INTRODUCTION
Lord Dalhousie served as the Governor‑General of India from 1848 to 1856. Lord Dalhousie was also the man ever to hold that position. During the time that Lord Dalhousie was in office India changed quickly. modernised. The annexation policies of Lord Dalhousie caused big unrest throughout the country. Let us begin by looking at the annexation policies of Lord Dalhousie.
THE EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE UNDER LORD DALHOUSIE:
Lord Dalhousie came to India with a desire to grow the British Empire. Lord Dalhousie wanted to enlarge and tighten the hold in India and used many ways to do this. The main way was war. Lord Dalhousie annexed Punjab after the Second Anglo‑Sikh War (1848–1849) a story we have already told. Lord Dalhousie also fought the Anglo‑Burmese War in 1852 which gave him Lower Burma (Pegu). In 1850 Lord Dalhousie said that the King of Sikkim had mistreated and put two doctors in jail. On that claim Lord Dalhousie annexed parts of Sikkim including Darjeeling. In 1853 when the Nizam of Hyderabad did not pay the East India Company for the subsidiary force Lord Dalhousie forced him to give up Berar and nearby districts. Those districts produced about 50 lakh rupees a year for the Company. Thus Berar, which is in the Vidarbha area of today’s Maharashtra became Company land. In short Lord Dalhousie was determined to grow the Company’s lands in ways and the “Doctrine of Lapse” policy of Lord Dalhousie was the most effective way.
DOCTRINE OF LAPSE
Let us look closely at the “Doctrine of Lapse” policy. The simple idea is that under the Doctrine of Lapse an adopted son could take his father’s property but could not keep the state. Who decided whether the state went to the adopted son or was taken over was the Company. Many people think Lord Dalhousie invented this policy. That is wrong. In 1834 the Court of Directors already said that when there were no heirs the Company could decide whether to allow an adoption. That decision was an exception, not a rule. Would occur only in special cases. Because of this rule, Mandavi (1839) Kolaba (1840) and Jalaun (1840) became part of the Company. In other cases adopted sons were allowed to rule. For instance after Daulat Rao Scindia died in 1827 his adopted son Jankoji became ruler; later after Jankoji died in 1843 another adopted son Jayaji Rao became ruler. John Sullivan said that least fifteen native rulers were allowed to adopt heirs between 1826 and 1848. This shows that before Lord Dalhousie the British did not use this policy in the way. When Lord Dalhousie came to India he set rules and divided the Indian states into three groups. The first group were states that the British created directly or indirectly. The second group were states that depended on the British. The third group were states. Lord Dalhousie said that states in the group could never adopt heirs. States in the group had to ask the British for permission to adopt and that permission might be denied. States in the group could adopt heirs freely. Using the Doctrine of Lapse Lord Dalhousie annexed Satara in 1848 Jaitpur and Sambalpur in 1849 Baghat in 1850 Udaipur in 1852 Jhansi in 1853 and Nagpur in 1854. In short Lord Dalhousie was a man who wanted land. Lord Dalhousie used the Doctrine of Lapse to get that land. When the Doctrine of Lapse could not be used Lord Dalhousie found reasons to annex. The annexation of Awadh is an example of this.
THE ANNEXATION OF AWADH
Let us also look at the annexation of Awadh. After the Battle of Buxar in 1765 the British signed the Treaty of Allahabad with the Nawab of Awadh. In 1801 Wellesley signed a Subsidiary Alliance with Awadh, which made the Nawab fully dependent on the Company for defense and for keeping law and order. In 1856 Lord Dalhousie annexed Awadh because of “maladministration.” The Nawab was accused of not running the state the administration had fallen apart and the people suffered. The argument was that to give governance the Nawab’s rule had to end and the British would take over. That is how Awadh became part of territory. It is important to see that the British were largely responsible for the bad state of governance in Awadh. The British had already taken parts of the region to pay for subsidiary forces and the Nawab relied on them. So the claim of maladministration was not a reason for annexation; it was a cover used by Lord Dalhousie. In truth England needed a lot of cotton for its factories and Awadh was an area for cotton. Lord Dalhousie’s annexation policies made many native rulers and ordinary people in India very angry with the British. That anger later helped spark the Revolt of 1857. For now let us move to the reforms of Lord Dalhousie.
