Panipat () is an industrial , located 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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and 169 km south of

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

on NH-44 in

Panipat district Panipat district () is one of the 22 List of districts of Haryana, districts of Haryana in north India. The historical city of Panipat is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district occupies an area of , making it the nineteen ...

, Haryana, India. It is famous for three major battles fought in

1526 Year 1526 (Roman numerals, MDXXVI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 14 – Treaty of Madrid (1526), Treaty of Madrid: Peace is declared between Francis I of France and ...

, 1556 and

1761 Events January–March * January 14 – Third Battle of Panipat: In India, the armies of the Durrani Empire from Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Shah Durrani and his coalition decisively defeat the Maratha Confederacy, killing over 1 ...

. The city is also known as 'city of weavers', '

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, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

city' and 'cast-off clothes capital' of the world. It is home to industries like wool and cotton milling, saltpetre refining and manufacture of glass, electrical appliances, and other products. The city is included in the list of critically polluted industrial areas in India. As in Dec 2009, the Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI) of the city was 59.00, as against 88.50 of Ankaleshwar (Gujarat). The three battles fought in the fatal field of Panipat changed the course of India's history, first two resulting in creation and

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

. The third battle led to the decisive defeat of the Maratha Confederacy in North India, which had become a dominating power in

by then and paved the way for the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

Company rule in India Company rule in India (also known as the Company Raj, from Hindi , ) refers to regions of the Indian subcontinent under the control of the British East India Company (EIC). The EIC, founded in 1600, established its first trading post in India ...

Etymology

Borrowed from

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

पानीपत (pānīpat), Pani (water) Pat means (Bank) "Panipat". As per another version, it is derived from Pandavprasth, i.e. 'Pani' as a short form of ' Pandav' and 'pat' as a short form of 'prasth'.

History

Inception

Panipat district was carved out from the erstwhile

Karnal Karnal () is a city located in the state of Haryana, India and is the administrative headquarters of Karnal District. The city is well connected as it lies on National Highway 01, in the south of the city lies the cities of Panipat and Sonipa ...

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.

Reason behind the merger

Panipat, while being carved out as a separate district firstly, included the "Assandh Tehsil" area. To add the "Assandh Tehsil" area back to Karnal, Panipat was merged with Karnal. Afterwards, Panipat was again carved out of Karnal for the second time, and excluded the "Assandh Tehsil" area.

Battles

Panipat was the scene of three pivotal battles that changed the history of Indian Subcontinent.

First

The

First Battle of Panipat The First Battle of Panipat, on 21 April 1526 was fought between the invading forces of Babur against Ibrahim Khan Lodi, the List of sultans of Delhi, Sultan of Delhi, in North India. Babur's forces, em ...

was fought on 21 April 1526 between Ibrahim Lodi, the Afghan Sultan of Delhi, and the Turko-Mongol warlord Babur, who later established Mughal rule in Northern Indian subcontinent. Babur's force defeated Ibrahim's much larger force of over one lakh (100,000) soldiers because of the technological advantage of

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

. This first battle of Panipat thus ended the Lodi Rule established by Bahlul Lodi in Delhi. This battle marked the beginning of Mughal rule in India.

Second

The

Second Battle of Panipat The Second Battle of Panipat was fought on 5 November 1556, between the Mughal Empire, Mughals under Akbar and emperor Hemu, titularly known as Hemu, Hemchandra Vikramaditya. Hemchandra had conquered Delhi and Agra a few weeks earlier by defeati ...

was fought on 5 November 1556 between the forces of

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

and Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, the last Hindu emperor of Delhi. Hem Chandra, who had captured states like

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

and

defeating Akbar's army and declared himself as independent king after a coronation on 7 October 1556 at Purana Qila in

, 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 Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

, 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 According to the historic sources

Hemu Hemu (; 1501 – 5 November 1556), also known as Hemu Vikramaditya and Hemchandra Vikramaditya, was an Indian king (maharaja) who previously served as a general and Vizier, Wazir of Muhammad Adil Shah (died 1557), Adil Shah Suri of the Sur Emp ...

