Pariksha SaathiLesson 2 of 10 · Haryana General Knowledge
Medieval Haryana: Tarain, the Three Battles of Panipat and After
Drafted with AI assistance and fact-checked on 28 October 2026; not yet read line by line by a human editor. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Editorial standards & corrections
The road to Delhi
Almost every invader from the north-west, and every army defending Delhi, had to cross Haryana. The old highway from Lahore to Delhi ran through Ambala, Thanesar, Karnal, Panipat and Sonipat, so these plains became the battlefields where the rulers of north India were decided. Learn the region's medieval history as a chain of decisive battles, with the dynasties that rose and fell around them.
Tomars and Chauhans
After Harsha's empire broke up, the Tomaras rose in the region; an inscription at Pehowa from the reign of the Gurjara-Pratihara king Mahendrapala records a Tomara family. Tradition credits the Tomar ruler Anangpal with founding Dhillika (Delhi) and building the Lal Kot fort, and the Tomar king Surajpal with the Surajkund reservoir near Faridabad. In the 12th century the Chauhans (Chahamanas) of Ajmer took Delhi from the Tomars, and Prithviraj Chauhan III inherited the region. Sanskrit inscriptions of the Sultanate period, such as one found at Palam from Balban's reign, already call this land Hariyanaka.
Tarain and the Delhi Sultanate
Tarain is modern Taraori in Karnal district. In the First Battle of Tarain in 1191, Prithviraj Chauhan III defeated Muhammad Ghori, who was wounded and carried from the field. Ghori returned the next year, and in the Second Battle of Tarain in 1192 he defeated and captured Prithviraj. North India lay open to Turkish rule: Ghori's general Qutbuddin Aibak took Delhi and founded the Delhi Sultanate in 1206. Under the Sultanate, Razia Sultan was killed near Kaithal in 1240; Firoz Shah Tughlaq founded Hisar (Hisar-e-Firoza) in 1354 and Fatehabad, and dug a canal from the Yamuna to water his new town; and Timur's army passed through Sirsa, Kaithal and Panipat in 1398 on its way to sack Delhi.
First Battle of Panipat (1526)
On 21 April 1526 Babur, ruler of Kabul, defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last Lodi sultan of Delhi, at Panipat. Babur's army was much smaller, but he used field artillery, handled by Ustad Ali Quli and Mustafa, and the Tulughma flanking tactic. Ibrahim Lodi died on the field and his tomb stands at Panipat. The victory founded the Mughal Empire, and Babur built the Kabuli Bagh mosque there. A year later, at Khanwa (1527), Babur defeated Rana Sanga, and Hasan Khan Mewati, the ruler of Mewat, died fighting on Sanga's side. Sher Shah Suri, who drove out Babur's son Humayun in 1540, rebuilt the great highway now called the Grand Trunk Road, with sarais (rest houses) along it; his grandfather Ibrahim Khan Sur lies at Narnaul in a tomb that Sher Shah built.
Second Battle of Panipat (1556)
After Humayun's death in January 1556, Hemu (Hemchandra), a Rewari trader who had risen to be chief minister and general of the Sur ruler Adil Shah, captured Agra and Delhi and took the title Vikramaditya. On 5 November 1556 his army met the forces of the young Akbar, led by Bairam Khan, at Panipat. Hemu was winning until an arrow struck him in the eye; he fell unconscious, his army broke, and he was captured and beheaded. The victory restored Mughal rule in Delhi.
Third Battle of Panipat (1761)
On 14 January 1761 Ahmad Shah Abdali (Durrani) of Afghanistan crushed the Maratha army led by Sadashivrao Bhau. Abdali was backed by the Rohilla chief Najib-ud-Daula and by Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh; on the Maratha side Ibrahim Khan Gardi commanded the artillery. Vishwasrao, son of Peshwa Balaji Bajirao, and Bhau himself were killed. The Kala Amb (black mango tree) site at Panipat marks the battlefield. The defeat checked Maratha power in the north for about a decade and weakened both sides, which helped the British rise.
Sikhs, Jats, Marathas and George Thomas
After Guru Gobind Singh's death in 1708, Banda Singh Bahadur led a peasant rising, took Samana and Sirhind and made Lohgarh, in the Shivalik foothills of present Yamunanagar district, his capital, striking coins in the name of the Sikh Gurus; he was captured in 1715 and executed in Delhi in 1716. In 1739 Nadir Shah of Persia defeated the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah at Karnal. Later in the 18th century Raja Suraj Mal of Bharatpur extended Jat power into southern Haryana, Sikh chiefs set up states such as Jind and Kaithal in the north, and the Marathas under Mahadji Scindia controlled much of the region. The Irish adventurer George Thomas carved out a short-lived principality with Hansi as its capital at the end of the century, built Georgegarh (Jahazgarh) fort near Jhajjar and is remembered by the Jahaz Kothi at Hisar. By the Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon (1803), after the Second Anglo-Maratha War, Daulat Rao Scindia ceded the region to the British.
Key facts
- Tarain (Taraori, Karnal): 1191, Prithviraj Chauhan III defeated Muhammad Ghori; 1192, Ghori defeated and captured Prithviraj. Qutbuddin Aibak founded the Delhi Sultanate in 1206.
- First Battle of Panipat, 21 April 1526: Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi with artillery (Ustad Ali Quli, Mustafa) and the Tulughma tactic; the Mughal Empire began; Kabuli Bagh mosque and Ibrahim Lodi's tomb are at Panipat.
- Second Battle of Panipat, 5 November 1556: Akbar's army under Bairam Khan defeated Hemu (Vikramaditya), who was struck in the eye by an arrow.
- Third Battle of Panipat, 14 January 1761: Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas under Sadashivrao Bhau; Vishwasrao was killed; Ibrahim Khan Gardi led the Maratha artillery; Kala Amb marks the field.
- Tomars: tradition credits Anangpal with Dhillika (Delhi) and Lal Kot, and Surajpal with Surajkund; the Chauhans of Ajmer took Delhi from them in the 12th century.
- Firoz Shah Tughlaq founded Hisar-e-Firoza (1354) and Fatehabad, cut a canal from the Yamuna and moved the Topra pillar to Delhi. Razia Sultan was killed near Kaithal (1240).
- Sher Shah Suri rebuilt the Grand Trunk Road with sarais; his grandfather Ibrahim Khan Sur's tomb is at Narnaul. Hasan Khan Mewati died at Khanwa (1527) fighting Babur.
- Banda Singh Bahadur: capital Lohgarh (Yamunanagar), coins in the Gurus' name, executed in Delhi in 1716. Nadir Shah defeated Muhammad Shah at Karnal in 1739.
- George Thomas: Irish adventurer, capital Hansi, fort Georgegarh (Jahazgarh) near Jhajjar, Jahaz Kothi at Hisar. The Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon (1803) gave the region to the British.
Quick revision
Tomars: Dhillika, Lal Kot, Surajkund; Tarain (Taraori) 1191 Prithviraj won, 1192 Ghori won; Delhi Sultanate 1206; Razia killed near Kaithal 1240; Hisar 1354; Timur 1398; Panipat 21 Apr 1526 Babur beat Ibrahim Lodi; 5 Nov 1556 Bairam Khan beat Hemu; 14 Jan 1761 Abdali beat Sadashivrao Bhau, Kala Amb; Ibrahim Khan Sur's tomb at Narnaul; Banda at Lohgarh; Karnal 1739 Nadir Shah; George Thomas at Hansi; Surji-Anjangaon 1803.