Anglo-Maratha Wars

The Anglo-Maratha Wars (1775–1818) represent a critical phase in modern Indian history, marking the transition of the British East India Company from a regional commercial entity into the paramount political power in the subcontinent. The conflict was not isolated to the Deccan; it was deeply intertwined with the political dynamics of the Bengal Presidency, the military threat posed by the Kingdom of Mysore, and the structural vulnerabilities of the Maratha Confederacy. This 360-degree analysis provides a factually dense overview tailored for UPSC Civil Services Examination aspirants.

The Tripartite Geopolitical Dynamic: Bengal, Mysore, and the Marathas

During the late 18th century, Indian geopolitics was dominated by a complex power struggle between the British East India Company, the Maratha Empire, and the Kingdom of Mysore. The British utilized the resources of one region to subjugate another, while Indian powers alternated between strategic alliances and bitter rivalries.

The Role of the Bengal Presidency

Following the Battle of Plassey (1757) and the Battle of Buxar (1764), the British East India Company secured the Diwani rights (revenue collection) of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. The immense financial surplus generated from the Bengal Presidency acted as the primary economic engine funding the British military apparatus. This revenue allowed the Supreme Council in Calcutta, headed by the Governor-General, to finance prolonged military campaigns against both the Marathas in western India and Mysore in the south.

The Mysore Factor

The Kingdom of Mysore, under Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan, stood as a formidable barrier to British expansion in southern India. The Marathas and Mysore shared a history of territorial conflict over the Tungabhadra region. However, the British feared a unified front between these two military powers. Whenever the British faced setbacks against the Marathas, they sought peace treaties to divert their forces toward Mysore, and vice versa.

The Vulnerability of the Maratha Confederacy

Following the Third Battle of Panipat (1761), the central authority of the Peshwa at Pune weakened. The empire devolved into a loose confederacy of five autonomous houses:

• The Peshwa based in Pune (The titular head)
• The Scindia (Shinde) based in Gwalior and Ujjain
• The Holkar based in Indore
• The Gaekwad based in Baroda
• The Bhonsle based in Nagpur

Internal rivalries, succession disputes, and financial friction among these houses consistently gave the British East India Company opportunities to intervene politically and militarily.

The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782)

Core Causes and Triggers

The war was triggered by a internal succession dispute within the Peshwa court. Following the death of Peshwa Madhavrao I in 1772 and the subsequent assassination of his brother Narayanrao in 1773, Narayanrao’s uncle, Raghunath Rao (Ragoba), claimed the Peshwaship. However, a council of twelve Maratha chiefs known as the Barbhai Regency, led by Nana Fadnavis, championed the cause of Narayanrao’s infant posthumous son, Sawai Madhavrao II. Isolated, Raghunath Rao fled to Bombay and signed the Treaty of Surat (1775) with the Bombay Presidency, promising to cede Salsette and Bassein in exchange for British military assistance.

Major Military Engagements and Geopolitical Interventions

• Intervention by the Bengal Council: The Supreme Council in Calcutta, empowered by the Regulating Act of 1773, declared the Bombay Presidency’s Treaty of Surat unauthorized. Governor-General Warren Hastings dispatched Colonel Upton to Pune to sign the Treaty of Purandar (1776), which annulled the Treaty of Surat but allowed the British to retain Salsette.
• Resumption of Hostilities: The Court of Directors in London rejected the Treaty of Purandar and supported the Bombay Presidency, restarting the war.
• The Battle of Wadgaon (1779): The combined Maratha forces, utilizing superior cavalry maneuvers under Mahadji Shinde and scorched-earth tactics, trapped the British army in the Western Ghats. The British were forced to sign the humiliating Convention of Wadgaon (1779), surrendering all territories acquired since 1773.
• The Bengal Detachments: To salvage British prestige, Warren Hastings dispatched overland military expeditions from Bengal under General Goddard and Captain Popham. Popham successfully captured the formidable Gwalior Fort in 1780, forcing Mahadji Shinde to protect his northern territories.

