“History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again.”
Karl Vonnegut
Discovering Panipat beyond Textbooks
Thanks to the history I studied in school, the one thing I knew about Panipat before my visit was that it hosted three battles here. And thanks to my curiosity about lesser-known places, I learnt a lot, discovering Panipat beyond textbooks! One’s imagination of Panipat could be of a vast battlefield of some sort, at least mine was. Couldn’t be more wrong, though. A small overcrowded town mostly bypassed en route to Kurukshetra and Ambala from Delhi – It bears a rich legacy.
The name Panipat comes from the Mahabharata epic and is a corruption of Panduprastha, one of the five cities (prastha) during the rule of the Pandavas. Beyond the Mahabharata, the earliest historical evidence comes in the 14th century AD through the miracles of a Sufi saint Bu’ Ali Shah Qalandar. In the East India Company’s chronicles of the early 17th century, Panipat features as a commercial centre, exporting fine cotton.
The legacy of Panipat
Panipat Shareef, as the followers of the Sufi tradition call it, is home to the dargah of Bu’ Ali Shah Qalandar. A scholar and a poet blessed by Hazrat Maula Ali himself, the Diwan of Bu Ali Shah is one of the most important books of Sufism in Persian. The dargah or the resting place is located deep within the lanes of Panipat’s market.
A vision in white and green, the main building is in an enormous expanse of space marked for Thursday prayers and celebrations. The interiors of the mausoleum are resplendent in colourful glass, worthy of a long stay and dekko. Close to this shrine is the Salar Jung gate, built in the memory of Salar Jung, prime minister to the Nizam of Hyderabad.
Panipat – The battleground for Delhi
Another monument of historical importance and tucked away in a nondescript locality, is the Kabuli Bagh Mosque. It’s very hard to locate and locals know little about it. The mosque is commemorative, built to celebrate Babur’s victory over Ibrahim Lodhi at the first battle of Panipat in 1527 AD. Named after Babur’s queen, Mussammat Kabuli Begum, this mosque is a symbol of the Mughals’ entry into the Indian subcontinent.
It is one of the few buildings constructed by Babur himself, while Humayun commissioned subsequent additions to the platform, gardens and wall after his victory over Sher Shah Suri in 1557 AD. The architecture reflects the mosques of Samarkand with arched domes, though not a replica. The prayer hall with the largest dome at its top is large with an ornamented Qibla.
This mosque makes use of red sandstone bricks and stucco plaster with Persian inscriptions on its walls. The outer wall has octagonal towers at its corners. The entry gate with a hemispherical dome has ornamentation on its arch.
Ibrahim Lodhi, the king who lost this battle fighting his own uncle Babur, lies buried in the city of Panipat. The British, while reconstructing the Grand Trunk Road in 1866 AD, shifted his grave from its original location and raised a platform with an inscription marking the grave.
Memorials of the Battles of Panipat
Away from the hustle of the city, the location where the Third battle of Panipat happened in 1761 AD is Kala Amb, meaning Black Mango tree. The commander of the Maratha forces, Sadashiv Rao Bhau, fell under this tree that marked the end of this battle with an Afghan victory. This paved the way for the East India Company to consolidate its hold in India.
The memorial park at Kala Amb has a red brick pillar where the mango tree stood then. Surrounding the pillar are murals that depict the goriness of the war fought in Panipat. Although the Second battle of Panipat between Akbar and Hemu in 1556 AD isn’t much spoken about, the beheading and hanging of Hemu’s head is its most-talked-about story. This park is a quiet oasis to remind ourselves of the legacies that shaped this subcontinent.
The city’s narrow lanes bustling with handloom trade also hide within them the sacrifices made by the thousands of soldiers and common people. Discovering Panipat beyond textbooks is an eye-opener of many kinds.
It isn’t just a town; it is history coming alive!
Pin the master battleground…
