The first battle of Panipat took place in northern India, and marked the beginning of the Mogul Empire.

In 1526, the forces of Babur, the ruler of Kabul and of Timurid descent, defeated the much larger army of Ibrahim Lodi, the ruler of the large North Indian Delhi Sultanate.

The battle was fought near the small village of Panipat, in the present day Indian state of Haryana, an area that has been the site of a number decisive battles for the control of Northern India since the twelfth century.

It is estimated that Babur's forces numbered about 12,000 men and he had between 15 to 20 pieces of field artillery . These guns proved decisive in battle because Ibrahim Lodi's lacked any field artillery. Babur was an inspirational leader of men and commanded a well disciplined army.

In contrast, Ibrahim Lodhi was loathed by many of his commanders and feudatories because of his legendary cruelty and avarice; his army, which really consisted of separate feudal contingents, loosely held together, started disintegrating under the bombardment of Babur's forces. Ibrahim Lodi died on the field of battle, abandoned by his feudatories and generals, most of whom would change their allegiance to the new master of Delhi.

The battle marked the foundation of the so called Mughal or Mogul empire in India - the word means Mongol and alludes to the Turko-Mongol origins of Baburs and his officers, although the majority of his troops would probably have had been of mixed Central Asian descent.

The other significance of the battle is that it marked the beginning of large scale use of fire arms in Indian warfare.