The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761 between the Maratha Confederacy and the invading army of the Durrani Empire. The battle took place in and around the city of Panipat, approximately 97 kilometres (60 mi) north of Delhi. The Afghans were supported by three key allies in India: Najib ad-Dawlah who persuaded the support of the Rohilla chiefs, elements of the declining Mughal Empire, and most prized the Oudh State under Shuja-ud-Daula. The Maratha army was led by Sadashivrao Bhau, who was third-highest authority of the Maratha Confederacy after the Chhatrapati and the Peshwa. The bulk of the Maratha army was stationed in the Deccan Plateau with the Peshwa.
Suraj Mal was a Jat ruler of Bharatpur in present-day state of Rajasthan. Under him, the Jat rule covered the present-day districts of Agra, Aligarh, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Etawa, Hathras, Mainpuri, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Mathura, and Rohtak, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Nuh, Palwal, Faridabad, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Bulandshahr.
Raghunathrao Bhat, also known as Ragho Ballal or Raghoba Dada, was the younger son of Peshwa Bajirao I who served as the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He succeeded his Nephew Narayanrao.
Malhar Rao Holkar was a noble subedar of the Maratha Empire, in present-day India. He was one of the early officers along with Ranoji Scindia to help spread the Maratha rule to northern states and was given the estate of Indore to rule by the Peshwas, during the reign of the Maratha emperor Shahu I. He was founder of the Holkar dynasty that ruled Malwa.
Najib ad-Dawlah, also known as Najib Khan Yousafzai, was a Rohilla Yousafzai Afghan who earlier served as a Mughal serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined Ahmed Shah Abdali in 1757 in his attack on Delhi. He was also a House chief of Rohilkhand, and in the 1740s founded the city of Najibabad in Bijnor district, India. He was instrumental in winning the Third Battle of Panipat.
Sadashivrao Bhau Bhatt was son of Chimaji Appa and Rakhmabai and the nephew of Baji Rao I. He was a finance minister during the reign of Maratha emperor Rajaram II. He led the Maratha army at the Third Battle of Panipat.
Ibrahim Khan Gardi was a South Indian Muslim general of Maratha Empire. An expert in artillery, he initially served the Nizam of Hyderabad, before working for the Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. As a general of the Maratha Empire, he commanded a force of 10,000 men, infantry and artillery. He was captured and killed by the Durrani soldiers during the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.
Feroze Jung III or Nizam Shahabuddin Muhammad Feroz Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi also known by his sobriquet Imad-ul-Mulk, was the grand vizier of the Mughal Empire when it was under Maratha suzerainty, making them the de facto rulers.
Zabita Khan Rohilla was a Rohilla chieftain in the time of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.
Adina Beg Khan was a Punjabi general and administrator who served as the last governor of the Punjab region of the Mughal Empire, including the provinces of Lahore and of Multan. He defeated Afghans after rising to power and was recognised as the Nawab of Punjab by Mughal emperor Alamgir II, who also gave him title of Jang Bahadur.
The Capture of Peshawar took place in the spring of 1758 when the Sikh Confederacy and the Maratha Empire defeated the Afghan forces led by Timur Shah Durrani. The Marathas and Sikhs were victorious and Peshawar was annexed into the Maratha Empire. Before that, the fort of Peshawar was being guarded by Afghan troops under Timur Shah Durrani and Jahan Khan. When Raghunathrao and Malhar Rao Holkar left for the Deccan, Tukoji Rao Holkar was given the charge of Peshawar with 10,000 Maratha troops.
The Afghan-Maratha War was fought between the Afghan Empire under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Maratha Empire and the Sikh Confederacy between 1758 and 1761. It took place in north-west India, primarily the region around Delhi and Punjab.
Sahiba Mahal was the second wife of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah.
Najabat Khan was an Indian Pathan warrior of the 18th century, and founder of a line of chiefs of Kunjpura which he was granted by Nadir Shah in 1739 and the titlehood "Nawab". Nawab Najabat Khan was killed during the Battle of Kunjpura at his fort on 17 October 1760 by the Marathas led by Ibrahim Khan Gardi during Third Battle of Panipat preparations.
Hari Ram Gupta was an Indian historian. The main focus of his work was the Sikh history of 18th century. During 1957 to 1963, he was head of Panjab University's History department. Following his retirement, he was an honorary professor in the History department of University of Delhi from 1964 to 1967.
Sikh attacks on Delhi were common in the second half of the 18th century. The Sikhs attacked Delhi 19 times between 1766 and 1788.
Mian Qutb Shah or Qutb Khan was an Indian Muslim Sardar and formerly a collector of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He was best known as the slayer of Dattaji Rao Scindia.
The siege of Kunjpura was a 14-day siege in April to May 1772 by Sikh forces led by Sahib Singh against the Mughal coalition forces led by Mughal Ali Khan. Siege ended with a Sikh victory against an allied force of Mughals, Afghans and Marathas.
During the Maratha invasion of the Punjab in 1758, the Mughal-ki-Sarai near Ambala, Rajpura, and Sarai Banjara were all significant locations that witnessed the passage of the Maratha army. The siege of Sarhind, however, was a pivotal moment in this campaign.
The Capture of Delhi, fought in 1760, pitted the forces of the Maratha Empire against those of the Durrani Empire led by Yakub Ali Khan. The Maratha army was commanded by Sadashiv Rao Bhau, a prominent military leader and the brother-in-law of the Maratha Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao. The Durrani army, on the other hand, was led by Yakub Ali Khan, a trusted general of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of the Durrani Empire.
Maratha Empire 
Durrani Empire 
Kingdom of Rohilkhand 
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