Battle of Karnal 1739
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 24 February 1739 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1739 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | India | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Nadir Shah's invasion of India | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 29.7250, 77.0700 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Karnal (Persian: نبرد کرنال) (24 February 1739) was a decisive victory for Nader Shah, the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran, during his invasion of India. Nader's forces defeated the army of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah within three hours, paving the way for the Iranian sack of Delhi. The engagement is considered the crowning jewel in Nader's military career as well as a tactical masterpiece. The battle took place near Karnal in Haryana, 110 kilometres (68 mi) north of Delhi, India. As a result of the overwhelming defeat of the Mughal Empire at Karnal, the already-declining Mughal dynasty was critically weakened to such an extent as to hasten its demise. According to Axworthy, it is also possible that without the ruinous effects of Nader's invasion of India, European colonial takeover of the Indian subcontinent would have come in a different form or perhaps not at all.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Karnal (revision 1380723276), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Browse more: battles in India · Asia · Early modern battles