Latest / The Rise of Colonialism: How Europe Divided the World — Fexingo History / After Panipat: How the Marathas Rebuilt and Fought the British
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- Lucas: So last time we left the Marathas in ruins after Panipat, 1761. Tens of thousands dead, the Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao died broken-hearted shortly after. It looked like the end of their imperial dream. Luna: But they didn't just disappear, did they? Lucas: No, and that's the remarkable part. The Maratha Confederacy was built on a network of powerful families—the Scindias, the Holkars, the Bhonsles, the Gaekwads. Each had their own armies and ambitions. After Panipat, they didn't collapse; they regrouped. Lucas: The new Peshwa was Balaji's young son, Madhavrao I. He was only sixteen when he took over, but he turned out to be one of the most capable leaders the Marathas ever had. He immediately set about rebuilding the treasury and the army. Luna: Sixteen? That's incredible. How did he hold the fractious nobles together? Lucas: He was a natural diplomat and a ruthless administrator when needed. He curbed the power of his own uncle, Raghunathrao, who was ambitious and scheming. Madhavrao reorganized the revenue system, cut down on corruption, and within a few years, he had the Maratha armies back in the field. Lucas: By 1769, he had reasserted Maratha authority over much of northern India. He even marched on Delhi and restored the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II to his throne—for a price, of course. The Mughals were now effectively puppets of the Marathas. Luna: So they bounced back faster than anyone expected. Lucas: Absolutely. But then tragedy struck again. Madhavrao contracted tuberculosis. He died in 1772 at the age of twenty-seven. And with him died the hope of a strong, centralized Maratha state. Luna: That's devastating. What happened next? Lucas: His younger brother Narayanrao became Peshwa, but he was weak and easily manipulated. Within a year, he was assassinated by palace guards—most likely on the orders of his uncle, Raghunathrao, who then seized power. But the other Maratha chiefs didn't accept him. They installed Narayanrao's infant son as the rightful Peshwa, with a regency council. Lucas: And here's where the British enter the picture directly. Raghunathrao, desperate for support, signed the Treaty of Surat with the British East India Company in 1775, ceding them territory in exchange for military help. That triggered the First Anglo-Maratha War. Luna: So the Marathas brought the British into their own civil war. Lucas: Exactly. The British sent a force under Colonel Thomas Keating to support Raghunathrao. But the Maratha regency, led by the brilliant minister Nana Phadnavis and the general Mahadaji Shinde, resisted. The war went badly for the British. Lucas: In 1779, a British army was surrounded at Wadgaon, near Pune, and forced to surrender. It was a humiliating defeat—the British had to sign the Convention of Wadgaon, giving back all the territories they'd gained. Luna: Wait—the British lost a war in India? I thought they were unstoppable after Plassey. Lucas: That's a common assumption, but no. The Marathas were a formidable military power. Their light cavalry and artillery tactics were highly effective. The British Governor-General, Warren Hastings, refused to accept the Convention of Wadgaon. He repudiated it and sent a larger army under General Thomas Goddard. Lucas: Goddard marched across India, captured the Maratha stronghold of Gwalior, and fought a series of battles. But neither side could deliver a knockout blow. By 1782, both were exhausted, and they signed the Treaty of Salbai. Luna: What did the treaty say? Lucas: It restored the status quo ante—basically, each side gave back what they'd taken. The British recognized Madhavrao's son, the infant Peshwa, as the legitimate ruler, and Raghunathrao was pensioned off. The treaty established twenty years of peace between the Marathas and the British. Lucas: For the Marathas, this was a diplomatic victory. They had held the British to a draw. And during those twenty years, the Maratha Confederacy grew stronger under leaders like Mahadaji Shinde, who built a modern army trained on European lines. Luna: So why didn't the Marathas ultimately win against the British? Lucas: Partly because they couldn't overcome their internal divisions. The confederacy was too loose. Each chief pursued his own interests. When the Second Anglo-Maratha War broke out in 1803, the British exploited those divisions brilliantly. Luna: Before we get into that, I want to pause on something you mentioned earlier. You know, we try to keep this show completely ad-free, and that's something we're really proud of. It means we don't have to interrupt stories like this with commercial breaks. Lucas: Absolutely. We believe history deserves to be told without distractions. If you value that approach, listener support is what keeps it going. The easiest way is through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, every little bit helps us keep doing deep dives into subjects like the Maratha recovery after Panipat. Now, back to the Second Anglo-Maratha War—you were saying the British exploited the Marathas' internal rivalries. Lucas: Right. By 1803, the Peshwa was Baji Rao II—another weak and paranoid ruler. He signed a subsidiary alliance with the British in 1802, effectively becoming their puppet. The other Maratha chiefs—the Scindia, the Bhonsle, the Holkar—refused to accept this, and war broke out. Lucas: The British, under General Arthur Wellesley—the future Duke of Wellington—won stunning victories at Assaye and Argaon. They also defeated the Marathas in the north at Laswari and Delhi. By 1805, the Maratha confederacy was broken. Luna: That's the same Wellesley who beat Napoleon at Waterloo? Lucas: The very same. He called Assaye his finest victory, even compared to Waterloo. The Marathas fought bravely—their artillery was superior to the British in many ways—but they were outmaneuvered and outgeneraled. Lucas: So the Maratha Empire, after rising from the ashes of Panipat, finally succumbed to the British. But it took two decades and three wars. They were the last major Indian power to fall, and their resistance shaped the British Raj that followed. Luna: It's a story of resilience, but also of what happens when unity fails. Lucas: Exactly. The Marathas had the resources and the military skill to potentially drive the British out. But they couldn't stop fighting each other. And that's a lesson that echoes through Indian history.