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.
Mirza Muhammad Mu'azzam, commonly known as Bahadur Shah I and Shah Alam I, was the eighth Mughal Emperor from 1707 to 1712. He was the second son of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who he conspired to overthrow in his youth. He was also governor of the imperial provinces of Agra, Kabul and Lahore and had to face revolts of Rajputs and Sikhs.
Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah was the thirteenth Mughal emperor from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the Sayyid Brothers of Barha, he ascended the throne at the young age of 16, under their strict supervision.
Mirza Aziz-ud-Din Muhammad, better known by his regnal name Alamgir II, was the fifteenth Mughal emperor from 1754 to 1759. He was the son of Jahandar Shah.
Ahmad Shah Bahadur, also known as Mirza Ahmad Shah or Mujahid-ud-Din Ahmad Shah Ghazi, was the fourteenth Mughal emperor, born to Emperor Muhammad Shah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1748, at the age of 22. When Ahmed Shah Bahadur came to power, the Mughal Empire started to decline. Furthermore, his administrative weakness eventually led to the rise of the usurping Imad-ul-Mulk.
Shah Alam II, also known by his birth name Ali Gohar, or Ali Gauhar, was the seventeenth Mughal emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal Empire. His power was so depleted during his reign that it led to a saying in the Persian language, Sultanat-e-Shah Alam, Az Dilli ta Palam, meaning, 'The empire of Shah Alam is from Delhi to Palam', Palam being a suburb of Delhi.
Raghunathrao, 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 Confederacy for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He led successful campaigns in Northern India against the Rohillas in the Battle of Delhi (1757), resulting in the Marathas becaming the de-facto rulers of Delhi with Mughal Emperor Alamgir II having no actual power. He also led successful campaigns against the Durrani Empire at Sirhind and Attock and brought Northwestern India, under Maratha rule for a brief period. Ahmad Shah Abdali sought revenge against the Marathas for capturing Punjab and defeating the Durrani armies. He made preparations for another campaign in India. Raghoba asked for a large financial assistance in order to check Abdali's advance which was refused by Peshwa Nana Saheb. Nana Saheb's decision of not sending Raghoba as the main commander of Maratha armies against Ahmad Shah Abdali ultimately culminated in the defeat at Panipat.
Najib ad-Dawlah, also known as Najib Khan Yousafzai, was an Afghan Yousafzai Rohilla who earlier served as a Mughal serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined Ahmad 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, India. He was instrumental in winning the Third Battle of Panipat and has been regarded as one of the greatest generals of India in the 18th century.
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was a Sikh leader during the period of the Sikh Confederacy, being the supreme leader of the Dal Khalsa. He was also Misldar of the Ahluwalia Misl. This period was an interlude, lasting roughly from the time of the death of Banda Bahadur in 1716 to the founding of the Sikh Empire in 1801. He founded the Kapurthala State in 1772.
Baghel Singh was a warrior leader in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. He rose to prominence in the area around Sutlej and Yamuna. He joined the Singh Krora Misl, one of the Misls during Sikh Confederacy. In 1765, Singh became the leader of the Misl. Baghel Singh is remembered for constructing important Sikh gurdwaras in Delhi at the sites of important events in Sikh history in the area.
Sirhind is the older name of Fatehgarh Sahib, a city and Sikh pilgrimage site in Punjab, India. It is situated on the Delhi to Lahore Highway. It has a population of about 60,851 . It is now a district headquarters in the state of Punjab; the name of the district is Fatehgarh Sahib.
The siege of Bijapur began in March 1685 and ended in September 1686 with a Mughal victory. The siege began when Aurangzeb dispatched his son, Muhammad Azam Shah, with a force of nearly 50,000 men to capture Bijapur Fort and defeat Sikandar Adil Shah, the then Sultan of Bijapur, who refused to be a vassal of the Mughal Empire. The siege of Bijapur was one of the longest military engagements of the Mughals, lasting more than 15 months until Aurangzeb personally arrived to organise a victory.
Banda Singh Bahadur; born Lachman Dev;, was a Sikh warrior and a general of the Khalsa Army. At age 15, he left home to become an ascetic, and was given the name Madho Das Bairagi. He established a monastery at Nānded, on the bank of the river Godāvarī. In 1707, Guru Gobind Singh accepted an invitation to meet Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah I in southern India, he visited Banda Singh Bahadur in 1708. Banda became disciple of Guru Gobind Singh and was given a new name, Gurbaksh Singh(as written in Mahan Kosh), after the baptism ceremony. He is popularly known as Banda Singh Bahadur. He was given five arrows by the Guru as a blessing for the battles ahead. He came to Khanda, Sonipat and assembled a fighting force and led the struggle against the Mughal Empire.
The decline of the Mughal Empire was a period in Indian history roughly between the early 18th century and mid 19th century during which the Mughal Empire, which once dominated the subcontinent, experienced a sharp decline. Various factors frequently cited to be responsible for the decline include internal conflicts, Rajput, Sikh and Maratha rebellions, Afghan and Persian invasions and expansion of East India Company influence and power.
Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of the Durrani Empire, invaded Indian subcontinent a total of 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 Battle of Amritsar, also known as the Battle of Gohalwar, was fought between the Durrani Empire and Shaheedan Misl of the Dal Khalsa on 11 November 1757. Following the fourth invasion of Ahmad Shah Durrani, his army was attacked by Sikh bands under the command of Ala Singh and Baba Deep Singh. Following the attacks, Ahmad Shah desecrated the Sikh holy site known as the Shri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. The news of the desecration reached Baba Deep Singh who vowed to liberate the holy site from the Afghans. This resulted in a pitched battle being fought in the village of Gohalwar, near Amritsar. The battle resulted in Baba Deep Singh being killed and an Afghan victory.
Sikh attacks on Delhi were common in the second half of the 18th century. The Sikhs attacked Delhi 19 times between 1766 and 1788.
The Battle of Balapur marked a civil conflict among Mughal leaders, triggered by the uprising of the Sayyid Brothers. This uprising led to a decline in the status of other Mughal leaders.
The Maratha-Sikh clashes of 1771–1798 were a series of intermittent conflicts between the Maratha Empire and the Sikh Confederacy, primarily in Northern India. These confrontations were concentrated in the Cis-Sutlej territories and the Upper Gangetic Doab. Hostilities were largely initiated by the Sikhs, who sought to raid the Upper Doab and Delhi for plunder. Opposing them were the Marathas, who not only aimed to consolidate their northern dominions after their recovery from the defeat at Panipat in 1761 and to protect their Mughal puppet Emperor Shah Alam II from the sikh raids but also extend their influence up to Satluj.
Dal Khalsa 
Mughal Empire 
Maratha Empire 
Sahib Singh
Mughal Ali Khan
Tukoji Rao Holkar
