Lord Dalhousie
Dalhousie’s administration combined military conquest with legal-political manoeuvring. Unlike some of his predecessors who mixed expansion with diplomacy, Dalhousie openly aimed to extend direct British rule over as much territory as possible.
Military Conquests
- Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49) → Annexation of Punjab.
- Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852) → Annexation of Lower Burma.
These victories removed two major independent powers from India’s map and further extended the Company’s frontiers.
Doctrine of Lapse – Legal Annexation
- Definition: If a ruler of a protected state died without a natural male heir (son), the state would “lapse” to the Company.
- Adoption Clause: The adopted son could inherit only if the British approved the adoption — and Dalhousie frequently withheld approval.
- Significance: This was not Dalhousie’s invention — it existed before him (e.g., used at Kittur in 1824) — but he applied it more strictly and systematically than any predecessor.
- Impact: Annexed numerous princely states without war, creating resentment among both rulers and subjects.
States Annexed under Doctrine of Lapse
| State | Year |
|---|---|
| Satara | 1848 |
| Sambalpur | 1850 |
| Udaipur (in present Chhattisgarh) | 1852 |
| Nagpur | 1854 |
| Jhansi | 1854 |
| Tanjore | 1855 |
| Carnatic | 1855 |
First case under Dalhousie:
- Satara (1848) — Ruler Appa Sahib adopted a son just before death but without Company approval; Dalhousie rejected the succession and annexed the state.
Annexation on Grounds of Misrule
Dalhousie also annexed states citing “misgovernment”:
- Awadh (1856) — Claimed the Nawab’s maladministration forced the British to take over to “protect the people.”
- This justification masked commercial motives — expanding British markets and securing fertile agricultural land.
Economic Motives
While official narratives spoke of reforming governance, the deeper aim was:
- Expanding British exports to India.
- Removing any administrative barriers from native rulers who might restrict trade.
Dalhousie believed maladministration reduced economic productivity and, by extension, British commercial profits.
Political Consequences
- Widespread anger among ruling families — many dispossessed princes actively supported the Revolt of 1857.
- Popular sympathy for dethroned rulers turned ordinary citizens against the Company.
- The Doctrine of Lapse became a symbol of British arrogance and disrespect for Indian traditions like adoption in royal succession.
Withdrawal of the Doctrine
- After the Revolt of 1857, the Doctrine of Lapse was formally abandoned as part of the Crown’s new approach under the Government of India Act, 1858.
- The British shifted to indirect control of princely states instead of outright annexation in most cases.
Dalhousie in the Bigger Picture
If Hastings’ Paramountcy made British supremacy a political principle, Dalhousie’s Doctrine of Lapse operationalised it as a relentless expansionist machine. His approach—combining war, law, and “moral justifications”—extended British rule to its maximum geographical reach before the Revolt, but also sowed the seeds of that revolt.