Page 16 - SST Class 08

He died in 1839. When he died, he left behind an
empire of 1,40,000 square miles (at that time, Info Bits
Info Bits
each mile measured 1.6 km).
States like Hyderabad, Awadh, Gwalior, Jodhpur,
After his death, his son Dalip Singh succeeded to
Jaipur, Udaipur and Indore entered into subsidiary
the throne. This period is known for disorder and
alliance.
anarchy in Punjab. There were many dissensions
among the Sikhs chiefs. Taking advantage of the The Doctrine of Lapse
situation, the British fought two wars with the Lord Dalhousie initiated the policy of the doctrine
Sikhs in 1845 and 1848. The Sikhs were defeated of lapse in 1834. According to this policy, if the
in both these wars. In 1849, Lord Dalhousie, the
ruler of an independent state died without leaving
then Governor General annexed the whole of the a natural heir his kingdom would lapse and it
Punjab to the British dominion.
would be taken over by the East India Company
Activity directly with immediate effect.
The adopted son, if any, would
Collect pictures of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Tipu
Sultan and Hyder Ali. And make a small album. not be recognised as the heir
Under each photograph, write down about the and would only enjoy the right
personality. over the personal property of
the deceased ruler. The states of
ANNEXATIONS ON VARIOUS PRETEXTS Satara, Jhansi, Udaipur, Nagpur,
Surat, Sambalpur, Jaitpur and
Besides outright wars, the EEIC annexed a number Baghat were annexed under the Lord Dalhousie
of territories on various pretexts as well as doctrine of lapse.
doctrines. Instead of launching a direct military
attack on an unknown Indian territory, it used a Just Think!
variety of political, economic and diplomatic
methods to extend its influence before annexing it. How was Lord Dalhousie responsible for the growth

The Subsidiary Alliance of British empire in India?
Subsidiary alliance was started by Lord Wellesley. Quiz Time
He was appointed as Governor General of Bengal Match the events with their dates :
in 1798. It was a very clever method, developed
1. First Carnatic War 1757
by the British to expand British territory indirectly.
In this system, the British promised to protect the 2. First Anglo-Mysore War 1849
Indian states by stationing army in the rulers 3. Doctrine of lapse 1746-1748
territory. In return, the Indian states will pay
certain amount of money. If the ruler failed to pay 4. The first British factory 1758-1763
the amount of money, the part of his territory will 5. Third Carnatic War 1834
be taken away as penalty. The ruler would keep a
British official, called resident, in his court. The 6. Annexation of Punjab 1764
ruler who accepted the subsidiary alliance would 7. The Battle of Plassey 1611
neither enter into alliance with any other power 8. The Battle of Buxar 1766-67
nor he would declare war against anyone without
the permission of the British. If he had any conflict CAUSES OF THE SUCCESS OF THE BRITISH
with other rulers, he would accept the decisions
of the British. Thus Indian rulers lost their right of It is amazing to note that the British came to India
independent decision-making and their military as traders and became rulers, only at the expense
powers also rested in the hands of the British. of the Indians. Some of the important causes of
the victory of the British were :
Contemporary Social Science-8
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