<P> The Marathas had gained control of a considerable part of India in the intervening period ( 1707 -- 1757 ) . In 1758 they occupied Delhi , captured Lahore and drove out Timur Shah Durrani , the son and viceroy of the Afghan ruler , Ahmad Shah Abdali . This was the high - water mark of the Maratha expansion , where the boundaries of their empire extended in the north to the Indus and the Himalayas , and in the south nearly to the extremity of the peninsula . This territory was ruled through the Peshwa , who talked of placing his son Vishwasrao on the Mughal throne . However , Delhi still remained under the nominal control of Mughals , key Muslim intellectuals including Shah Waliullah and other Muslim clergy in India who were alarmed at these developments . In desperation they appealed to Ahmad Shah Abdali , the ruler of Afghanistan , to halt the threat . </P>
who was the ruler of delhi in the third battle of panipat
key Muslim intellectuals including Shah Waliullah and other Muslim clergy in India