Battle of Narela

Battle of Narela
Part of Afghan-Maratha Conflicts
Date 16 January 1757 Location Narela, Outskirts of Delhi Result Maratha Empire victory, Durrani forces retreat to Sonipat.
Belligerents
Maratha Empire	Durrani Empire
Commanders and leaders
Antaji Mankeshwar	Rahim Khan
Strength
3,400	5,000
Casualties and losses
100 killed.	200-300 killed.

The Battle of Narela took place on 16 January 1757, at Narela, on the outskirts of Delhi, between the Maratha Army led by Antaji Mankeshwar and an advance column of Ahmad Shah Abdali's army, in which the Maratha Army won.

The battle

Ahmad Shah Durrani, the emperor of Afghanistan was heading towards Delhi his yet another invasion. The Marathas had signed a treaty with the Mughal emperor in 1752 to give him protection from the foreign invader. The Maratha Peshwa had appointed Antaji Mankeshwar along with 50,000 strong Maratha force to guard the emperor. However, the Maratha troops were called back by the Peshwa for Deccan operations. As a result, most of the Maratha force left Delhi leaving behind some 3,400 troops under Antaji Mankeshwar. So, the small garrison of Marathas along with the forces of Imad-ul-Mulk and Najib-ud-daula had the responsibility to guard the Mughal capital from Durrani. By 14 January 1757, Durrani had reached Sonipat and decided to stay there. He sent Rahim Khan with 5,000 strong Afghan force to capture the regions around Delhi. Antaji was asked to move along with his contingent along the road towards Karnal to check the progress of the Afghan invader. The Marathas and Afghans collided in a fierce battle in Narela, on the outskirts of Delhi. The Afghans were defeated and finally they retreated to Sonipat, where their emperor was staying.

Aftermath

After his initial victory over the invader's advanced guard, Antaji was returning from Narela when his troops were intercepted by a huge army on the outskirts of Delhi in the night of 16–17 January. The Marathas were completely taken by surprise, but they fought desperately and hurriedly retreated towards Faridabad, 30 km from Delhi with a loss of about 1000 troops. The next day, it became known that the unidentified foe who had treacherously lead a surprise attack on the Marathas, the night before was Najib-ud-daula, a courtier of the Mughal emperor. Najib betrayed the emperor and his wazir at the most critical time and moved out of Delhi with his 20,000 well equipped troops to join the invader's camp. As a result, the emperor got alone once again and Abdali successfully marched to the Red Fort unopposed and looted the capital city of Mughals.

References

• Jaswant Lal Mehta (2005). Advanced study in the history of modern India 1707-1813. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 225. ISBN 1-932705-54-6.
• Robinson, Howard; James Thomson Shotwell (1922). "Mogul Empire and the Marathas". The Development of the British Empire. Houghton Mifflin. p. 134.
• Pradeep P. Barua (2005). "Marathas at Panipat". The State at War in South Asia. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803213441.
• Jadunath Sarkar (1966). Fall of the Mughal Empire, Vol. 2. M. C. Sarkar.