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
The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian empire and later a confederation that controlled large portions of the Indian Subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji of the Bhonsle dynasty as the Chhatrapati. Although Shivaji came from the Maratha caste, the Maratha empire also included warriors, administrators, and other nobles from the Maratha and several other castes from what is known today as Maharashtra. The Maratha Kingdom was expanded into a full-fledged Empire in the 18th Century under the leadership of Peshwa Bajirao I.
The Maratha Confederacy in 1760, near its peak (Yellow)
Image: Shivaji seal, reproduction
Early Maratha conquests, in Shivaji's and Shahji's time
A portrait of Shivaji I