Battle of Khanwa
gigatos | December 30, 2021
Summary
The Battle of Khanua was an armed engagement that took place in the homonymous village 60 km west of Agra on March 17, 1527. It was the second battle of the campaign of conquest of northern India of the first Mughal emperor Babur after the battle of Panipat.
After defeating Ibrahim Lodi, Babur had to face one of the last members of the Lodi dynasty, Mahmud Lodi, son of his great enemy Sikandar (sultan of Delhi between 1489 and 1517) and younger brother of Ibrahim. As the new Mughal Empire expanded it began to confront its rivals in Agra and Rajputana. Among these were the fearsome Muslim Rajput warriors led by Rajah Hasan Khan Mewati of Mewat who enlisted the support of the Hindu Rajput Rana Sanga ruling in the same region, as both religious communities had the same goal of expelling the Muslim Mughals, although some Muslim Rajputs preferred to collaborate with the invading forces.
The army organized by both allies was much larger and better organized than that of Lodi, however, thanks to the treachery of Silhadi, Rajput chief of northeastern Malwa and commander of the Purabiya mercenary force, who switched sides in the midst of battle and attacked the Rajputs, the allies were finally defeated and their force destroyed. Babur”s grandson, Akbar the Great had Fatehpur Sikri fort built in honor of his grandfather”s victory.
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