Second Battle of Panipat
Mughal forces defeat Hemu at the Second Battle of Panipat
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗Hemu lost his artillery before the main armies even met — the guns were moving ahead of him under weak guard.
5 November 1556, north of Delhi
On 5 November 1556 — 2 Muharram 964 AH — Mughal forces supporting the thirteen-year-old Emperor Akbar met Hemu's army at Panipat, north of Delhi.
Hemu had driven Mughal forces from Agra and Delhi and assumed royal power. Akbar and Bairam Khan chose to advance from Punjab rather than retreat to Kabul.
Before the principal battle, an advance Mughal cavalry force under Ali Quli Khan Shaibani captured Hemu's poorly protected artillery train.
One arrow, and a collapse of command
Hemu led his army personally from a war elephant named Hawai — "the Wind." His elephant attacks threw Mughal formations into disorder.
Then an arrow struck him in the eye and left him unconscious. Once he disappeared from view in the howdah, command cohesion broke down and his forces fled.
Shah Quli Khan Mahram captured the elephant carrying the wounded commander.
Who killed Hemu is not settled
Hemu was taken to the Mughal camp and executed. Accounts disagree over whether Akbar struck him, merely touched him with a sword, refused to strike him, or whether Bairam Khan performed the beheading.
Published figures conflict sharply as well. The Panipat district administration's account gives Hemu 30,000 cavalry and 1,500 war elephants, while another standard narrative describes a leading formation of 500 elephants.
Mughal troops regained Delhi within days, reversing Hemu's October victory. Sikandar Sur and other Afghan resistance remained.
Sources
Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited Date disputed
How this was checked
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Date disputed. Sources disagree about when this happened.
What the sources leave uncertain
- The date and Mughal victory are secure, but many tactical details come from partisan Mughal chronicles or later reconstructions.
- Published figures for cavalry, elephants, and casualties conflict sharply. The listed numbers are explicitly attributed reports, not reconciled totals.
- Sources conflict over whether Akbar and Bairam Khan both remained eight miles behind the battlefield or whether Bairam exercised closer tactical command.
- The manner of Hemu's execution is genuinely disputed. Contemporary and near-contemporary traditions assign different actions to Akbar and Bairam Khan.