SSC exam - Important Battles in Indian History

Here I m going to give some brief details on various important battles fought in Indian history.

1.      Battle of Ten Kings :- This battle was fought on the river Parushni (Ravi) between the Bharatas on the one hand and the host of ten kings on the other hand, and it gave victory to the sudas and established the supremacy of the Bharatas.

2.      Kalinga War (261 B.C.) :- Ashoka conquered Kalinga.

3.      First Battle of Tarain (A.D. 1191) :- Muhammad Ghauri was defeated on the battle field of Tarain near Thaneshwar by Prithviraj Chauhan.

4.      Second Battle of Tarain (A.D. 1192) :- Muhammad Ghauri confronted Prithviraj on the same battlefield of Tarain, Prithviraj was defeated , taken prisoner and executed. Delhi was conquered.

5.      Battle of Chandwara (A.D. 1194) :- Jaichand, the ruler of Kannauj, was defeated by Muhammad Ghauri.

6.      First Battle of Panipat (April 21^st, 1526) :- Babar defeated the Afghan army and killed Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi.

7.      Battle of Khanua (March 17^th, 1527) :-The Rajputs under Rana Sanga of Mewar suffered a decisive defeat by the hands of Babar. The Rana was severely wounded.

8.      Battle of Chanderi (January 29^th, 1528) :- Medini Rai of Chanderi was defeated by Babar and the fort was easily captured.

9.      Battle of Ghaghara (May 6^th, 1529) :- The Afghans were defeated and dispersed by Babar.

10.  Battle of Chausa (June 7^th, 1539) :- Sher Shah defeated the Mughals. Humayun could manage to escape by swimming across the river.

11.  Battle of Kannauj of Bilgram (May 17^th, 1540) :- Humayun was again defeated by Sher Shah but managed to reach Agra alone.

12.  Battle of Machiwara and Sarihind (1555) :- The Afghans were defeated by Humayun. Humayun entered Delhi on July 23^rd 1555.

13.  Second Battle of Panipat (November 5^th, 1556) :- The Afghans under Hemu were defeated by the Mughal army.

14.  Battle of Talikota or Bannihatti (January 23^rd, 1575) :- Vijay Nagar was defeated by combined forces of five Muslim states.

15.  Battle of Haldighati (1576) :- It was fought between Akbar and Rana Pratap of Mewar. The Mughals won the victory, yet Rana Pratap remained unsubdued.

16.  Battle Asiragarh (1601) :- It was the last Battle of Akbar.

17.  Battle of Karnal (1739) :- The Mughal army met Nadir Shah. Nadir Shah came victorious.

18.  The Carnatic War (1746 - 48) :- The first Carnatic war was between French and British army, Madras was captured by French but returned to the English by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapalle; The memorable fact for the battle of St. Thome in which a small French army defeated the Nawab of Carnatic’s large force.

19.  Second Carnatic War (1749 - 54) :- Initially, the French under Dupleix had some success but at last the English got a hold. In 1755, a provisional peace treaty was concluded.

20.  Thirrd Carnatic War (1758 - 63) :- French captured Fort St. David in 1758, but suffered badly at Wandiwash (1760). Finally the English won the war. Though Pondicherry and some other settlements were returned to the French by treaty of Paris (1763). These were  never to be fortified.

21.  Battle of Plassey (June, 1757) :- The English force under Clive met the army of Siraj –ud-Daulah. Clive won the day. Mir Jaffar became the Nawab and executed Siraj-ud-Daula.

22.  Battle of Buxar (1764) :- The English force under Major Munro met the combined force of Mir Qasim, Nawab of Bengal, Shuja-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Awadh and the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II. The company came victorious and gained the Nizamat and Diwani of Bengal from Shah Alam II.

23.  Third Battle of Panipat (1761) :- Third battle of Panipat was fought between Ahmad Shah Abdali and Maratha. The Maratha army was completely routed. Najib-ud-daulah of Awadh sided by Ahmad Shah Abdali.

24.  First Anglo – Mysore War (1767 - 69) :- After a see-saw struggle Haider Ali appeared at the gates of Madras. The Madras Government concluded the humiliating treaty in 1769.

25.  Second Anglo – Mysore War (1780 - 84) :- Haider Ali died n 1782 and Tipu took the command. Absolute success eluded both sides and the treaty of Mangalore (March 1784) was signed.

26.  Third Anglo – Mysore War (1789 - 92) :- War began in 1789 and ended in Tipu’s defeat in 1792. The treaty of Sri rangpatanam (1792) resulted in the surrender of nearly half of Mysore territory.

27.  Fourth Anglo – Mysore War (1799) :- Tipu died fighting.

28.  First Anglo – Maratha War (1775 - 82) :- Favouring the cause of Raghunath Rao for Peshwaship, the English came in conflict with Marathas. The British army was defeated and concluded the humiliating of Wodgaon (1779) with Sindhia’s mediation, peace was made lastly by treaty of Salbai (1782).

29.  Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-06) :- Maratha power had been shattered.

30.  Third Anglo- Maratha War (1817-19) :- BaajiRao was defeated at Kirki, Apa Sahib Bhonsale at Sitakalidi and Holkarat Mahidpur. The peshwa suffered another defeat at koregaon and in 1819 the fort of Asirgarh fell.

31.  First Anglo – Sikh War (1845 -46) :- In all the four battle (Battle at Mudki, Firozshah, Aliwal and Sobraon), Sikhs were defeated. The treaty of Lahore (1846) ended the war.

32.  Second Anglo – Sikh War (1845 -46) :- After Several successes of the English the Burmese came to terms and the treaty of Yandaboo was signed.