Battle of Sikandrabad (1760)

01After Barari Ghat

Dattaji Shinde fell at Barari Ghat on 10 January 1760. His young nephew Jankoji brought the survivors south to Kotputli in Rajasthan, where they met Malhar Rao Holkar, and Jankoji handed him the command. Holkar did not risk a pitched battle. He swung past Delhi, crossed the Yamuna into the Doab and sacked Sikandrabad on 1 March, meaning to cross the Ganga and plunder Rohilkhand, the home of Najib ud-Daula, to draw Abdali away.

02Caught in the Doab

Holkar spent several days looking for a ford over the Ganga. Abdali, kept informed of every move, marched hard from Delhi with Jahan Khan and fell on the Maratha camp near Sikandrabad. The advance guard was destroyed before it could form, and the rest of the army broke. Malhar Rao escaped with what he could save and retreated towards Agra and then into Rajasthan. Abdali moved on to Aligarh and camped there to wait for the next Maratha army from the Deccan.

Dynasty · 1733–1948 CEHolkars of IndoreMalhar Rao Holkar, a shepherd’s son from Hol near Jejuri, rose under Bajirao I to hold western Malwa. His daughter-in-law Ahilyabai ruled from Maheshwar for twenty-eight years and rebuilt temples across Bharat, including the Kashi Vishwanath temple that stands today.Read →