Second Anglo-Maratha War

The Second Anglo-Maratha War followed tensions between the East India Company and major Maratha powers. Company armies fought across western, central and northern India, combining European discipline with Indian allies, sepoys and cavalry warfare.

The war strengthened British influence in India and reduced the independence of several Maratha states. It also helped make Arthur Wellesley’s military reputation before his later fame in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo.

This context suits fiction about East India Company soldiers, sepoy armies, Indian cavalry, difficult campaigning, contested alliances and the expansion of British power before the formal Raj.