Battles and Wars of India

Time

period

Name of the

battle

Fought between Conclusion

327-25

BC

Invasion of

Alexander/ Battle

of Jhelum

Alexander and

Porus, the Indian King

Invasion, Expansion of

Alexander’s Empire

305 BC Chandragupta Maurya and

Greek King Seleucus

To defend India and prevent

Invasion. Mauryans won.

216 BC The Kalinga War Emperor Asoka and

Kalinga Kingdom

Conquest. Asoka won. This war

is also considered to have

inspired Asoka to give up

violence and embrace

Buddhism

155 BC Menander’s

Invasion

Menander, the Greek king

India

Conquest. Expansion of

Menander’s Empire

90 BC The Saka

Invasion

The Sakas or the Indo-scythians

from central Asia and northern

south Asia invades India

Sakas acquired certain parts of

Indian subcontinent and

established a kingdom in Taxila

454 AD Huna Invasion Hunas, the nomads from

Chinese region invaded India

for the first time

Hunas were defeated by Gupta

ruler, Skandagupta

495 AD Second Huna

Invasion

Hunas invades India for the

second time under the

Hunas won

leadership of Tormana

711-712

AD

The Arab

Invasion

Arabs invade Sind, India under

the leadership of Muhammed

Bin Qasim

(Twice within the time period)

Arabs won during the second

time

1000- 27

AD

Mahmud of Ghazi invades

India 17 times within this time

period

Invasions were not mere

conquests, but plunders which

left many of the Rajput

kingdoms empty and vassals to

Mahmud of Ghazni

1175 –

1206 AD

Invasions of

Muhammad

Ghori

1191 AD- between Prithviraj

chauhan and Ghori

1192 AD- Prithviraj Chauhan

defeated

1194 AD Ghori defeats the

King of Kanauj

Though Ghori succeeded in his

advances, he couldn’t sustain

his success, with his murder,

the slaves of his dynasty

assumed power, which later

came to be known as the slave

dynasty/Khilji dynasty

Tughlaq dynasty came into existence with a coup launched on the Khilji dynasty by Ghazi

Malik, the then governor of Punjab, who later became Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq and started the

reign of Tughlaq dynasty 1320 AD

1398 AD Invasion by

Timur

Timur and his army

attacks Sultan Mahmud shah of

the Tughlaq Dynasty

Timur won

Khizr khan of Multan besieged the already defeated Delhi to assume power and start off the

Sayyid Dynasty on 1414 AD, But couldn’t survive for long, the last Sayyid ruler Ala-ud-din-

Alam shah left his crown to one of his favourite governor Bahlul khan Lodi, in 1451 AD.

Bahlul Khan Lodi established Lodi dynasty.

1526 AD Babur’s invasion

The first battle of

Panipat

Babur invades India and

engages in battle Ibrahim Lodi

Babur wins The Lodi dynasty

ends. Mughal rule begins in

India.