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS
Let us first look at the reforms of Lord Dalhousie. Before Lord Dalhousie came to India the Governor General had to supervise all lands in India and also run the Bengal province. That work was huge. So Lord Dalhousie set up a Lieutenant Governor to run Bengal. This let the Governor General concentrate on all India matters. Lord Dalhousie also gave lands such as Punjab to commissioners. Before Lord Dalhousie, the Military Board did all works, such as building bridges and roads and the soldiers did the work. That was hard for the soldiers. To fix this Lord Dalhousie created a department called the Public Works Department (PWD). The PWD still exists today. While Lord Dalhousie was in charge the PWD rebuilt the Grand Trunk Road from Calcutta to Peshawar. The PWD also built the Ganges Canal, the Bari Doab Canal in Punjab and many bridges. These were the reforms of Lord Dalhousie.
MILITARY REFORM
Let us now look at the reforms of Lord Dalhousie. Lord Dalhousie’s annexations stretched India from Bengal in the east to Punjab and Sindh in the west. To keep control over such an area the soldiers had to be better spread. So Lord Dalhousie moved the Bengal Artillery headquarters from Kolkata to Meerut. At the time Lord Dalhousie started moving the army’s main headquarters to Shimla. That move finished in 1865. Lord Dalhousie also saw that Indian soldiers were far more than soldiers, which could threaten the safety of the empire. So Lord Dalhousie tried to raise British soldiers. He started three regiments of British soldiers. Lord Dalhousie also started an army in Punjab that was led by British officers. Lord Dalhousie also created a Gurkha regiment for the Indian Army. These actions of Lord Dalhousie helped the British fight the Revolt of 1857.
EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
Let us now look at the reforms of Lord Dalhousie. Lord Dalhousie introduced important changes in education. In 1853 Lord Dalhousie made rules about education. Those rules followed the ” system” of local language teaching meaning that children should learn in their own language. In 1854 during Lord Dalhousie’s time the “Wood’s Despatch” was issued. People call it the “Magna Carta” of education in India. The Despatch said that schools and colleges should be set up in every district. It also suggested building a university in each of the Presidency towns: Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. The Despatch urged the government to help groups and people start schools and colleges by giving them money. It also wanted an Inspector of Schools in every district and a Director of Education in every province. Lord Dalhousie tried hard to follow the Despatch. In 1857 universities were opened in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. Before that an engineering college was opened in Roorkee in 1846. An agricultural school was started in Calcutta. Let us now talk about the reforms that made Lord Dalhousie known as the “Maker of Modern India.”
THE REFORMS OF RAILWAYS, TELEGRAPH AND POSTAL SERVICES
This is about the reforms of railways, telegraph and postal services. Development of railways, telegraph and postal services. Friends during Dalhousie’s time the British dominions in India were linked by the iron line. This shows that the development of railways began. In his Railway Minutes of 1853 Lord Dalhousie set out the broad outlines of the scheme that would form the basis of future railways in India. In 1853 itself the first railway line from Bombay to Thane was prepared. The year the railway line from Kolkata to Raniganj Coal Fields was started. The thing to keep in mind friends is that the development of railways in India was carried out by companies and those were British companies. The British Government also promised them a guaranteed interest of 5% if they invested in railways. Lord Dalhousie did not develop railways to modernise India rather his objective was to promote trade and advance colonial interests. Still the development of railways worked to unify India and indirectly promoted nationalism. The electric telegraph system was also introduced in India in 1852. This was an important development because with the help of telegraph messages could be sent instantly from one corner of the country to another. 4,000 miles of telegraph lines were built connecting Jok, Peshawar, Bombay, Madras and other parts of the country. Apart from this a new Post Office Act was passed in 1854. Postal stamps were issued for the first time. Irrespective of the distance a letter had to be sent a uniform rate of anna, i.e. 2 Paise was fixed for each letter. Due to these reforms the post office, which until then had merely drained the treasury now became a source of revenue. Friends, these developments that took place during the time of Lord Dalhousie helped modernise transport and communication in India. Dalhousie introduced reforms in India. His primary motive was to safeguard and consolidate the British Empire in India. Friends we should not forget that Dalhousie was an imperialist. He did not care about the wishes or sentiments of the people of India. Therefore, he did not follow any rules while making annexations. Whether it was a dispute with Punjab. Betraying an old kingdom like Awadh. Dalhousie used all types of policies such, as Sama, Daam, Dand Bheda to expand the British Empire. As we have already said his policies are also considered an important cause of the revolution of 1857.
