Third Battle of Panipat

Introduction

The Third Battle of Panipat stopped the expansion of the Maratha territory for several years and Ahmad Shah Durrani was the one behind this. The battle took place on 14th January, 1761 between the Afghans and the Marathas. Ahmad Shah Durrani settled down his empire in Afghanistan in 1747 and in the same year he conquered Lahore as well. He made his son, Timur Shah, the Governor of Lahore but woefully, Maratha Peshwa’s somehow managed to drove him out of the picture to clear the ground. This made Durrani angry and he initiated an attack on the Marathas.

Image 1: MUGHAL EMPIRE - 1525 (on the eve of the first battle of Panipat; 1605 (on the accession of Jahangir);1707 (on the death of Aurangzeb); 1761 (on the eve of the third battle of Panipat).

About Third Battle of Panipat

The Third Battle of Panipat was fought between Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Afghan king and Maratha Empire’s northern force. There were two Muslim Indian allies, Doab’s Rohilla Afghans and Oudh’s Nawab, Shuja-ud-Daulah, also joined the battle. This battle was started on the 14th of January of 1761 at Panipat. Artillery that was supplied by the French to the Marathas was pitted with the mounted artillery and heavy cavalry of the Rohillas and Afghans that was led by Shuja-ud-Daulah and Ahmad Shah Durrani.

Image 2: Ahmad Shah Durani

Third Battle of Panipat: Background

The empire of the Mughals was falling apart because of the Mughal-Maratha battle (1680–1707) and as a result, the empire of Maratha was increasing territory rapidly.

Image 3: Peshwa Balaji Bajirao, Son of Bajirao Peshwa

Peshwa Baji Rao took the control of Malwa and Gujarat and in 1737 he defeated the king of the Mughals and added the Southern part of Delhi to his territory. This became the main reason behind the Mughal and Maratha conflict. Baji Rao captured Lahore and eliminated Timur Shah, son of Durrani, from the competition. Timur Shah, in 1759 attacked Punjab and gained some territory.

Delhi was nominally managed by the Mughals and the people were frightened of the rapid rise of the Marathas. They filed a petition to Durrani to stop the Marathas’ expansion. Durrani generated a huge alliance and attacked the Marathas.

Third Battle of Panipat: Shuja-ud-Daulah’s Role

Image 4: Shuja ud-Daulah

Both the Afghans and Marathas wanted Shuja-ud-Daulah, Oudh’s Nawab, on their side but he joined the army of Afghan-Rohilla.

It was a setback for Marathas because the long stay of Afghans in Northern India was funded by Shuja-ud-Daulah. Some historians thought that the army of Afghan-Rohilla could able to continue their battle with Marathas without the help of Shuja-ud-Daulah.

Reasons behind the Victory of the Afghan

There were various reasons behind the victory of the Afghan army but the main reason was, the army of Maratha was outnumbered by the merger of Durrani’s army and his allies. The assistance of Shuja-ud-Daulah also played a crucial role in this battle. He supplied the essential fund to the Afghans for their stay in the northern part of India. Pune was the capital of the Marathas and the distance between Pune and the battlefield was very long.

The camp of Maratha took Delhi in August of 1760. A series of battles were fought along the river bank of Yamuna and at the battle of Kunjpura, the Marathas won the fight against the army of Afghans. Abdali crossed the River Yamuna in October of that year and cut off the camp of Maratha from the Delhi base.

This event escalated the siege for two months and during this time both sides were trying to cut off the supplies of the opponents but the Afghans was more successful. Many cattle of the Maratha’s camp died because of the scarcity of food that happened in late December or early January. The soldiers of the Marathas were also dying from starvation at the beginning of January.

Third Battle of Panipat: Course

The chiefs of the Maratha pleaded to Sadashiv Rao Bhau, the commander of the Maratha army to let them perish in the field of battle instead of starving to the death. The Maratha wanted to break the siege therefore they desperately marched forward to the camp of the Afghans. More than 125,000 troops joined in this battle that lasted for various days. Durrani became victorious after destroying many flanks of Marathas. The losses were huge on both sides and there were 60,000 to 70,000 people died in this battle.

Third Battle of Panipat: Consequences

Immediately after the battle, the army of Afghans slaughtered thousands of civilians and soldiers of Marathas in the street of Panipat. The Maratha children and women were sold into the camps of Afghans as slaves. Sadashivrao Bhau and Vishwasrao, son of Peshwa were killed in this war. The Peshwa, Balaji Bajirao never recuperated from this debacle shock.

Both sides lost a huge quantity of casualties. The rise of the Maratha was stopped but after ten years Peshwa Madhavrao retook Delhi. Durrani appointed Mughal Shah Alam II as the emperor of Delhi and left India.

Conclusion

The Panipat's Third Battle skirmished between the Afghans and the Marathas that stopped the ambition of the Marathas to govern the entire India. The Nawab of Oudh also joined in this battle and helped the Afghans with the funds. This battle was one of the largest battles that were fought in the century of 18th. A huge number of casualties were reported in a day during a war between two troops. Roughly 40,000 armies of Maratha were massacred on the next day of the battle. The Afghans brutally butchered many Maratha folks on the road to the capital.

FAQs

Q1.Who won the First Battle of Panipat?

Ans.The first battle of Panipat was fought between the Lodhi Empire and Babur on the 21st of April of 1526. The army of Mughal king Babur won the First Battle of Panipat against Ibrahim Lodhi.

Q2.What was the historic name of Panipat?

Ans.Panipat was familiar as Panduprastha according to the course of history. In Mahabharata, the great epic of India, the Pandava brothers established this city during their reign. At different times, three consecutive battles were fought in Panipat.

Q3.When was the Second Battle of Panipat fought?

Ans.The second battle of Panipat was fought in 1556 between the troops of Akbar and the armies of Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya. The forces of Akbar won the second battle of Panipat.