Editing Yashwantrao Holkar

| image = Yashwantrao Holkar seated.jpg

| name = Yashwant Rao Holkar

| caption =

| religion = [[Hinduism]]

| coronation = 6 January 1799

| birth_date = 3 December 1776

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1811|10|28|1776|12|3|df=yes}}

| death_place = [[Bhanpura]], [[Malwa]], [[Maratha Confederacy]]

}}

In January 1799, Yashwant Rao Holkar ascended the Holkar throne.{{Sfn|Sarkar|1950|p=169}}

Jasvant Rao was the third son of Tukoji Rao. Tukoji appointed his eldest son Kashi Rao as his successor and head of Holkar state. Tukoji's second son Malhar Rao rebelled against his father's decision, and Jaswant joined his ranks. The rebels plundered Malwa and Khandesh, leading Kashi Rao to call in the army of [[Daulat Rao Sindhia|Daulat Rao Sindia]]. Sindia's army led a surprise attack on the rebel camp, leading to the death of Malhar and Jaswant was wounded and fled.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |title=Fall of the Mughal Empire |publisher=M.C. Sarkar & Sons |year=1950 |volume=IV: 1789-1803 |pages=138–140}}</ref>

Jaswant Rao, who was plundering the nearby countryside, initially claimed he was only attacking Kashi Rao's villages in order to be granted a jagir as was his birthright. Kashi Rao himself was an unpopular ruler, and was despised by servants of the Holkar throne for being subservient to Daulat Rao Sindia. Jaswant then began claiming to represent the interests of his infant nephew Khande Rao II (son of Malhar Rao), and asked the [[Peshwa]] to recognize Khande Rao as the head of the Holkars and Jaswant Rao as his regent. Jaswant's campaigns of plunder attracted jungle robbers, Grasias, [[Pindari|Pindharis]], and Afghans (notably Mir Khan). In Khandesh, Jaswant received many allies. He was hired by Anand Rao Pawar, Raja of Dhar, but upon his employer's failure of payment he looted the state. At this point he had raised an army of 2000 cavalry and 5000 infantry. {{Sfn|Sarkar|1950|p=165-169}}

=== Battle of Poona ===

The British also had to check the French influence in India. The British Government feared that if they had not adopted measures for the restoration of the Peshwa's authority, Yashwantrao Holkar would have either attacked the company's territories, or those of their ally the Nizam of Hyderabad. They felt, therefore, the restoration of the Peshwa under the protection of the British power was a measure indispensably requisite for the defence, not only of the territories of their allies, but of their own possessions bordering on the Maratha dominions in the peninsula of India.<ref>Notes relative to the transactions in the Marhatta empire: Fort William, Governor-General Wellesley. 15 December 1803. P. 19, 20</ref>

=== Peshwai ===

The flight of Peshwa left the government of [[Maratha Empire|Maratha state]] in the hands of Yashwantrao Holkar.<ref>C A Kincaid and D B Parasnis, A history of the Maratha people. Vol III pg 194</ref> After conquering Pune, the capital of the Maratha Empire, Yashwantrao Holkar took the administration in his hands and appointed his men. The Conquest of Pune left Holkar in charge of the administration and he took some constructive steps to rebuild the [[Maratha Empire]].<ref name="Majumdar">[[R. C. Majumdar]] (general editor) and A.D. Pusalker (assistant editor). [[The History and Culture of the Indian People]]. Bombay [Mumbai], Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1951.</ref> He appointed Amrutrao as the [[Peshwa]].<ref>Wg Cdr (Retd.) Dr. M. S. Narawane, Battles of the Honourable East India Company. pg 65</ref><ref>Jadunath Sarkar, Fall of the Mughal Empire:1789-1803. pg 179</ref> All except Gaekwad chief of Baroda, who had already accepted British protection by a separate treaty on 29 July 1802, supported the new regime.

== Yashwantrao's war with the British ==

=== Siege of Delhi ===

== Attempting to unite the Maratha Confederacy and rest of the Indian kings ==

<nowiki> Yashwantrao Holkar, Satara Chattrapati, and Chatarsinh met at Sabalgad. It was decided that, united, they would uproot the British from Indian soil. However Daulat Rao Scindia, unlike his predecessor, had become very passive after the Treaty of Surji Anjangaon, he had lost his morale to fight the British and preferred to have friendly relations with them rather than fight a losing war. In September 1805, Holkar reached </nowiki>[[Ajmer]]. Maharaja [[Man Singh of Marwar]] sent his army to support Holkar, however, this army was intercepted by Scindia and destroyed. This was a sign that Scindia had chosen the British side.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YQdZlHJ2WTAC&pg=PA179 Indian Princely Medals: A Record of the Orders, Decorations, and Medals] by Tony McClenaghan, pg 179</ref> Yashwantrao Holkar sent letters to the rest of the kings of India, appealing to them to fight against the British. The King of Jaipur, Bhosale of Nagpur, accepted his appeal but did not give any direct help. When the British learned that Holkar was planning a grand war for independence, they informed Lord Lake to pursue Holkar. In a letter dated 15 February 1806 to Vyankoji Bhosale of Nagpur he states:

{{Cquote|The Maratha state had been grasped by foreigners. To resist their aggression, God knows, how during the last two and a half years I sacrificed everything, fighting night and day, without a moment's rest. I paid a visit to Daulatrao Sindia and explained to him how necessary it was for all of us to join in averting foreign domination. But Daulatrao failed me. It was mutual cooperation and goodwill which enabled our ancestors to build up, the Maratha states. But now we have all become self-seekers. You wrote to me that you were coming for my support, but you did not make your promise good. If you had advanced into Bengal as was planned, we could have paralyzed the British Government. It is no use of now talking of past things. When I found myself abandoned on all sides, I accepted the offer which the British agents brought to me and concluded the war.}}

[[File:Chhatri of Yashwantrao Holkar in Bhanpura.JPG|thumb|right|300px|Chhatri of Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar at Bhanpura]][[Lord Lake]] denounced the abandonment of Indian allies by the company, resigned his post in protest, and returned to England.<ref>J. L. Mehta, Advanced study in the history of modern India – 1707–1813. P. 652</ref>

== Aftermath ==

* [[Maratha Empire]]

* [[Battle of Farrukhabad]]

== References ==

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