Afghan occupation of Patna (1748)
| Afghan occupation of Patna (1748) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Afghan insurrections in Bengal Subah | |||||||||
The city of Patna on the bank of the Ganges River | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Bengal Subah | Afghan rebels | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Zain ud-Din Ahmed Khan X Haji Ahmad X |
Shamshir Khan Sardar Khan Murad Sher Khan Bakhshi Bahelia Ahmad Panie Thakur Bahelia Abdur Rashid Khan | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Few soldiers |
Total: 10,000 cavalry and infantry
| ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Heavy | Negligible | ||||||||
Patna, Bihar Location within Bihar Patna, Bihar Patna, Bihar (India) | |||||||||
The Afghan occupation of Patna (1748) was a short-lived takeover of the city in January 1748 by dismissed Afghan soldiers led by Shamshir Khan and Sardar Khan. After Zain ud-Din Ahmad Khan, the Deputy Governor of Patna and nephew of Nawab Alivardi Khan, invited the Afghans to join his service, they assassinated him in the Chihil Sutun during a ceremonial audience on 13 January. Zain ud-Din’s father, Haji Ahmad, was captured, tortured for seventeen days to reveal hidden treasures, and died on 30 January. The Afghans plundered the palace, seized family members, and briefly held the city for three months before the revolt was suppressed by Alivardi Khan in the Battle of Rani Sarai.