INDIAN HISTORY : IMPORTANT WARS
BATTLE OF HYDASPES (BC 326) : THE LAST PITCHED BATTLE FOUGHT BY ALEXANDER THE GREAT DURING HIS CAMPAIGN OF CONQUEST IN ASIA.IT TOOK PLACE AFTER CONQUEST OF THE ACHAEMENIAN EMPIRE AND IMMEDIATELY BEFORE HIS ARMY BEGAN THE JOURNEY HOMEWARD TO MACEDONIA.THE INDIAN RULER OF THE TERRITORY BETWEEN THE JHELUM AND THE CHINAB RIVERS PORUS WAS HIS OPPONENT.MORE TROUBLESOME TO ALEXANDER THAN THE NUMERICAL SUPERIORITY OF PORUS'S 34,000- MAN ARMY WERE THE 200 ELEPHANTS THAT THREATENED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE MACEDONIAN CAVALRY.ALEXANDER MADE AN ALLIANCE WITH PORUS AND ALLOWED HIM TO REMAIN RULER IN HIS COUNTRY.
KALINGA WAR (BC 261) : THE KALINGA WAR WAS FOUGHT BETWEEN THE MAURYAN EMPIRE ASHOKA THE GREAT AND KING KHARABELA, RULER OF THE STATE PF KALINGA. IT IS THE ONLY MAJOR WAR ASHOKA FOUGHT AFTER HIS ACCESSION TO THRONE.IT IS ONE OF THE MAJOR AND BLOODIEST BATTLES IN INDIAN HISTORY.THE BLOODSHED OF THIS WAR IS SAID TO HAVE PROMPTED ASHOKA TO ADOPT BUDHISSM.
FIRST BATTLE OF PANIPAT (AD 1526) : FOUGHT BETWEEN THE INVADING FORCES OF BABUR AND LODI EMPIRE.IT TOOK PLACE IN NORTH INDIA AND MARKED THE BEGINING OF MUGHAL EMPIRE.THIS WAS ONE OF THE EARLIEST BATTLES INVOLVING GUNPOWDER AND FIREARMS.
SECOND BATTLE OF PANIPAT(AD 1556) :THE SECOND WAR OF PANIPAT WAS FOUGHT BETWEEN THE HINDU RULER OF NORTH INDIA FROM DELHI , HEMU AND THE ARMY OF AKBAR. IT WAS A DECISIVE VICTORY FOR AKBAR'S GENERALS.
BATTLE OF TALIKOTA(AD 1565) : A WATERSHED BATTLE FOUGHT BETWEEN THE VIJAYANAGARA EMPIRE AND THE DECCAN SULTANATES , RESULTED INA ROUT OF VIJAYANAGARA ,AND ENDED THE LAST GREAT HINDU KINGDOM IN SOUTH INDIA.
BATTLE OF PLASSEY(AD 1757) : THE BATTLE WAS ADECISIVE VICTORY OF THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY OVER THE NAWAB OF BENGAL AND HIS FRENCH ALLIES ON JUNE 1757. THE BATTLE ESTABLISHED THE COMPANY RULE IN BENGAL WHICH EXPANDED OVER MUCH OF INDIA FOR THE NEXT YEARS.
THIRD BATTLE OF PANIPAT( AD 1761) : TOOK PLACE ON 14 JANUARY 1761 , AT PANIPAT.THE BATTLE IS FOUGHT BETWEEN A NORTHERN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE OF THE MARATHA EMPIRE AND A COALITION OF THE KING OF AFGHANISTAN , AHMAD SHA ABDALI WITH TWO INDIAN MUSLIM ALLIES-THE ROHILLA AFGHANS OF THE DOAB ,AND SHUJA-UD-DAULA , THE NAWAB OF AWADH.
BATTLE OF BUXAR (AD 1764) : THE BATTLE OF BUXAR WAS FOUGHT ON OCTOBER 1764 BETWEEN THE FORCES UNDER THE COMMAND OF THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY LED BY HECTOR MUNRO AND THE COMBINED ARMY OF MIR QASIM , THE NAWAB OF BENGAL; SHUJA-UD-DAULA THE NAWAB OF AWADH AND THE MUGHAL KING SHAH ALAM II.IT WAS A DECISIVE VICTORY FOR THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY.
