empire and Karnal was the scene of the famed Battle of Karnal in which Nader Shah decisively defeated Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah. Muhammad Shah along with an enormous army occupied a strongly fortified camp at Karnal, but he yielded to the invader as his supplies were cut off from the open country by Shah and was starved into submission. The tactical defeat drastically weakened the Mughal Empire, while the Persian Empire prospered and subsequently hastened the establishment of the British Empire in India. The region then came under Afghan rule. Sikhs appeared on the scene in the 18th century. The importance of Karnal grew in the time of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind State who after its capture in A.D. 1763 built the boundary wall and a fort and under whose rule the town increased considerably in size. On 14 January 1764, Sikh Chiefs defeated and killed Zain Khan Sirhindi, the Durrani Governor, and took possession of the whole of Sirhind province as far south as Panipat including Karnal. Modern During the Indian independence movement, a district political conference was organized at Karnal with Lala Lajpat Rai as its chairman. Climate Demographics The population of the city as of 2011, is 357,334 {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Religion in Karnal City |- ! Religion ! Population(1911) ! Percentage(1911) ! Population(1941) ! Percentage(1941) |- | Hinduism | 12,772 | | 20,462 | |- | Islam | 8,667 | | 15,844 | |- | Sikhism | 130 | | 647 | |- | Christianity | 210 | | 125 | |- | Others | 182 | | 366 | |- | Total Population | 21,961 | | 37,444 | |} Politics The city is part of the Karnal Assembly constituency and Manohar Lal Khattar is the MLA from Karnal constituency. Sanjay Bhatia is the current elected MP from the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency. Facilities Karnal was ranked 24th (1st in Haryana) among 4000+ cities in the list of the cleanest cities of India under the government survey named Swachh Survekshan 2019. Karnal was selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city'' under the Union government's plan Smart Cities Mission. Places of interest Victoria Memorial Hall built in 19th century AD, is a fine example of Indo-British Architecture constructed on the occasion of Queen Victoria’s visit to Karnal. Cantonment Church Tower was constructed in AD 1806 by