Doctrine of Lapse
As Doctrine of Lapse is called a practiced in India annexation policy, which was introduced by Lord Dalhousie, 1847-56 Governor General of British India. The Doctrine of Lapse certain that every Indian princely state whose ruler showed incompetent or died without heirs ( " manifestly incompetent or died without a direct heir" ), was to annex by the British East India Company. With the doctrine of the long-standing right of Indian sovereigns was denied to vote in a missing heir to a successor himself. Lord Dalhousie took advantage of this provision and to enforce the law of primogeniture. Was common among Indian sovereigns, in the case of several sons including determining the most appropriate as his successor. The doctrine and its application was understood by Indians as illegitimate. The British East India Company, however, used them to extend their sphere of influence in the Indian continent. Satara (1848 ), Jaitpur, Sambalpur (1849 ), Nagpur, Jhansi (1854 ) and Awadh ( Oudh ) ( 1856) fell as the company. Thus, increasing its annual revenue by about four million British pounds. At the beginning of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 two-thirds of the Indian subcontinent were so under direct British rule, in which many places, however, remained the local authority and the regulation of internal affairs to a large extent in the hands of ancestral nobility.
Historical Background of the Doctrine of Lapse
In the 17th century, the Mughal Empire was the dominant power in the Indian subcontinent. The Mughal empire, which did not constitute a firmly established state but a conglomeration of provinces of the empire, subordinate princely states and semi-autonomous towns and villages, was understood at that time already in decline. In the course of this development, many European powers began to establish trading posts in India in order to satisfy arisen in Europe, demand for products such as cotton, chintz, porcelain, tea and silk. The most successful case was the British East India Company, which managed to oust their European competitors, with a few exceptions. 1693 she entertained trading stations at Madras, Bombay and Calcutta.
Until the mid- 18th century, the Mughal Empire was more to decompose partially warring states. To protect their trade in this political upheaval, the company began increasingly, native soldiers or recruit " sepoys ". The company was transformed here by a growing trade in a political power. The decisive factor here was an incident in 1756. Order to curb the growing power of the Company, the Nawab of Bengal in Kolkata branches let the company occupied and imprison 146 Europeans. They should have been cooped up in a six -square-meter room, which was the military prison of the garrison and was notorious as the " Black Hole". Only 23 people survived the first night of their detention. The incident sparked outrage in the UK and the company then sent troops in the Battle of Plassey in the army of the Nawabs beat Kolkata in 1757 and reconquered.
As a result, the British Parliament passed in 1773 and 1784 laws that allowed the company direct intervention in the internal affairs of India. By 1857 the company had large parts of the subcontinent conquered militarily or annexed to bloodless way. The latter was accomplished mostly through the Doctrine of Lapse.