Subsidiary Alliance and Doctrine of Lapse: expansion without war

Not all of British India was conquered in battle. Two policies let the East India Company absorb Indian states without always fighting them. The first was the Subsidiary Alliance, developed by Lord Wellesley, Governor-General from 1798 to 1805. Under it, an Indian ruler accepted a British force stationed in his territory, paid for its upkeep, and agreed to conduct foreign policy only through the British, while keeping his throne. Hyderabad accepted the alliance in 1798, and Awadh followed in 1801.

The alliance was a trap dressed as protection. The cost of the subsidiary force often pushed a state into debt, and the Company then demanded territory in payment, as it did in Awadh, where the ruler ceded half his kingdom in 1801. The ruler also lost control of foreign affairs and, in practice, of much domestic policy, since the British Resident at his court became the real centre of power. States that resisted, such as Mysore under Tipu Sultan, who was killed at Seringapatam in 1799, and the Maratha confederacy, defeated in wars ending in 1818, were annexed outright.

The second policy was the Doctrine of Lapse, applied by Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General from 1848 to 1856. Under it, the Company refused to recognise an adopted heir of a ruler who died without a natural heir, and annexed the state instead. Satara was annexed in 1848, Jhansi in 1854, and Nagpur in 1854 on this ground. The doctrine ignored the Hindu custom of adoption and the fact that the British themselves had earlier recognised adopted heirs, which made it appear arbitrary to Indian rulers.

Awadh, the last great annexation before 1857, was taken in 1856 on the different ground of misgovernment, a claim that angered its soldiers, many of whom served in the Company's army and came from Awadh. Together, these policies explain why, by 1857, many Indian rulers and soldiers believed that no treaty with the British was safe, a belief that fed directly into the revolt of that year.