Second Battle of Panipat
| Second Battle Of Panipat | |||||||||
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The defeat of Hemu, Second Battle of Panipat painting by Kankar from the Akbarnama c. 1590s | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Mughal Empire | Sur Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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| Strength | |||||||||
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10,000 cavalry 200 war elephants |
30,000 cavalry 500 war elephants | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | 5,000 | ||||||||
The Second Battle of Panipat was fought on 5 November 1556, between the Mughals under Akbar and emperor Hemu, titularly known as Hemchandra Vikramaditya. Hemchandra had conquered Delhi and Agra a few weeks earlier by defeating Mughal forces under Tardi Beg Khan in the Battle of Delhi. He crowned himself Vikramaditya at Purana Quila in Delhi.
On learning of the loss, Akbar and his guardian Bairam Khan marched to reclaim those territories. The two armies clashed at Panipat, not far from the site of the First Battle of Panipat of 1526.
During the battle, Hemchandra was wounded by an arrow and fell unconscious. Seeing their leader going down, his army panicked and dispersed. Unconscious and almost dead, Hemu was captured and subsequently beheaded by Akbar who assumed the title of Ghazi.