Diplomatic Resolution: The Treaty of Salbai (1782)

The First Anglo-Maratha War concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Salbai in May 1782.

The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805)

Core Causes and Triggers

By 1803, the stabilizing leaders of the Maratha Empire, Mahadji Shinde and Nana Fadnavis, had died. Internal conflicts re-emerged among the next generation of leaders: Peshwa Baji Rao II, Daulat Rao Scindia, and Yashwantrao Holkar. In April 1801, Peshwa Baji Rao II executed Vithoji Holkar, the brother of Yashwantrao Holkar. Seeking vengeance, Yashwantrao marched his forces toward Pune and decisively defeated the combined armies of the Peshwa and Daulat Rao Scindia at the Battle of Poona (October 1802).

The Treaty of Bassein (1802)

Defeated and displaced, Peshwa Baji Rao II fled to British protection at Bassein. On December 31, 1802, he signed the Treaty of Bassein, which was a comprehensive Subsidiary Alliance document.

• Provisions: The Peshwa accepted a permanent British subsidiary force, ceded territories yielding 2.6 million rupees for its maintenance, surrendered his foreign policy to the Company, and agreed to exclude all non-British European powers from his administration.
• Geopolitical Consequence: This treaty compromised Maratha sovereignty. The individual Maratha chieftains—Scindia, Bhonsle, and Holkar—viewed it as an insult to national pride and formed coalitions to challenge British authority, triggering the war.

Major Military Campaigns and Multi-Front Operations

The war was fought on two primary fronts, funded largely by the Bengal Presidency’s revenues and led by General Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) in the Deccan and General Gerard Lake in Hindostan.

• The Deccan Front (General Arthur Wellesley):
  • Battle of Assaye (September 1803): Wellesley defeated the combined armies of Scindia and Bhonsle in a bloody pitched battle.
  • Battle of Argaon (November 1803): Wellesley shattered the remaining infantry forces of the Raja of Nagpur (Bhonsle).
• The Northern Front (General Gerard Lake):
  • Battle of Delhi (September 1803): Lake defeated Scindia’s French-trained infantry, captured Delhi, and took the blind Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II under British protection, ending Maratha hegemony over the imperial court.
  • Battle of Laswari (November 1803): Lake destroyed Scindia’s remaining regular army in a decisive battle.
• Yashwantrao Holkar’s Independent Campaign (1804–1805):
  • After Scindia and Bhonsle signed peace treaties, Holkar entered the conflict alone.
  • Battle of Mukundwara Pass (1804): Holkar utilized guerrilla maneuvers to annihilate a British detachment under Colonel Monson in Central India.
  • Siege of Bharatpur (1805): Holkar allied with Raja Ranjit Singh of Bharatpur. The combined forces successfully repulsed four successive assaults by General Lake on the mud walls of the Bharatpur Fort, inflicting heavy casualties on the British.

Treaties Concluding the Second Anglo-Maratha War

The heavy expenses incurred during the campaigns against Holkar led to the recall of Governor-General Lord Wellesley by the Court of Directors. His successors adopted a policy of non-intervention, resulting in specific treaties with each Maratha house.

The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818)

Core Causes and Triggers

The final conflict arose from the Peshwa’s desire to free himself from the restrictive terms of the Treaty of Bassein, combined with the British campaign against the Pindaris.

• The Pindari Issue: The Pindaris were irregular military adventurers attached to the Maratha armies, primarily those of Scindia and Holkar. Following the restrictions placed on the Maratha armies after the Second War, the Pindaris lost their employment and began raiding British territories, including parts of the Bengal and Madras Presidencies. Governor-General Lord Hastings launched a massive military campaign to suppress them, which the Maratha chiefs viewed as an infringement on their territorial sovereignty.
• The Murder of Gangadhar Shastri: Gangadhar Shastri, an envoy of the Gaekwad of Baroda (who was under British protection), was murdered in Pune by Trimbakji Dengle, a close associate of Peshwa Baji Rao II. The British Resident, Mountstuart Elphinstone, forced the Peshwa to sign the restrictive Treaty of Poona (1817), stripping him of leadership over the Maratha Confederacy and ceding Konkan territories.

