The hydrazine reduction is one of the simplest and widely used method for the synthesis of nickel nanostructures. However, large-scale production of highly monodisperse nanoparticles with desired features is difficult to achieve using this method. In this study, we report, an evaluation of microwave assisted hydrazine reduction process and the effect of solvents namely water and ethylene glycol and capping agent thereupon. The study revealed that the reaction in the former failed to give the product when hydrazine (N2H4) and nickel Ni(II) are in the stoichiometric molar ratio, while the reaction in the later shows that the presence of the capping agent has pronounced effect on the morphology and magnetic properties of the product. Reaction in ethylene glycol in the presence of CTAB, gave 1D nanorods of about 100 nm in length and 4-6 nm in diameter, while in the absence of CTAB highly agglomerated spheres, are obtained. The magnetic property studies indicated the ferromagnetic nature of the product. The magnetic properties are, also affected by capping agent. In both, aqueous and ethylene glycol media, the product obtained exhibit lower saturation magnetization, whereas the product obtained in ethylene glycol with CTAB has highest saturation magnetization, 47.86 emu g(-1). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.