Territorial Expansion of British in India

The British East India Company, established in 1600, was a joint-stock company. Their venture into India was as traders, but they found it more profitable to rule India, eventually. They held dominance and power in India till 1900. In the first fifty years of the 18th Century, their only intention was to trade in India and profit. This changed when a new generation of British traders took over the guards in 1650 and wanted to gain political power to get a free hand of trade in India and keep rival Europeans out. We will look into the Stages of Territorial Expansion of the British in India in this article. 

British in India (1700-1750)

India became the focal point of British trade between the later half of the 17th and mid 18th centuries. The East India Company was given a monopoly of all English trade to Asia by a royal grant at its inception in 1600. Trade of cotton textile was paramount in India for the East India Company. The Company set its main settlements in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, where the cotton textile was most readily available for export. Hence, these areas grew from just factories to major commercial towns, with Indian merchants and artisans setting up their bases in these areas to do business with the East India Company.

The existing skilled artisans and strong economic structure in India under the Mughal rule provided a favourable business setup to the British in India. Hence, the people looking after the affairs of business from London saw no reason for military or political intervention or change in the status quo.

Beginning with the 1750s, the British, however, began intervening in the political affairs of India and bringing up policies that were about to bring revolutionary changes in their role during the next 200 odd years. By 1773, the British had gained territorial control over Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Madras, and Bombay and supported dependents, namely The Nawab of Awadh and Carnatic. 

British in India (1751-1900)

The territorial expansion of the British in India came about through both bloody battles as well as strategic policies. Starting from the Battle of Plassey to the annexation of Punjab in 1849, the British spread its rule over the entire Indian subcontinent. Some of their methods, for example, Subsidiary Alliance, Policy of Paramountcy, and the Doctrine of Lapse helped them expand and consolidate their empire in India.

Expansion under Lord Wellesley (1798–1805) 

Lord Wellesley came to India in 1798 when Britain and France were in the midst of a severe power struggle to gain prominence. Lord Wellesley realised that the time was apt to establish political control over India as the two strong contenders, the Mysore and Marathas, were declining in power. To achieve this aim, Wellesley relied on three methods: First, Subsidiary Alliances; Second, war; Third, assuming the territories of formerly subordinated rulers.

Under the subsidiary alliance system, the ruler of a state who would ally with the British power would be compelled to station a British force in his state and also pay for its maintenance. The forces would, in turn, protect the state and its ruler, but the ulterior motive was to gain control over the territory eventually when the ruler would be left with no resources to pay for the force.

Besides maintaining an army, the ruler will not employ any European in the kingdom without British approval and will not negotiate with another Indian ruler. In return, the British would safeguard their territory without any interference in their internal affairs.

However, what came out at the end was that the ruler lost his independence of self-defence and maintaining diplomatic relations with foreign nations and the right to settle disputes with other neighbouring states.

Under the Subsidiary Alliance Treaties, the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1798 and 1800 and the Nawab of Awadh in 1801 were forced to give up their territories to the British. In lieu of cash payment for the subsidiary forces, the Nizam ceded part of his territories to the Company. Mysore, Carnatic, Tanjore, and Surat were sternly dealt with and forced to sign the treaty. Tipu of Mysore, however, fought back fiercely by allying with other foreign powers but was finally defeated in 1799. Later, the Maratha also gave in after a fightback in the early 1800s.

Later in 1806, the shareholders of the East India Company resented this territorial expansion through war, realising that war was increasing the Company’s debt and reducing their profit. Against this backdrop, the expansionist spree of Lord Wellesley was checked, and he was recalled back to Britain in 1806.

Expansion under Lord Hastings (1813-22):

 Lord Hasting became the Governor-General from 1813 to 1823. Under the new expansionist policy for territorial expansion in India, the Policy of Paramountcy was introduced. Under this, the East India Company claimed to have complete or paramount authority and became the supreme law that justified the annexations of any Indian territory to protect its interest.

The annexation of the Maratha territory was justified under the Policy of Paramountcy. The defeat of Marathas in the Second Anglo-Maratha War caused a great deal of anguish and pain among the Maratha rulers. They regrouped and made a last attempt to gain independence and lost glory in 1817.

The Peshwa brought up a united front of all Maratha chiefs and attacked the British residency in Poona in November 1817. Lord Hastings fought back with rigour and repelled the attack and returned them to the British subsidiaries, which would exist at the mercy of the British. By 1818, barring Punjab and Sindh, the rest of the Indian subcontinent came under British rule. In 1830, the East India Company used this policy to carry out several annexations in the northwest.

Expansion under Lord Dalhousie (1848–56):

Lord Dalhousie became the Governor-General of India in 1848. He continued with the expansionist policy to extend British rule over larger territories in India. He was confident that the existing native states in India would soon cease to exist as the oppressive administration of the native states would never be able to withstand the superior British administration.

The instrument of the annexation of native Indian states by Lord Dalhousie was the Doctrine of Lapse.

As per the Doctrine of Lapse, if a ruler of an unprotected state dies without a natural heir, the adopted heir cannot take over the throne, as was the tradition at that time. The kingdom will be annexed to the British dominions. The adopted heir can take over only if the adoption had been approved earlier by the British authorities. In 1848, the states of Satara and Nagpur, and Jhansi in 1854 were annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse. The ex-rulers also lost their pension rights as their titles were not recognized anymore.

The kingdom of Avadh could not be annexed under this policy and hence was snatched on the pretext of misgovernance by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in 1856. With this, the British took control of the entire Indian sub-continent and ruled till 1947.

Conclusion

The Territorial Expansion of the British In India during the 18th Century laid the groundwork for them to gain larger profits from the rich natural resources and human skills from the sub-continent over the next Century. The expansionist policies adopted by the various Governor Generals made sure the control of Indian territories and subjugation of native rulers were done to precision. The British rule made its mark in India’s history like none other.