What were the reasons for Babur’s success in the First Battle of Panipat?

The reasons for Babur’s success in the First Battle of Panipat were following:

1. Babur was better military general and diplomat than Ibrahim Lodhi. He had the capacity to infuse spirit in the dead bodies with his lively speech.
2. Babur introduced a new mode of warfare in India that was a skilled combination of artillery and cavalry. He employed two Ottoman master-gunners, Ustad Ali and Mustafa in his army.
3. He made use of Tulughma strategy of war in which he tied together a large number of carts to act as a defending wall and erected fortifications in between for soldiers to rest their guns and fire. Ibrahim Lodhi had no idea of this kind of warfare.
4. Babur used horses instead of elephants as they were more active. Elephants when wounded used to run back trampling their own armymen under their feet.
5. Army of Babur was small but disciplined. His soldiers knew when to charge and when to retreat. On the other hand, Ibrahim Lodhi's soldiers moved more or less like a crowd. Their vast numbers were more a source of weakness than a source of strength.
6. Disunity among the Indian rulers was another cause that led to Ibrahim Lodhi's defeat.
7. Ibrahim Lodhi was not supported by his own Amirs because of the ill treatment he gave them.
8. Ibrahim Lodhi was an inefficient general who could neither properly organise his forces nor plan the battle well.