Yashwantrao Holkar

Maharaja Yashwant Rao Holkar (3 December 1776 – 28 October 1811) also known as Jaswantrao Holkar, was the Raja of Indore State and a well-known military officer belonging of the Holkar clan of the Maratha Empire. A gifted military leader, he was educated in accountancy as well as literate in Persian, Marathi and Urdu. During his reign, Holkar entered into conflict with the British East India Company, which was expanding into Central India from the coast. He fought the Second Anglo-Maratha War against the British, and was able to compel them into enter into a treaty relationship with him that recognised Holkar as a sovereign and independent ruler despite suffering several defeats at their hands, thereby escaping the humiliating subsidiary alliance treaty unlike other Maratha chiefs. His early death, however, led to most of his other strategies to stymie EIC expansion remaining unrealised.