Second Anglo-Maratha War

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The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803 - 1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.

[edit] Background

The overweening ambition of Raghunathrao, Peshwa Baji Rao II's father, and the latter's own incompetence since coming into his inheritance, had long occasioned much internecine intrigue within the maratha confederacy; Peshwa Baji Rao II no longer commanded the deference his predecessors had.

In October 1802, Peshwa Baji Rao II was defeated by one of his own nominal subordinates, the Holkar ruler of Indore, at the battle of Poona. He fled to British protection, and in December the same year concluded the Treaty of Bassein with the British East India Company, ceding territory for the maintenance of a subsidiary force and agreeing to treat with no other power.

[edit] The War

This act of craven expediency on the part of the Peshwa, their nominal overlord, horrified and disgusted the maratha chieftains; in particular, the Sindhia rulers of Gwalior and the Bhonsle rulers of Nagpur and Berar contested the agreement. They were defeated, respectively, at Laswari and Delhi by Lord Lake and at Assaye and Argaon by Sir Arthur Wellesley. The Holkar rulers of Indore belatedly joined the fray and were also defeated by the British.

Peace was concluded in 1805, with the British acquiring Orissa and parts of western Gujarat and Bundelkhand from the Marathas, who were left with a free hand in much of central India. The Scindia Maharajas retained control and overlordship over much of Rajasthan.