a) Annexation of Awadh
Annexation of Awadh in 1856 on pretext of maladministration was a very aggressive move by the Company. It was a big blow on the prestige of the ruling class. One of the major political cause for the Revolt of 1857 which also had many other causes attached to it. Like two-third of the sepoys of the Company were recruited from Awadh and most of them were simply peasants in uniform. It led to disbanding of Nawab's army and affected the entire aristocracy. Thus, the revolt was of highest intensity in Awadh.
b) Doctrine of Lapse
The aggressive annexation policy followed by Lord Dalhousie was widely criticized and resented. by the Doctrine of Lapse the adopted son of the deceased King was not recognised as the hier to the throne, which led to the annexation of large number of kingdoms.
Satara (1848), Nagpur, sambhalpur and Bhagat (1850), Udaipur(1852), Jhansi(1853) to name a few were annexed by the British.
d) Velu Thampi
In 1808-09 Velu Thampi the Dewan of Travancore rose up in rebellion against the British attemptes to remove him from the Dewanship and heavy burden imposed on the state through Subsidiary alliance system. In one of the skirmish Velu Thampi was injured and died in forest. Even though he was dead, he was publicly hanged as an example of the fate of those who rose against the British.
e) Tribal Movements
Tribal movements can be divided into two categories based on the geographical region occupied i.e. Non-frontier and Frontier tribes. Tribal people were engaged in shifting agriculture, hunting, fishing and forest produce as the mainstay of their economic base. Due to the imposition if Land Revenue Settlement, christian missionaries, Forest Act and Indian Forest Act established monopoly over forest land, exploitation by outsiders and many more reasons led Tribal people rise in rebellion against the Britishers and outsiders such as the moneylenders and sahukars.
f) Faqir Movement
Faqirs were wandering muslim religious mendicants. shortly after the annexation of Bengal in 1776-77, Manjum Shah the leader of the Faqirs, began to levy contributions on the zamindars and peasant, which defied the British Authority. After Manjum Shah, supported by Pathans, Rajputs and Indian disbanded soldiers extended the operation to the northern district of Bengal. Two prominent leaders were Bhawani Pathak and Devi Chaudhrani. The Faqirs were finally brought under control at the beginning of the 19th Century.
Q2. Foreign policy of British towards India's neighbours.
Foreign Policy adopted by British in late 19th century towards India's neighbours was primarily dictated by British interest. The policy which British Government adopted was influenced by the political and administrative motives of reaching out to the natural and geographical frontiers of India. They argues the foreign policy to be essential for internal unity of India and also defence against foreign threats.
The foreign policy of a country may ne of two types. One is the foreign policy of a free country and second is the foreign policy of a country ruled by a foreign country. Foreign policy of a free country is based on the needs and interests of the country and in the other type foreign policy serves the interests of the ruling country.
The British foreign policy was mainly dominated by the motives of protection of British empire and expansion of British commerce and economic interest to Africa and Asia. Both these aims of British Government led to expansion outside the Indian borders. Due to their this motive British were also involved in many wars with the other Imperial European countries who also wanted to extend their influence on the Asian and African land. British thought that there was potential threat from other European countries which led to their increased influence in Afghanistan. This was again for their own motive of keeping Europeans off the borders of India. Indian foreign that was developed by the British was just to serve British imperialist intentions and for their pursuance in the Asian countries.
Q3. Dalhousie was an annexation. He applied Doctrine of Lapse where ever applicable to achieve his aggressive ends. Where the doctrine of lapse was not applicable as in the case of Awadh, he annexed it on the pretext of maladministration. Rulers of Indian states believed that the annexation was not on the pretext of Doctrine of Lapse but on the policy of lapse of morals on the part of East India Company.
Lord Dalhousie bought in harmony the works of his two great predecessors Lord Warren Hastings and Lord Wellesley. He consolidated the scattered territories under the Company's direct rule. He carried the British frontier across Indus and entering into Alliance with Afghanistan and providing protection over Baluchistan. Dalhousie worked immensely in setting up Railways and Telegraph services across India and developing the infrastructure of the country. Dalhousie proved an active moderniser . Dalhousie however had defects of his qualities. He cared little for the moral values and plighted word. While dealing with Punjab, he cared more for the end than for means. He also cared little while dealing with Indian states which angered the aristocracy and the ruling classes. Dalhousie proved to be ruthless imperialist and he was greatly responsible for creating unrest all around and the Rebellion of 1857. Dalhousie's annexations and es-cheats worsened the situation. He went too far and too fast. His ruthless and injudicious policy provided leaders like Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, Nana Sahib, Tantia Tope etc who channelised the prevalent discontent and proved the brain behind the movemnt once the soldiers had mutinied. Responsibility of the Rebellion of 1857-58 partly rests on the shoulders of Lord Dalhousie.
Q5. The state of Indian Economy under the imperial rule has a long history. Economic nationalists in 1860s led by Dadabhai Naroji and R. C. Dutt spoke about the apparent lack of growth and development of
Indian Economy in the colonial period. The nationalist school has been the staunchest critics of role of government.
R C Dutt broadly identifies three phases of British exploitation of India.
1. Mercantile phase from 1757 to 1813.
2. 2nd phase coincided with the industrial revolution in England. 1813 - 1858
3. Finance-Imperialism from the later part of the 19th century onward
The true exploitative nature of the colonial economy started in the first phase after gaining the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. In trade till 1750s bullions flowed into India from Europe which meant that India was profited from the trade. The Import from India was so high that the Parliament in 1700 had to pass an Act which Prohibited the use of articles of Asian skill, printed and dyed calicoes. Protective duty was imposed on Indian cloth entering England was imposed with duties as high as 80%. But throughout this period India Gained due to inflow of Bullions.
In the late 18th century and beginning if the 19th century England was undergoing the Industrial Revolution. Machines were replacing the human labour in production. Machines made possible production of goods in large scale. England now needed an oulet to sell these goods and raw material to feed its growing industries.
EICo by several means was able to change the balance of payment in their favour. Under the conditions of the farman granted by the Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1717, a Dastak approving free trade for individual servants of company was signed. This was one of the bone of contention between the English and Siraj-ud-daula and reasons for the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Defeat of Siraj gave the British the freedom to expolit Indian sources and acted as a steppping stone in Indian Politics. By 1764 after Battle of Buxar and /treaty of Allahbad EICo got diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. This meant that the Company gained the rights to collect the revenues. This marked the beginning of the reversal of terms of trade.
From this The Drain Of Wealth theory was propounded. The main gist of the Drain of Wealth theory was tht the national income or total annual product was exported to England for which Indians got no adequate economic or material gain. The salaries and pensions of British civil and military officials working in India and interest on loans taken by Indian Government was being drained. Unequal terms of trade prevailed where a heavy duty was imposed on Indian goods entering England and English good faced no such duty and there existed free trade policy in India. The agriculture and the handicraft sectors of Indian Economy were worst hit by the British expansionist policy. Dadabhai Naroji also called this "an British rule".
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