<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Casualties and losses </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Estimates between 20,000 and 40,000 combatants killed . </Td> <Td> Estimates between 30,000 and 40,000 combatants killed in the battle . Another 40,000--70,000 non-combatants massacred following the battle . </Td> </Tr> <P> The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761 at Panipat, about 60 miles (97 km) north of Delhi, between a northern expeditionary force of the Maratha Empire and invading forces of the King of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Abdali, supported by two Indian allies--the Rohilla Afghans of the Doab, and Shuja - ud - Daula, the Nawab of Awadh . Militarily, the battle pitted the artillery and cavalry of the Marathas against the heavy cavalry and mounted artillery (zamburak and jezail) of the Afghans and Rohillas led by Abdali and Najib - ud - Daulah, both ethnic Afghans . The battle is considered one of the largest and most eventful fought in the 18th century, and has perhaps the largest number of fatalities in a single day reported in a classic formation battle between two armies . </P> <P> The specific site of the battle itself is disputed by historians, but most consider it to have occurred somewhere near modern - day Kaalaa Aamb and Sanauli Road . The battle lasted for several days and involved over 125,000 troops . Protracted skirmishes occurred, with losses and gains on both sides . The forces led by Ahmad Shah Durrani came out victorious after destroying several Maratha flanks . The extent of the losses on both sides is heavily disputed by historians, but it is believed that between 60,000--70,000 were killed in fighting, while the numbers of injured and prisoners taken vary considerably . According to the single best eyewitness chronicle--the bakhar by Shuja - ud - Daulah's Diwan Kashi Raj--about 40,000 Maratha prisoners were slaughtered in cold blood the day after the battle . Grant Duff includes an interview of a survivor of these massacres in his History of the Marathas and generally corroborates this number . Shejwalkar, whose monograph Panipat 1761 is often regarded as the single best secondary source on the battle, says that "not less than 100,000 Marathas (soldiers and non-combatants) perished during and after the battle ." </P>

Who was defeated in the third battle of panipat