The Second Anglo-Maratha War started in August, 1803. Arthur Wellesley captured Ahmednagar on 12 August. Wellesley’s aggressive war strategy all along kept the Maratha forces busy. On 23 September, the British got victory over the troops of Sindhia and Bhonsle in the Battle of Assaye.
One after another, Burhanpur, Asirgarh and the strong fortress of Gwalior were captured by the British East India Company. Sindhia’s forces faced defeat in Delhi and Laswari.
General Lake captured Agra and Delhi in November, 1803. The Maratha forces were completely routed in every front. On 17 December, Raghuji Bhonsle II was compelled to sign the Treaty of Deogaon with the British. By the terms of the treaty, Bhonsle ceded Balasore and Cuttack of Orissa and the entire region in the Western banks of the Wardha River to the English.
On December 30, 1803, Daulat Rao Sindhia signed the treaty of Surji-Anjangaon with the English. The region between the Ganga and the Jamuna, entire area including the forts situated in the north of Rajputana, Ahmednagar, Broach and the territories in the west of the Ajanta hills were obtained by the English from Sindhia. On 27 February, 1804, Sindhia accepted the Subsidiary Alliance of the English.
So long Jaswant Rao Holkar had been observing the humiliating defeats of Sindhia and Bhonsle with apathy and indifference. But now he became active to form an anti-English confederacy of the Indian powers. He rallied the support of the Rajputs, the Sikhs as well as the Rohillas behind him and started war against the English. In the early stage of the war Jaswant Rao Holkar was crowned with illuminating success. His success so much annoyed the Court of Directors in London that the Company authorities directed Wellesley to leave India in 1805. The Court of Directors thought that the English Company’s burden of debt increased owing to the aggressive policy of Wellesley. Under these circumstances Sir George Barlow came as the new Governor General in India. On January 7, 1806, Barlow signed a treaty with Holkar. The English left their claim over Kooch, Rampura, Bundelkhand, Tonk, Bundi, and territories in the north of Chambal. Sindhia got back Gwalior. The Second Anglo-Maratha War ended.