Question

Explain the following: (a) Subsidiary Alliance (b) Doctrine of Lapse.

Answer 1

Hint: -Lord Wellesley, who was the Governor-General (1798-1805), used the "Non-Intervention Policy" create the British Empire in India.
-An annexation scheme applied by the British East India Company in India until 1859.

Complete answer: -Subsidiary Alliance-Lord Wellesley's Subsidiary Alliance scheme was a tactic mastered to subjugate Indian forces without the expense and hassle of war. Any Indian ruler, whose protection was threatened, was persuaded to seek aid and enter into an alliance with the English, who vowed to defend the ruler from foreign attacks and internal revolts. Some terms and conditions had to be agreed by the Indian chief. This partnership was known as the Coalition of Subsidiaries.
-The supporters of the rulers of the Indian state were forced to recognize the British Army's permanent garrison within their territory and pay a subsidy for its upkeep.
-No European may be hired in their service by the Indian king without the British's prior permission.
-Without contacting the Governor-General, they did not bargain with any other Indian rulers.
-Doctrine of Lapse- It was a scheme of the British East India Company in which the state/territory would automatically be added to the British empire if the monarch of a princely state or territory under the paramountcy of the Company died without a natural successor.
-In annexing the Indian princely states, Dalhousie aggressively applied the doctrine of lapse, but the policy was not just his innovation. This was articulated early in 1834 by the Court of Directors of the East India Company.
-According to this scheme, the Company annexed Mandvi in 1839, Kolaba and Jalaun in 1840 and Surat in 1842. Kings who have no child of their own can not grant their kingdom to an adopted child or relative. He had to give the East India Company his empire.

Note: -In fact, the Subsidiary Alliance Policy was a document of lack of control, indicating that the state had no rights to protect itself to preserve diplomatic relations, to hire foreign experts, and to resolve its conflicts with its neighbours.
-The Theory of lapse was actually the British East India Company's expansionist strategy to improve the reality of the British Empire through hook or crook annexing the other state in India.