British Conquest of India- 2

Table of Contents
1. Dual System of Administration of Bengal
2. Wars under Warren Hastings (1772-85) and Cornwallis (1768-93)
3. Expansion under Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)
4. Expansion under Lord Hastings (1813-22)
5. Dalhousie and the Policy of Annexation (1848-56)
6. Consequences and Concluding Notes
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Dual System of Administration of Bengal

The Dual or Double government in Bengal describes the administrative arrangement established after the Battle of Buxar and the grant of Diwani to the East India Company. On 12 August 1765 the Mughal emperor conferred the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa on the Company. As Diwan the Company acquired the right to collect revenues, while the Nawab remained the nominal Subahdar and continued to be formally responsible for civil administration.

• The Company directly collected Bengal's revenues and controlled financial policy; it exercised influence over policing and judicial administration by nominating officials such as the Deputy Subahdar.
• The arrangement gave the British effective power without direct administrative responsibility, while the Nawab and his officers bore responsibility without the full authority to discharge it.
• Robert Clive described Bengal as plagued by chaos, corruption and the unjust accumulation of wealth by officials; the Company used Bengal revenues to finance its civil and military establishment and overseas trade.
• Robert Clive amassed a personal fortune in India. Although he faced inquiries for alleged corruption, he was eventually cleared by Parliament; he died by suicide in 1774.
• The economic result for Bengal was severe: large transfers of wealth out of the province, disruption of local revenue systems, and increased impoverishment of sections of society.

Wars under Warren Hastings (1772-85) and Cornwallis (1768-93)

By the 1770s the East India Company had become a dominant power in Bengal and sought to consolidate that position before extending influence elsewhere. Its interventions in the internal affairs of Indian states and its demand for territory and wealth provoked a series of military conflicts with major Indian powers.

• The Company's expansion met resistance from a coalition of powers including the Marathas, Mysore and Hyderabad.
• The Treaty of Salbai of 1782 (following conflicts in the 1770s and early 1780s) secured a settlement that preserved the existing balance and protected the British from a united Indian front for a time.
• In July 1781, British forces under Eyre Coote defeated Haidar Ali at Porto Novo, protecting the British position in Madras.
• Haidar Ali died in December 1782; his son Tipu Sultan continued resistance against the British. Renewed conflict in 1789 culminated in Tipu's defeat in 1792.
• Under the Treaty of Seringapatam (1792) Tipu surrendered roughly half his dominions and agreed to an indemnity of 330 lakhs of rupees.

Expansion under Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)

Lord Wellesley pursued an aggressive expansion policy from 1798 that combined diplomacy and military force. His three principal methods were the use of Subsidiary Alliances, direct military conquest, and the absorption of territories held by dependent chiefs.

• In a Subsidiary Alliance an Indian ruler agreed to station British troops in his territory and to pay for their maintenance (or cede territory in lieu of payment). The ruler accepted a British Resident at his court, pledged not to employ other European officers, and had to consult the Governor-General before dealing with other states.
• Although the British promised protection, in practice these treaties restricted the ruler's sovereignty: defence and diplomacy were effectively surrendered, native armies were often reduced or disbanded, and the economic burden of maintaining British forces frequently caused hardship.
• Wellesley concluded such alliances with important states including the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Nawab of Awadh in the late 1790s and early 1800s.
• Wellesley's forces defeated Tipu Sultan in 1799, before substantial French aid could reach him.
• The Maratha confederacy-then a coalition dominated by five chiefs with the Peshwa at its nominal head-remained the principal power resisting British hegemony. Peshwa Baji Rao II signed a Subsidiary Treaty in 1802; later settlements led to restoration of some territories such as Holkar's lands in 1806.
• The long-term effect of Wellesley's policy was political subordination of many states, financial strain on Indian rulers, unemployment among discharged soldiers, and the progressive extension of Company supremacy.

Expansion under Lord Hastings (1813-22)

Lord Hastings continued territorial expansion in the 1810s, and the British position in India was consolidated further by warfare and treaties.

