On the 21st of April 1526, the air over Panipat did not smell of the familiar clash of swords and spears that had defined Indian warfare for centuries. Instead, it was choked with the acrid smoke of gunpowder and the deafening roar of matchlock muskets and field artillery. This was the moment Babur, a descendant of Genghis Khan and Timur, transformed the political landscape of the subcontinent by defeating the Delhi Sultanate's Lodi dynasty. The Lodi forces, though numerous, were helpless against the superior firepower and discipline of the Mughal army. Sultan Ibrahim Lodi was killed in the heat of the battle, and Babur seized control of Delhi and vast swathes of northern India. This victory was not merely a change of dynasty but a technological revolution that would define the next two centuries of conflict. Babur continued his campaign by raiding western Punjab in 1520 and subduing Lahore in 1524, but the true test of his new empire came later. In 1529, at the Battle of the Ghagara river, Babur utilized musket barrages to devastating effect against the remnants of Afghan resistance, proving that the old tribal armies could no longer stand against the organized firepower of the Mughals.
The Surid Counterattack
The Mughal hold on India was far from secure, and the Afghan resistance regrouped under a new banner that would challenge the very existence of the empire. Sher Shah Suri, a man of immense ambition and administrative genius, rose from the ranks to defeat the Mughal Emperor Humayun in the Battle of Chausa in 1539 and again in the Battle of Kanauj in 1540. This victory established the Sur Empire, a short-lived but formidable Afghan state that ruled over India from 1540 to 1556. The Surid conflicts were not just a series of battles but a complete restructuring of the region's power dynamics. Sher Shah Suri implemented reforms that rivaled the Mughals, creating a centralized administration and a robust military machine. The Mughals, now in exile, watched as their empire crumbled under the weight of Afghan resurgence. The struggle between the Sur Empire and the Mughal Empire continued for several years, with both sides experiencing victories and defeats. However, the Mughals were ultimately able to prevail due to their superior military technology, organization, and resources. In 1556, Akbar's forces defeated the Sur army in the Battle of Machhiwara, and the Sur Empire collapsed soon after, marking the transition from the Sur Empire to the Mughal Empire and the consolidation of Mughal power over much of the subcontinent.The Frontier Firestorm
While the Mughals consolidated their power in the plains, a different kind of war was brewing in the rugged northwest, where the terrain itself seemed to conspire against the invaders. The Karrani dynasty, led by King Daud Khan Karrani, put up a fierce fight against the Mughal forces in Bengal, causing significant casualties and delaying the Mughal advance. The conflict was not limited to Bengal, as the Karranis and other Afghan groups also resisted Mughal rule in other parts of the empire, such as the northwest frontier region in 1612. A more ideological resistance emerged with the Roshani movement, a deviant Sufism movement preaching Wahdat al-Wujud that grew in Peshawar. Founded by the charismatic leader Pir Roshan, the movement played an important part in politically resisting the increasing influence of Mughals in the Afghan region. Pir Roshan spent his life in conflict with the Mughals until his death in 1572, and his successors continued his struggle against the Mughals, even capturing Ghazni city at one point. The movement eventually weakened and ended after constant battles, but the cost was high. The Karrani-Mughal conflicts were not limited to Bengal, as the Karranis and other Afghan groups also resisted Mughal rule in other parts of the empire, such as the northwest frontier region in 1612. At the time of the Mughal invasion of the Greater Sylhet region, Bayazid Karrani II, a member of the Karrani dynasty of Bengal, was among the most powerful leaders of the Eastern Afghani Confederates, independently ruling its eastern half with his capital in Pratapgarh. Bayazid formed an alliance with Khwaja Usman from Usmangarh and Anwar Khan of Baniachong. The intense conflict raged between the alliance with the Mughal force until Khwaja Usman was slain in one of the clashes. The death of Khwaja Usman greatly demoralized the Afghan, prompting Bayazid to surrender. Soon after, Anwar Khan also submitted, thus bringing Sylhet for the first time under the control of the Mughal empire.