What I found challenging from the Ch. When people rebel 1857 and after Class 8
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Answer:
Since the mid-eighteenth century, the kings had seen their power deteriorating. They were losing their authority gradually. Residents were appointed in many states and the kings were not allowed to keep their army. Most of them lost their territories. Many kings and queens tried to negotiate with the company in order to safeguard their interest. For example- Queen Lakshmibai wanted the company to recognize her adopted son as the legal heir after her husband’s death. Nana Sahib the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II pleaded that he should receive his father’s pension as he was his legal heir. But the Britishers never accepted this as they were sure of their power.
Since the mid-eighteenth century, the kings had seen their power deteriorating. They were losing their authority gradually. Residents were appointed in many states and the kings were not allowed to keep their army. Most of them lost their territories. Many kings and queens tried to negotiate with the company in order to safeguard their interest. For example- Queen Lakshmibai wanted the company to recognize her adopted son as the legal heir after her husband’s death. Nana Sahib the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II pleaded that he should receive his father’s pension as he was his legal heir. But the Britishers never accepted this as they were sure of their power. Awadh was the last territory to be annexed in 1801. Britishers imposed a subsidiary alliance there. According to the rule of the Subsidiary Alliance, Indian rulers were not allowed to have their independent armed forces. They had to keep the company’s army and pay their maintenance. In 1856 they took over it on the pretext of the misgovernment of the territory. If they failed to do so, the part of their territory was taken away as a penalty by the Britishers. This was done by Lord Dalhousie. The company even tried to deteriorate the authority of Mughals. They stopped minting coins on the Mughal king’s name. In 1849 Governor-General Dalhousie announced that the successors of Bahadur Shah will not stay in the Red Fort and in 1856, Governor-General Canning declared that the mughal kingdom had come to an end with the death of Bahadur shah and his successors would be known as ‘prince’ and not ‘king’