enthusiast. The sport of pole gymnastics (mallakhamba) was developed in Pune under his patronage by Balambhat Deodhar. Many Peshwas and their courtiers were patrons of lavani and Maharashtrian dance, and a number of composers (such as Ram Joshi, Anant Phandi, Prabhakar and Honaji Bala) flourished during this period. The dancers primarily came from the Mang and Mahar castes. Lavani used to be essential part of Holi celebrations in the region's Peshwa courts. Peshwa influence in India declined after the defeat of Maratha forces in the 1761 Battle of Panipat, but Pune remained the seat of power. However, the city's fortunes declined rapidly after the 1795 accession of Baji Rao II. Pune was captured by Yashwantrao Holkar in the 1802 Battle of Pune, precipitating the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803–1805. Peshwa rule ended with the defeat of Baji Rao II by the British East India Company, under the leadership of Mountstuart Elphinstone, in 1818. British rule and independence In 1818, the Pune region and the rest of the Peshwa territories came under the control of the British East India Company. Company rule came to an end when, under the terms of a proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, the Bombay Presidency, Pune and the rest of British India came under the British crown in 1858. The governor of the new territories, Mountstuart Elphinstone, appointed a commissioner and left the district's boundaries almost intact. Elphinstone and other British officers enjoyed Saswad and the fertile valley around it. The annual Pandharpur Wari starts in two places in the district, namely Alandi and Dehu. In its present form the wari dates back to 1820s. At that time, Sant Tukaram's descendants, and a devotee of Sant Dnyaneshwar named Haibatravbaba Arphalkar, who was a courtier of Scindias, the Maratha rulers of Gwalior made changes to wari. Haibatravbaba's changes involved carrying the paduka in a palkhi, having horses involved in the procession, and organizing the devotees or varkaris in Dindis (Dindi stands for a specific group of varkaris.). Villages in the district saw rioting in 1875 by peasants protesting Marwari and Gujarati moneylenders. The disturbances involved peasants getting the moneylenders to burn their documents and, in some cases, torching their houses. The riots were responsible for the Bombay presidency government enacting the Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act to protect peasants from land grabbing by money lenders. During the first and second Anglo-Maratha wars, it took four or five weeks