Editing Third Battle of Panipat (section)

=== Rise of the Marathas ===
Grant Duff, describing the Maratha army:<ref name="Keene">{{cite book |first=H. G. |last=Keene |title=The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan |volume= VI |pages=80–81}}</ref>

{{cquote|The lofty and spacious tents, lined with silks and broadcloths, were surmounted by large gilded ornaments, conspicuous at a distance... Vast numbers of elephants, flags of all descriptions, the finest horses, magnificently caparisoned ... seemed to be collected from every quarter ... it was an imitation of the more becoming and tasteful array of the Mughuls in the zenith of their glory.}}

The Marathas had gained control of a considerable part of [[Indian subcontinent|India]] in the intervening period (1712–1757). In 1758 they nominally occupied [[Delhi]], captured [[Lahore]] and drove out [[Timur Shah Durrani]],<ref name="KaushikRoy" /> the son and viceroy of the Afghan ruler, [[Ahmad Shah Durrani|Ahmad Shah Abdali]]. This was the high-water mark of Maratha expansion, where the boundaries of their empire extended north of the [[Sindhu]] river all the way down south to northern [[Kerala]]. This territory was ruled through the [[Peshwa]], who talked of placing his son [[Vishwasrao]] on the Mughal throne. However, [[Delhi]] still remained under the control of [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]], key Muslim intellectuals including [[Shah Waliullah Dehlawi|Shah Waliullah]] and other Muslim clergies in India were frightened at these developments. In desperation they appealed to [[Ahmad Shah Durrani|Ahmad Shah Abdali]], the ruler of [[Durrani Empire|Afghanistan]], to halt the threat.<ref>{{cite book |title=Studies in Mughal History |last=Agrawal |first=Ashvini |year=1983 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |chapter=Events leading to the Battle of Panipat |isbn=978-8120823266 |page=26}}</ref> The Marathas attempted to turn over the support of the Gujarati Muslim Babis, the Indian Rohillas, Nizam brothers of the Deccan, and Shuja-ud-Dawlah.<ref>{{cite book |title=textsPanipat:1761 |author=Shejwalkar, Tryambak Shankar |date=1946 |page=XV }}</ref>

[[File:Sadashivrao bhau.jpg|150px|thumbnail|[[Sadashivrao Bhau]]]]