Military Structure of the Mughal Empire

Military Structure of the Mughal Empire - Battle of Panipat

The battle of Panipat- fought on 21 April 1526 near the small village of Panipat (now a town in Haryana), This is an area that has been the site of a number of decisive battles for the control of Northern India since the twelfth century.
Babur's forces numbered around 15,000 men

and had between 20 to 24 pieces of field artillery. Babur estimated Lodi had around 100,000 men, though that number included camp followers.
Lodi fighting force - around 30,000 to 40,000 men With at least 1,000 war elephants.
Tactics- Tulghuma and the Araba.

Tulghuma - divide army into units, Left, Right and the Centre.
The Left and Right divisions were further subdivided into Forward and Rear divisions.

Through this a small army could be used to surround the enemy from all the sides. The Centre Forward division was then provided with carts (araba) which were placed in rows facing the enemy and tied to each other with animal hide ropes.
Behind them were placed cannons protected and supported by mantlets which could be used to easily maneuver the cannons. These two tactics made Babur's artillery lethal. The cannons could be fired without any fear of being hit, as they were shielded by the bullock carts held in place by hide ropes. The heavy cannons could also be easily traversed onto new targets, as they could be maneuvered by the mantlets which were on wheels.