The Peshwa Bajirao 2 enter the subsidiary Alliance why?
Answers
As per the recent and existing historical records that we have, the Nizam of Hyderabad was the first person to accept the concept of the Subsidiary Alliance.
When the third Anglo-Maratha war was completed, the Maratha ruler Peshwa Baji Rao II accepted the alliance.
This was done to gain a final control over his kingdoms which were taken away by the British.
Apart from this, the Peshwa, Bhonsle and Sindhia also accepted the terms and conditions of the Subsidiary Alliance.
Answer:
Holkar's conquest of Poona
After the death of Fadnavis in 1800, Daulat Rao Scindia took complete control over the Peshwa's government. As Scindia started eliminating his rivals within the government, Peshwa Baji Rao II became concerned about his own safety. He turned to British resident Colonel William Palmer for help. General Arthur Wellesley was already in the southern parts of Maratha territory at that time, having concluded a campaign against Dhondia Wagh. However, Baji Rao was reluctant to sign a treaty with the British. In 1802, Scindia's rival chief Yashwant Rao Holkar marched towards Poona. He proclaimed allegiance to the Peshwa, and sent assurances that he only wanted to free Poona of Scindia's control. But Baji Rao was apprehensive since he had earlier ordered the killing of Yashwant Rao's brother Vithoji Rao Holkar. He sought help from Scindia, who was away from Poona at that time. Scindia dispatched an army that arrived in Poona on 22 October 1802. Holkar defeated the joint forces of Peshwa and Scindia in the Battle of Hadapsar on 25 October.[2]
On the morning of 25 October, before the battle, Baji Rao had already sent preliminary terms for a treaty to the British. After the Holkar victory in the battle, he fled to Vasai, where he sought assistance from the British in Bombay.[2] Holkar set up an ad-hoc council headed by Baji Rao's adoptive brother Amrut Rao, and ran the Peshwa's government in Amrut Rao's name.[3]
Treaty with the British
Baji Rao II concluded the Treaty of Bassein in December 1802, in which the British agreed to reinstate Baji Rao II as Peshwa, in return for allowing into Maratha territory a force of 6,000 infantry troops complete with guns, and officered by the British, paying for its maintenance and accepting the stationing of a permanent British political agent (Resident) at Poona. Holkar and Sindhia resisted the British intrusion in Maratha affairs, which resulted in the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803–1805.[4]
The British triumphed, and the Marathas were forced to accept losses of territories due to internal rivalries between Holkars and Scindias, and treachery committed in all the battles by Scindia's French and other European officers, who mostly handled the imported guns within the Maratha army—the Marathas failing to train their own men in sufficient numbers to handle imported guns.
Third Anglo-Maratha War
The raids of the Pindaris, irregular horsemen who resided in the Maratha territories, into British territory ultimately led to the Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817–1818, which ended in the defeat of the Bhosles, Holkars, and other Maratha feudatories. In the mid-1810s, the British had intervened in a financial dispute over revenue-sharing between the Peshwa and Gaekwads of Baroda. On 13 June 1817, the Company forced Baji Rao II to sign an agreement renouncing claims on Gaekwad's revenues and ceding large swaths of territory to the British. This treaty of Poona formally ended the Peshwa's titular overlordship over other Maratha chiefs, thus officially ending the Maratha confederacy.[5][6]
On 5 November 1817, the British Resident at Poona was attacked by Baji Rao II's army led by his Attorney Mor Dixit. Bajirao II could have won this battle had he not halted the progress of his forces by succumbing to the request of British Resident Elphinstone for a ceasefire. Baji Rao watched the battle that ensued between his troops and the British from a hill now called Parvati. This battle on 5 November 1817, referred to as the Battle of Khadki, resulted in Peshwa's defeat.[7]
Afterward, his troops moved to Garpir on the outskirts towards present-day Solapur Road to block the British troops coming from Jalna, but the treason of one of Baji Rao's chiefs, Sardar Ghorpade Sondurkar, led to his force withdrawing. Subsequently, Baji Rao captured Chakan Fort from the British troops. Meanwhile, the British placed Poona under Colonel Burr, while a British force led by General Joseph Smith pursued the Peshwa. Towards the end of December, Colonel Burr received news that the Peshwa intended to attack Poona, and asked the Company troops stationed at Shirur for help. The troops dispatched from Shirur came across the Peshwa's forces, resulting in the Battle of Koregaon. The Peshwa was unsuccessful in defeating the Shirur contingent, and was forced to retreat fearing the arrival of a bigger Company force led by General Smith.
Explanation: