Third Battle Of Panipat (1761)

On January 14, 1761, at Panipat, the Afghan King Ahmad Shah Durrani and two Indian Muslim allies the Rohilla Afghans of the Doab and Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Oudh fought against an expeditionary force of the Maratha Empire from the north. The Afghan and Rohilla heavy cavalry and mounted artillery (zamburak and jizail), led by Ahmad Shah Durrani and Najib-ud-Daulah, both of whom are Pashtun ethnicity (the former is also known as Ahmad Shah Abdali), engaged the Marathas' French-supplied artillery and cavalry in the engagement. 

 

•    Following the 27-year Mughal-Maratha conflict (1680–1707), the Mughal Empire fell, and the Maratha Empire quickly expanded its territory.

 

•    Peshwa Baji Rao brought Malwa and Gujarat under Maratha rule.

 

•    Finally, in 1737, Baji Rao conquered the Mughals in Delhi, transferring Maratha rule to a large portion of the old Mughal area south of Delhi.

 

•    As a result, the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali's Durrani Empire were at odds.

 

•    In Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Durrani founded the Durrani Empire in 1747. In 1747, he annexed Lahore.

 

•    Since then, he has also grabbed control of Sindh and Punjab. The governor of Lahore was Timur Shah, the son of Durrani.

 

•    The Maratha Peshwa Bajirao was successful in capturing Lahore and driving away Timur Shah.

 

•    He organized a Pashtun army in 1759, and it successfully defeated a number of Punjabi Maratha garrisons.

 

•    Only hardly noticeable Mughal rule existed in Delhi. Many people petitioned Durrani to stop the Marathas' rapid growth because they were worried about it.

 

•    He then joined forces with his Indian friends, the Rohilla Afghans of the Gangetic Doab, to build a broad alliance against the Marathas.

 

•    Both the Marathas and the Afghans made an effort to ensconce Shuja-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Awadh, in their camp.

 

•    Shuja-ud-Daulah made the decision to join the Afghan-Rohilla coalition at the end of July, citing his preference to join the "army of Islam."

 

•    Shuja had provided much-needed finances for the Afghans' protracted presence in North India, so this was a strategic blow for the Marathas.

 

•    Without Shuja's assistance, it seems unlikely that the Afghan-Rohilla coalition could continue fighting the Marathas.

 

•    The Maratha army was outnumbered by Durrani and his allies' combined force.

 

•    The aid of Shuja-ud-Daulah was also essential since he provided the money required for the Afghans' protracted stay in northern India.

 

•    Pune served as the Maratha capital, and the battleground was far distant.

 

•    In August 1760, the Maratha camp at last reached Delhi and conquered it.

 

•    The Marathas defeated an Afghan garrison of roughly 15,000 men in a fight at Kunjpura, which was followed by a series of battles along the Yamuna's banks.

 

•    Abdali, however, bravely cut off the Maratha camp from their stronghold in Delhi in October by crossing the Yamuna at Baghpat.

 

•    This finally turned into a two-month siege against the Marathas in Panipat under the direction of Abdali.

 

•    Both sides attempted to cut off each other's supplies throughout the siege, although the Afghans were far more effective.

 

•    They had almost cut off all food supplies to the besieged Maratha camp by the end of November 1760.

 

•    In the Maratha camp, hundreds of cattle perished by the time the food ran out in late December or early January.

 

•    Early in January, rumors of soldiers starving to death started to spread.

 

•    The Maratha chiefs begged their leader, Sadashiv Rao Bhau, to let them perish in combat rather than let them starve to death because they had no supplies and dying men.

 

•    In a last-ditch effort to end the siege, the Marathas left their camp and marched towards the Afghan camp.

 

•    The combat, which lasted many days, involved more than 125,000 soldiers.

 

•    Long-lasting skirmishes broke out, with both sides losing and gaining territory.

 

•    The army commanded by Ahmad Shah Durrani won the battle after destroying many Maratha flanks.

 

•    According to estimates, both sides suffered the following losses:

 

•    Between 60,000 and 70,000 individuals died in the war.

 

•    The number of people taken into custody and injured fluctuates substantially.

 

•    Approximately 40,000 Maratha prisoners were brutally murdered the day following the fight.

 

•    Following the fight, the Afghan army killed tens of thousands of Maratha troops and residents in the streets of Panipat.

 

•    In camps in Afghanistan, the vanquished women and children were sold as slaves.

 

•    Approximately 40,000 Maratha prisoners were brutally murdered a day after the fight.

 

•    Sadashivrao Bhau and the Peshwa's son Vishwasrao were among the combatants who perished.

 

•    The Peshwa, Balaji Bajirao, never fully recovered from the shock of the disaster.

 

•    There were numerous fatalities on both sides.

 

•    The Maratha uprising was suppressed, but ten years later, they retook Delhi under Peshwa Madhavrao.

 

•    Durrani didn't spend a lot of time in India. He restored Shah Alam II of the Moghuls as Emperor in Delhi.

 

•    The conflict prevented future Maratha advances in the north and caused their lands to become unstable for about ten years.

 

•    Peshwa Madhavrao's rule during this ten-year span is notable because he is credited with restoring Maratha supremacy following the defeat at Panipat.

 

•    Peshwa Madhavrao led a sizable Maratha force into North India in 1771, ten years after Panipat, in an effort to restore Maratha supremacy in the area.

 

•    Punish recalcitrant groups that either supported the Afghans, like the Rohillas, or had resisted Maratha control after Panipat.

 

•    The victory of this campaign can be seen as the conclusion of Panipat's illustrious history. 

 

The Marathas' desire to dominate over India was finally put an end by Ahmad Shah Abdali in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761. With perhaps the most casualties known in one day in a traditional formation combat between two armies, the conflict is regarded as one of the largest fought in the 18th century.