Mercedes team-mates Rosberg and Hamilton produced an enthralling battle under the lights in Bahrain and it was the Englishman who came out on top.
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Rosberg secured pole position ahead of Hamilton for the first time this season, but the former McLaren driver took the the lead on the first corner to set the tone for a thrilling spectacle.
The German threatened to deny his team-mate a second successive Grand Prix win, and his first in Bahrain, as they locked horns throughout the race, and when Hamilton did manage to develop a lead of almost 10 seconds the safety car was deployed after Pastor Maldonado crashed into Esteban Gutierrez.
That gave Rosberg renewed hope he could claw back Hamilton as he was on softer tyres, but the former world champion held him off to reduce his team-mate's early lead in the drivers' championship to four points.
Rosberg was left with mixed feelings after the race, which he believes was a great advert for a sport which has come in for negative publicity.
He said: "I strongly dislike coming second to Lewis, that's really not something I enjoy doing but on the other hand it was definitely the most exciting race I've ever done in my whole career.
"I hope we were able to give all of you fantastic racing in front of the TV. Today was a day for the sport. We put on a massive show as team Silver Arrows (Mercedes) so I hope you had a lot of fun in front of the TV and I'll be back next race to take the win."
Hamilton breathed a sigh of relief after a battle that went right down to the wire.
He said: "It was exciting. Nico drove fantastically well throughout the race; very fair and it was very, very hard to keep him behind, particularly at the end.
"I had built a gap, that was okay, but he was very fast on the option time so I was on the knife edge the whole time and (it was) a real relief when I got across the line."