The Battle of Barari Ghat was a military engagement between the Durrani-Rohilla Afghans and the Marathas army in which the Maratha army was defeated and its leader killed in battle.

Prelude

After his defeat at the hands of the Durranis,

Dattaji Rao Scindia Dattaji Rao Shinde, also known as Dattaji Rao Scindia, (c. 1723 – 10 January 1760) was the second son of Ranoji Rao Shinde and Maina Bai, alias Nimba Bai. His elder brother was Jayappaji Rao Scindia, Jayappaji Rao Shinde and his younger brot ...

retreated to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and reached

Sonipat Sonipat is a planned industrial city and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It lies 214 km (128 miles) southwest of Chandigar ...

on 29 December. He instructed the Mughal vizier

Imad-ul-Mulk 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. He was the son of Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung II and a grandson of the founder ...

to organize Delhi's defenses. But the vizier betrayed him, leaving Delhi defenseless. To make things worst, the peasantry despised the Marathas and were not to be relied on. Anticipating that the next encounter cannot be delayed longer, Dattaji reached Barari Ghat. On January 4, with the

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

river separating the two armies, the Maratha soldiers were ordered to stay on all the fords of the Yamuna river to prevent the enemy crossing. On January 6, Dattaji visited Delhi and sent all non-combatants and the families of the Maratha officers to

Rewari Rewari is a city and a municipal council in Rewari district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is the district headquarters of Rewari district. It is located in south-west Haryana around 82 km from DelhiAbdali decided to investigate the Marathas defenses and the possibility of crossing the river.

Najib ad-Dawlah Najib ad-Dawlah (), also known as (), 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 C ...

and other Rohilla chiefs took this venture with a column of camels and small elephants, each carrying a pair of light filed guns and artillery men. They crossed the water channel and took cover, however they were sighted by the Marathas. The Rohilla rear was protected by Afghan horsemen. After reporting this to Dattaji, Sabaji Scindia and his men armed with swords and spears only, crossed the river on the other side to confront the enemy. They were met by a hail of bullets by hidden

musketeers A musketeer ( ) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare, particularly in Europe, as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a precursor to the riflem ...

from behind the reeds and bushes. Upon learning the danger of the Marathas position, Dattaji rushed to the scene. Without knowing the enemy position, he swooped on the Afghans with a handful of men carrying only swords. However, a bullet struck down Dattaji and killed him. Jankoji Sindhia, who came to aid, was also shot and fell unconscious. Jobita, the younger brother of Dattaji, also fell fighting in the battle. Seeing their commander killed, the maratha army, demoralised and disheartened, left the battlefield in order to save their lives, having suffered over a thousand casualties. Most of the Marathas made it to Delhi but they were pursued by the Afghans and the Rohillas who cut down many of the retreating Marathas. Qutbshah Rohilla, the preceptor of Najib Khan found the corpse of Dattaji and decapitated and was shown to both Najib and Abdali.

Aftermath

The victorious Afghans entered the city of

on 9 January while still chasing the retreating Marathas. The city has already been deserted by the majority of its populace and the remaining shut themselves behind their doors.

alongside the entire Mughal Bureaucracy and soldiery and the Red fort was left un-defended and the Afghans place

Shah Jahan III Shah Jahan III (; 1711–1772), also known as Mirza Muhi-ul-Millat, was the sixteenth Mughal emperor, albeit briefly. He was the son of Muhi us-Sunnat, the eldest son of Muhammad Kam Bakhsh who was the youngest son of Aurangzeb. He was placed ...

as the new emperor of the Mughals, declaring that he's under protection by Abdali and instructed his Lieutenants not to put the emperor to any embarrassment.

References

{{coord missing, India Battles involving the Maratha Empire Battles involving the Mughal Empire Conflicts in 1760 Battles involving the Durrani Empire 18th-century battles 1760 in India 1760s in the Durrani Empire 1760s in the Mughal Empire