Panipat

The third battle of Panipat—the final one, the bloodiest of them all. The Marathas and the king of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Abdali, fought to claim the throne of Delhi. While the face-off had stretched on for months on the elevated flat land of Panipat, the actual conflict took place on 14 January 1761. And within a span of twelve hours, 150,000 soldiers lost their lives. About 80,000 horses, bullocks and elephants were slaughtered. The Maratha warriors―the Peshwa’s cousin Sadashivrao, son Vishwasrao and step-brother Shamsher Bahadur― and their allies, chieftains Malharrao Holkar, Jankoji Shinde and Ibrahim Khan Gardi, defied the bitter cold of the north and months of starvation, fighting to the last man. The campaign brought the Maratha empire to its knees, emptying out its coffers and decimating an entire generation.