Second Anglo-Maratha War

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

Background

The overarching ambition of Raghunathrao, Peshwa Baji Rao II's father, and the latter's own incompetence since coming into his inheritance, had long caused 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 Yashwantrao 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 treaty with no other power. The British also had to check the French influence in India.

War

This act on the part of the Peshwa, their nominal overlord, horrified and disgusted the Maratha chieftains; in particular, the Scindia rulers of Gwalior and the Bhonsle rulers of Nagpur and Berar contested the agreement. In September 1803, Scindia forces lost to Lord Gerard Lake at Delhi and to Lord Arthur Wellesley at Assaye. A few months later in November, Lake defeated another Scindia force at Laswari, followed by Wellesley's victory over Bhonsle forces at Argaon (now Adgaon) on 29 November.^[2] The Holkar rulers of Indore belatedly joined the fray and compelled the British to make peace. Wellesley, who went on to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo, would later remark that Assaye was tougher than Waterloo.^[2]

Conclusion

On 17 December 1803, Raghoji II Bhonsle of Nagpur signed the Treaty of Deogaon in Orissa with the British after the Battle of Laswari and gave up the province of Cuttack (which included Mughalbandi/the coastal part of Orissa, Garjat/the princely states of Orissa, Balasore Port, parts of Midnapore district of West Bengal).

On 30 December 1803, the Daulat Scindia signed the Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon with the British after the Battle of Assaye and Battle of Argaon and ceded to the British Ganges-Jumna Doab, the Delhi-Agra region, parts of Bundelkhand, Broach, some districts of Gujarat, fort of Ahmmadnagar.

Yashwantrao Holkar, however began hostilities with the British by securing the alliance of the Raja of Bharatpur. By the Treaty of Rajghat, Holkar got back most of his territories. The Holkar Maharajas retained control and overlordship over much of Rajasthan.

See also

• Fort of Ahmednuggur and Pettah of Ahmednuggur
• Alexander Adams

References

• Chaurasian, R. S (2004). History of the Marathas. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. ISBN 9788126903948. http://books.google.com/books?id=D_v3Y7hns8QC. 
• MacFarlane, Charles (1853). A history of British India: from the earliest English intercourse to the present time (2nd ed.). London: George Routledge & Co.. OCLC 4025827. http://books.google.com/books?id=lF5HAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA265. 
• Cooper, Randolf G. S. (2003). The Anglo-Maratha Campaigns and the Contest for India: The Struggle for Control of the South Asian Military Economy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82444-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=qweZWra_tbwC. Retrieved 22 September 2011.