ANGLO MYSORE

ANGLO MARATHA WARS

By - Mahipal Singh Rathore

Trajectory of East India Company’s conquests

• War

• Treaties - Weakening the Enemy

• Final war

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 ANGLO MYSORE CONFLICTS

• Mysore was a powerful kingdom in Deccan that could challenge

company’s power
• 4 wars fought between EIC and Rulers of Mysore- Haider Ali and
Tipu Sultan
• Original Dynasty of Mysore- Wodeyar
• Haider Ali ,a powerful commander usurped power in 1761

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The three great
powers of
southern India
 1st Anglo-Mysore War 1767-69
Causes-
• Haider Ali wanted to expel British from south India
• EIC wanted to expand its territory

EIC + Marathas + Nizam - form a triple alliance and attack Mysore

After a struggle of changing fortunes for 18 months, Haider Ali suddenly

marched up on Madras and forced the English in a humiliating treaty

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Result- Mysore victory

Treaty of Madras – Defensive alliance

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 2nd Anglo-Mysore War 1780-84
Causes
• 1771- Marathas attacked Mysore but EIC did not come to help acc to the
Treaty of Madras
• 1780 – EIC captured Mahe, a French port vital to Haider Ali
• American war of Independence

Events
• Haider Ali formed an alliance with Marathas and Nizam but they left him
soon(British diplomacy)
• Haider Ali captured Arcot but was later defeated by Sir Eyre Coote

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• 1782- Haider Ali passed away
• Tipu carried on struggle with French assistance
• 1783- Paris treaty between France and England. Crown forces
company to sue for peace too

Result – Stalemate (Psychological defeat for English as Tipu dictated

terms of Treaty)

Treaty of Mangalore 1784

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Tipu Sultan
• ‘Wrote’ a military manual- Fathul Mujhahidin
• Manufactured Mysore Rockets, artillery and firearms
• Used Frenchmen to train army – army on European line
• New weights and measures
• Set up a ‘Jacobin club’ and planted ‘Tree of Liberty’ at his capital
• Communicated with Napoleon and invited him to India

• Capital – Srirangpattanam , on the Kaveri river

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 3rd Anglo-Mysore War 1790-92
Cause –
• Tipu strengthened his army, brought reforms
• Sought help from France against English
• He attacked Travancore, an English ally, sparking the war

Events
• Cornwallis attacked and defeated Tipu in Travancore
• Triple alliance – Marathas+Nizam+English defeated Tipu at
Srirangpattanam

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Treaty of Srirangpattanam 1792
• Half of the territories of Tipu were snatched away and divided
among Marathas, British and Nizam
• The Raja of Coorg got independences from Tipu
• War indemnity of 3 crore rupees
• 2 sons of Tipu taken as hostages by Cornwallis to ensure 3 crores
were paid in regular instalments

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©DrMahipalRathore
“We have weakened our
enemy without making
our friends too strong’’
 4th Anglo-Mysore War 1799
Causes
• Tipu tried to set an alliance with Arab, Turks and Afghans to defeat
the British but failed.
• He started a Jacobin club and also planted a tree of liberty by Tipu
• He got letter of friendship from Napoleon Bonaparte (in Egypt that
time –planning to come to India)
• Wellesley asked Tipu to join subsidiary alliance, but Tipu declined.

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• Richard Wellesley allied with Nizam to attack Mysore
• Tipu died fighting at Srirangpattanam
Results:
• British and Nizam divided parts of his empire
• 5 year old boy Krishanraja III Wodeyar was made King
• Tipu’s family sent to Vellore
• Mysore became a princely state with suzerainty of the East India
Company – Subsidiary Alliance signed

P.S.- Tipu’s son instigated the Vellore Mutiny in 1806, the first ever
large scale Sepoy mutiny under company rule (Cause- new turban)

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ANGLO MARATHA CONFLICTS

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©DrMahipalRathore
• Marathas were the most powerful empire in India in mid 18th
century
• Although Panipat(1761) had dealt them a serious blow but they still
held huge sway in central India
• The British presidency of Bombay wanted to replicate the success of
Bengal(Dual system) in Bombay region
• They sought an opportunity and got it when succession struggles
started for Peshwa’s post

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1st Anglo-Maratha War 1775-82

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Cause –
• The young Peshwa Narayan Rao was murdered in 1773 by his uncle
Raghunath Rao(Raghoba) in Shaniwar wada
• Nana Phadnvis and 11 other ministers (Barbhai coucil) appointed
the infant Madhav Rao II (son of Narayan Rao) as Peshwa

