In the Third Battle of Panipat, the Marathas were defeated by

Concept: By the mid-18th century, Mughal central authority in Delhi had weakened sharply, and northern India’s regional and external powers — the Marathas, the Durrani Afghans, the Sikh Misls, and later the English East India Company — contested control through direct military engagements.

Application: The Third Battle of Panipat was fought on 14 January 1761 between the Maratha army, commanded by Sadashivrao Bhau and Vishwasrao, and an Afghan-led coalition under Ahmad Shah Durrani (Abdali), reinforced by the Rohilla Afghan chiefs and Shuja-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Awadh. After a prolonged standoff near Panipat, the Afghan-led coalition inflicted a decisive defeat on the Marathas in a single day of intense fighting, killing both Vishwasrao and Sadashivrao Bhau and shattering the Maratha army’s northern campaign.

Cross-check: Compared with the other groups offered:

• Mughals — by 1761 the Mughal emperor at Delhi held only nominal authority and fielded no independent army at Panipat; the Mughals were not a combatant force in this battle.

• English — the East India Company’s major northern military campaigns began later, notably after the 1764 Battle of Buxar; the Company was not a party to the 1761 battle at Panipat.

• Sikhs — the Sikh Misls were consolidating control over Punjab during this period and fought Ahmad Shah Durrani in separate campaigns, but did not field the coalition that met the Marathas at Panipat in 1761.

Therefore, the Marathas were defeated by the Afghans — the coalition led by Ahmad Shah Durrani — at the Third Battle of Panipat (1761), confirmed by NCERT’s account and the official district record of the battle.