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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

The British “fought the First Maratha War in a period when their fortunes were at the lowest ebb”. Comment.

  • UPSC 1998
  • British Expansion in India

The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782) is often singled out as the moment British fortunes in India came closest to genuine reversal — a claim worth testing against the war's actual course.

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What the full answer covers

  • Evidence of British Fortunes at Their Lowest
  • How the British Weathered the Crisis
  • Significance of the "Lowest Ebb"

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