British Expansion and Administration
British expansion and administration for UPSC — Plassey to Punjab, subsidiary alliance, doctrine of lapse, Acts of 1773–1858, land revenue systems and governors-general.
SyllabusGS I · Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present — significant events, personalities, issues
In the century between Plassey (1757) and the Revolt of 1857, the East India Company turned from a trading body into the ruler of most of the subcontinent. It did so through war (Bengal, Mysore, the Marathas, the Sikhs), through diplomacy that bound Indian rulers to it (the subsidiary alliance), and through annexation (the doctrine of lapse). In the same century, Parliament steadily took control of the Company through a chain of Acts, and the Company built the land revenue, civil service and judicial systems that shaped colonial India.
What UPSC asks
- Prelims: this is the highest-yield block of modern history — battles and treaties in sequence, the governor-general associated with an event, provisions of the Regulating Act, Pitt’s India Act and the Charter Acts, and the three land revenue systems.
- Mains (GS I): the economic and administrative impact of Company rule; the nature of colonial land settlements.
Key sub-topics
| Theme | What to know |
|---|---|
| Conquest | Plassey, Buxar, Anglo-Mysore, Anglo-Maratha and Anglo-Sikh wars |
| Instruments | Dual government, ring fence, subsidiary alliance, doctrine of lapse |
| Constitutional Acts | Regulating Act 1773 → Government of India Act 1858 |
| Land revenue | Permanent Settlement, Ryotwari, Mahalwari |
| Administration | Civil services, judiciary, police; governors-general and their landmarks |
The chapter has two main pages: one on expansion, one on administration.