Important Battles question: The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) was fought between the Marathas and whom?

The verified answer to “Important Battles question: The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) was fought between the Marathas and whom?” is Durrani Empire under Ahmad Shah Abdali, option B. The source-backed, question-specific record explains: The Third Battle of Panipat was fought on January 14 1761 between the Maratha Confederacy and the Durrani (Afghan) Empire under Ahmad Shah Abdali (Ahmad Shah Durrani). The Marathas suffered a catastrophic defeat. This evidence establishes the historical relationship required in this Important Battles item. A correct solution must preserve the exact battle, date, participants, commander, location, outcome or significance requested by the stem. Similar periods, genres or national traditions do not make two battle facts interchangeable. Option B gives Durrani Empire under Ahmad Shah Abdali and satisfies every condition stated in the question. The remaining choices—British East India Company, Mughal Empire and Nizam of Hyderabad—do not satisfy the complete requirement. The reliable checking method is to identify the named battle first, recall or verify its verified participant or outcome, and then read qualifiers such as “both works,” “original language,” “first published,” “correctly matched” or “incorrectly matched.” These qualifiers determine what counts as the answer. Replaying that method for this Important Battles question confirms Durrani Empire under Ahmad Shah Abdali without relying on option position. This approach builds accurate historical knowledge and careful option elimination for SSC, Railway, Banking, Defence, State and other competitive examinations.