The Extension Of The British Rule

Keep British troops and accept a British Resident

Under the Subsidiary Alliance, Indian rulers had to maintain British troops in their kingdom, bear the expenses of these troops, and accept a British Resident in their court. They also needed British permission for foreign relations and could not employ other Europeans. The rulers did not give up territories completely but lost independence in foreign affairs. There was no requirement to convert to Christianity or pay tribute to the Mughal Emperor.

Lord Dalhousie

Lord Dalhousie, who served as Governor General from 1848-1856, introduced the Doctrine of Lapse policy. This policy denied succession rights to adopted children of Indian rulers, allowing the British to annex states when rulers died without natural heirs. Lord Wellesley introduced the Subsidiary Alliance, Lord Cornwallis implemented administrative reforms, and Warren Hastings was an earlier Governor General who dealt with different expansion policies.

Hyderabad

Hyderabad was not annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse because it had already accepted the Subsidiary Alliance and remained a princely state under British protection. Satara, Jhansi, and Nagpur were among the states annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse when their rulers died without natural heirs and their adopted children were denied succession rights. Hyderabad continued as a dependent ally rather than being directly annexed.

Punjab

Ranjit Singh founded an independent Sikh kingdom in Punjab. He unified all the Sikh Misls (confederacies) west of the Sutlej River and established his capital at Lahore. He ruled Punjab as an independent king from 1801 until his death in 1839, maintaining good relations with the British through the Treaty of Amritsar (1809). Bengal was under British control, Mysore was ruled by Tipu Sultan and later annexed, and Maharashtra was the Maratha territory.