Name: The Doctrine of Lapse and Annexation of Awadh
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 5 min 21 s
Description: How did Lord Dalhousie and the Doctrine of Lapse lay the foundation for empire-building in India? You’ll be fascinated to learn the reasons!

Question

Discuss about the special features of Subsidiary Alliance and Annexation Policy.

Accepted Answer

The special features of the policy of Subsidiary Alliance promoted by Wellesley are as follows:

Any princely state that accepted the alliance had to maintain a part of the British army which would be stationed in its territory.

A British representative or Resident would reside in the court of the princely state.

The princely state would not be allowed to use the British army at its own will. In other words, the British officials would gain absolute control over the foreign policy of the concerned princely state.

The states like Gwalior, Hyderabad, Vadodara, Jodhpur, etc. became the victims of the subsidiary Alliance.

The special features of the Annexation Policy of Lord Dalhousie are as follows:

If the ruler of any princely state died without leaving behind a biological male heir, the British could immediately take over the kingdom. The adopted children of the rulers were no longer considered the legitimate heirs to the throne. Satara, Jhansi, etc. were annexed by this policy.

A few kingdoms like Awadh were annexed in the pretext of putting an end to misgovernance.

Discuss about the special features of Subsidiary Alliance and Annexation Policy.

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