The Colonial Era in India

English East India Company

A trading enterprise granted a royal charter by Queen Elizabeth I with special powers, such as raising a private army, which gradually established British rule across India.

Doctrine of Lapse

A British annexation policy stipulating that any princely state whose ruler died without a natural male heir would be annexed, deliberately disregarding the Hindu tradition of adoption.

Subsidiary Alliance

A system where an Indian ruler accepted a British Resident, funded British troops at their own expense, and surrendered external affairs to the British, creating what was called an 'empire on the cheap'.

Battle of Plassey (1757)

A decisive confrontation at Palashi where East India Company troops led by Robert Clive defeated Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah after conspiring with Mir Jafar.

Mir Jafar

The military commander of the Nawab of Bengal who betrayed Siraj-