As we had discussed in our last blog, that Lord Wellesley’s Policy of Expansion was proved to be the worst decision, as it cost England’s Government the trust of the Indian Kings. So, to overcome this situation England Government decided to cut off Wellesley’s Policy and in exchange, introduced Dalhousie’s Policy Of Annexation.
Dalhousie’s Policy Of Annexation:
The aim of Wellesley’s Policy Of Expansion was to enslave the native kingdoms without using much of the British resources.
The states that accepted the Subsidiary Alliance considered Britishers as their friends. Eventually, in the absence of internal and external threats, they became irresponsible and their administration started deteriorating. The outcome of the conspiracy of the British was anarchy in many princely states. The Indian rulers got trapped in it.
They annexed many states under the same excuse. Thereafter, Burma (now Myanmar) and the regions of Punjab were also annexed. If the king died without a son, his state was annexed. In this way, Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur, etc. became the victims of ‘Policy Of Annexation’.
Dalhousie aimed at helping the British traders to make huge profits from the trade of tea, coffee and cotton by capturing the areas that produced these commodities on a large scale. To consolidate the British rule in India to run the administration smoothly, many changes were made in India.
During his tenure, the first railway line was started between Mumbai and Thane (1853 C.E.). The modern postal system started in India and the wireless system between India and England too was introduced during his tenure. He passed laws to ban child marriage and advocated widow remarriage. English education spread in India during this time. The first three universities in India were established in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in 1857 C.E.
Thus, these reforms were basically for expansion of British rule and ease of administration. Although, Indians suffered a lot later on with the introduction of British reforms.
Indians suffered a lot and had great dissatisfaction with the policies introduced. I will be describing those sufferings and dissatisfaction in my next blog. So,
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