764 between the British and armies of Mirquasim, Emperor Shah Alam II and Shuja-ud-daula, Nawab of Avadh in Buxar (in Bihar). The battle gave rise to British rule in Bengal. 

Awadh was merged with the company after the battle of Buxar and thus British rule spreaded in Bengal. Nawab of Bengal signed a treaty with the company saying that the Nawab would dissolve most of his army and Bengal would be administered through a deputy Subahdar. 

The Company gained control over the Nizamat of Bengal. The company got the right to Diwani, by which they collected the revenue from Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. As the Diwan, Company was able to collect taxes and also gained administrative power. 

Battle of Haldighati (1576)

     

Remembered as the most important event in Rajput history, the battle of Haldighati was an “Indecisive Battle”. It was fought between Akbar (Ruler of Mughals) and Maharana Pratap Singh I (Ruler of Rajputs). It was a short-span battle that lasted for only 4 hours.

The political struggle behind the battle was that by fifteenth century nearly all Rajput kingdoms had surrendered under Mughal ruler, except Mewar who was unwilling to compromise on itsindependence. To persuade Mewar Ruler Rana Pratap Singh, Akbar had sent many envoys to have talks on peace treaties. Ultimately, Rana Pratap did agree to sign the treaty but only on his own terms that he would not tolerate the leadership of any foreign ruler.

Ignited on the bold stand of Rana Pratap, Mughals decided to fight against Rana Pratap, also allied by Raja Man Singh of Amber. The two armies stood agaist each other at the Haldighati pass. Rana Pratap was an exceptionally good warrior and he stood proudly on his horse Chetak to take a plunge in the challenge. The battle was a fierce one with strong repulsions from both sides; ecstatic techniques were displayed at the war front. 

The battle of haldighati continued in guerilla manner. The battle was significant for the tenacity displayed by Rajputs and Bhils and the art of defensive mountain warfare. Maharana Pratapsingh established a great example of courage and bravery in the battle of Haldighati.

Battles of Panipat

  

To extend the boundaries of his empire Muhammad Shahabuddin Ghori he entered into India in 1175 CE. He advanced into Gujarat in 1178 CE and advanced further by seizing Peshawar and Lahore and he ended the rule of Ghaznavids in Panjab with the help of the ruler of Jammu. 

As a result of successive conquests the boundaries of Ghori’s kingdom extended to the border of Prithviraj's kingdom. In 1191 Muhammad Ghori attacked Sirhind or Bathinda on northwestern frontier of Chauhan kingdom. Prithviraj's along with his army, led by vassal Govinda-Raj, rushed to the defense of the frontier, and the two armies fought a battle at Tarain. This is how the First war of Tairan begun. 

Two wings of Turkic army was defeated and fled away while Muhammad Ghori could not recover from the blow and fainted from the shock. The army surrendered and Muhammad was made prisoner. Muhammad of Ghor begged for mercy and Prithviraj pardoned him.

In 1192, Ghori after returning to his capital Ghazni challenged Prithviraj at theSecond Battle of Tarain. Both Muhmmad and Prithviraj increased their army’sstrength. Muhmmad divided his huge troop into 5 parts and Prithviraj increased army with the help of 150 Rajput kingdoms. Muhammad Ghori asked Prithviraj Chauhan to either change his religion to Muslim or be prepared to be defeated by him. Prithviraj Chauhan cease-fired.

Muhammad Ghori decieved Prithviraj with a letter of acceptance of the treaty. The Rajput army was in a relaxed mood. Suddenly Ghori`s army attacked Prithviraj`s army in the wee hours. wever the Rajput army could raise a protection against Muslim army and they retreated. At the end of the day Muhammad Ghori was victorious.

 About hundred thousand Rajput soldiers died in the battle. The second battle of Tarain opened the way for conquerors of India. Muhammad and his successors established an Islamic Empire in India as the Sultanate of Delhi. 

The first battle of Panipat saw emergence of the Mughals, mightiest power In Indian History. According to legends it was the oldest Indian battles to have used Gunpowder Firearms and Field Artillary. The battle was fough between two mega-powers. Babur, then ruler of Kabul and Ibrahim Lodhi, king of Delhi Sultanate. It was fought near Panipat (Present Day Haryana). 

