Explore the key factors behind British success in India, such as superior arms, military discipline, financial strength, and strategic battles like Plassey and Buxar. Learn how treaties, wars, and policies shaped British dominance.
Comprehensive Summary of British Expansion and Influence in India
Key Factors Behind the British Success in India
Superior Arms
Military Discipline
Civil Discipline
Brilliant Leadership (which did not bother about adopting unscrupulous practices)
Financial Strength
Nationalist Pride
Conflict Between the British and the Nawabs of Bengal
Battle of Plassey (June 23, 1757): Robert Clive’s victory over Siraj-ud-daula laid the territorial foundation of British rule in India.
Battle of Buxar (1764): Clive’s victory over the combined armies of the Nawab of Bengal, Nawab of Awadh, and the Mughal Emperor at Buxar laid the real foundation of English power.
Treaty of Allahabad (1765): Granted the Diwani Rights of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa to the English.
Treaty with Nawab of Awadh
Treaty with Shah Alam II, Mughal Emperor
Dual Government—1765-72
The British Conquest of Mysore
First Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69); Treaty of Madras
Second Anglo-Mysore War (1779-1784); Treaty of Mangalore
Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790-92); Treaty of Seringapatam
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799); Mysore is conquered by British forces
Anglo-Maratha Struggle for Supremacy
First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82); Treaty of Surat (1775), Treaty of Purandhar (1776), and Treaty of Salbai (1782)
Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05); Treaty of Bassein, 1802
Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-1819)
Causes for the defeat of the Marathas:
Inept leadership
Defective state structure
Loose political setup
Inferior military system
Unstable economic policies
Superior English diplomacy and espionage
Progressive English outlook
The British Conquest of Sindh (1843)
Lord Ellenborough was the Governor-General of India.
The British Conquest of Punjab
Treaty of Amritsar (1809), Ranjit Singh and the British
First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46)
Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49)
British Paramountcy in Action
Ring-fence Policy of Warren Hastings
Subsidiary Alliance of Wellesley:
Subsidized States:
Hyderabad (1798; 1800)
Mysore (1799)
Tanjore (October 1799)
Awadh (November 1801)
Peshwa (December 1801)
Bhonsle of Berar (December 1803)
Sindhia (February 1804)
Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bundi (1818)
Doctrine of Lapse:
Lapsed States under Lord Dalhousie (1848-56):
Satara (1848)
Sambhalpur (1849)
Jhansi (1855)
Relations of British India with Neighboring Countries
Anglo-Nepal Relations (Treaty of Sagauli, 1816)
Anglo-Burma Relations:
First Anglo-Burma War, 1824-26
Anglo-Tibetan Relations:
Treaty of Lhasa (1904)
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