Answer the following questions in short
(Atleast 40 words each)
1. Write some key points on 'The Battle of Plassey'.
2. Explain 'Subsidiary Alliance' and the forces led by this policy.
3. Write some key points on how was the 'War with Marathas' by the British Company.
4. Explain the Policy of Paramountcy in short.
5. Explain the Doctrine of Lapse in short.
Thank you!
Answers
Answer:
1. The Battle of Plassey took place in 1757. After Siraj-ud-Daulah became the Nawab of Bengal, he was being plotted against by Robert Clive. Mir Jafar, the military general, conspired with Clive. They advanced on the capital and confronted the army at Plassey near the Bhagarathi river. The British decimated the French and the Bengalis. He eventually overthrew Siraj-ud-Daulah and became the Nawab under the control of Clive and in turn the British.
2. The Subsidiary Alliance was introduced by Lord Wellesley. The alliance was a pact between the Princely States and the British East India Company. The pact forced the kingdoms of India to lose their sovereignty, surrender their army to the British when needed and pay for the British army maintenance. In return, the British would protect the Indian kingdom against attacks or revolts.
3. There were ultimately three wars between the Marathas and the British. the first war ended with the British being defeated at Wadgaon and the Treaty of Salbai where the British gained control of the island of Salsette. the second war started after Baji Rao II defeated the Holkars and accepted the Treaty of Bassein. The Peshwas lost against Lord Lake and the Holkars and were left with regions in central India and Rajasthan. The third war was an invasion. They were annexed and the British took control of India.
4. The Policy of Paramountcy justified the annexations of any kingdom of India. It was introduced under Lord Hastings. This policy was introduced to paramount supreme law over India.
5. The Doctrine of Lapse was introduced by Lord Dalhousie. It stated that if any Princely State ruler dies without an immediate male heir by blood, the kingdom would be under the control of the British. Many kingdoms like Satara, Jhansi, Udaipur, Nagpur and such were taken by the Doctrine.
1) BATTLE OF PLASSEY:
• Battle of Plassey was fought between British and Siraj - ud - Daula, Nawab of Bengal with French allies.
• Plassey is a village located on the banks of Bhagirathi river in Bengal.
• Britishers wanted to replace Siraj-ud Daula with a puppet ruler.
• Thus, Robert Clive, general of Bengal bribed Mir Jafar to plan a conspiracy against Siraj.
• Clive also made a promise to make Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal.
• Mir Jafar was the military commander of Siraj ud Daula.
• As a result on 23rd June, 1757 the battle of Plassey took place.
• In this battle, Clive led British troops defeated Siraj and annexed Calcutta.
• This battle led to the annexation of Bengal by the East India Company.
2) SUBSIDIARY ALLIANCE:
• Subsidiary Alliance was an annexation policy introduced by Lord Wellesley.
• According to Subsidiary Alliance, the ruler should allow the British troops into the kingdom.
• The ruler should also pay the taxes to the Britishers to maintain these troops.
• Nawab of Hyderabad was the first ruler to accept this policy.
• Other kingdoms were Marathas, kingdom of Mysore etc..
3) ANGLO MARATHA WARS:
i) First Anglo Maratha war(1715 - 82)
• The main reason for the first Anglo Maratha war was the power struggle among the Marathas. [ Madav Rao and Raghunath Rao]
• As an advantage British intervened and supported one party. [ Raghunath Rao ]
• In this war, British allied Raghunath Rao was defeated and treaty of Salbai was signed.
• According to this treaty, the British should help Marathas to recover the lost territories from Haider Ali.
ii) Second Anglo-Maratha war:
• The main reason behind the second Anglo Maratha war was Subsidiary Alliance.
• Wellesley wanted to impose Subsidiary Alliance on the Marathas.
• The death of important leaders of Marathas led the opportunity to impose this policy.
• This war resulted in defeating the Sindhia and Bhonsle forces by the British.
• But British falied to defeat Holkar and signed the treaty of Rajpurghat.
• However, this war resulted in the company becoming a great power in India.
iii) Third Anglo Maratha war:
• The two main causes for this war were Resentment of Marathas against British and the strong control by British on Marathas.
• This war resulted in the dethroning of Peshwas of Marathas and annexation of all the territories by the British.
• These territories were converted into Bombay presidency and the Peshwa lands were converted into the kingdom of Satara.
• The Maratha chiefs started working for the British.
4) PARAMOUNTCY:
• The policy of Paramountcy came into existence during the reign of Lord Hastings.
• The East Company as per the demands of its officials started annexing the territories of India through series of wars.
• This policy became the Paramountcy in which the company became the paramount power.
• As a Paramount power the company itself started annexing the Indian states without any hesitation.
5) DOCTRINE OF LAPSE:
• The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy introduced by the then Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie.
• This policy was introduced in 1848 and lasted upto 1856.
• According to this policy, any kingdom which lacked a male heir should be annexed.
• In other words, the company declared itself as a heir to all the rulers who lacked a natural male heir.
• The kingdom of Satara was the first to be annexed through this policy.
• Other kingdoms were Jhansi, Nagpur, etc..