History & Culture
British Expansion and Administration
GS Paper I
British Expansion and Administration — Quick Revision
One-page UPSC revision of British expansion and administration: battles and treaties, subsidiary alliance, lapse, Acts of 1773–1858, land revenue and governors-general.
SyllabusGS I · Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present — significant events, personalities, issues
A last-week sheet for 1757–1858 — the densest block of modern history in Prelims. Learn every war with the treaty that ends it, and every governor-general with his landmark.
Battles and Treaties
| Event | Year | Parties / outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Plassey | 1757 | Clive vs Siraj-ud-Daulah; Mir Jafar made Nawab |
| Buxar | 1764 | Munro vs Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daula, Shah Alam II |
| Treaty of Allahabad | 1765 | Diwani of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa |
| Treaty of Madras | 1769 | Ends First Anglo-Mysore War |
| Treaty of Salbai | 1782 | Ends First Anglo-Maratha War |
| Treaty of Mangalore | 1784 | Ends Second Anglo-Mysore War |
| Treaty of Seringapatam | 1792 | Ends Third Anglo-Mysore War; Tipu loses half his territory |
| Fall of Seringapatam | 1799 | Tipu killed; Fourth Anglo-Mysore War |
| Treaty of Bassein | 1802 | Peshwa Baji Rao II accepts subsidiary alliance |
| Treaty of Amritsar | 1809 | Ranjit Singh — Sutlej boundary |
| Treaty of Sugauli | 1816 | Ends Anglo-Nepal War |
| End of Peshwaship | 1818 | Third Anglo-Maratha War |
| Treaty of Yandabo | 1826 | Ends First Anglo-Burmese War |
| Sindh annexed | 1843 | Ellenborough; Charles Napier |
| Treaty of Lahore | 1846 | Ends First Anglo-Sikh War |
| Punjab annexed | 1849 | Dalhousie; Second Anglo-Sikh War |
| Awadh annexed | 1856 | Dalhousie — misgovernance |
Policies of Expansion
| Policy | Who | Core idea |
|---|---|---|
| Dual government | Clive (1765–72) | Diwani with the Company, Nizamat with the Nawab |
| Ring fence | Warren Hastings | Buffer states to protect Company territory |
| Subsidiary alliance | Wellesley (1798) | Ruler pays for British troops; Resident; no other Europeans |
| Subordinate isolation | Lord Hastings | Paramountcy over Indian states |
| Doctrine of lapse | Dalhousie | No natural heir — state lapses to the Company |
Lapse annexations: Satara (1848), Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1849), Baghat (1850), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1853), Nagpur (1854).
The Acts
| Act | Remember for |
|---|---|
| Regulating Act 1773 | GG of Bengal; council of four; Supreme Court at Calcutta (1774) |
| Pitt’s India Act 1784 | Board of Control; dual system of control |
| Charter Act 1813 | Trade monopoly ends (except tea, China); Rs 1 lakh for education; missionaries allowed |
| Charter Act 1833 | GG of India (Bentinck); Company’s trade ends; law member |
| Charter Act 1853 | Legislative and executive functions separated; open competition |
| GoI Act 1858 | Crown rule; Viceroy (Canning); Secretary of State with Council of India (15) |
Land Revenue
| System | Year / Person | Owner | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent Settlement | 1793, Cornwallis | Zamindar | Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Benares |
| Ryotwari | Read and Munro | Ryot | Madras, Bombay |
| Mahalwari | 1822, Holt Mackenzie | Village community (mahal) | NWP, Punjab, Central India |
Governors-General in One Line Each
| GG | Landmark |
|---|---|
| Warren Hastings | Ends dual government; Asiatic Society (1784) |
| Cornwallis | Permanent Settlement; Cornwallis Code |
| Wellesley | Subsidiary alliance; Fort William College |
| Lord Hastings | Third Maratha War; Pindaris |
| Amherst | First Burmese War |
| Bentinck | Sati abolished (1829); first GG of India |
| Metcalfe | Press freed |
| Dalhousie | Lapse; railway (1853); telegraph; Wood’s Despatch |
| Canning | 1857; first Viceroy |
High-yield facts
- Hyderabad (1798) — first to accept the subsidiary alliance.
- Satara (1848) — first state annexed under lapse.
- First railway: Bombay to Thane, 1853.
- Satyendranath Tagore — first Indian in the ICS (1863).
Traps
- Awadh was annexed for misgovernance, not lapse.
- GG of Bengal (1773) is not GG of India (1833).
- Clive created dual government; Warren Hastings ended it.
- Two Treaties of Amritsar: 1809 (Ranjit Singh) and 1846 (Kashmir to Gulab Singh).
Related Topics
- British Conquest of India — main notes
- British Administration: Acts, Land Revenue and Governors-General
- British Expansion and Administration — practice questions
- All quick revision sheets
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