01The storm of 1760
Kunjpura was held by a family of Afghan nawabs settled on the Yamuna north of Karnal, allies of Ahmad Shah Abdali and Najib-ud-Daula. In 1760 Abdali kept a garrison and grain stores there. Sadashivrao Bhau, who had taken Delhi in August, marched north while Abdali was held across the swollen Yamuna. On 17 October 1760 the Maratha guns opened a breach and the fort was stormed. The nawab Najabat Khan and the Afghan commander Abdus Samad Khan were killed, and Qutb Shah, who had cut off Dattaji Shinde’s head at Buradi Ghat that January, was put to death.
02The road to Panipat
The grain of Kunjpura fed the Maratha camp, but the victory cost Bhau his position. While he lingered, Abdali crossed the Yamuna at Baghpat in the last days of October and came down behind him, cutting the road to Delhi. The two armies dug in at Panipat, a few marches south, and the battle of 14 January 1761 followed. The old fort at Kunjpura is a ruin; the village is now best known for its Sainik School.
The life of this place
- 17 October 1760Sadashivrao Bhau storms Kunjpura.
- Late October 1760Abdali crosses the Yamuna at Baghpat behind the Marathas.
- 14 January 1761Third battle of Panipat.
