Treaty of Salbai

Treaty of Salbai
ContextFirst Anglo-Maratha War
Signed17 May 1782 (1782-05-17)
LocationGwalior
Signatories
Parties
LanguagesEnglish, Marathi
Full text
Treaty of Salbai at Wikisource

The Treaty of Salbai was signed on 17th May 1782, by representatives of the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company after long negotiations to settle the outcome of the First Anglo-Maratha War. It was signed between Warren Hastings and Mahadji Shinde.

Under its terms, the Company retained control of Salsette and Broach and acquired guarantees that the Marathas would defeat Hyder Ali of Mysore and retake territories in the Carnatic. The Marathas also guaranteed that the French would be prohibited from establishing settlements on their territories. In return, the British agreed to pension off their protégé, Raghunath Rao, and acknowledge Madhavrao II as peshwa of the Maratha Empire. The British also recognised the territorial claims of the Mahadji Shinde west of the Jumna River and all the territories occupied by the British after the Treaty of Purandar were given back to the Marathas. Haider Ali was required to restore all the territories he had seized from the English and the Nawab of Arcot. The Peshwa was prohibited from offering support to any European power and was required to ensure that the English retained their prior trading privileges. Mahadji Scindia was designated as the mutual guarantor, responsible for overseeing the treaty's proper implementation.[1]

The Treaty of Salbai resulted in a period of relative peace between the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company, lasting for 20 years until the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1802.[2] David Anderson concluded the Treaty of Salbai on behalf of the East India Company.[3]

Terms

The treaty was concluded and signed by Mahadji and Anderson at Salbai on 17th May 1782, and the treaty was ratified by Hastings on 6th June, but the Peshwa ratified the treaty much later on 20th December 1782. Haidar Ali's death on 7th December hastened the decision to ratify the treaty by Nana Fadnavis and the Pune government. The treaties were formally exchanged on 24th February, 1783. The treaty contains 17 articles, the main ones are given below.[4][5]

1. All places including Bassein taken by the English during the war since the treaty of Purandar shall be delivered up to the Peshwa.

2. That the island of Salsette and the smaller ones near Bombay shall continue in the possession of the English.

3. The city of Broach will similarly remain with the English.

4. That the territory conquered in Gujarat by the English shall be restored to the Peshwa and the Gaikwad to whom they had belonged.

5. The English shall not afford any support hereafter to Raghunathrao in money or otherwise. He should choose his residence and Rs 25000 a month should be paid by the Peshwa for his maintenance.

6. Fatesinh Gaikwad should remain in possession of the territory he had before and should serve the Maratha State as heretofore.

7. The Peshwa engages that Haidar Ali Khan shall be made to relinquish the territory he had recently seized.

8. This article defines the allies of the Marathas and the English. Both the parties engage not to molest each other’s allies.

9. The English to enjoy the privileges of trade as before.

10. The Peshwa engages not to allow support to any other European nations.

11. That the East India Company and the Peshwa Madhavrao Pandit Pradhan request Maharaja Madhavrao Sindia to be the mutual guarantee 'or the proper observance of the conditions of this treaty.' If either of them violate the conditions, he will endeavour to crush the aggressor.

12. Such territories as were granted to the English by Raghunathrao shall be restored, agreeable to the terms of Colonel Upton’s treaty.

Analysis

Mural depicting a British officer surrendering to Mahadaji Shinde and Nana Fadnavis following the Battle of Wadgaon

The treaty brought a 20-year peace between Marathas and British, but in the long term it was a blunder by the Marathas. The British did not obtain any substantial territorial gains with the exception of the island of Salsette (Broach in its entirety was given to Mahadji Shinde upon the ratification of the treaty).[6] War indemnities promised by Marathas in 1776 were written off, and they gave up backing Raghunathrao and recognized Madhavrao II. But in the long run the diplomacy paid off for the British. Hastings managed to break off the Triple Alliance of Marathas, Mysore and the Nizam through this treaty. At a time when its resources were drained, administrative challenges from London mounted, and with no aid from London forthcoming due to Britain's engagement with the American War of Independence, the East India Company, against all odds, succeeded in securing peace. The last chance for the Indian powers to eradicate the British power in India was lost with this treaty.

Eager to assert his leadership over the Maratha Confederacy, avoid further conflict and become a British ally, Mahadji Sindhia independently brokered the treaty in a small village called Salbai near Gwalior, despite the Peshwa's camp, led by Nana Fadnavis, expressing reservations.[7] Nana Fadnavis hesitated because the British Bombay Council had previously undermined the Treaty of Purandar (1776) by sheltering Raghunathrao. In retaliation, he explicitly violated the above treaty by granting the French a port on the west coast. He had originally negotiated the Treaty of Purandar with the British Calcutta Council under Hastings, ensuring Raghunathrao was marginalized and pensioned off. Despite all these previous grievances, he had to ratify the Treaty of Salbai on the behalf of Peshwa in 1783, after a one year delay, with Mahadji as the mediator.[8] The treaty isolated Mysore, which allowed the British to neutralize the major South Indian player before finally dealing with the Marathas after 20 years. The treaty weakened Maratha unity, providing the British with further grounds to intervene in future political manoeuvring and conflicts, enabling them to engage with individual Maratha chiefs separately.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Ahir, Rajiv (2022). A Brief History of Modern India (28th ed.). New Delhi: Spectrum Books. p. 105. ISBN 81-7930-819-7.
  2. ↑ Olson and Shadle, p. 706.
  3. ↑ Proceedings of the session. Volume 12. Indian Historical Records Commission. 1930.p. 115
  4. ↑ Sardesai 1948, p. 119.
  5. ↑ Sen 1994, pp. 213–214.
  6. ↑ Sen 1994, p. 214.
  7. 1 2 Dalrymple, William (2019). The Anarchy. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4088-6437-1.
  8. ↑ India from Mid-18th to Mid-19th Century. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Open University. 2017. p. 28.

Sources

  • Olson, James Stuart and Shadle, Robert. Historical Dictionary of the British Empire. Greenwood Press, 1996. ISBN 0-313-27917-9
  • Sen, Sailendra Nath (1994). Anglo-Maratha relations during the administration of Warren Hastings 1772-1785. Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7154-578-0.
  • Sardesai, G.S (1948). New History Of The Marathas Vol-III (1772-1848). Phoenix Publications. ISBN 8121215730. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)


25°51′N 78°19′E / 25.850°N 78.317°E / 25.850; 78.317


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