हिंदीOn this day

Battle of Narela (1757)

Maratha guard of DelhiAntaji Mankeshwar
1757vs
VictorDurrani army, joined by Najib ud-DaulaAhmad Shah Abdali’s vanguard; Najib ud-Daula

The Marathas had promised to guard the Mughal emperor against Abdali, but most of their army had gone south. At Narela the few who remained met the Afghan vanguard, and in the night Najib ud-Daula turned on them.

Date: 16–17 January 1757Where: Narela, north of DelhiType: Battle
Photo: Aakash.gautam · CC BY-SA 3.0
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Cite

MLA

“Battle of Narela (1757).” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-narela-1757/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). Battle of Narela (1757). Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-narela-1757/

Result

Antaji’s small force was driven back and fled towards Faridabad, and Abdali entered Delhi unopposed.

01A guard too small

By the Ahmadiya treaty of 1752 the Marathas had undertaken to defend the emperor against foreign invaders. When Abdali came down in his fourth invasion late in 1756, the Peshwa’s main armies were busy in the Deccan. Antaji Mankeshwar was left near Delhi with a small contingent. The wazir Imad-ul-Mulk sent him up the Karnal road to check the Afghans. Najib ud-Daula, nominally a Mughal noble, was already in secret correspondence with Abdali.

02The night attack

Antaji clashed with the Afghan advance guard at Narela on 16 January 1757 and fought it hard. Returning towards Delhi that night, his men were fallen upon by a large body they could not make out. It was Najib, who had left the city with his Rohillas to join the invader. Taken by surprise, the Marathas broke and retreated towards Faridabad. Abdali entered Delhi on 28 January, and the city and then Mathura and Vrindavan were plundered.

Why it matters

Narela left Delhi, Mathura and Vrindavan open to the sack of 1757, and it fixed Najib ud-Daula as Abdali’s man in Hindustan.

Places near the battlefield 8

Jhandewalan Devi Mandir, DelhiStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Jhandewalan Devi Mandir, Delhi

A Devi temple between Karol Bagh and Paharganj, named for the great flag that was raised when a murti of the Devi was found in the ground here. The old murti is still worshipped in the cave below.

Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, DelhiRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Delhi

The gurdwara in Chandni Chowk on the spot where Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded on Aurangzeb’s orders in November 1675. His companions Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayala were put to death here before him.

Gauri Shankar Temple, Chandni ChowkStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Gauri Shankar Temple, Chandni Chowk

The Shiva temple at the eastern end of Chandni Chowk, near the Red Fort, built in 1761 by a Maratha officer who vowed it after surviving a battle. Its linga is worshipped as one of the oldest in Delhi.

Shri Laxminarayan Temple (Birla Mandir), New DelhiStanding
Renaissance and the struggle for Swaraj

Shri Laxminarayan Temple (Birla Mandir), New Delhi

The first of the Birla Mandirs, raised on the ridge west of Connaught Place. Mahatma Gandhi opened it in 1939 on the condition that it be open to Hindus of every caste.

Prachin Hanuman Mandir, Connaught PlaceStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Prachin Hanuman Mandir, Connaught Place

The old Hanuman temple on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, older than New Delhi itself, where Hanuman is worshipped in his child form. The chant of Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram has gone on here without a break since 1 August 1964.

Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, DelhiRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, Delhi

The gurdwara beside Parliament House on the spot where Bhai Lakhi Shah Vanjara cremated the body of Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675, by setting fire to his own house so the Mughal guards would not know.

Delhi (Indraprastha)Standing
The long resistance: Sindh to Tarain

Delhi (Indraprastha)

The Pandavas’ Indraprastha stood on the Yamuna where the Purana Qila now stands, and the Tomaras and Chauhans built the first walled Delhi at Mehrauli. Seven or more cities have risen on the same ground since.

Swaminarayan Akshardham, New DelhiStanding
Independent Bharat

Swaminarayan Akshardham, New Delhi

The great stone mandir of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha on the bank of the Yamuna, carved from pink sandstone and white marble without any steel. Guinness World Records named it the world’s largest comprehensive Hindu temple in 2007.