Panipat () is a historic city in
Haryana
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
. It is 95 km north of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
and 169 km south of
Chandigarh
Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...
on
NH-1. The three major battles fought in
1526,
1556 and
1761 took place near the city. The city is famous in India as the "City of Weavers" and "
Textile
Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, different #Fabric, fabric types, etc. At f ...
City". It is also known as the "cast-off capital" due to being "the global centre for recycling textiles".
Panipat is included in the list of Critically Polluted Industrial area in India. The Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI) of the city is 71.91 as against 88.50 of
Ankaleshwar (Gujarat).
The fatal field of Panipat is the site of three battles that changed the course of India's history, resulting in the
creation
Creation may refer to:
Religion
*''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing
*Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it
*Creationism, the belief that ...
and
confirmation
In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
of the Mughal Empire, as well as the
decisive defeat of the Maratha Confederacy in North India.
History
Panipat district was carved out from the erstwhile
Karnal district on 1 November 1989. On 24 July 1991 it was again merged with Karnal district. On 1 January 1992, it again became a separate district.
Panipat was the scene of three pivotal battles in Indian history. The
First Battle of Panipat
The first Battle of Panipat, on 20 April 1526, was fought between the invading forces of Babur and the Lodi dynasty. It took place in North India and marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire and the end of the Delhi Sultanate. This was one o ...
was fought on 21 April 1526 between
Ibrahim Lodhi, the Afghan
Sultan of Delhi, and the
Turko-Mongol warlord
Babur
Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through hi ...
, who later established
Mughal rule in Northern Indian subcontinent. Babur's force defeated Ibrahim's much larger force of over one lakh (one hundred thousand) soldiers. This first battle of Panipat thus ended the 'Lodi Rule' established by Bahlul Lodhi in Delhi. This battle marked the beginning of Mughal rule in India.
The
Second Battle of Panipat
The Second Battle of Panipat was fought on 5 November 1556, between Akbar and the king of Delhi, Hemu. Hemu had conquered Delhi and Agra a few weeks earlier by defeating Mughal forces under Tardi Beg Khan in the battle of Delhi and crowned hi ...
was fought on 5 November 1556 between the forces of
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
and
Hem Chandra Vikramaditya
Hemu (; also known as Hemu Vikramaditya and Hemchandra Vikramaditya; died 5 November 1556) was an Indian emperor who previously served as a general and Wazir of Adil Shah Suri of Sur Empire during a period in Indian history when Mughals and ...
, the last Hindu emperor of Delhi. Hem Chandra, who had captured states like Agra and Delhi defeating Akbar's army and declared himself as independent king after a coronation on 7 October 1556 at
Purana Qila in Delhi, had a large army, and initially his forces were winning, but suddenly he was struck by an arrow in the eye and fell unconscious. On not seeing him in his
howdah on the back of an elephant, his army fled. The unconscious Hemu was carried to Akbar's camp where Bairam Khan beheaded him.
[Abdul Quadir Badayuni, Muntkhib-ul-Tawarikh, Volume 1, page 6] His head was sent to
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...
to be hanged outside Delhi Darwaza, and his torso was hanged outside
Purana Quila in Delhi. The place of martyrdom of Raja Hemu is now a famous shrine in Panipat.
Panipat is listed in the
Ain-i-Akbari
The ''Ain-i-Akbari'' ( fa, ) or the "Administration of Akbar", is a 16th-century detailed document recording the administration of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian, Abu'l Fazl in the Persian language. It for ...
as a
pargana
Pargana ( bn, পরগনা, , hi, परगना, ur, پرگنہ) or parganah, also spelt pergunnah during the time of the Sultanate period, Mughal times and British Raj, is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent and each ...
under Delhi
sarkar, producing a revenue of 10,756,647
dams for the imperial treasury and supplying a force of 1000 infantry and 100 cavalry. It had a brick fort at the time which was also mentioned.
The
Third Battle of Panipat was fought on 14 January 1761 between the
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...
and the
Afghan
Afghan may refer to:
*Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia
*Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity
**Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pash ...
and
Baloch invaders. The Maratha Empire forces were led by
Sadashivrao Bhau and the Afghans were led by
Ahmad Shah Abdali. The Afghans had a total strength of 110,000 soldiers, and the Marathas had 75,000 soldiers and 100,000 pilgrims. The Maratha soldiers were unable to get food because of non-cooperation of other empires of India. The Afghans were supported by
Najib-ud-Daula and
Shuja-ud-Daula for the supply of food, and the Maratha had pilgrims along with them, who were unable to fight, including female pilgrims. On 14 January, over 100,000 soldiers died resulting in the victory for the Afghans. However, after the victory, the Afghans facing a hostile
North India
North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Cen ...