Although Babur had a fighting Army of 8,000 soldiers and Lodhi had around 40,000 soldiers along with 400 war elephants, yet the main element that proved an ace-card for Babur for the use of field Artillary. Apart from fighting and defeating men, the artillery was powerful to scare elephants and cause havoc amongst them. In the end, it was Babur who emerged victorious and established the Mughal Empire, while Ibrahim Lodhi perished in the Battle. It could be concluded that physical strength cannot stand in front of strong cognitive skills, leadership and maneuvering. 

• Second Battle of Panipat (1556)

The Second Battle of Panipat marked the beginning of Akbar’s reign in India, as it was in the first year of his holding the throne. The battle was fought between Akbar (Ruler of Mughal Dynasty) and Muhammad Adil Shah (ruler of Pashtan Suri Dynasty), along with his Prime Minister Hemu. 

In the year 1956, Akbar had successfully taken up the throne of his father when Mughals had spread across Kabul, Kandahar and parts of Delhi and Punjab. Hemu (Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya) was the military chief of Afghan Sultan Mohammad Adil Shah, who was the ruler of Chunar at that point. Adil Shah was on a trail to remove Mughals from India. 

Taking the advantage of Humayun’s death he was successful in capturing the reigns of Agra and Delhi without much difficulty. This victory of Adil Shah and Hemu didn’t last much as Bairam Shah, who was the chief Minister and guardian of Akbar proceeded with a large army towards Delhi. 

The battle was fought at Panipat with strong competitors on both sides. Hemu had a large army along with 1500 War elephants. Hemu was struck with an arrow in his eye and subsequently the army got panicked seeing their unconscious leader. The battle concluded with Mughals crowned with victory. 

The head of Hemu was chopped and the torso was made to travel to Delhi tocelebrate the grand victory of Mughals. Thus, it was this ferocious battle that reestablished the strong Mughal Empire which had a powerful reign of Akbar to create history.

• Third Battle of Panipat (1761)

The third battle of Panipat was fought between the Afghans and the Marathas.The battle was significant as it marked the end of Maratha dominance in India. At the time of this battle Afghans were under the leadership of Ahmed Shah Abdali and the Marathas under the leadership of Peshwas had established control across Northern India. During the eighteenth century the parallel decline of Mughal Empire and defeat of Marathas in the battle of Panipat saw a new beginning of the colonial rule in India. 

The main cause attributed towards the defeat of Marathas in the battle was the lack of allies due to their brutal behavior during the earlier years of reign. Allimportant rulers including Sikhs, Jats, kingdom of Awadh, Rajputs and many more were all upset with the treatment of Marathas towards them. The third battle of Panipat was fought in between Kaalaa Aamb and Sanauli road of present day. Both forces moved in lines, but intelligently the Afghans had cut all possible lines for Maratha Forces.

The Maratha Army consisted of the artillery in front, protected by infantry, pike men, bowman and musketeers. The cavalry was instructed to wait behind the artillery and bayonet holding musketeers and they were ready to charge when control of battlefield is fully established. Behind the line were thirty thousand young men who were not that expert in fighting and then about thirty thousand civilians. 

This civilian line consisted of many middle class men, women, children who took this as an opportunity to visit pilgrimage to visit holy places and shrines and also Aryavarta (Aryan Land). Behind the civilian line there was another protective infantry line composed of comparatively young and experiencedsoldiers.  

On the other hand the Afghans also formed up a similar kind of Infantry in the third battle of Panipat, the left wing formed by the Najib`s Rohillas and the right wing by two brigades of Persian troops. The left center was controlled by two higher officials, Shuja-ud-Daulah and ahmad shah`s Vizier Shah Wali. The right center consisted of Rohillas, under Hafiz Rahamat and other chiefs of the Indian Pathans. 

Pasand Khan led the left wing, which was composed of well-chosen Afghan horsemen. This way the army moved forward with the Shah at the center so that he could watch and control the battle. 

The battle lasted for two months which ultimately resulted in the defeat of Marathas and their dominance in India.