By the mid of 18th century, the Britishers had started to emerge as the strong power on the Indian political horizon. They initially came as traders, but after winning the Battle of Plassey and the Battle of Buxar they got the complete hold on the Indian democracy. There were two policies that played a major role in converting the traders to rulers. They are as follows:
1] Wellesley’s policy of expansion.
2] Dalhousie’s Policy of Annexation.
Now first let’s discuss Wellesley’s Policy of Expansion.
Wellesley’s Policy Of Expansion:
When Wellesley came to India as the Governor-General, there was cut-throat competition existed between England and France for becoming powerful. It was necessary to see that France’s power doesn’t exceed, Wellesley introduced the Subsidiary Alliance policy.
As per this policy, whichever princely state accepted the alliance, had to keep and maintain the British Army and had to keep a British representative in the Royal Court. This way British could maintain their army without spending money on it. However, the princely states were not allowed to utilize their army without the permission of Britishers. This policy which at first made the states feel safe, after a time it felt enslaved and threatened. The policy started to act as a slow poison among the princely states.
The Indian states that became the victim of the Subsidiary Alliance were Hyderabad, Mysore, Ayodhya, Jodhpur, Gaekwads of Vadodara, Peshwas of Pune, and Scindias of Gwalior.
Nizam of Hyderabad was the first victim of the Subsidiary Alliance. Then, it was Mysore and Ayodhya. Tanjore and Karnataka met with the same fate. The Britishers made Maratha fight amongst themselves and at last, made them accept the Subsidiary Alliance.
Tipu Sultan refused to do so but after the British’s victory in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, they had to forcefully accept the policy. Maratha chief fought against themselves after the death of Nana Fadnavis. One by one all the Maratha states became the victim of the ‘Divide And Rule’ policy of the British. The other states named Ayodhya, Gorakhpur, Tanjore, Karnataka, and Farukhabad also suffered from the same fate. With this strategy, within the span of 7 years, Wellesley expanded the Company's rule and made British rule the supreme power of India.
Dalhousie’s Policy of Annexation will be continued in the second blog.
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