In 1529, Babur defeated the Afghans of Bihar and Bengal, led by Mahmud Lodi, in the Battle of:

In 1529, Babur defeated the Afghan chiefs of Bihar and Bengal, led by Mahmud Lodi (a brother of Ibrahim Lodi), in the Battle of Ghaghra, fought near the confluence of the Ghaghra and Ganga rivers in Bihar.

Background:

• After Babur's victories, many Afghan nobles gathered in the east, in Bihar and Bengal.
• They supported Mahmud Lodi, who claimed the throne of Delhi as a member of the Lodi family.
• The Sultan of Bengal, Nusrat Shah, also supported the Afghans.

The battle:

• It was fought on 6 May 1529.
• Babur's army crossed the river and attacked the Afghan forces.
• Babur used his artillery and cavalry effectively.
• It is considered one of the first battles in medieval India fought both on land and on water (river crossings with boats).

Results:

• The Afghans were defeated, though they were not completely crushed.
• Nusrat Shah of Bengal made peace with Babur and agreed not to support the Afghans.
• The battle completed Babur's conquest of north India, from the Oxus to the borders of Bengal.
• However, the Afghans later regrouped under Sher Khan (Sher Shah Suri), who drove Humayun out of India.

Babur's major battles in India:

Before this, he had defeated Ibrahim Lodi, Rana Sanga and a Rajput chief of Malwa.

Babur's death:

Babur died in December 1530 at Agra, about a year and a half after the Battle of Ghaghra.

About the Ghaghra river:

• It rises in Tibet (as the Karnali) and flows through Nepal into India.
• It joins the Ganga near Chhapra, in Bihar.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Chausa and Kannauj were battles between Humayun and Sher Shah.
• ✗Chanderi was fought by Babur against a Rajput chief in 1528.