The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23 September 1803 near Assaye in western India. An outnumbered Indian and British force, under the command of Major General Arthur Wellesley, defeated the combined Maratha army of Daulatrao Scindia and the Bhonsle Raja of Berar. The battle was Wellesley's first major victory and the one he later described as his finest accomplishment on the battlefield, even more so than his more famous victories in the Peninsular War, and his defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.
Major General Wellesley (mounted) commanding his troops at the Battle of Assaye (J.C. Stadler after W. Heath)
Lord Mornington, the Governor-General of British India between 1798 and 1805, oversaw a rapid expansion of British territory in India.
Maratha gunners re-man their cannons (illustration by Alfred Pearse)
Assaye elephant emblem awarded to the Madras Sappers
The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was a large conflict within the Maratha Confederacy involving the British East India Company. It resulted in major loss of territory for the Marathas, including regions around Delhi and in present-day Gujarat falling into direct Company rule.
The Battle of Assaye, a painting by J.C. Stadler
Battle of Assaye, 1st Battalion 8th Regiment of Native Infantry charge at the cannon, led by Captain Hugh Macintosh