Subsidiary Alliance and Doctrine of Lapse

Two imperial policies – Lord Wellesley’s Subsidiary Alliance and Lord Dalhousie’s Doctrine of Lapse – significantly expanded British territory in India.

Subsidiary Alliance (Lord Wellesley, 1798–1805)

Under this system, Indian princely states were obliged to:

• Accept a British force stationed within their territory for protection.
• Pay for the maintenance of the force through a subsidy, or cede territory in lieu.
• Not employ any European in service without British consent.
• Not negotiate or ally with any other power without British permission.
• Accept a British Resident at their court.

States that entered the alliance: Hyderabad (1798 – first), Mysore (after Tipu’s defeat in 1799), Awadh (1801 – ceded half its territory), and later Peshwa Baji Rao II (1802 – Treaty of Bassein).

The policy was instrumental in British strategic control, effectively turning states into protectorates.

Doctrine of Lapse (Lord Dalhousie, 1848–1856)

This was a doctrine of annexation applied to Hindu princely states. According to it:

• If a ruler died without a natural male heir, the state would lapse to the British paramountcy.
• Adoption by the ruler required prior British consent; otherwise, the adopted heir could only inherit personal property, not the state.
• The Satara kingdom (1848) was the first annexed under this doctrine.

States annexed:

• Satara (1848)
• Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1849)
• Baghat (1850), Udaipur (1852)
• Jhansi (1853) – Rani Lakshmibai’s adopted son not recognized.
• Nagpur (1854) – Bhonsle domain.

The British also refused the pension of Nana Sahib (adopted son of Baji Rao II) and annexed Awadh (1856) on grounds of misgovernment.

Impact

These policies created widespread resentment among Indian princes and were a major cause of the Revolt of 1857, as they violated traditional Hindu inheritance customs and directly attacked sovereignty.