First War of Independence

Policy of expansion: outright wars

1. Battle of Buxar 1764: Bengal, Odisha, Bihar

2. Anglo-Mysore Wars 1767-1799: most of the Mysore territories

3. Third Anglo-Maratha Wars 1817-1818: Peshwas’ entire dominion and the Maratha territory north and south of the river Narmada

4. Second Anglo-Sikh Wars 1823-1856: Punjab territories.

What was Subsidiary Alliance?

It was an agreement between the English East India Company and Indian princely states by virtue of which these states lost their sovereignty to the British

Terms of Subsidiary Alliance

1. Accept the British as the supreme power

2. Surrender their foreign relations to the East India Company, agree that they would not form an alliance with any other company, and would not wage wars

3. Accepted a British resident at their headquarters and agreed that they would not employ any European without consulting the company

4. Would maintain British troops at their own cost

5. Virtually lost their independence

Explain the first state to enter the subsidiary alliance and give a few examples of the states that agreed to it.

Awadh was the first to enter the alliance in 1765 under the Treaty of Allahabad. It was annexed in 1856 under the pretext of misrule.

Some examples are: Jaipur, Rajput, Tanjore, Hyderabad, Mysore

State the terms of Doctrine of Lapse

According to this doctrine, if a ruler died without a male heir his kingdom would lapse, i.e., it would come under the Company’s territory.

Explain the Impact of the DL

When the ruler of Jhansi died in 1853, his adopted son, Anand Rao, was not seen as the rightful successor thus, the kingdom lapsed. Other examples include Jaipur, Satara, Udaipur, and Nagpur.

DL also took away pensions and titles

Explain the impact of annexation of Awadh

1. People had to pay higher land revenue and additional taxes on food, houses, and ferries

2. The dissolution of the Nawab of Awadh’s administration and army left many nobles, officers, and soldiers without jobs

3. They confiscated the estates of the Taluqdars and Zamindars

4. The soldiers had to help the British conquer the rest of India. They had to pay higher taxes on the land their family held in Awadh

Disrespect shown to Bahadur Shah Zafar

He was removed from minted coins. His successors would not be permitted to use the Red Fort as a palace, and his successors would not have imperial titles but would only be known as princes.

Treatment of Nana Sahib

The British refused to grant Nana Sahib the pension granted to his father, Baji Rao II. He was forced to live in Pune, far away from his seat. He used his inherited money to send missionaries to different parts of the country to generate awareness among the Indians about the British Policies

Absentee of Sovereignty of the British

This means that India was being ruled by the British government from England at a distance of thousands of miles. They felt as if India’s wealth was being drained to England and not being used for their welfare