Which, among the following, was the primary cause of the First Maratha War?
The English promised help to the Maratha-noble Raghunath Rao in making him the Peshwa and attacked Maratha-territory.
The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782)-It was the first of three Anglo-Maratha wars fought between the British East India Company and Maratha Empire in India. The war began with the Treaty of Surat and ended with the Treaty of Salbai.
The internal problems of the Marathas and the growing ambition of the English brought the beginning of the Anglo-Maratha struggle. The primary cause of the first Maratha war was the interference of the English government at Bombay in the internal affairs of the Marathas.Peshwa Madhav Rao died in 1772 and was succeeded by his younger brother Narain Rao.His uncle Raghunath Rao wanted to become the Peshwa and got him murdered. The Maratha chiefs took up the cause of Madhav Rao Narain the son of Narain Rao.Raghunath Rao approached British for help and signed the treaty of Surat hopping to gain the coveted Gaddi with the help of English subsidiary troops. By this treaty he also promised to cede Salsette and Bassein and refrain from entering into alliance with the enemies of the company.
In the war that followed nobody gained any success and two parties realized the futility of the struggle by concluding the Treaty of Salbai (1782). By the Treaty of Salbai, status quo was maintained which gave the British 20 years of peace with the Marathas. The treaty also enabled the British to exert pressure on Mysore with the help of the Marathas in recovering their territories from Haider Ali.
Second Anglo- Maratha War (1803-1806)-The second Maratha war was fought at the time of Lord Wellesley who wanted the Marathas to accept his Subsidiary Alliance system. The Marathas refused to accept it but were tricked by Wellesley due to their own internal differences. The Treaty of Bassein made conflict with the Marathas inevitable. The main provisions of the treated were the recognition of Peshwa's claim in Poona acceptance of Subsidiary Alliance by Baji Rao II and relinquishing of all rights of Surat by Baji Rao to the British.For Marathas Treaty of Bassein was loss of national honor
Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-1818)-Maratha made a desperate last attempt to regain their independence and prestige in 1817.This led in organizing a united front of the Maratha Chiefs and was taken over by the Peshwa who was uneasy under the rigid control exercised by the British Resident. However once again the Marathas failed to evolve any plan of action. The Peshwa attacked the British Residency at Poona in 1817, Appa Saheb of Nagpur attacked the Residency at Nagpur and Madhav Rao Holkar made preparations for war.The Maratha confederacy was altogether destroyed .