हिंदीOn this day

Battle of Taraori (1759)

Marathas, with Mughal troops of the wazirDattaji Shinde
1759vs
VictorDurrani armyAhmad Shah Abdali; Jahan Khan; Shah Pasand Khan

On the old field of Tarain, where Prithviraj Chauhan had fought, Abdali’s fifth invasion first met the Marathas. The Afghan vanguard was pushed back, then a counter-charge broke the Maratha posts.

Date: 24 December 1759Where: Taraori, Karnal district, HaryanaType: Battle
Photo: Kshitiz Sikka · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Cite

MLA

“Battle of Taraori (1759).” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-taraori-1759/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). Battle of Taraori (1759). Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-taraori-1759/

Result

The Maratha outposts were overwhelmed and Dattaji fell back on Delhi, where he was killed at Barari Ghat a fortnight later.

01Abdali comes again

In 1758 the Marathas had driven the Afghans out of Lahore and up to Attock. Abdali answered in the autumn of 1759, invited by Najib ud-Daula and other enemies of the Marathas. The small Maratha posts in Punjab fell back before him, and Sirhind was taken on 27 November. Dattaji Shinde, who had spent the year in a vain siege of Najib at Shukartal, hurried west across the Yamuna to bar the road to Delhi, and the wazir’s Mughal troops joined him near Karnal.

02The fight at Taraori

The armies met on 24 December 1759. At first the Marathas and Mughals drove back the Afghan advance guard and pursued it. Abdali, close behind, sent Shah Pasand Khan forward with fresh horsemen to strike the pursuers. The Mughal contingent left the field. The Afghans brought up musketeers and closed on the Marathas from front and flanks, and the Maratha guard was cut up where it stood. Dattaji withdrew towards Delhi to gather his forces for a stand on the Yamuna.

Battle of Barari Ghat
Battle · January 1760Battle of Barari GhatAt Barari Ghat the Afghans forced the Yamuna under cover of the reeds, and Dattaji Shinde, who held the north for the Peshwa, died leading his men against them. His death brought the Marathas north in full strength, to Panipat.Read →
Why it matters

Taraori opened the campaign of 1760 that ran through Barari Ghat to Panipat. The Marathas had underrated Abdali’s strength, and Dattaji paid for it within days.

Places near the battlefield 6

Kunjpura FortRuined
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Kunjpura Fort

The Afghan fort on the Yamuna that Sadashivrao Bhau stormed on 17 October 1760, three months before Panipat. The garrison and its commanders, including the man who had beheaded Dattaji Shinde, were killed.

Kurukshetra and JyotisarStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Kurukshetra and Jyotisar

The Dharmakshetra where the Mahabharata war was fought and Shri Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna at Jyotisar. Harsha’s capital Thanesar stood here.

Thanesar (Sthanvishvara)Rebuilt
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Thanesar (Sthanvishvara)

The city of Sthanu, Bhagwan Shiva, on the edge of the Kurukshetra plain, where Prabhakaravardhana and his son Harsha ruled before Harsha moved to Kannauj. Mahmud of Ghazni sacked it in 1014.

Shri Devikoop Bhadrakali Temple, KurukshetraStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Shri Devikoop Bhadrakali Temple, Kurukshetra

The Kurukshetra Shakti Peetha of the Pithanirnaya list, where the right ankle of Sati is said to have fallen into a well. Before the war the Pandavas came here to pray for victory, and devotees still offer small horses of clay and metal.

Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple, ThanesarRebuilt
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple, Thanesar

The Shiva temple of Sthanu, the Lord who stands firm, from whom Sthanvishvara, the capital of Harsha, took its name. The tradition of Kurukshetra says the Pandavas worshipped here before the war.

PanipatStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Panipat

A plain north of Delhi where three battles decided who would rule Hindustan: Babur’s in 1526, Hemu’s last stand in 1556, and the Marathas’ great fight against Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1761.