Indian campaign of Ahmad Shah Durrani

Indian campaign of Ahmad Shah Durrani
Part of the Decline of the Mughal Empire and Campaigns of Ahmad Shah Durrani
A headless Baba Deep Singh fighting the Afghan forces at the Battle of Amritsar
Faizabad-style painting of the Third Battle of Panipat
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia entering Lahore after the successful Siege of Lahore
Date1748–1769
Location
Belligerents
Afghan Empire
Rohilkhand
Kalat
Oudh
Farrukhabad
Kumaon
Sindh
Mughal Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ahmad Shah Durrani
Afghan officers:
Muhammad Shah #
Ahmad Shah Bahadur
Alamgir II X
Shah Jahan III
Shah Alam II
Mughal officers:

Shahu I #
Rajaram II

Kapur Singh Virk #
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (WIA)

The Indian campaign of Ahmad Shah Durrani (1748–1769) was a series of invasions by the Afghan Emperor, Ahmad Shah Durrani against the declining Mughal Empire, the Maratha Empire, Sikh Confederacy, and numerous other Indian kingdoms. The primary basis of the invasions originated after the political independence of the Afghan Empire following the end of the Naderian Wars and persisted until Durrani's last invasion in 1769. The campaign is categorised into three wars: Afghan–Mughal War, Afghan–Maratha War, Afghan–Sikh War, and an array of local conflicts aimed at the subjugation of politically independent states such as Kalat and Kashmir.

Ahmad Shah led a total of nine invasions into India between 1748 and 1769. His objectives were met through the raids (taking the wealth and destroying sacred places belonging to the Indians) and deepening the political crisis in India. Of the invasions, the most significant attacks were in 1757 and 1761; sacking the city of Delhi in 1757, and defeating the Maratha confederacy at the decisive Third Battle of Panipat. His later invasions focused on conflicts with the Sikhs and stability of Durrani domains in Punjab.