Second Battle of Katwa

Second Battle of Katwa
Part of Fifth Maratha invasion of Bengal
Date December 1745 Location Katwa Result Mughal victory Mughal re-annexation of Orissa Maratha retreat towards Medinipur
Belligerents
Mughal Empire Bengal Subah File:Coat of Arms of Nawabs of Bengal.PNG Nawab of Bengal	Maratha Empire
Commanders and leaders
File:Coat of Arms of Nawabs of Bengal.PNG Alivardi Khan	Raghuji Bhonsle Mir Habib
Strength
File:Coat of Arms of Nawabs of Bengal.PNG unknown	20,000 cavalry
Casualties and losses
unknown	unknown

The Second Battle of Katwa occurred between the Bengal and Maratha Empire in December 1745. After the defeats of the Marathas in the first four invasions of Bengal (see Maratha invasions of Bengal), the Maratha General and ruler of Nagpur, Raghuji Bhonsle again invaded the territory of Bengal. Bhonsle, with 20,000 horsemen attacked the civilians of Murshidabad and moved onwards to Katwa. However he was repeatedly ambushed by peasant guerillas and militias in Birbhum and near Durgapur, and thus his column was thinned considerably. The Marathas met Alivardi Khan's army in Katwa where the battle started. During the battle, most of the Marathas were slaughtered and the remaining Maratha soldiers under Raghuji Bhonsle retreated from Katwa. The Marathas then retreated towards Medinipur. The battle was a victory for Alivardi Khan who had once again ousted the Marathas from Bengal. After this battle, Alivardi Khan was known in Bengal as "Maratha-khuni" which translates to "Maratha-killer" in Bengali.

See also

• Maratha invasions of Bengal
• First Battle of Katwa
• Battle of Burdwan