Second Anglo - Maratha War The Second Anglo - Maratha War ( 1803 – 1805 ) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India . Background . The overarching ambition of Raghunathrao , Peshwa Baji Rao II ' s father , and the latter ' s own incompetence since coming into his inheritance , had long caused much internecine intrigue within the Maratha confederacy ; Peshwa Baji Rao II no longer commanded the deference his predecessors had . In October 1802 , Peshwa Baji Rao II was defeated by Yashwantrao Holkar , ruler of Indore , at the Battle of Poona . He fled to British protection , and in December the same year concluded the Treaty of Bassein with the British East India Company , ceding territory for the maintenance of a subsidiary force and agreeing to treaty with no other power . The British also had to check the French influence in India . The Marathas were the only major power left outside British control . So with the fall of Mysore as a serious threat to British expansion in the south Wellesley turned attention towards the Marathas . The Maratha empire at that time consisted of a confederacy of five big chiefs , viz the Peshwa at Poona , Gaekwad of Baroda , Sindhia of Gwalior , Holkar of Indore and Bhonsle of Nagpur . The Maratha chiefs were engaged in internal quarrels among them . Wellesley had repeatedly offered a subsidiary treaty to the Peshwa and Sindhia but Nana Phadnavis refused strongly . However in 1802 when Holkar defeated the combined armies of Peshwa and Sindhia , Peshwa Baji Rao II signed the Subsidiary treaty at Bassein in 1802 . War . This act on the part of the Peshwa , their nominal overlord , horrified and disgusted the Maratha chieftains ; in particular , the Scindia rulers of Gwalior and the Bhonsle rulers of Nagpur and Berar contested the agreement . In September 1803 , Scindia forces lost to Lord Gerard Lake at Delhi and to Lord Arthur Wellesley at Assaye . A few months later in November , Lake defeated another Scindia force at Laswari , followed by Wellesley ' s victory over Bhonsle forces at Argaon ( now Adgaon ) on 29 November . The Holkar rulers of Indore belatedly joined the fray and compelled the British to make peace . Wellesley , who went on to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo , would later remark that Assaye was tougher than Waterloo . Conclusion . On December 17 , 1803 , Raghoji II Bhonsle of Nagpur signed the Treaty of Deogaon in Odisha with the British after the Battle of Laswari and gave up the province of Cuttack ( which included Mughalbandi / the coastal part of Odisha , Garjat / the princely states of Odisha , Balasore Port , parts of Midnapore district of West Bengal ) . On 30 December 1803 , the Daulat Scindia signed the Treaty of Surji - Anjangaon with the British after the Battle of Assaye and Battle of Argaon and ceded to the British Rohtak , Gurgaon , Ganges - Jumna Doab , the Delhi - Agra region , parts of Bundelkhand , Broach , some districts of Gujarat , fort of Ahmmadnagar . Yashwantrao Holkar , however began hostilities with the British by securing the alliance of the Raja of Bharatpur . By the Treaty of Rajghat on 24 December 1805 , Holkar got back most of his territories . The Holkar Maharajas retained control and overlordship over much of Rajasthan .