Cite
MLA
“Battle of Manupur.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-manupur-1748/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Battle of Manupur. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-manupur-1748/
Ahmad Shah Durrani was beaten and fell back across the Indus; the Mughal wazir Qamar-ud-din was killed before the battle.
01Abdali’s first invasion
Ahmad Shah, an Abdali Afghan officer of Nadir Shah, made himself king at Kandahar after Nadir’s murder in 1747. That winter he crossed the Indus, took Lahore in January 1748 and marched towards Delhi. Muhammad Shah sent his son Prince Ahmad Shah with the wazir Qamar-ud-din Khan, the wazir’s son Muin-ul-Mulk, Safdar Jang of Awadh and Raja Ishwari Singh of Jaipur. The armies faced each other near Sirhind for days, both dug in behind their guns.
02The wazir falls, the army holds
On 11 March 1748 a cannon ball struck Qamar-ud-din Khan in his tent as he knelt at prayer, and he died. His son Mir Mannu hid the news, took command and led the attack. Ishwari Singh’s Rajputs gave way and he left the field, but Mir Mannu and Safdar Jang held, and a fire in the Afghan powder wagons threw Durrani’s ranks into confusion. Ahmad Shah withdrew to Afghanistan. Mir Mannu was made governor of the Punjab. Durrani returned the next winter, and eight more times after that.
Manupur was the last victory of the Mughal army over a foreign invader; Durrani’s later invasions, ending at Panipat in 1761, met only the Marathas and the Sikhs in his way.
