From Traders to Rulers
The English East India Company (EIC) began as a trading body with a royal charter. Unlike varied conquests, the British takeover was gradual, calculated, and often disguised as commercial enterprise.
1. Divide and Rule
The British exploited rivalries between regional rulers and religious communities.
- Battle of Plassey (1757): The turning point.
- Robert Clive conspired with Mir Jafar (the commander of Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah).
- Mir Jafar’s forces stood aside, ensuring a British victory. This victory gave the British control over Bengal’s vast resources.
2. Subsidiary Alliance
A political trap devised to control Indian states without the cost of direct administration.
- Terms:
- Indian rulers had to maintain British troops at their own expense.
- A British Resident was stationed in the court.
- Rulers could not conduct foreign relations without British permission.
- Result: Rulers lost sovereignty and money (“Empire on the cheap”). Hyderabad was the first to sign in 1798.
3. Doctrine of Lapse
Introduced by Lord Dalhousie in the mid-19th century.
- The Rule: If a ruler of a princely state died without a natural male heir, the state would be annexed by the British.
- Impact: Disregarded the Hindu tradition of adoption. Led to the annexation of Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur, and others, fueling resentment that led to the 1857 rebellion.