Question

What were the different policies that were used by the British for territorial expansion?

Answer 1

Instructions: The answer to this question can be broken into 3 main parts:

1. Explain the various policies that were introduced by the British
2. Explain the diplomatic policies
3. Explain the military tactics

Solution:

• Expansion through diplomatic policies: The company introduced policies like subsidiary alliance and doctrine of lapse to establish its rule diplomatically.
• Subsidiary Alliance: Under this policy, the Indian king had to dissolve his military forces and had to pay for ‘subsidiary forces’ provided by the British.

In case the king fails to make the payment a part of the territory was taken by the British as a penalty.

• Doctrine of Lapse: Under this policy, it was declared that if an Indian king dies without a male heir, the territory will directly fall under the company’s control.
• Expansion using force: If the company was unable to gain territory through diplomatic tactics, the company used to resort to force using its military strength.