In the year 1753, the emperor Ahmed was deprived of his eye-sight, and deposed by Gazi, the son of that Gazi who had been his vizier. A little before his death, the Mahrattas had been called in to assist in reducing the Gauts, who, being in possession of Agra, were trouble some to the emperor ; and the Mahrattas of Berar esta blished themselves in Orissa, by cession from the Nabob of Bengal, who was also compelled for a short time to pay them a tribute for Bengal and Bahar: on this tribute they long afterwards rested their claims in these provinces. On the death of Ahmed, Alumghire, his cousin, was placed on the throne by Gazi: the new emperor soon found that he was a slave in the hands of this person; and in prder to get rid of him, he invited Abdalla, commonly called the Durannee Shah, who was at this time in posses sion of Lahore, to Delhi. He gladly accepted this invita tion, and laid that city under heavy contributions, not even sparing the sepulchres of the dead. From Delhi he pro. ceeded against Agra, but the Gauts repulsing him, he re• turned towards Candahar in 1758. The situation of the emperor was now most deplorable ; he could not possibly retain the small remnant of an authority which was left to him,_ without foreign assistance; and yet if he invited fo reigners, i they only defended him against internal commo tion and intrigue, for the purpose of plundering him, and laying waste his territories. . Thus he was alternately treated by the Mahrattas and Abdallah, according as he called in the one or the other to his assistance. A little before he was murdered by his vizier, Abdallah again visit ed Hindostan, when Delhi was plundered and almost depo pulated. At this period his son Shah Allum was engaged in a fruitless attempt to reduce the Bengal provinces. As soon as he. ascended the throne, he followed the example of his father, and successively threw himself for assistance on the Mahrattas, Nedjeb Dowlah, a Rohillah chief, who commanded the Mogul army in the time of his father, and Sujah Dowlah, another powerful chieftain : by these, however, he was either not assisted, or assisted only to he still more plundered and insulted; at length, he was re ceived under the protection of Mahomed Kooti of Allaha bad. This chief, in conjunction with Bulwant Singh, who had increased the Zemindary of Benares, which he had received from his father, to the size of a province, sup plied him with an army : with this he entered the Bengal provinces, where he was joined by some Zemindars of Bahar, so that his force altogether amounted to about 60,000 men. But his troops were so ill disciplined and provided, that in the year 1761 he deemed it prudent to sur render himself to the British, who were then acting as allies of the Nabob of Bengal. They however were not disposed to connect their fortunes with his ; and he was again obliged to put himself under the protection of Sujah Dow la h.
Abdallah, in the mean time, was by no means secure in his possessions; for the Mahrattas, who, in the midst of these confusions, had been daily gathering strength, and being engaged in every scene of politics and warfare from Guzerat to Bengal, and from Lahore to the Carnatic, re solved to attempt the expulsion of Abdallah from Hindos tan. Thus the principal powers in it were arranged in
two parties, the Hindoos and Alahomedans, for the Gauts joined the Mahrattas, while Sujah Dow fah, with the Ro hillas, and other NIallomeclan chiefs, joined Abdallah. The battle, which was to determine whether the Hindoo government should be restored or not throughout Hindos tan, was fought on the 7th of January 1761, on the plains of Paniput, already famous for having been the scene of a battle between the Sultan Baber and the Patan emperor Ibrahim, in 1525.
The combined Mahomedam army was commanded by Abdallah, and that of the Mahrattas by Sedasiva. The former consisted altogether of 42,000 horse, and 38,000 foot, besides camels, and between 70 and 80 pieces of can non ; these were the regular troops, but the irregulars were more numerous. The Doorrannies of Caubul, who were the strength of the army, amounted to 0 ; they were all men of great bodily vigour, and their horses, which were of the Turkish breed, were rely hardy. The regular troops of the Mahratta army consisted of 55,000 horse, and 15,000 foot, with 200 pieces of cannon, and camel pieces and rockets without number. Besides the regular troops, there were 15,000 pindaries or plunderers, and the followers of the camp were nearly four times as numerous as the regular troops.
The strength of these armies was too nearly equal, and the issue of the battle too momentous, not to excite in the generals of both parties great anxiety, and to render them cautious and reserved about commencing the engagement. Accordingly, they continued in sight of each other from the 26th of October 1760, to the 7th of January 1761. During this long interval many bloody skirmishes took place, which generally terminated in favour of the Doorran nies. At last the Mahratta army, being greatly straiten ed for provisions, their chieftain resolved to quit his en trenchments and give battle. The action continued from morning till nearly noon. without any decisive success on either side; but about this time the Mahratta chieftain's son, a youth about 17, being mortally wounded, the fate of the battle was decided ; for after this event, the Mahrattas fled in all directions. The victors pursued, and gave no quarter in the heat of the pursuit.
In the Mahratta camp, it is said that there were of all de scriptions, men, women, and children, about 500.000, of whom the greatest part were either killed, or taken prison ers ; and of those who escaped from the field of battle, many were destroyed by the Zemindars. About 40,000 were made prisoners ; such as were taken by the Doorran nies were• mostly murdered after wards by them ; for this carnage in cool blood, they alleged as an excuse, that when they left their own country, they Nvrre requested by their mothers, sisters, and wives, to kill some of the unbelievers on their account, in order that they might also possess a merit in the sight of the prophet. The commander in chief of the Mahrattas is supposed to have been killed, either in the battle or in the pursuit. This was the most important struggle that had taken place since the contests between Aurengzebe's sons in the year 1707.