Third Anglo-Maratha War - Prelude

Prelude

The Maratha Empire had failed to upgrade its guerilla warfare tactics as their Empire grew. Efforts to westernise the armies were half-hearted and undisciplined: Newer techniques were not absorbed by the soldiers while the older methods and experience were lost. The Maratha Empire lacked an efficient spy system, and they were poor students of diplomacy. Maratha artillery was outdated, and they did not manufacture their own guns. Weapons were imported and the supply often failed. Foreign officers were responsible for the handling of the imported guns; the Marathas never trained their own men in any considerable numbers for the purpose. Military movements were made without knowledge of local geography; when moving troops or retreating they would suddenly come across a river and be trapped when they were unable to locate boats or a crossing. The enemy would take advantage of this to gain the best position and the Marathas would lose the battle or would be overtaken and slaughtered while fleeing.

At the time of the war, the power of the British East India Company was on the rise whereas the Maratha Empire was on the decline. The British had been victorious in the previous Anglo-Maratha war. The Peshwa of the Maratha Empire at this time was Baji Rao II. Several Maratha leaders who had formerly sided with the Peshwa were now under British control or protection. The British had an arrangement with the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha province of Baroda to prevent the Peshwa from collecting revenue in that province. Gaekwad sent an envoy to the Peshwa in Pune to negotiate a dispute regarding revenue collection. The envoy, Gangadhar Shastri, was under British protection. He was murdered, and the Peshwa's minister Trimbak Dengle was suspected of the crime. The British seized the opportunity to force Baji Rao into a treaty. The treaty (The Treaty of Pune) was signed on 13 June 1817. Key terms imposed on the Peshwa included the admission of Dengle's guilt, renouncing claims on Gaekwad, and surrender of significant swaths of territory to the British. These included his most important strongholds in the Deccan, the seaboard of Konkan, and all places north of the Narmada and south of the Tungabhadra rivers. The Peshwa was also not to communicate with any other powers in India. The British Resident Mountstuart Elphinstone also asked the Peshwa to disband his cavalry.