The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.168

v4.c21.168

In 1758 the main Marāthā army retired, leaving a garrison at Lahore in charge of Sābājī Sindia. Meanwhile the Abdālī, who was furious at the expulsion of his son, and resolved “to bring to a decisive issue the quarrel with the Hindu power which had crossed his track of conquest, ill-treated his allies, and made war on true believers”, had settled his internal dissensions and was preparing a fresh invasion. He crossed the Indus in August, 1759, and Sābājī was forced to evacuate Lahore and fall back on Delhi. Having been joined by the Rohilla chiefs, Ahmad Shāh advanced on the capital, driving the Marāthās before him. His movements were hastened by the news of the cruel murder of the emperor by Ghāzī-ud-dīn on 29 November. On 9 January, 1760, at the Barārī Ghāt ten miles north of Delhi, Ahmad Shāh defeated and slew Dattājī Sindia; his nephew Jānkojī fled with the remnants of his army to Rājputāna, where he managed to effect a junction with Malhār Rāo Holkar. Worse, however, was to follow. On 4 March Ahmad Shāh’s general Jahān Khān, after a forced march, surprised and completely routed Malhār Rāo near Sikandarābād. In one short campaign the power of the Marāthās in Hindūstān was completely shattered.