The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782) was the first conflict fought between the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
and
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...
in India. The war began with the
Treaty of Surat and ended with the
Treaty of Salbai. As per the treaty, the British and the Marathas would not fight against each other for the next 20 years. The war, fought in between
Surat
Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...
and
Poona
Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
, saw the British defeated and restoration of positions of both the parties before the war.
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...
, the first
Governor-General of Bengal decided not to attack Pune directly.
Background
After the death of
Madhavrao Peshwa in 1772, his brother
Narayanrao became
peshwa
The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave t ...
(prime minister) of the Maratha Empire. Narayanrao's palace guards murdered him in August 1773, and his uncle
Raghunathrao (Raghoba) became the Peshwa. However, Narayanrao's wife,
Gangabai, gave birth to a posthumous son, who was the legal heir to the throne. The newborn infant was named
'Sawai' Madhavrao (Sawai means "One and a Quarter"). Twelve Maratha chiefs, known as the Baarbhai and led by
Nana Phadnavis, directed an effort to install the infant as the new Peshwa and to rule in his name as
regent
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
s.
Raghunathrao, unwilling to give up his position of power, sought help from the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
at
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
and signed the
Treaty of Surat on 6 March 1775. According to the treaty, Raghunathrao ceded the territories of
Salsette and
Bassein (Vasai) to the British, along with part of the revenues from
Surat
Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...
and
Bharuch districts. In return, the British promised to provide Raghunathrao with 2,500 soldiers.
At the same time, the Marathas tried to form a military alliance with the French. Two Frenchmen, Saint-Lubin and M. Montigny acted as intermediaries between France and the Poona Regency. However, the alliance proposals reached nowhere, while the British suspicions of a global anti-British front increased, since the American War of Independence was also going up around this same period.
The
British Calcutta Council condemned the Treaty of Surat, sending Colonel Upton to
Pune
Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
to annul it and make a new treaty with the regency. The
Treaty of Purandhar (1 March 1776) annulled that of Surat, Raghunathrao was pensioned and his cause abandoned, but the revenues of Salsette and Bharuch districts were retained by the British. The Bombay government rejected this new treaty and gave refuge to Raghunathrao. In 1777, Nana Phadnavis violated his treaty with the Calcutta Council by granting the French a port on the West coast. The English retaliated by sending a force towards Pune.
Initial stage and Treaty of Purandar (1774–1775)
British troops under the command of Colonel Keating, left
Surat
Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...
on 15 March 1775, for Pune. But they were checked by Haripant Phadke at Adas and were totally defeated on 18 May 1775.
Casualties for Keating's force, accompanied by
Raghunathrao, included 96 killed. The Marathas casualties in the Battle of Adas (Gujarat) included 150 killed.
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...
estimated that direct actions against Pune would be detrimental. Therefore, the
Supreme Council of Bengal condemned the
Treaty of Surat, sending Colonel Upton to
Pune
Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
to annul it and make a new treaty with the regency. An agreement between Upton and the ministers of Pune called
Treaty of Purandar was signed on 1 March 1776.
The Treaty of Purandar (or Treaty of Purandhar) was a doctrine signed on 1 March 1776 by the
peshwa
The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave t ...
of the
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...
and the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
's
Supreme Council of Bengal in
Calcutta
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
. Based on the terms of the accord, the British were able to secure
Salsette.
Treaty was signed between the then Governor General Warren Hasting who sent Colonel Upton and Nana Fadnavis of Peshwa in which British accepted Sawai Madhav Rao as a new Peshwa and Maratha accepted not to recognise existence of French in India.
The Treaty of Purandhar (1 March 1776) annulled that of Surat, Raghunath Rao was pensioned and his cause abandoned, but the revenues of Salsette and Broach districts were retained by the British.
Battle of Wadgaon

Following a treaty between France and the
Poona
Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
Government in 1776, the
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
Government decided to invade and reinstate Raghoba. They sent a force under Col. Egerton reached
Khopoli and made its way through the
Western Ghats at
Bhor Ghat and onwards toward Karla, which was reached on 4 January 1779 while under Maratha attacks. Finally the British were forced to retreat back to Wadgaon, but were soon surrounded. The British surrendered
and were forced to sign the
Treaty of Wadgaon on 16 January 1779, a victory for the Marathas.
