First Anglo - Maratha War The First Anglo - Maratha War ( 1775 – 1782 ) was the first of three Anglo - Maratha wars fought between the British East India Company and Maratha Empire in India . The war began with the Treaty of Surat and ended with the Treaty of Salbai . Background . After the death of Madhavrao Peshwa in 1772 , his brother Narayanrao became Peshwa of the Maratha Empire . However , Raghunathrao , Narayanrao ' s uncle , had his nephew assassinated in a palace conspiracy that resulted in Raghunathrao becoming Peshwa , although he was not the legal heir . Narayanrao ' s widow , Gangabai , gave birth to a posthumous son , who was legal heir to the throne . The newborn infant was named ' Sawai ' Madhavrao ( " Sawai " means " One and a Quarter " ) . Twelve Maratha chiefs , led by Nana Phadnavis directed an effort to name the infant as the new Peshwa and rule under him as regents . Raghunathrao , unwilling to give up his position of power , sought help from the British at Bombay and signed the Treaty of Surat on 6 March 1775 . According to the treaty , Raghunathrao ceded the territories of Salsette and Bassein to the British , along with part of the revenues from Surat and Bharuch districts . In return , the British promised to provide Raghunathrao with 2 , 500 soldiers . The British Calcutta Council condemned the Treaty of Surat , sending Colonel Upton to Pune to annul it and make a new treaty with the regency . The Treaty of Purandhar ( 1 March 1776 ) annulled that of Surat , Raghunathrao was pensioned and his cause abandoned , but the revenues of Salsette and Broach districts were retained by the British . The Bombay government rejected this new treaty and gave refuge to Raghunathrao . In 1777 Nana Phadnavis violated the treaty with the Calcutta Council by granting the French a port on the west coast . The British replied by sending a force towards Pune . The tangle was increased by the support of the London authorities for Bombay , which in 1778 – 79 again supported Raghunathrao . Peace was finally restored in 1782 . Initial Stage and Treaty of Purandar ( 1775 - 1776 ) . British troops under the command of Colonel Keating left Surat on March 15 , 1775 for Pune . But they were checked by Haripant Phadke at Adas and were totally defeated on May 18 , 1775 . Warren Hastings estimated that direct actions against Pune would be detrimental . Therefore , the British Calcutta Council condemned the Treaty of Surat , sending Colonel Upton to Pune to annul it and make a new treaty with the regency . An agreement between Upton and the ministers of Pune called Treaty of Purandar was signed on March 1 , 1776 . The Treaty of Purandhar ( 1 March 1776 ) annulled that of Surat , Raghunath Rao was pensioned and his cause abandoned , but the revenues of Salsette and Broach districts were retained by the British . Battle of Wadgaon . The East India Company ' s force from Bombay consisted of about 3 , 900 men ( about 600 Europeans , the rest Asian ) accompanied by many thousands of servants and specialist workers . They were joined on the way by Raghunath ' s forces , adding several thousand more soldiers , and more artillery . The Maratha army included forces contributed by all the partners in the federation , tens of thousands in all , commanded by Tukojirao Holkar and General Mahadji Shinde ( also known as Mahadji Sindia ) . Mahadji slowed down the British march and sent forces west to cut off its supply lines . When they found out about this , the British halted at Talegaon , a few hours ' brisk march from Pune , but days away for the thousands of support staff with their ox - drawn carts . Now the Maratha cavalry harassed the enemy from all sides . The Marathas also utilized a scorched earth policy , burning farmland and poisoning wells . The British began to withdraw from Talegaon in the middle of the night , but the Marathas attacked , forcing them to halt in the village of Wadgaon ( now called Vadgaon or Vadgaon Maval ) , where the British force was surrounded on 12 January 1779 . By the end of the next day , the British were ready to discuss surrender terms , and on 16 January signed the Treaty of Wadgaon that forced the Bombay government to relinquish all territories acquired by the Bombay office of the East India Company since 1773 . British response . Reinforcements from northern India , commanded by Colonel ( later General ) Thomas Wyndham Goddard , arrived too late to save the Bombay force . The British Governor - General in Bengal , Warren Hastings , rejected the treaty on the grounds that the Bombay officials had no legal power to sign it , and ordered Goddard to secure British interests in the area . Goddard ' s 6 , 000 troops captured Ahmedabad in February 1779 , and Bassein on December 11 , 1780 . Another Bengal detachment led by Captain Popham captured Gwalior and assisted by the Rana of Gohad , captured Gwalior on August 4 , 1780 , before Mahadji Scindia could make preparations . Skirmishes took place between Mahadji Scindia and General Goddard in Gujarat , but indecisively . Hastings sent yet another force to harass Mahadji Shinde , commanded by Major Camac . British defeat in Central India and the Deccan . After capturing Bassein , Goddard marched towards Pune . But he was routed at Borghat – Parshurambha in April 1781 by Haripant Phadke and Tukoji Holkar . In central India , Mahadji stationed himself at Malwa to challenge Camac . Initially , Mahadji had an upper hand and British forces under Camac , being harassed and reduced , had to retreat to Hadur . In February 1781 the British beat Shinde to the town of Sipri , but every move they made after that was shadowed by his much larger army , and their supplies were cut off , until they made a desperate night raid in late March , capturing not only supplies , but even guns and elephants . Thereafter , the military threat from Shinde ' s forces to the British was much reduced . Colonel Murre arrived with fresh forces in April , 1781 to aasist Popham and Camac . After his defeat at Sipri , Mahadji Scindia got alarmed . Finally , he decisively crushed the forces of Murre on July 1 , 1781 . At the same time the British invasion on Konkan was thoroughly defeated . Learning about these defeats , both from central India and the Deccan , Warren Hastings , who arrived at Varanasi , urged Colonel Murre to begin peace talks with Mahadji . Treaty of Salbai . After the British defeat , Warren Hastings through Mahadji Shinde proposed a new treaty between the Peshwa and the British that would recognize the young Madhavrao as the Peshwa and grant Raghunathrao a pension . This treaty , known as the Treaty of Salbai , was signed on 17 May 1782 , and was ratified by Hastings in June 1782 and by Phadnis in February 1783 . The treaty also returned to Shinde all his territories west of the Yamuna . It also guaranteed peace between the two sides for twenty years , thus ending the war .