Second Anglo-Maratha War

2021-08-24T11:19:04Z

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{{Short description|Conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Second Anglo-Maratha War
| partof = the [[Anglo-Maratha Wars]]
| image = Battle of Assaye.jpeg
| image_size = 500px
| caption = The [[Battle of Assaye]], a painting by J.C. Stadler
| place = [[India]]
| date = 11 September 1803 – 24 December 1805
| result = British victory.

*Maratha influence over North India is limited to Rajputana.

*Mughals become British protectorate.
* Treaty of Deogaon (1802)
* [[Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon]] (1803)
* Treaty of Rajghat (1805)
| combatant1 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg}} [[East India Company]]
| combatant2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg}} [[Maratha Empire]]
| commander1 = {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} [[Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake|Gerard Lake]] {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]] {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} [[James Stevenson (East India Company officer)|James Stevenson]]
| commander2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg}}[[Daulat Scindhia]] {{flagicon image|Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg}}[[Raghoji II Bhonsle]] {{flagicon image|Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg}}[[Yashwantrao Holkar]] {{flagicon image|Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg}}[[Pierre Cuillier-Perron]] {{flagicon image|Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg}}[[ Peshwazada Yashwantrao Bhau ]] {{flagicon image|Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg}}[[ Nawab Zulfikar Bahadur ]], [[ Peshwe Madhavrao ( silent support ) ]]
| units1 = Lake & Wellesley:<ref name=cooper315>Cooper, pp. 315–8.</ref>
:{{unbulleted list|4 regiments European cavalry|8 regiments Native cavalry|2 regiments British infantry|17 sepoy battalions|Artillery}}
| units2 = Shock Infantry forces
| strength1 =
| strength2 =
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Second Anglo-Maratha War}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Anglo-Maratha Wars}}

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 British had supported the "fugitive" [[Peshwa]] [[Raghunathrao]] in the [[First Anglo-Maratha War]], continued with his "fugitive" son, [[Baji Rao II]]. Though not as martial in his courage as his father, the son was "a past master in deceit and intrigue". Coupled with his "cruel streak", Baji Rao II soon provoked the enmity of Yashwant Rao Holkar when he had one of Holkar's relatives killed.<ref name=Naravane>{{Cite book |last=Naravane |first=M.S. |title=Battles of the Honorourable East India Company |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |year=2014 |isbn=9788131300343 |pages=65–66}}</ref>

The Maratha Empire at that time consisted of a confederacy of five major chiefs: the Peshwa (Prime Minister) at the capital city of [[Pune|Poona]], the [[Gaekwad dynasty|Gaekwad]] chief of [[Baroda]], the [[Scindia]] chief of [[Gwalior]], the [[Holkar]] chief of [[Indore]], and the [[Bhonsale]] chief of [[Nagpur]]. The Maratha chiefs were engaged in internal quarrels among themselves. [[Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley|Lord Mornington]], the [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]] of [[British India]] had repeatedly offered a subsidiary treaty to the Peshwa and Scindia, but [[Nana Fadnavis]] refused strongly.

In October 1802, the combined armies of Peshwa Baji Rao II and [[Scindia]] were defeated by [[Yashwantrao Holkar]], ruler of Indore, at the [[Battle of Poona]]. Baji Rao fled to British protection, and in December the same year concluded the [[Treaty of Bassein (1802)|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 treaty would become the "death knell of the Maratha Empire".<ref name=Naravane/>

==War==
[[File:Battle of assaye 1.jpg|thumb|240px|Battle of Assaye 1st Battalion 8th Regiment of Native Infantry charge at the cannon, led by Captain Hugh Macintosh]]
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 [[Bhonsale]] rulers of [[Nagpur]] and [[Berar Subah|Berar]] contested the agreement.

