Doctrine of Lapse

Lord Dalhousie, served as Governor General of India from 1848 to 1856, spearheaded various reforms and aggressive expansionist policies. He firmly believed that the British rule was a good thing for Indians rather than being ruled by native rulers, he aimed and wished to "westernise" India while significantly enlarging British territories and the East India Company's revenue. Under his leadership, the East India Company, conquered various territories like Nagpur and Jhansi with a controversial policy, called the Doctrine of Lapse, which sparked unrest among the states and sparked the 1857 revolt. Despite facing criticism post-revolt, his initiatives, including pioneering Indian railways, introducing the telegraph system, and establishing the Public Works Department, laid the groundwork for India's modernization.

Office of Governor Generals: This term was most commonly used by British Colonial Power. The office consisted of an official set over a number of other officers, the other officers under a governor general held the title of governor or lieutenant governor. In British Constitutional practice, the power of governor or a governor general must be derived either from the crown or a statute.

Birth and Education: Lord Dalhousie (1812 - 1860) was the Governor General of India from 1848 till 1856. He was from an aristocratic family and educated at Oxford. Before assuming the office of Governor-General in India on 12.01.1848, he was the president of the Board of Trade.

Ideas: Dalhousie was a strong believer of western supremacy, he believed that the British rule was more beneficial for the Indian than to be ruled by a ruler of Indian Descent, with this ideal he worked towards expanding the British Indian territories and introduced several reforms. In his desperate effort to expand British Reign he also utilised the Doctrine of Lapse rampantly.

1. Railway Reforms: Dalhousie is considered the father of Indian Railways because he was the first to introduce railways in India. Dalhousies's Railway Minute of 1853 convinced the authorities on the need of railways in India and with that he introduced a new system of internal communication in India. He connected major ports with major trading places, which became important for strategic and commercial development.
2. Telegraph: Dalhousie was responsible for the introduction of the Electrical Telegraph System in India. The first telegraph line from Calcutta to Agra was opened in 1854 spanning across 1287.48 kms or 800 miles, enabling people to communicate from great distances.
3. Public Works Department: Public Works refers to an agency responsible for building, managing and maintaining public services.
4. Commercial Reforms: Dalhousie advocated the policy of free trade. He declared all the ports in India as Free Ports (meaning Ports with little to no tax for trading). Establishment of lighthouses and harbours in Karachi, Calcutta and Bombay. However, all the sea-trade was dominated completely by English merchants and the commercial reforms of Dalhousie only made a bad situation worse for Indian traders.
5. Educational Reforms and the Wood's Dispatch: The British Government initially neglected vernacular education in India, but Sir Charles Wood changed this with his recommendations known as "the Wood's Dispatch" of 1854. The recommendations were implemented by Dalhousie.

Concept: the doctrine stated that the territory of an Indian Princely state would go to the British if the princely states did not have a surviving male heir to the throne or if there was a dispute in relation to the succession of the throne.

Origins: This policy was originally introduced by the Court of Directors of the East Indian Company in 1847 and initially small states of India were annexed by the East India Company. However, as time passed East Indian Company had refrained from using it. But, it was Lord Dalhousie, who aggressively and extensively deployed this doctrine to expand British territory in India.

Features: The features of the Doctrine of Lapse as used by Dalhousie are as follows:

1. Any princely state which was under direct or indirect control of the East India Company, has to have a surviving Male Heir and the succession of that male heir should not be disputed if the male heir is absent or his succession to the throne is disputed or challenged, East India Company could annexe the princely state's territory for their own.
2. Rule against validity of adopted son's claim to throne: the policy stated that any of the adopted sons of the ruler of the princely state would not be eligible to be heir of the kingdom and the right of the adopted son(s) was limited to inheriting the personal property of the adoptive father (ruler).

1. Attack on traditions: This policy was seen not only as an attack on the independent princely states but was also seen as an attack on the Indian traditions of appointing their own heirs and successors.

   Territories annexed by EIC through Doctrine of Lapse	Year
   Satara	1848
   Jaitpur	1849
   Sambalpur	1849
   Baghat	1850
   Udaipur	1852
   Jhansi	1853
   Nagpur	1854

2. Loss of Sovereignity of Princily states: Independent Indian princely states lost their sovereignty and became British territories in India. As the news of their annexation of princely states spread it caused a wave of unrest in other princely states. For examples: Rani of Jhansi and Nana Sahib were denied their right to thrones
3. United the Independent States against British: All of the illegal actions carried out by the British in denying Indian rulers their right to throne united them against the common enemy (East Indian Company), which led to the revolt of 1857.

Dalhousie was called back to Britain on 26.02.1856: Dalhousie's governance practices were largely criticised in the aftermath of the revolt as they were termed as one of the major causes for the revolt. The unrest caused the British to repeal the policy in 1859.

Lord Dalhousie undoubtedly carried out a lot of reforms in British India which earned him the title, "Maker of Modern India". He strongly believed in the ideas of western supremacy and to that effect believed that "the promotion of civilization meant the promotion of western reforms, that western administration and western institutions were as superior to Indian as Western arms had proved more potent." However, this sense of racial superiority drove his expansionist conquest and eventually the revolt of 1857. However, his actions woke up the Indian pacifists to the reality of the British regime in India and united them against the British. Also at the same time it would be wrong to forget that his efforts lead to the initial steps for modernisation of India from laying of railway lines to starting telegraph services.