Explanation:

• The three conflicts or wars fought between the British East India Company and the Maratha confederacy or the Maratha Empire in India are referred to as the great Maratha Wars or the Anglo-Maratha Wars.

• First Maratha War: The main cause of the first Maratha war was the increased interference of the British in the affairs, both internal and external, of the Marathas and also the struggle for power between Madhav Rao and Raghunath Rao. Lord Warren Hastings who was the Governor-General of India from 1773 to 1785, led Britishers in this war. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Second Maratha War: It was fought between 1803 and 1805. The main cause of the second Maratha war the defeat of the Peshwa Baji Rao II by the Holkars, one of the prominent Maratha clans, as a result of which he accepted British protection by signing the Treaty of Bassein in December 1802. The other Maratha rulers such as Gwalior’s Scindia rulers and the Bhonsle rulers of Nagpur and Berar did not accept this and they wanted to fight against the British. As a result, the second Anglo-Maratha war broke out.

• The Third Maratha War: The two main causes that led to the third and the final conflict between the British and the Marathas were the growing desire of the Marathas to get back their lost territories, and excessive control over Maratha nobles and chiefs by the British. The third War took place in Maharashtra and its neighboring areas in 1817 and 1818. On 5 November 1817, the Treaty of Gwalior was signed in which Sindhia became a mere spectator in the war. On 6 January 1818, the Treaty of Mandasor was signed between Malhar Rao Holkar and the British, in which the Peshwa was dethroned, and this was followed by the pensioning of the Peshwa. More of his territories were annexed with the British and the British established their supremacy in India. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• The Pindari War: Lord Hastings, with the approval of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, decided to eliminate the Pindaris. The organized campaign by Britishers against Pindaris, known as the Pindari War, became the Third Anglo-Maratha War. Since the Pindaris gave a portion of their loot to the Maratha leaders, the Peshwa at Pune, the Bhonsle Raja at Nagpur and the army of the infant Holkar of Indore each took up arms but were separately defeated.

• The Pindaris were surrounded on all sides by the great army, which converged upon them from Bengal, the Deccan and Gujarat under the supreme command of Lord Hastings in person. Sindhia was overawed and forced to sign the treaty of Gwalior, consenting to aid in the extirpation of the Pindaris, whom he had hitherto protected.

• The Pindaris themselves offered little opposition. Amir Khan, by far their most powerful leader, accepted the conditions offered to him; he and his descendants became the Nawabs of the state of Tonk in Rajputana. The rest surrendered or were hunted down, the fate of Chitu, one of the most notorious, is believed to have perished in a tiger’s den. Hence statement 2 is not correct.