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Anonymous, Summary of the Mahratta and Pindarree Campaign, During 1817, 1818, and 1819, Under the Direction of the Marquis of Hastings, London: Printed for E. Williams, 11 Strand, Bookseller to the King, and to the Duke and Duchess of York, and Sold by All Other Booksellers, 1820.

363 pages with engraved title vignette and 3 large folding maps/plans, including: Sketch of the General Position of the British Army, during the late Mahratta Campaign, Sketch of the Battle of Mahudpoor, Dec. 21st, 1817,? and Rough Sketch of the Ground Plan of Asserghur its Outworks, Pettah & c.; contemporary marbled paper boards, sympathetically rebacked in modern brown morocco; spine ruled in gilt, with direct-lettered gilt title.
8.5 x 5.5 x 1 in (21.7 x 14 x 2.5 cm)

Ink ownership inscription on the half-title: “Ex Libris Maria Cowes, St. Martin’s House, Jersey,” and a later signature on the title page.

THE LAST STAND OF THE MARATHAS: A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT OF THE 1817–19 CAMPAIGNS UNDER THE MARQUIS OF HASTINGS, WITH FOLDING MAPS

This first and only edition of Summary of the Mahratta and Pindarree Campaign (1820) provides an invaluable contemporary account of the decisive British military operations in India during 1817–1819. The campaigns, led under the direction of the Marquis of Hastings (Governor-General of India, 1813–1823) and executed in the field by Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Hislop, sought to suppress the Pindarree raiders and assert British supremacy over the remnants of Maratha power in central India.

Richly detailed and politically charged, this anonymous publication draws on military dispatches, battlefield reports, and administrative communications, offering insight into British strategic thinking and the consolidation of imperial control over vast territories of the Deccan, including present-day Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and parts of Rajasthan. It also reveals the ideological tone of early 19th-century British colonialism, framed within the rhetoric of order, civilisation, and just war.

The work is accompanied by a large folding engraved map, printed from the Calcutta press of Neele & Son, that charts troop movements from Bombay through Poona to Nagpur and marks key engagements at Khadki, Mahidpur, and Sitabuldi. The map serves as both a geographic guide and a political document asserting the spread of British power across the subcontinent. A supplementary folding table tabulates troop strengths, casualties, and ordnance captured. The preface (dated Aurangabad, 15th April, 1819) situates the work within the broader strategic imperatives of company policy in peninsular India, while the appended “Particulars and Remarks” offer detailed observations on logistics, relations with native states, and the disposition of captured gunboats on the Godavari.

Scarce in commerce, this volume stands as a key resource for scholars of British India, military history, and colonial cartography. It predates most formal histories of the Third Anglo-Maratha War and presents an invaluable first-hand account of Britain's final assertion of military dominance on the subcontinent.

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