British Expansion in India
Notes
The British expanded through wars, diplomacy, annexation and indirect control, using the Company's finances, army and the divisions among Indian rulers. Policies changed with the Governors-General.
Phases of policy
- Policy of Ring Fence (Warren Hastings, 1772-85): buffer states such as Awadh to protect Company territories.
- Non-intervention (Cornwallis, Shore): Pitt's India Act (1784) barred wars of conquest, but the policy was not kept.
- Subsidiary Alliance (Wellesley, 1798-1805): control over rulers through a permanent army and a Resident.
- Subordinate Isolation (Lord Hastings, 1813-23): Indian states were made dependent on the Company as the paramount power; Pindaris suppressed.
- Annexation / Subordinate Union (Dalhousie, 1848-56): Doctrine of Lapse and annexation on grounds of misrule.
Major conquests
Power | Wars and outcome |
|---|---|
Bengal | Plassey (1757), Buxar (1764); Diwani (1765) |
Mysore | Four Anglo-Mysore Wars: 1767-69 (Treaty of Madras), 1780-84 (Treaty of Mangalore), 1790-92 (Treaty of Seringapatam; Tipu ceded half his kingdom), 1799 (Tipu Sultan died; Wodeyars restored under a subsidiary alliance) |
Marathas | First (1775-82): Treaty of Salbai (1782). Second (1803-05): after the Treaty of Bassein (1802); Treaties of Deogaon, Surji-Arjungaon. Third (1817-18): last Peshwa Baji Rao II surrendered, pensioned off at Bithoor; Maratha power ended |
Sikhs | First (1845-46): Treaty of Lahore (1846). Second (1848-49): Punjab annexed by Dalhousie (1849); Maharaja Duleep Singh pensioned |
Sind | Annexed in 1843 by Charles Napier after the Battle of Miani (Governor-General Ellenborough) |
Nepal (Gurkha War) | 1814-16; Treaty of Sugauli (1816) |
Burma | 1824-26 (Treaty of Yandabo; Assam, Arakan ceded); 1852 (Lower Burma); 1885-86 (Upper Burma) |
Afghanistan | First Afghan War (1839-42); Second (1878-80) |
Awadh | Annexed on grounds of misrule in 1856 (Dalhousie) |
Other points
- Treaty of Amritsar (1809): Ranjit Singh and Charles Metcalfe; the Sutlej as the boundary.
- Governors-General: Warren Hastings (1773-85), Cornwallis (1786-93), Wellesley (1798-1805), Lord Hastings (1813-23), Bentinck (first Governor-General of India under the Charter Act of 1833), Dalhousie (1848-56).
- Reasons for British success: disunity among Indian powers, a disciplined army and superior arms, the Company's finances and Bengal's resources, naval strength, and diplomacy (alliances, treaties).
Key Points
- Policies: ring fence, non-intervention, subsidiary alliance, subordinate isolation, annexation.
- Mysore: four wars; Tipu died in 1799.
- Maratha wars ended Maratha power by 1818.
- Punjab annexed 1849; Sind 1843; Awadh 1856.
- Treaty of Sugauli (1816) ended the Anglo-Nepal war.
MCQs
Q1. Tipu Sultan died in the: (a) First Anglo-Mysore War (b) Second Anglo-Mysore War (c) Third Anglo-Mysore War (d) Fourth Anglo-Mysore War Ans: (d). 1799, at Seringapatam.
Q2. The Treaty of Sugauli (1816) was signed with: (a) Burma (b) Nepal (c) Afghanistan (d) Bhutan Ans: (b). After the Anglo-Nepal War.
Q3. The Punjab was annexed by the British in: (a) 1843 (b) 1846 (c) 1849 (d) 1856 Ans: (c). By Dalhousie after the Second Anglo-Sikh War.