• The Second Anglo-Maratha War broke the military power of many Maratha chiefs but did not entirely extinguish resistance.
• In 1817 the Maratha chiefs made a determined effort to regain independence and influence; by 1818 most of the subcontinent (except the Punjab and Sindh) had come under British control-either by direct rule or under Indian rulers who accepted British paramountcy.

The Conquest of Sindh

The capture of Sindh reflected strategic concerns arising from European rivalry-especially between Britain and Russia-and the desire to control routes and communication in north-west India.

• In 1832 a treaty gave the British trade access to Sindh's routes and waterways; increasing pressure resulted in a Subsidiary Treaty in 1839.
• Sindh was finally annexed after a short military campaign in 1843 led by Sir Charles Napier. Napier's controversial remarks about the moral right to the conquest are part of the historical record; he received a reward from the Company on completion of the campaign.

The Conquest of the Punjab

Political instability in the Punjab following the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (June 1839) weakened the Sikh state.

• Rapid changes of government and factional disputes created conditions in which British forces, under commanders including Lord Gough and administrators such as Lord Hardinge, intervened.
• War was declared on 13 December 1845 (the First Anglo-Sikh War). The Punjab Army was defeated and forced to sign the Treaty of Lahore on 8 March 1846.
• As part of the settlement the British took control of parts of the Punjab; the Jullundhar Doab was annexed, and Jammu and Kashmir was transferred to Raja Gulab Singh Dogra in return for a payment of five million rupees.
• Subsequently Lord Dalhousie moved to annex the Punjab, completing the absorption of the last major independent Indian state into direct British rule.

Dalhousie and the Policy of Annexation (1848-56)

Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General from 1848 to 1856, pursued an explicit policy of extending direct British control over Indian states. He believed that, over time, native states would disappear and British authority would extend through the subcontinent.

• The principal instrument of annexation he used was the Doctrine of Lapse. Under this doctrine a protected state's territory would "lapse" to the Company if its ruler died without a natural heir, unless the British recognised an adopted successor.
• States annexed under this doctrine included Satara (1848), and later Nagpur and Jhansi (1854).
• Dalhousie also abolished the titles and stopped pensions of many former rulers (for example the Nawabs of Carnatic and Surat, and the Raja of Tanjore), reducing the traditional prestige of ruling families.
• When the ex-Peshwa Baji Rao II died, Dalhousie refused to extend pay or pension to his adopted son Nana Saheb.
• Dalhousie had also aimed to annex Awadh, but because of competing heirs the Doctrine of Lapse could not be applied. Instead the Company accused Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of maladministration and used that charge as justification to annex Awadh in 1856.
• Dalhousie's rule was not limited to annexation; he also promoted modernisation: administrative reforms, expansion of communications and transport (notably initiation and encouragement of railways and telegraph development), and reforms in postal services and the legal framework.
• These infrastructure measures have clear cross-disciplinary relevance: railways and roads involved Civil Engineering works, telegraph and early electrical communications anticipate topics of interest to Electrical Engineering, and the administrative reorganisation affected the economic and organisational environment of later engineering and technical projects (relevant to Computer Science and systems planning in later periods).

Consequences and Concluding Notes

The expansion of British authority through the Dual system, wars, Subsidiary Alliances, and the Doctrine of Lapse reshaped the political map of India between the late 18th and mid-19th centuries. Major consequences included:

• Widespread political subordination of Indian states and centralisation of power under the Company.
• Economic strain on many native states due to military and diplomatic obligations, and a significant transfer of resources from Indian provinces to Company coffers and overseas trade.
• Social and military dislocation: disbanded soldiers and displaced elites increased social tension in many regions.
• Administrative and infrastructural changes (such as the early rail and telegraph initiatives) that laid foundations for the later economic and technological transformation of the subcontinent.
• Growing resentment among sections of the population and many elites; these grievances contributed to the conditions that culminated in the widespread uprising of 1857.

Summary: Between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries the British combined legal authority (Diwani), military power, alliance diplomacy and formal doctrines of succession to convert Company influence into direct political control. These policies extended British rule but also produced economic disruption and political opposition that shaped subsequent developments in Indian history.