Sekigahara in Japanese History - Panipat in India

The site of the 'decisive battle that split the realm'!
...When you hear that, doesn't Sekigahara come to mind?
Gifu Prefecture. In terms of old province names, it's Mino.

The border between Eastern and Western Japan.
It is a famous story that the
'Battle of Sekigahara' took place here in 1600. However, it wasn't just in 1600.
In ancient Japan in 672, during the



'Jinshin War'
, Prince Oama blocked the 'Fuwa Road' in Sekigahara. Because of this, his enemy, Prince Otomo, could not conscript soldiers in Eastern Japan, putting him at a disadvantage. Prince Oama set up his main camp at 'Wazamigahara'.
It is said that this is the later Sekigahara.
This strategy worked, and Prince Oama defeated Prince Otomo!
The victorious Prince Oama became 'Emperor Tenmu'.
Sekigahara is what Sun Tzu's Art of War calls

'a crossroads'


.

It is a vital transportation hub. An important point where countries border each other... Battles tend to occur repeatedly in such places. ...So,
is there a 'crossroads' like Sekigahara in Indian history and geography, an important place?

Yes, there is.

'Panipat'
is that place.
About 90 kilometers north of Delhi in North India. In this place, a decisive battle that split the realm and changed the history of North India occurred 'three times'!

In this article, I will introduce the three Battles of Panipat, the battles that split the realm.

◆ First Battle of Panipat (1526)

This is the battle between the founder of the Mughal Empire, “Babur”, and “Lodi” of the Lodi dynasty.
The Lodi forces were overwhelmingly larger.

An incredible army of about 100,000!
Against this, Babur’s army had about 10,000.
About one-tenth the size.
However, it is often said that

a small number of elite troops can prevail.Babur made skillful use of firearms.
In Japanese history terms, think of Oda Nobunaga.
He cleverly hid his troops in trenches

so that their numbers would not be revealed.
He created a “defensive wall” by lining up carts
to allow his guns and cannons to fire.
The Lodi army, in contrast,

struggled to attack this iron-clad defense. A stalemate.
Meanwhile, Babur’s army secretly circled behind,
launched a surprise attack from the flanks and rear,
and fired from the front at the perfect moment!
The Lodi army was annihilated. The Lodi dynasty fell.
Babur was able to solidify the foundations
of the Mughal Empire.
In Japanese history terms, it was a battle that felt like


a combination of the “Battle of Okehazama” and the “Battle of Nagashino”
.◆ The Second Battle of Panipat (1556)

Thirty years later.The key figure in the second battle was the third emperor of the Mughal Empire,



“Akbar”
.His rival was a brilliant commander named“Hemu”
!Hemu was a powerful general of the Sur dynasty,burning with ambition,aiming to establish his own new dynasty.

In 1556, when the second Mughal emperor, Humayun,
died in an accident, this brilliant commander thought, “Aha, a perfect opportunity!”
and attacked Delhi!

Delhi fell. An army of over 100,000!
Opposing him was Akbar, who had just inherited the throne.
At the time, he was only thirteen. In today’s terms, a first-year middle schooler.
Assisting him as regent was



“Bairam Khan”

, also a brilliant commander.Born around 1501, he was about fifty at the time.He was a veteran who had served three emperorsand even knew about the First Battle of Panipat.
What will Akbar do? What will Bairam do?

Other vassals said, “Let’s flee to Afghanistan in the west

and plan a comeback.”However, only Akbar and Bairaminsisted, “We will fight the decisive battle!”

They executed the general who had let Delhi fall without a fight
to make an example of him and boost morale.
(It’s a bit like Sun Quan before the “Battle of Red Cliffs” in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.)

◇ About 100,000: Hemu of the Sur dynasty
◇ About 20,000: Akbar and Bairam of the Mughal Empire


A five-fold difference in troop strength.

Moreover, you can’t use the same surprise tactics as the first battle twice(because it would likely be discovered).
Hemu advanced steadily,and the Mughal army was on the verge of collapse.

…However, at this very moment,
a stray arrow zipped through the sky above the battlefield.

The arrow pierced Hemu’s eye,
and he lost consciousness.



(A so-called headshot, if you will.)
An army that loses its commander-in-chief and brilliant general is fragile.Hemu’s army collapsed completely,
and the Mughal army achieved a miraculous victory.However, Bairam, who gained fame from this battle,
was alienated by Akbar, later rebelled,

and was killed on his way to Mecca after being pardoned.

“When the cunning rabbit is caught, the hunting dog is cooked”


is a proverb that
he truly embodied.
◆ The Third Battle of Panipat (1761)Well, the Mughal Empire had solidified its foundation,
but as time passed,

its rule began to waver.Perhaps because the sixth emperor, Aurangzeb,did whatever he pleased, launching endless wars and purges,

rebellions broke out one after another after his death...

Independent regimes emerged in various regions, leading to fragmentation.


Britain saw this as an opportunity.
The so-called “British Empire.”
In 1757,the “Battle of Plassey”


saw Britain defeat the Nawab (governor) of Bengal,

and they began eyeing the colonization of India.It would have been better if the Indian sidecould have united to fight without splitting up,but India was vast and chaotic.With diverse ethnicities and religions mixed together, it was not a monolith...
However, at this time, centered around the Deccan Plateau,

the “Maratha Confederacy”

was emerging as
a new framework.

In the same year, 1757, they also controlled the Punjab region
(from northwestern India to Pakistan).They were about to unify India in place of the Mughal Empire!…Or so it seemed.However, a formidable enemy appeared.
From Afghanistan in the west,


“Ahmad Shah Durrani”

.

The Maratha Confederacy side


chose a man named “Sadashivrao Bhau”as theircommander-in-chief to lead the battle.
The site of the decisive battle was Panipat!
◇ About 100,000: Durrani of Afghanistan◇ About 370,000 (though not all fought): Rao of the Maratha Confederacy
Rao was proposed by various generals to fight using guerrilla tactics,
but he refused.

He fought a fair and square frontal assault.…However, the result was:

Rao was shot in the head and killed in action.Most of the Maratha generals were killed in action...!


The Maratha Confederacy suffered a devastating blow
and its power waned.



The one who gained the “fisherman’s profit”
was Britain.After this, they defeated various forces one after another,
including the Mysore, Maratha, and Sikh.
They also suppressed the “Indian Rebellion of 1857”.

In 1877, they established the “Empire of India”with Queen Victoria as Empress.

Let’s summarize.
In this article, I introduced the three “Battles of Panipat,”
which could be called the Sekigahara of India.

If Babur had been defeated...
If the stray arrow hadn’t hit Hemu...
If Rao hadn’t launched a frontal assault...

The history of India thereafter might have
changed significantly.

※ Click here for an article comparing the history of the Indian Mughal Empire
with the history of the Japanese Edo Shogunate↓

※ The second Mughal emperor,
Humayun, is also the master of the World Heritage site Humayun’s Tomb
(though it was built during Akbar’s time)↓

※ Click here for information on very energetic Indian films↓
“Ram Charan and the ‘Advancing Indians’”

※ For information on Sekigahara,
visit the website of the “Sekigahara Town History and Folklore Museum”↓

Please check them out as well!