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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

How did the British establish their control over Maharashtra in the first two decades of the 19th century? Why did the Maratha challenge ultimately collapse?

  • UPSC 1994
  • British Expansion in India

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Between 1802 and 1818, the British moved from being one power among several in western India to the sole sovereign of Maharashtra — a transformation achieved through treaty, war, and the systematic exploitation of Maratha disunity.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • Stage One: The Treaty of Bassein (1802)
  • Stage Two: The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–05)
  • Stage Three: The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–18) and Final Collapse
  • Why the Maratha Challenge Ultimately Collapsed: Internal Factors
  • Why the Maratha Challenge Ultimately Collapsed: External Factors
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