The Second Battle of Panipat 1556

 

Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya or Hemu was a Hindu emperor in Delhi who got defeated by Akbar/Humanyun’s army in the Battle for Delhi. Hemu belonged to Rewari in present-day Haryana, who earlier was an adviser to Sher Shah Suri’s son Islam Shah from 1545 to 1553.

On January 24, 1556, the Mughal ruler Humanyun died in Delhi and was succeeded by his son, Akbar at Kalanaur, when he was only thirteen years old. On February 14, 1556, Akbar enthroned as 3rd Mughal Emperor of India.

Akbar and his guardian Bairam Khan did not participate in this battle and were kept themselves at a 5 Km away from the battlefield. The Mughal Vanguard consisted of 10,000 cavalries, out of which 5000 were experienced veteran soldiers and were ready to meet the advancing army of Hemu. Hemu led his army himself, and his army consisted of 1500 war elephants and a vanguard of artillery park. Hemu marched in excellent order with 30,000 practiced horsemen composed of Rajputs and Afghans.

Hemu commanding his forces from atop an elephant, was on a winning track and was about to rout Akbar’s army when an arrow struck Hemu’s squinting eye. The arrow passed his brain cleanout from the cup of his head, and he became unconscious. Hence, the Hemu’s army was in disarray and defeated in the resultant confusion. Hemu’s supporters constructed a Commemorative at the site of his beheading, which still exists at the village Saudhapur on Jind Road at Panipat.

Historian SAA Rizvi writes in his book, “The Wonder that was India Volume 2,” “The historian Abu’l Fazl pays an unqualified tribute to Himu’s administrative and military talents and suggests that had his (Hemu) life been spared, Akbar’s training would have made him one of the architects of the Mughal Empire.”

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