The British strategy included Wellesley securing the [[Deccan Plateau]], Lake taking [[Doab]] and then Delhi, Powell entering [[Bundelkhand]], Murray taking Badoch, and Harcourt neutralizing [[Bihar]]. The British had available over 53,000 men to help accomplish their goals.<ref name=Naravane/>{{rp|66–67}}

In September 1803, [[Scindia]] forces lost to [[Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake|Lord Gerard Lake]] at [[Battle of Delhi (1803)|Delhi]] and to [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]] at [[Battle of Assaye|Assaye]]. On 18 October, British forces took the [[wikt:pettah|pettah]] of [[Asirgarh Fort]] with a loss of two killed and five wounded. The fort's garrison subsequently surrendered on the 21st after the attackers had erected a [[Artillery battery|battery]].{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} British artillery pounded ancient ruins used by Scindia forces as forward operating bases, eroding their control. In November, Lake defeated another Scindia force at [[Battle of Laswari|Laswari]], followed by Wellesley's victory over [[Bhonsale]] forces at [[Battle of Argaon|Argaon]] (now Adgaon) on 29 November 1803.<ref name=wolpert>{{cite book|last=Wolpert|first=Stanley|title=A New History of India|year=2009|publisher=Oxford UP|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-19-533756-3|edition=8th|author-link=Stanley Wolpert|pages=410–1}}</ref> The [[Holkar]] rulers of [[Indore]] belatedly joined the fray and compelled the [[British East India Company|British]] to make peace.

==Conclusion==
On 17 December 1803, [[Raghoji II Bhonsle|Raghoji II Bhonsale]] of Nagpur signed the Treaty of Deogaon.<ref name=Naravane/>{{rp|73}} in [[Odisha]] with the British after the Battle of Argaon and gave up the [[Cuttack district|province of Cuttack]] (which included Mughal and the coastal part of Odisha, Garjat/the princely states of Odisha, [[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<ref name=Naravane/>{{rp|73}} after the [[Battle of Assaye]] and Battle of [[Laswari]] and ceded to the British Rohtak, Gurgaon, Ganges-Jumna Doab, the Delhi-Agra region, parts of Bundelkhand, Broach, some districts of Gujarat and the fort of Ahmmadnagar.

The British started hostilities against [[Yashwantrao Holkar]] on 6 April 1804. Yashwantrao was somewhat successful as he harassed the British forces by guerilla warfare. However, he didn't receive the expected help from Scindia who had already signed a treaty with the British. He went to Punjab and seeked Ranjeet Singh's help with no success. The lack of resources compelled him to come to terms with British.
The Treaty of Rajghat, signed on 24 December 1805, forced [[Holkar]] to give up [[Tonk, India|Tonk]], Rampura, and [[Bundi]].<ref name=Naravane/>{{rp|90–96}}

The defeat in Second Anglo Maratha War proved to be disastrous for the Marathas as they lost vast and rich territories.

==Media==
{{Cite book |first = G. A. |last = Henty |author-link = G. A. Henty |title =At the Point of the Bayonet: A Tale of the Mahratta War |date = 1902 |location = London |url =http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20729 }} – historical fiction describing the war

==See also==
* [[Alexander Adams (British Army officer)|Alexander Adams]]
* [[Fort of Ahmednagar]]
* [[List of Maratha dynasties and states]]
* [[Pettah of Ahmednagar]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Commons category|Second Anglo-Maratha War}}
* Bhattacharyya, Sukumar, and Sukumar Bhattacharya. "THE SECOND ANGLO-MARATHA WAR AND MEWAR." ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress''. Vol. 22. 1959. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44304329 online]
*{{cite book|last=Chaurasian|first=R. S|title=History of the Marathas|isbn=978-81-269-0394-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_v3Y7hns8QC|publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors|year=2004|location=New Delhi}}
*{{cite book|last=Cooper|first=Randolf G. S.|title=The Anglo-Maratha Campaigns and the Contest for India: The Struggle for Control of the South Asian Military Economy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qweZWra_tbwC|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, UK|isbn=0-521-82444-3}}
* Pemble, John. "Resources and Techniques the Second Maratha War." ''Historical Journal'' 19.2 (1976): 375–404. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2638569 online]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box|title=[[Anglo-Maratha Wars]]|years=|before=[[First Anglo-Maratha War]]|after=[[Third Anglo-Maratha War]]}}
{{succession box|title=Indo-British conflicts|years=|before=[[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]]|after=[[Third Anglo-Maratha War]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{MarathaEmpire}}
{{British colonial campaigns}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Indian Independence Movement}}

[[Category:Second Anglo-Maratha War| ]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1803]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1804]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1805]]
[[Category:Wars involving the British East India Company]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Maratha Empire|Anglo-Maratha War 2]]
[[Category:History of Gujarat]]
[[Category:1803 in British India]]
[[Category:1804 in British India]]
[[Category:1805 in British India]]

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Second Anglo-Maratha War