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.
The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian empire and later a confederation that controlled large portions of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji of the Bhonsle dynasty as the Chhatrapati. Although Shivaji came from the Maratha caste, the Maratha empire also included warriors, administrators, and other nobles from the Maratha and several other castes from what is known today as Maharashtra. The Maratha Kingdom was expanded into a full-fledged Empire in the 18th Century under the leadership of Peshwa Bajirao I.
Balaji Baji Rao, often referred to as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy. He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his father, the Peshwa Bajirao I.
Madhavrao I was the 9th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy. During his tenure, the Maratha Confederacy fully recovered from the losses they suffered during the Third Battle of Panipat, an event known as Maratha Resurrection.
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, Alwar Etawa, Hathras, Mainpuri, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Mathura, and Rohtak, Sonipat, Rewari, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Nuh, Palwal, Faridabad, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Bulandshahr.
The Durrani dynasty was founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani at Kandahar, Afghanistan. He united the different Pashtun tribes and created the Durrani Empire. which at its peak included the modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, as well as some parts of northeastern Iran, eastern Turkmenistan, and northwestern India including the Kashmir Valley.
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.
The Maratha Conquests were a series of conquests in the Indian subcontinent which led to the building of the Maratha Empire. These conquests were started by Shivaji in 1659, from the victory at the Battle of Pratapgad against Bijapur. The expansion of the empire was limited and interrupted by the Mughal conquests of south India by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb until he eventually died in 1707 in Deccan itself. Marathas were forced to defend their territories against the overwhelmingly strong Mughal army in the 27 years long Deccan wars. They were able to defend their territories and gain an upper hand over Mughals in the sustained conflict.
Sadashivrao Bhau Peshwa 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.
The Battle of Shopian took place on 5 July 1819 between an expeditionary force from the Sikh Empire and Jabbar Khan, the governor of the Kashmir Valley province of the Durrani Empire. It was the decisive battle during the Sikh expedition into Kashmir in 1819.
The Afghan–Sikh Wars spanned from 1748 to 1837 in the Indian subcontinent, and saw multiple phases of fighting between the Durrani Empire and the Sikh Empire, mainly in and around Punjab region. The conflict's origins stemmed from the days of the Dal Khalsa, and continued after the Emirate of Kabul succeeded the Durrani Empire.
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 the 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.
Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of the Durrani Empire, invaded Indian subcontinent for eight times between 1748 and 1767, following the collapse of Mughal Empire in the mid-18th century. His objectives were met through the raids and deepened the political crisis in India.
The First Battle of Lahore was fought between the Durrani Empire on one side, and the Maratha Empire and the Sikh Confederacy of the Sukerchakia Misl and the Ahluwalia Misl on the other in 1759.
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.
The Battle of Kunjpura, fought on October 17, 1760, was a significant engagement during the Maratha-Afghan Wars. Led by the prominent Maratha commander Bhau marched towards Kunjpura, approximately 150 kilometers north of Delhi, due to high floods preventing the transportation of supplies from the Panjab, particularly from Sirhind. This was a significant temptation for Bhau to embark on the journey.
Maratha Empire 
Durrani Empire 