1539-40

AD

Battle of Ghagra

and Battle of

Kanauj

Sher shah suri of the Sur

empire challenges the Mughal

authority and the then Mughal

king Humayun

Humayun loses. Sher shah

takes control of the Mughal

empire

1545 AD Battle of Kalinjar Sher Shah suri died during a

gunpowder accident

Hindu rule comes back to Delhi

with Hemu assuming the throne

in 1556 AD, re -establishing

Hindu rule after 350 years

1556 AD Second Battle of

Panipat

Mughal ruler

Akbar challenges Hemu

Akbar defeats Hemu

1565 AD Battle of The forces of Vijayanagara Vijayanagara Kingdom was

Rakatakshasi empire of Kind Sadasiva Raya

and Rama Raya are attacked by

combined forces of

Bijapur,Golkonda,Ahmadnagar

and Bidar

defeated

1576 AD Battle of

Haldighati

Akbar challenges Maha Rana

Pratap of Mewar

Akbar Won

1632-33

AD

Conquest of

Ahmednagar

Akbar tried to take over

Ahmednagar which was in

chaos with no clear leader ship

to look after Ahmednagar

sultanate

Akbar won

1658 AD Battle of

Dharmat and

Battle of

Samugarh

Aurangzeb who was eager to

assume the Mughals throne was

challenged by Shahjahan’s

eldest son, Dara Shikoh

Dara Shikoh won

1665 AD Shivaji defied the Mughal

authority of Aurangzeb and

fought with Raja Jai Singh, an

ally of Aurangzeb

Shivaji was defeated

1739 AD Invasion of India by Nadir shah Nadir shah didn’t have to

launch an attack on the already

weak Mughals. So he plundered

Delhi and massacred the city

dwellers. The famed peacock

thrown and Kohinoor also lists

among the plundered items

1746 AD First Carnatic

War

Between British and French

troops in India over the

possession of Madras which

was taken over by the French

War ended with a treaty which

returned the possession of

Madras to the British

1748-54

AD

Second Carnatic

War

It started out a family feud over

the throne of the Nizam of

Hyderabad, between Nasir Jung

and Muzaffar Jung, son and

grandson of Nizam. In an

attempt to overthrow the

political stability French and

English took both sides of the

issue

War ended with Treaty of

Pondicherry, with British on the

winning side.

1756-63

AD

Third Carnatic

War

This war took place as an after-

effect of seven years war that

took place in Europe between

France and Britain. It spread all

over India with British

eventually taking over the

French capital of Pondicherry

War ended with treaty of Paris

with British winning. Treaty

forbade France from holding

trade relation with India.

Pondicherry was returned to

French

1757 AD The Battle of

Plassey

Between Siraj-uddhawla , the

Nawab of Bengal and Robert

Clive , the British

representative

Nawab was defeated and this

war established company rule

over India

1762 AD Third Battle of

Panipat

War was between a Muslim

alliance of Ahmed shah

Abdali, Shuja ud Daula, Najib

ul Dawlah against the Maratha

power at Delhi

Marathas lost. It led to the

weakening of Maratha’s hold in

north

1764 AD Battle of Buxar Between English and Nawabs

of Awadh and Bengal

The British won

1767 –

69 AD

First Mysore War Fought between the sultanate of

Mysore and the east India

company

Ended with treaty between

sultan of Mysore and Company

1775-82

AD

First Maratha

War

Fought between the company

and Maratha empire on

violation of the treaty of Surat

War ended with the treaty of

Saibai

1780-84

AD

Second Mysore

War

Was a result of the ongoing

French-British rivalry in which

Mysore was ally of French

War ended with treaty of

Mangalore and temporary

peace

1792 AD Third Mysore

War

Between Tipu Sultan and the

east India company

Ended with treaty

of Seringapatam and Tipu

complying to the terms of

British

1799 AD Fourth Mysore

War

War started with British trying

to take indirect control of

Mysore and withdrawing

support to the son of Tipu

Tipu’s kingdom was defeated

1802-04

AD

Second Maratha

War

War between Maratha kingdom

and company

British won with

Treaty of Deogaon (1803)

Treaty of Surji-

Anjangaon (1803)

Treaty of Rajghat (1805

1817-18 Third Maratha Final war between the company Maratha’s lost

AD War and the Marathas

1845-46

AD

First Sikh War Between the Sikh empire in

Punjab and the east India

company

Sikhs were left partially

defeated

1846 AD Battle of Aiiwal Between the Sikh empire in

Punjab and the east India

company

Sikhs were defeated

1848-49

AD

Second Sikh War Between the Sikh empire in

Punjab and the east India

company

Sikhs were defeated completely

and Punjab was made part of

British India

1857 AD Sepoy Mutiny/

first war of

Indian

independence

Between a section of the Indian

army battalion and the

company

It finally ended the company

rule in India and brought the

county under Queens rule