Any four Political causes of the revolt.

(1) The SUBSIDIARY ALLIANCE of Lord Wellesley, under which a ruler kept a British force at his own expense, accepted a British Resident and surrendered control of his foreign affairs — losing his independence while keeping his throne. (2) The DOCTRINE OF LAPSE of Lord Dalhousie, by which a state whose ruler died without a natural heir was annexed, adoption being refused — Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur, Sambalpur and Udaipur were taken this way. (3) The ANNEXATION OF AWADH in 1856 on the pretext of misgovernance, which outraged the Bengal Army, largely recruited from that province, and the refusal of the pension of Nana Sahib and of the title of the Mughal Emperor to Bahadur Shah’s successors. (4) The general POLICY OF EXPANSION by outright war and the high-handed conduct of the British, who excluded Indians from all high office in the administration, leaving the educated classes without prospects.

Four marks, four causes, one mark each — and each should name the policy, the Governor-General behind it, and an example. AWADH is the most important single item, because it links the political grievance directly to the sepoys who rebelled. The pairings to fix: Wellesley with the Subsidiary Alliance, Dalhousie with the Doctrine of Lapse AND the annexation of Awadh (the latter by misrule, NOT by lapse — a distinction papers test repeatedly).