5 MOST BRUTAL BATTLES IN INDIAN HISTORY!!

 

                            Brutality and voilence are always major part of war, and what else would one expect from an event with only one motive and that is to kill people. Nasty wars are a part of ever country's history and India is no different in that sense. As a civilization, India has seen some of the most disgusting and gruesome events of bloodshed for thousands of years. All wars are cruel, but some wars take this cruelty to a whole new level as in just one day thousands of people are killed in an event of mass murder.

Today, let's take a look at 5 of the most brutal battles that Indian history has ever seen!

  

5. Battle of Khanwa (16 march,1527)

Total deaths-50,000 or more

- Foght between the invading forces of Babur and the King of Mewar, Rana Sanga and his Rajput and Afgan allies at Khanwa near Agra.
- This horrific event of bloodshed lasted for 10 hours and it was amongst the 3 major battles that established Mughal rule in India.
- It is mentioned by many historians that if Babur wouldn't have had the support of artillary weapons, especially canons then the Rajputs would have been victorious. As the Rajputs used only swords and outdated techniques of warfare.
- Even though the Rajput army was much larger with more than 1 Lakh soldiers, the Mughals were victorious because of their advanced technology.

4. Siege of Chittorgarh (20 october,1567)

Total Deaths:75,000

- When the kindom of mewar did not surrender, Akbar decided to attack the fort of Chittorgarh and besieged it when Jaimal, minister of king Udai Singh II was in command of the fort.
- At the time, around 10,000 Rajputs and 40 to 45,000 peasants were present in the fort. The Rajput generals along with Jaimal decided to defend the fort and a fierce war started.
- The Rajput warriors showed excellent bravery and valour but it was not enough against the emmense Mughal force and the war ended with Mughal victory. Heavy casualities were made during the war, all the 10,000 Rajput warriors were killed and the Mughal army also lost about 25,000 soldiers.
- Akbar who is considered as a righteous emperor gave orders to his army to massacre all the civilians right after the war ended. Due to this decision of Akbar around 40 to 50 thousands civilians lost their lives.

3. Timur's Conquest of Delhi (17 december,1398)

Total Deaths:100,000

- Timur with his army invaded the Indian subcontinent with the view of capturing Delhi, which was one of the most richest city in the world.

- At the time Delhi was ruled by Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad Shah Tughlaq of the Tughlaq dynasty. The forces of Timur and Tughlaqs met on the outskirts of Delhi and a brutal war began.

- Even though the Tughlaq army was strong, it was of no match to Timurs army and his warfare tactics. As a result Timur was victorious and he captured Delhi. 

- After the war his soldiers sacked delhi and in an inhumane act of voilence, massacred the citizens of the city. Even the prisoners of war were later executed by Timur.

2. 3rd Battle of Panipat (14 january,1761)

Total Deaths:140,000

- On the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti, Indian history had it's most blackest day when war betwwen the Maratha forces and invading armies of Ahmad Shah Abdali and his Indian allies began.

- The Maratha army under the leadership of Sadashiv Rao was large in number and were leading in the battle initially, But some undesireable events took place during the battle as a result of which the Afganis got an upper hand.

- Ahmad shah abdali ultimately won the war and Sadashiv Rao was killed. Over 15,000 Rohingyas and 5,000 Afgans were killed from Abdali's side.

- On the Maratha side the casuality was immense. Over 50,000 Maratha soldiers were killed and around 70,000 non-combatants were massacred after the battle.

1. Battle of Kalinga (261 BC)

Total Deaths:250,000

 - Definitely the most gruesome battle Indian history has ever seen was the battle of Kalinga which was fought between Ashoka of the Mauryan empire and the forces of Kalinga ( present day region of Odisha).
- Presumably the war took place on the banks of river Daya in Dhauli as a result of the state of Kalinga refusing to surrender to the Mauryan empire.
- Even though emperor Ashoka was victorious in this deadly and brutal event of voilence and got Kalinga under his control, he lost more than 70,000 soldiers in the war.
- Kalinga on the other side,was plundered and left in ruins with more than 150,000 deaths. Ashoka mentions that the scene after the war was horrific, with thousands of womens left widowed and childrens orphaned.

Quick Fact:

If the Mahabharata war is to be considered than it would easily dwarf all of these battles as in the course of just 18 days of the Mahabharata war, around 4 million people were killed (estimated). Some estimations even mention that about 1.8 billion people died in the battle of Kurukshetra.