KARNATIC WARS(AD 1746-63) : IN THIS BATTLE BRITISH AND FRENCH EAST INDIA COMPANIES VIED WITH EACH OTHER ON LAND FOR CONTROL OF THEIR RESPECTIVE TRADING POSTS AT MADRAS.
FIRST BATTLE OF MYSORE(AD 1967-69): FIRST ANGLO-MYSORE WAS BETWEEN THE SULTANATE OF MYSORE AND THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.
SECOND BATTLE OF MYSORE(AD 1780-84) : THE WAR WAS A CONFLICT IN MUGHAL INDIA BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF MYSORE AND THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY.THE BATTLE WAS FOUGHT BETWEEN HYDER ALI AND BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY.THE WAR ENDED BY THE RESULT OF TREATY OF MANGALORE.
THIRD BATTLE OF MYSORE(AD 1790-92) : WAS A WAR IN SOUTH INDIA BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF MYSORE LEAD BY TIPPU SULTAN AND THE EAST INDIA COMPANY AND ITS ALLIES , INCLUDING THE MARATHA EMPIRE AND THE NIZAM OF HYDERABAD.
FOURTH BATTLE OF MYSORE(AD 1798-99) : WAR IN SOUTH INDIA BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF MYSORE AND THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY UNDER THE EARL OF MORNINGTON.THIS WAS THE FINAL CONFLICT OF THE FOUR ANGLO-MYSORE WARS.
INDIA-CHINA WAR(AD 1962) :WAR BETWEEN CHINA AND INDIA OCCURED IN 1962.A DISPUTED HIMALAYAN BORDER WAS THE MAIN PRETEXT FOR WAR , BUT OTHER ISSUES PLAYED A ROLE. THERE HAD BEEN A SERIES OF VIOLENT BORDER INCIDENTS AFTER THE 1959 TIBETAN UPRISING , WHEN INDIA HAD GRANTED ASYLUM TO DALAI LAMA.INDIA INITIATED A FORWARD POLICY IN WHICH IT PLACED OUTPOSTS ALONG THE BORDER ,INCLUDING SEVERAL NORTH OF THE McMAHON LINE , THE EASTERN PORTION OF A LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL PROCLAIMED BY CHINESE PREMIER ZHOU ENLAI IN 1959. THE WAR ALSO NOTED FOR THE NON-DEPLOYMENT OF THE NAVY OR AIR FORCE BY EITHER THE CHINESE OR INDIAN SIDE.
INDIA-PAKISTAN WAR(AD 1965) : PAKISTANI WAR OF 1965 WAS A CULMINATION OF SKIRMISHES THAT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN APRIL 1965 AND SEPTEMBER 1965 BETWEEN PAK AND INDIA. THE CONFLICT BECAME KNOWN AS THE SECOND KASHMIR WAR AND WAS FOUGHT BY INDIA AND PAKISTAN OVER THE DISPUTED REGION OF KASHMIR.THE WAR BEGAN FOLLOWING PAKISTAN'S OPERATION GIBRALTAR, WHICH WAS DESIGNED TO INFILTRATE FORCES INTO JAMMU AND KASHMIR TO PRECIPITATE AN INSURGENCY AGAINST RULE BY INDIA.
KARGIL WAR(AD 1999) : WAR ALSO CALLED KARGIL CONFLICT WAS AN ARMED CONFLICT BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN THAT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN MAY AND JULY 1999 IN THE KARGIL DISTRICT OF KASHMIR AND ELSEWHERE ALONG THE LINE OF CONTROL (LOC).THE CONFLICT IS ALSO REFERRED TO AS OPERATION VIJAY WHICH WAS THE NAME OF THE INDIAN OPERATION TO CLEAR THE KARGIL SECTOR. THE CAUSE OF THE WAR WAS THE INFILTRATION OF PAKISTANI SOLDIERS AND KASHMIRI MILITANTS INTO POSITIONS ON THE INDIAN SIDE OF THE LOC , WHICH SERVES AS THE DE FACTO BORDER BETWEEN THE TWO STATES.
Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
ReplyDeleteYour article is very well done, a good read.