, retreated to Afghanistan to avoid casualties. This battle served as a precursor for the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...
to establish
Company rule in India
Company rule in India (sometimes, Company ''Raj'', from hi, rāj, lit=rule) refers to the rule of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. This is variously taken to have commenced in 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, whe ...
as most of North and Northwest Indian princely states were weakened.
Geography
Panipat is located at . It has an average elevation of 219 metres (718
feet).
Demographics
As per 2011 census, the city had a population of 294,292.
Panipat's urban agglomeration had a population of 295,970. The literacy rate was about 83%.
Landmarks
Hemu's Samadhi Sthal
The wounded
Hemu was captured by
Shah Quli Khan in the
Second Battle of Panipat
The Second Battle of Panipat was fought on 5 November 1556, between Akbar and the king of Delhi, Hemu. Hemu had conquered Delhi and Agra a few weeks earlier by defeating Mughal forces under Tardi Beg Khan in the battle of Delhi and crowned hi ...
and carried to the Mughal camp at
Shodapur on Jind Road at Panipat.
According to
Badayuni Badayuni or Badauni is an Indian toponymic surname (nisba) for people from Budaun (formerly Badayun and Badaun) in Uttar Pradesh, India. People with this name include:
* `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni (c. 1540 – c. 1605), Grand Mufti of India during th ...
,
Bairam Khan asked Akbar to behead Hemu so that he could earn the title of ''
Ghazi''. Akbar replied, "He is already dead, if he had any strength for a duel, I would have killed him." After Akbar's refusal Hemu's body was denied honour by the Mughal battle tradition and was unceremoniously beheaded by
Bairam Khan
Muhammad Bairam Khan(Persianمحمد بیرام خان) (18 January 150131 January 1561), commonly known as Bairam Khan or Bayram Khan was an important military commander, and later commander-in-chief of the Mughal army, a powerful statesman a ...
. Hemu's head was sent to
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...
where it was hung outside the Delhi Darwaza while his body was placed in a
gibbet outside
Purana Quila in Delhi to terrorise his supporters, who were mainly his subjects, both the Muslims and Hindus.
Ibrahim Lodhi's Tomb
It was one of
Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری)
(1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان)
, was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...
's dying regrets that he could never fulfill his intention of erecting a tomb to the fallen monarch Ibrahim Lodhi. Much later, in 1866, the British relocated the tomb which was just a simple grave during construction of the
Grand Trunk Road and added a platform to it with an inscription highlighting Ibrahim Lodhi's death in the Battle of Panipat.
[The tale of the missing Lodi tomb]
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the sec ...
, 4 Jul 2005.
Babur's Kabuli Bagh Mosque
The garden of Kabuli Bagh along with the
Kabuli Bagh Mosque and a tank were built by
Babur
Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through hi ...
after the
First Battle of Panipat
The first Battle of Panipat, on 20 April 1526, was fought between the invading forces of Babur and the Lodi dynasty. It took place in North India and marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire and the end of the Delhi Sultanate. This was one o ...
to commemorate his victory over
Ibrahim Lodhi. Some years later when Humayun defeated
Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری)
(1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان)
, was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...
near Panipat, he added a masonry Platform to it and called it 'Chabutra" Fateh Mubarak, bearing the inscription 934 Hijri (1557 CE). These buildings and the garden still exist under the name of Kabuli Bagh called so after Babur's wife – Mussammat Kabuli begum.
Kala Amb
According to tradition, the site 8 km from Panipat and 42 km from Karnal, where
Sadashiv Rao Bhau commanded his
Maratha
The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed a ...
forces during the third battle of Panipat was marked by a black Mango Tree (Kala Amb) which has since disappeared. The dark colour of its foliage was probably the origin of the name. The site has a brick Pillar with an iron rod and the structure is surrounded by an iron fence. The site is being developed and beautified by a society presided over by the Governor of Haryana.
Panipat Syndrome
The term "Panipat Syndrome" has entered the lexicon as the lack of strategic thinking, preparedness and decisive action by Indian leaders thus allowing an invading army to enter well inside their territory. This is based on the fact that in the three battles fought here, the defending armies were decisively defeated each time. It was coined by Air Commodore
Jasjit Singh.
Connectivity
By Air
The nearest airport is Indira Gandhi International airport is at a and distance of 99 km.
another way to connect is via Chandigarh International Airport distance from it is 160.5 km. later you can reach Panipat easily via cab,bus or train.
By Rail
Panipat junction is connected by a good railway network. Unchahar Express, Mussoorie Express, Jhelum Express, Shatabadi are some of the trains that stop at this junction.
For Railway Enquiry dial 139.
By Bus
Panipat is on the National Highway No. 1 and has excellent bus connections to all the cities and towns of the neighbouring states. Haryana Roadways Volvo buses pass through Panipat.
For Haryana Bus Enquiry : Dial 0180–2646544.
For Haryana Volvo Booking from Chandigarh or Delhi, log on to
www.hartrans.gov.in/online/index.asp
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Textile industry of India