• Raghoba fled to Surat and signed Treaty of Surat(1775) with EIC –

promising them Bassein,Salsette – in lieu of help to become
Peshwa

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Events –
• GG Warren Hastings was not happy with actions of Bombay
presidency
• He signed a different Treaty of Purandar(1776) with Nana Phadnvis
but later continued warfare when directors overruled him and
continued giving protection to Raghunath Rao
• Maratha victory at Wadgaon (near Pune) – another treaty
• Mahadji Scindia led Maratha to many victories but after English
defeated them in central India, a final treaty was signed near
Gwalior

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Treaty of Salbai,1782
• Raghunath Rao was pensioned off – his claim to Peshwa abandoned
• Madhava Rao II recognised as Peshwa by English
• English were allowed to keep Bassein, Salsette
• EIC asked for help against Mysore - Marathas agreed

Importance –
Anglo-Mysore Peace held for 20 years
Pressure exerted on Mysore

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 The confederacy

 Gaekwad - Baroda
 Bhonsle - Nagpur
 Holkars - Indore
 Scindias - Gwalior
 Peshwas - Poona

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 2nd Anglo-Maratha War 1803-06
Casus belli
• Lord Richard Wellesley asked all the Marathas chiefs + Peshwa to
sign the subsidiary alliance – they refused
• Infighting among the various Maratha chiefs.
• Peshwa Baji Rao II had killed one of the brothers of Jaswant Rao
Holkar, ruler of Indore.
• Jaswant Rao attacked combine army of Peshwa+Scindia,defeated
them and occupied Poona
• The Peshwa escaped and sought refuge with English in Bombay

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©DrMahipalRathore
• Baji Rao II signed the Treaty of Bassein(Vasai) 1802 - a subsidiary alliance
• Gaekwad signed a separate Treaty of Cambay accepting the subsidiary
alliance in 1802

Treaty of Bassein(Vasai)
“Death knell of the Maratha Confederacy.“
• Subsidiary force of 6000 infantry plus artillery to be stationed at Poona
• 26 lakh rs for maintainence of this army to be given by Peshwa
• City of Surat given to EIC
• No relations with any other European powers + foreign affairs under
English

**NOTE- Bassein was not a war ending treating, rather a war CAUSING treaty
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• The Maratha chiefs did not accept this humiliating treaty signed by their
Peshwa and started war against English
• In December,1803 - Scindia & Bhonsle were defeated at Battle of Assaye
by Arthur Wellesley and entered into subsidiary alliance, giving away large
territories
• Treaty of Surji-Arjangaon,1803 -Scindia
• Treaty of Deogaon,1803 - Bhonsle
• Now Holkar alone was left in the field – he fought bravely for two years,
and signed treaty in 1806
• Treaty of Rajpurghat – Holkar

Baji Rao II was again made the Peshwa

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©DrMahipalRathore
• By Treaty of Deogaon , Bhonsle ceded the province of Cuttack &
the entire territory west of River Wardha.

• By Treaty of Surjianjangaon, Scindia surrendered Rohtak Gurgaon

and Delhi-Agra region

• By Treaty of Rajpurghat, Holkar ceded Tonk, Rampura, and Bundi

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 3rd Anglo-Maratha War 1817-19
Cause:
• The tight control of British Agent on Peshwa Baji Rao II
• EIC was gathering its army for campaign against Pindaris(dacoits) in
central India. Peshwa assumed it was to remove him - He declared
war
• Bhonsle and Holkar joined him too. Scindia abstained
Result:
• Peshwa was defeated , his dominions annexed and he was
pensioned off to house arrest in Bithur, near Kanpur

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• Maratha confederacy was destroyed and Peshwaship abolished.
• Thus, the last major power of India which could threaten the EIC
rule militarily was extinguished
• The kingdom of Satara (Shivajis’s descendants) was carved out of
Peshwa’s land & given to a descendant of Shivaji, Pratap Singh.
• This war is also know as Pindari War

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Causes of Defeat of the Marathas
• Nature of Maratha state – extortion and robbery
• Lack of capable leadership and infighting
• Military weakness of the Marathas- did not adapt modern ways of
warfare. Heavy dependency on Guerrilla tactics
• Failed to estimate the political, military & diplomatic strength of the
British
• Did not learn the tactics of diplomacy fully

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On the other hand the English
• Learnt the geography, language and customs
• Prepared maps, planned their campaigns carefully
• Diplomacy as a weapon!

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India in 1823 after
the Maratha
Mysore wars

*Look at the
Coastline

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THANK YOU

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