However, Wellesley had to face opposition of the Sindia and Bhonsle of Nagpur who refused to recognise the treaty. The Peshwa himself, having secured his musnad tried to wriggle out of his commitments at Vasai. However, the British grip on Pune and the Peshwa was strong. The year 1803 saw the armies of Sindia and Bhonsle defeated in a series of battles; Aligurh, Delhi, Assaye, Gawilgurh, and soon the Maratha confederacy lay subdued by the armies raised by the East India Company. Undoubtedly, the defection of Sindia’s European captains made a difference, but more importantly, the English had captured the south Asian military economy by being better employers.

The next few years saw the defeat of Holkar, and the domination of the English over India was complete. Each chief was closely watched by the Resident who reported every conversation and move so that Sindia, Bhonsle, Holkar and the Peshwa were unable to muster any resistance or alliance. The Peshwa, who tried to bring his jagirdars under his own control was frustrated by the British who refused the use of the Subsidiary force for this purpose. In fact, British policy was to support Gaekwad and the southern jagirdars so that the Peshwa remains weak and within their control.

Years passed. The Peshwa chafed under the controls he had to face as the one-time head of the Maratha confederacy. Gradually, he collected a large sum of money from his annual revenues. His quibbles with the Gaekwad of Gujarat over payment of long standing dues went out of hand when the Gaekwad envoy Gangadhar Shastri Patwardhan was murdered at Pandharpur in 1815 and the British Resident Mountstuart Elphinstone placed the blame on the Peshwa’s chief aide Trimbakji Dengle. Elphinstone pressed the Peshwa hard so that he had to hand over Trimbakji, who was imprisoned in an English prison at Thane. Relations between the Peshwa and Elphinstone plumbed new depths.

The year 1816 went with Peshwa-English relations deteriorating rapidly. The Peshwa sent emissaries to Sindia and further to Nepal, Ranjit Singh of Punjab, Bharatpur, Jodhpur, Macheri, Kashmir as well as Pindari leaders like Meer Khan. Threatened, the English monitored these diplomatic moves and increased the pressure on the Peshwa. He was coerced into handing over his territories as well as severing all contacts with his one-time subordinates, thereby isolating him. On his part, the Peshwa used all his guile and reserves to gradually build a huge army that was paid their salary well in advance. The purported reason for this was to help the English fight the Pindaries of Central India. Meanwhile, letters were being sent to every ruler worth his salt and calls were made to join in a general insurrection to throw the English out. The English were not found wanting. Remaining alert, they intercepted many of these messages and prepared their own counter strategies.

In the midst of this, in September 1816, Trimbakji escaped from the prison at Thane. The romantic escape was a shock to the British in Pune. Bishop Heber describes his rescuers singing a Marathi ballad as a sign to Trimbakji to enable him to escape…the English translation being:

‘Behind the bush, the bowmen hide, the horse beneath the tree,

Where shall I find a knight will ride the jungle paths with me?

There are five and fifty coursers there, and four and fifty men;

When the fifty fifth shall mount, the Deccan thrives again!’

Trimbakji began gathering an army of Bhils, Ramoshis and other tribes in the hills of Junnar north of Pune while Bapu Gokhale, the Peshwa’s able commander-in-chief – and perhaps the last Maratha General of note – began to plan a war against the English. The Peshwa himself began to think of ways to escape his gilded cage under the watchful Elphinstone. Elphinstone built an elaborate intelligence network so that the Peshwa complained that even the dishes cooked for him were being reported to the Resident. Many chiefs of the Peshwa’s own realm conspired against him to secure favours from the English. A large collection of such intelligence jottings gathered by Elphinstone are available with the author.

Finally, in May 1817, the Resident demanded of the Peshwa that Trimbakji be apprehended and the three forts of Sinhagad, Purandar and Raigad be handed over to the English until then as surety. The Peshwa at this time had a numerous cavalry and seven thousand paid Arabs for his protection in Pune. Elphinstone ordered General Lionel Smith to surround Pune. Eventually, not ready to fight at this time Peshwa was forced to declare Trimbakji an absconder and declare a prize for his release. The Peshwa however worded the proclamation in a manner that it appeared to be from the British rather than himself. The forts were transferred to British custody for a short while. The Peshwa was also forced to sign a fresh treaty giving up all claims to be the head of the Maratha confederacy. Large chunks of the Peshwa’s territories in Karnataka and Bundelkhand were also sought by the company. The British also raised new troops. Raising the Poona Auxiliary Horse in July 1817 it was advertised that,