Reinforcements from northern India, commanded by Colonel (later General) Thomas Wyndham Goddard, arrived too late to save the Bombay force. The British
Governor-General
Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
in
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
,
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...
, rejected the treaty on the grounds that the Bombay officials had no legal power to sign it, and ordered Goddard to secure British interests in the area.
Goddard with 6,000 troops stormed
Bhadra Fort and captured
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...
on 15 February 1779. There was a garrison of 6,000 Arab and Sindhi infantry and 2,000 horses. Losses in the fight totalled 108, including two British.
Goddard also captured
Bassein on 11 December 1780. Another
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
detachment led by Captain Popham and assisted by the Rana of Gohad, captured
Gwalior
Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...
on 4 August 1780, before Mahadji Scindia could make preparations. Skirmishes took place between Mahadji Scindia and General Goddard in Gujarat, but indecisively. Hastings sent yet another force to harass
Mahadji Shinde, commanded by Major Camac.
Central India and the Deccan

After capturing
Bassein, Goddard marched towards
Pune
Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
. But he was routed in the Battle of Bhor Ghat in April 1781 by Parshurambha,
Haripant Phadke and
Tukoji Holkar.
In central India,
Mahadji stationed himself at Malwa to challenge Camac. Initially,
Mahadji had an upper hand and British forces under Camac, being harassed and reduced, had to retreat to Hadur.
In February 1781, the British beat Shinde to the town of Sipri,
but every move they made after that was shadowed by his much larger army, and their supplies were cut off, until they made a desperate night raid in late March, capturing not only supplies, but even guns and
elephants
Elephants are the Largest and heaviest animals, largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian ele ...
.
Thereafter, the military threat from Shinde's forces to the British was much reduced.
The contest was equally balanced now. Where Mahadji scored a significant victory over Camac at
Sironj,
the British avenged the loss through the
Battle of Durdah on 24 March 1781.
Colonel Murre arrived with fresh forces in April 1781 to assist Popham and Camac. After his defeat at Sipri,
Mahadji Shinde got alarmed. Therefore, Shinde proposed a new treaty
between the Peshwas and the British which came to be known as "Treaty of Salbai".
Treaty of Salbai
This treaty, known as the
Treaty of Salbai, was signed on 17 May 1782, and was ratified by Hastings in June 1782 and by Nana Phadnavis in February 1783. The treaty ended the First Anglo-Maratha War, restored the status quo, and established peace between the two parties for 20 years until the
Second Anglo-Maratha War
Second Anglo-Maratha War (from 1803 –1805) was a large conflict within the Maratha Confederacy, Maratha Empire involving the British East India Company. It resulted in major loss of territory for the Marathas, including regions around Delhi a ...
.
In popular culture
The 2013 Hollywood film titled ''
The Lovers'' is based on the backdrop of this war.
See also
*
Second Anglo-Maratha War
Second Anglo-Maratha War (from 1803 –1805) was a large conflict within the Maratha Confederacy, Maratha Empire involving the British East India Company. It resulted in major loss of territory for the Marathas, including regions around Delhi a ...
*
Third Anglo-Maratha War
*
List of Maratha dynasties and states
*
James Hartley (Indian officer)
Notes
Further reading
* Beck, Sanderson. ''India & Southeast Asia to 1800'' (2006)
"Marathas and the English Company 1701–1818" online Retrieved 1 October 2004.
* Gordon, Stewart. ''Marathas, marauders, and state formation in eighteenth-century India'' (Oxford University Press, 1994).
* Gordon, Stewart. "The Marathas," in '' New Cambridge History of India,'' II.4, (Cambridge U Press, 1993).
* Seshan, Radhika. "The Maratha State: Some Preliminary Considerations." ''Indian Historical Review'' 41.1 (2014): 35–46.
online
External links
* Athale, Anil
Retrieved 21 July 2011.
* Hameed, Shahul
The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782) Retrieved 1 October 2004.
* . Retrieved 1 October 2004.
* Paranjpe, Amit et al. . Retrieved 1 October 2004.
Anglo Maratha Wars
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Military history of British India