MUGHUL-AFGHAN CONTEST FOR SUPREMACY IN INDIA, A.D. 1526-1556

But the Mughul conquest of Hindustan was not an accomplished fact as a result of Babur’s victory over lbrahim. It did not give him the virtual sovereignty over the country, because there were other strong powers like the Afghan military chiefs, and the Rajputs under Rana Sanga, who also then aspired after political supremacy and were thus sure to oppose him. As a modern writer has aptly remarked, “the magnitude of Babur’s task could be properly realized when we say that it actually began with Panipat. Panipat set his foot on the path of empire-building, and in this path the first great obstacle was the opposition of the Afghan tribes” under a number of military chiefs, each one of whom exercised almost undisputed power within his domains or jagirs. Nevertheless, the battle of Panipat has its own significance in the sense that it marked the foundation of Mughul dominion in India.

Shortly after occupying the Doab, Babur suppressed the Afghan nobles in the north, south and east of it. He sent his own nobles to the unconquered parts of the country to expel the Afghan chiefs therefrom, while he engaged himself at Agra in organising his resources with a view to meeting the brave Rajput chief, Rana Sanga a collision with whom was inevitable. As a matter of fact, it took place almost before the task of subduing the Afghan nobles had been completed. Rana Sanga, a veteran and intrepid warrior, marched to Bayana, where he was joined by Hasan Khan Mewati and same other Muslim supporters of the Lodi dynasty. Thus the Rajputs and some of the Indian Muslims allied themselves together with the determination to prevent the imposition of another foreign yoke on India. But all the Afghan chiefs could not combine with the Rajputs at this critical moment, and thus Babur’s task became comparatively easy. The course of Indian history might have taken a different turn if he had to encounter the united strength of the Hindus and all the Muslims of India.

Rana Sanga, the hero of Rajput national revival, was certainly a more formidable adversary than lbrahim. He marched with an army, composed of 120 chiefs, 80,000 horse and 500 war elephants, and the rulers of Marwar, Amber, Gwalior, Ajmer, and Chanderi, and Sultan Mahmud Lodi (another son of Sultan Sikandar Lodi), whom Rana Sanga had acknowledged as the ruler of Delhi, joined him. Moreover, the Rajputs, being “energetic, chivalrous, fond of battle and bloodshed, animated by a strong national spirit, were ready to meet face to face the boldest veterans of the camp, and were at all times prepared to lay down their life for their honour”. Babur’s small army was struck with terror and panic, and he himself also fully realized the magnitude of his task. But he possessed an indomitable spirit, and without being unnerved tried to infuse fresh courage and enthusiasm into the hearts of his dismayed soldiers. He broke his drinking cups, poured out all the liquor that he had with him on the ground, vowed not to take strong drink any longer, and appealed to his men in a stirring speech.

This produced the desired effect, and all his soldiers swore on the Holy Quran to fight for him. The Mughuls and the Indians met in a decisive contest at Khanua or Kanwa a village almost due west of Agra, on the 16th March, 1527. The Rajputs fought with desperate valor, but Babur, by using similar tactics as at Panipat, triumphed over them. The defeat of the Rajputs was complete. The Rana escaped with the help of some of his followers, but died brokenhearted after about two years. Babur followed up his success at Khanua by crossing the Jumna, and storming the fortress of Chanderi, in spite of the gallant opposition of the Rajputs.

The battle of Khanua is certainly one of the decisive battles of Indian history. In a sense, its results were more significant than those of the first battle of Panipat. The battle of Panipat marked the defeat of the titular Sultan of Delhi, who had in fact ceased to command sovereign authority, while that of Khanua resulted in the defeat of the powerful Rajput confederacy. The latter thus destroyed the chance of political revival of the Rajputs, for which they had made a bid on the decay of the Turko-Afghan Sultanate.

 It is, of course, far from the truth to say that the Rajputs “ceased henceforth to be a dominant factor in the politics of Hindustan”. In fact, their retirement from the field of politics was only temporary. They revived once again after about thirty years and exercised profound influence on the history of the Mughul Empire. Even Sher Shah had to reckon with Rajput hostility. But the temporary eclipse of the Rajputs after Khanua facilitated Babur’s task in India and made possible the foundation of a new foreign rule. Rushbrook Williams is right when he says that before the battle of Khanua, “the occupation of Hindustan might have been looked upon as a mere episode in Babur’s career of adventure; but from henceforth it becomes the keynote of his activities for the remainder of his life. His days of wandering in search of a fortune are now over; the fortune is his and he has but to show himself worthy of it. And it is significant of the new stage in his career, which this battle marks, that never afterwards does he have to stake his throne and life, upon the issue of a stricken field. Fighting there is and fighting in plenty to be done; but it is fighting for the extension of his power, for the reduction of rebels, for the ordering of his kingdom. It is never fighting for his throne. And it is also significant of Babur’s grasp of vital issues that from henceforth the centre of gravity of his power is shifted from Kabul to Hindustan”.

We have already noted how Babur hurried to meet the Rajputs by leaving the task of thorough subjugation of the Afghan chiefs incomplete. But he could now turn his undivided attention to it. He met the allied Afghans of Bihar and Bengal on the banks of the Gogra, near the junction of that river with the Ganges above Patna, and inflicted a crushing defeat on them on the 6th May, 1529. Thus, as a result of three battles, a considerable portion of Northern India was reduced to submission by Babur, who became the master of a kingdom extending from the Oxus to the Gogra and from the Himalayas to Gwalior, though there remained certain gaps to be filled in here and there.

But Babur was not destined to enjoy for long the fruits of his hard-won victories. He died at Agra at the age of forty-seven or forty-eight, on the 26th December, 1530. The Muslim historians relate the romantic anecdote regarding his death. It is said that when his son, Humayun, fell ill, Babur, by a fervent prayer to God , had his son’s disease transferred to his own body, and thus while the son began to recover, the father’s health gradually declined till he ultimately succumbed, two or three months after Humayun’s recovery. A modern writer argues there Babur’s death was due to the attack of a disease and that “there is no reason to believe the fantasy told by ‘Abul FazaI that Babur died as the result of the sacrifice he performed for his son”.Babur’s body was first laid at Arambagh in Agra, but was afterwards conveyed to Kabul, where it was buried in one of his favourite gardens.