The Indian Nationalists described the Great Uprising of 1857 as the First War of Independence. With reference to this, answer the following questions:
Mention any three policies used by the British to expand their political power in India.
Topic: British policies of expansion
Answer
(1) The SUBSIDIARY ALLIANCE, introduced by Lord Wellesley in 1798. An Indian ruler who accepted it had to keep a British force in his territory and pay for it, accept a British Resident, and surrender control of his foreign affairs — losing his independence while keeping his throne. (2) The DOCTRINE OF LAPSE, applied by Lord Dalhousie. If a ruler died without a natural heir, his adopted son could not succeed and the state lapsed to the British — Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur, Sambalpur and Udaipur were annexed under it. (3) ANNEXATION ON THE PRETEXT OF MISGOVERNANCE, as with Awadh in 1856, which Dalhousie annexed on the ground that it was badly governed; and outright wars of conquest, as against the Marathas, Mysore and the Sikhs.
One mark per policy. Name the policy, name the Governor-General who used it, and give one example — those three elements make each point complete. The pairing to fix: Wellesley with the Subsidiary Alliance, Dalhousie with the Doctrine of Lapse AND the annexation of Awadh. Awadh matters because its annexation is the one most directly linked to the Revolt, the Bengal Army being largely recruited there.