Till 1772 A.D., Chief of Marathas, Peshwa, remained very powerful. After this, Maratha Chief Nana Fadnavis kept Maratha power in one way or the other. During this age, most important Maratha chiefs were Scindhia, Bhonsle, Holkar and Gaikwad. But Peshwas and different chiefs were defeated one by one by the British.
1. Decline of Peshwa: After the death of fourth Peshwa, Madhav Rao, in 1771 A.D. his son Narayan Rao became next Peshwa. But he was killed by his uncle Raghoba. At this moment of problem, Nana Fadnavis took charge of Marathas. He declared son of Narayan Rao as next Peshwa and declared himself as his guardian. He fought a long battle with the British but did not accepted the Subsidiary Alliance. But Maratha chiefs were divided after his death. Peshwa was afraid by Maratha chief Holkar. That’s why he came under the protection of the British in 1802 A.D. and accepted Subsidiary Alliance under the treaty of Bassein.
2. End of Power of Scindhia and Bhonsle: Scindhia and Bhonsle didn’t like the acceptance of subsidiary alliance by the Peshwa. They considered it as a disrespect of the whole Maratha community. They declared war against the British to take revenge of this disrespect. Gaikwad gave his support to the British. Lord Lake defeated Scindhia and captured Delhi, Agra and Aligarh. Areas of Cuttock and Balasor also came under occupation of the British. In the end, Scindhia and Bhonsle both accepted the Subsidiary Alliance.
3. End of Power of other Maratha Chiefs: The Peshwa, once again tried to create unity among Marathas. In 1817 A.D., Lord Hestings defeated the forces of Peshwa, Bhonsle and Holker. Peshwa was given pension and his title was abolished. Whole of his kingdom was annexed into the British empire. After this, other Maratha chiefs also accepted the subordination of the British. In this way, all the Maratha kingdoms were annexed into the British empire.