Final Battles and Military Collapse

In a bid for independence, the Peshwa attacked the British Residency at Khadki in November 1817. This triggered coordinated but poorly synchronized uprisings by the other Maratha houses.

• Battle of Khadki / Kirkee (1817): Peshwa Baji Rao II’s forces were defeated by British troops under Colonel Burr.
• Battle of Sitabuldi (1817): The forces of Appa Sahib Bhonsle of Nagpur were defeated.
• Battle of Mahidpur (1817): The modernized infantry of the Holkar State was shattered by British forces under Sir John Malcolm.
• Battle of Koregaon (1818) and Battle of Ashti (1818): These final engagements broke the military resistance of the Peshwa’s loyalists.

Political Consequences and the Dissolution of the Peshwaship

The war concluded with the complete dismantling of the Maratha Empire.

• Abolition of the Peshwaship: The office of the Peshwa was formally abolished. Baji Rao II surrendered to Sir John Malcolm, was deposed, and was exiled to Bithoor near Kanpur on an annual pension of 80,000 pounds.
• Creation of Satara: To appease Maratha sentiment, a small principality centered on Satara was carved out and given to Pratap Singh, a direct descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Satara was placed under British political oversight.
• Subjugation of Holkar and Scindia: The Holkar State was forced to sign the Treaty of Mandsaur (1818), ceding all territories south of the Satpura range and accepting a Subsidiary Alliance. Daulat Rao Scindia was neutralized through the Treaty of Gwalior (1817), giving up his claim over Rajputana.

Core Factors Behind the Maratha Defeat

• Absence of National Unity: The Maratha Confederacy lacked a unifying political vision. The individual chieftains routinely cooperated with the British to undermine their domestic rivals within the empire.
• Deficient Military Coordination: While commanders like Mahadji Shinde and Yashwantrao Holkar attempted military modernization, the empire lacked a unified command structure. Their military actions were rarely synchronized, allowing the British to defeat them individually.
• Flawed Economic Foundations: The Maratha administrative model relied heavily on external revenue collection methods like Chauth (one-fourth of land revenue) and Sardeshmukhi (an additional ten percent levy). They failed to develop a stable, internal commercial economy comparable to the British administration in Bengal.
• Superior British Diplomacy and Intelligence: The British East India Company utilized an efficient diplomatic network (the Residency system) and a centralized administrative structure under the Governor-General, which allowed them to divide and conquer the fractured Indian states.

UPSC Prelims Fact-Sheet: Key Administrative Units and Treaties

Important Institutional Positions

• Phadnavis / Fadnavis: The Chief Secretariat officer responsible for state accounts, revenue audits, and high-level diplomatic documentation within the Peshwa administration.
• Wakil-i-Mutlaq: The supreme executive regent of the Mughal Empire. This title was secured by Mahadji Shinde from Emperor Shah Alam II, granting the Marathas formal legitimacy to govern North India in the Emperor’s name.

Chronological Summary of Critical Treaties

• Treaty of Surat (1775): Signed by Raghunath Rao with the Bombay Presidency; initiated the First Anglo-Maratha War.
• Treaty of Purandar (1776): Signed by the Barbhai Regency with the Calcutta Council; temporarily overrode the Bombay Presidency’s actions.
• Convention of Wadgaon (1779): British surrender to the Maratha army following the Battle of Wadgaon.
• Treaty of Salbai (1782): Ended the First Anglo-Maratha War; initiated a 20-year peace period.
• Treaty of Bassein (1802): Subsidiary Alliance signed by Peshwa Baji Rao II; led directly to the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
• Treaty of Deogaon (1803): Concluded peace with the Bhonsle of Nagpur.
• Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon (1803): Concluded peace with the Scindia of Gwalior.
• Treaty of Rajghat (1805): Concluded peace with the Holkar of Indore.
• Treaty of Poona (1817): British-imposed treaty stripping the Peshwa of his confederal leadership.
• Treaty of Mandsaur (1818): Final treaty reducing the Holkar State to a subsidiary principality.