and his army consisted of 1500

war elephant A war elephant is an elephant that is Animal training, trained and guided by humans for combat purposes. Historically, the war elephant's main use was to charge (warfare), charge the enemy, break their ranks, and instill terror and fear. Elep ...

s and a vanguard of

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

park. Panipat is listed in the

Ain-i-Akbari The ''Ain-i-Akbari'' (), or the "Administration of Akbar", is a 16th-century detailed document regarding the administration of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian, Abu'l Fazl, in the Persian language. It forms ...

as a

pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...

under

Sarkar and supplying a force of 1000 infantry and 100 cavalry under Mughal Empire. It had a brick fort at the time which was also mentioned.

Third

The

Third Battle of Panipat The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761 between the Maratha Empire and the invading army of the Durrani Empire. The battle took place in and around the city of Panipat, approximately north of Delhi. The Afghan (ethnonym), Af ...

was fought on 14 January 1761. The

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

provoked the King of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (; ; – 4 June 1772), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the first ruler and founder of the Durrani Empire. He is often regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan. Throughout his reign, Ahmad Shah fought ov ...

. The

forces were led by Sadashivrao Bhau and the Afghans were led by Ahmad Shah Abdali. The Afghan coalition had 70,000 total strength of soldiers, and the Marathas had 60,000 soldiers and 120,000 pilgrims.

Geography

Panipat is located at . It has an average elevation of 219 meters (718 feet).

Demographics

Panipat official website data: Check at https://panipat.gov.in/ As per 2011 census: * Population: 294,292. :The population has grown by 24.33% compared to the 2001 census. * Literacy rate: 83%. * Population density: 949 people per sq. km. *

Sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

: 861 females per 1000 males * Child sex ratio: 833 girls per 1000 boys. *

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

: 83.39% *

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

: 12.03% *

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

: 4.13% * Jains: 0.25% *

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

: 0.05% * Other religions and persuasions: 0.14% *

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

: No data available

Industries

Industrial Estate

Panipat has an industrial zone named ''Industrial Estate Panipat''. Industrial Estate Panipat is located on Refinery Road connecting National Highway 44. It is spread over fully developed 926 Acres of land having all the infrastructure facilities such as Roads, Water / Sewerage system, common effluent treatment plant and Power House along with all electrical infrastructure.

Products

Panipat is famous for Fertilizers, Home Furnishing, Printing press, PVC manufacturing and Fabrication industries.

Landmarks

Hemu's Samadhi Sthal

Self declared King

with large force was captured by Shah Quli Khan in the

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 Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With o ...

, 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 (; 18 January 1501 – 31 January 1561), commonly known as Bairam Khan or Bayram Khan was an important military commander, and later commander-in-chief of the Mughal Empire, Mughal army, a powerful statesman and regent at ...

. Hemu's head was sent to

Kabul Kabul 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. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

where it was hung outside the Delhi Darwaza while his body was thrown outside

gibbet Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hanged on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. Occasionally, the gibbet () was also used as a method of public ex ...

in Delhi to warn 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 (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (), was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire, ...

'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 was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

, 4 July 2005.

Babur's Kabuli Bagh Mosque

The garden of Kabuli Bagh along with the Kabuli Bagh Mosque and a tank were built by Babur after the

to commemorate his victory over Ibrahim Lodhi. Some years later when Humayun defeated

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 Memorial 2

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: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-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 Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

Prachin Sidhh Shree Devi Mandir

Shree Devi Mandir is one of the most appealing religious places in Panipat city. Standing along the ''Devi Mandir Road'' in the

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

Camp Locality and opposite to it is the '' Cygnus Maharaja Aggrasen Hospital''. Here reside the idols of all the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Gods A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

and

Goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

es. It used to have a large ''Sarovar'' (Water tank for religious practices), but it dried years ago due to a past drought that fell upon Panipat decades ago. It has now been converted into a lush green playground. If you are in Panipat do visit this temple, especially recommended during

navratri Navaratri () is an annual Hindu festival observed in honor of the goddess Durga, an aspect of Adi Parashakti, the supreme goddess. It spans over nine nights, first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and aga ...

festival

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

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.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Textile industry of India