Reforms of Lord Wellesley, Study Guides, Projects, Research of History

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HISTORY RESEARCH PROJECT

ON

LORD WELLESLEY REFORMS

Submitted By:

ANANYA BHONSLE (019)

ANUBHOOTI SHARMA (024)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Dr. POOJA RHINE

Faculty in-charge History

Symbiosis Law School Hyderabad

CERTIFICATE

The Project entitled “ Lord Wellesley Reforms ” submitted to the Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad for HISTORY Tutorial III as part of internal assessment is based on our original work carried out under the guidance of Dr. Pooja Rhine, Faculty in charge of history from January, 2018 to March, 2018. The project work has not been submitted elsewhere for award of any degree.

The material borrowed from other sources and incorporated in the project has been duly acknowledged.

We understand that we ourselves could be held responsible and accountable for plagiarism, if any, detected later on.

Signature of the Candidate: 1) Anubhooti Sharma

2) Ananya Bhonsle

• COVER PAGE…………………………………………………..
• CERTIFICATE………………………………………………….
• DECLARATION………………………………………………...
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………...
• LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………
• BACKGROUND…………………………………………………
• INTRODUCTION……………………………………………….
• POLICY AGAINST TIPU SULTAN………………………….
• POLICY AGAINST MARATHAS……………………………
• PROVISIONS OF SUBSDIARY ALLIANCE……………….
• BENEFITS………………………………………………………
• DISADVANTAGES…………………………………………….

CONCLUSION………………………………………………….

BIBLOGRAPHY………………………………………………..

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We take this opportunity to express our profound gratitude and deep regard to our History faculty Dr. Pooja Rhine for her exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the completion of this project topic. The blessing, help and guidance given by her time to time shall carry us a long way in the journey of life on which we are about to embark. Also, the guideline provided by her to stick to the deadline was also encouraging.

BACKGROUND

An exemplary colonial administrator, Lord Wellesley took the position and served as the Governor General of India from 1798-1805 AD. He assumed the office of charge by succeeding Lord Cornwallis. When he acquired his position at the office, at that time the British were looking for ways to control French influence in India. Wellesley priory had served as a member of parliament and he was also a member of the Board of Control. This provided him with the necessary political and administrative experience to rule effectively in India. Wellesley, from the very beginning was clear about his vision as the Governor General. He wanted to make the Company the Supreme power in India, to add to its territories and to reduce all the Indian States to a position of dependence on the company. 3 His term at office is regarded as a significant phase in the increasing control of the British Authorities in India. His policies succeeded in limiting the influence of French over India. He was successful in making the British and company hold substantive powers with regards to their ruling in India. He was able to achieve this feat by an effective combination of wars as well as peaceful annexations.

INTRODUCTION

Amongst the various policies that Lord Wellesley is known for, the most prominent and the most discussed is his policy of Subsidiary Alliance. This policy was framed at a time when Lord Wellesley had a fear of India becoming a threat for it against its war with France. At the same time, he was also suspicious about the unstoppable conquests by the Napolean. He suffered from serious doubt that Tipu Sultan may decide to ally with the French which may lead to serious

3 B.L. Grover & Alka Mehta, Modern Indian History, p.

trouble for the British Forces. In order to prevent this from happening he plotted a whole new policy for the annihilation of Mysore: Subsidiary Alliance. By this policy the concept of non- intervention was amended and the Indian autonomous powers were deprived of their independent autonomy. They were forced to come under the protection of the British by this Subsidiary Alliance. Independent ruling states like Mysore, Jodhpur, Hyderabad, Awadh, etc. came under the direct supervision of the British. The policy had dual effect in the sense that it not only stopped the alliance of Indian states with the French in the world war but also increased the size of British troops for the war. It meant that the Indians who might have joined the French in the battle were now bound to fight war from the side of the British. The policy brought a surrender of foreign affairs to the company. A promise was made that the independency of the states shall be preserved and protected and protection will be offered from the British whenever the concerned state suffers a foreign attack or invasion. When this policy was introduced, it was greeted and welcomed by the acceptance of various rulers such as the Nizam of Hyderabad who treated the offer as a win-win situation for both the British and their rule. However, as suspected earlier by Wellesley, it met a harsh refusal by that of the Ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan. This refusal and defiance marked the beginning of what we know today as the Fourth Mysore War. Despite brave efforts of Sultan the battle was lost to the British and a large portion of his territory was annexed. 4 Soon after the defiance of Tipu Sultan was dealt by the fourth Mysore War, a realization dawned on Wellesley that the policy of Subsidiary Alliance will be little successful without the joining of Marathas. Although Peshwa Baji Rao II had accepted the alliance by the treaty of Bassein 5 , there were other Maratha rulers who refused for the same. This indeed led to the culmination of the Second Maratha War which was once again won by the British. After the Second Maratha War, a huge portion of the Bhonsle and the Sindia were annexed by the British. 6 Territories like Surat, Karnataka and Tanjore were also captured by the British. During Wellesley’s period of rule areas surrounding present day’s Mumbai and Carnatic of the East was also conquered. 7

4 http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/British Policy Towards Tipu Sultan 5 http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/ British Policy Towards Tipu Sultan 6 http://www.historydiscussion.net/british-india/wellesley-aims-policy-and-estimate/ 7 http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/ British Policy Towards Tipu Sultan

understanding of Wellesley’s approach in dealing with the defiance and aggression of Tipu Sultan. Tipu Sultan, being the de-facto ruler of Mysore and an intelligent and able ruler made all possible efforts from the very beginning to save Mysore from the suppression of the British. Tensions continued between them. On one side, the British were forming alliances and were expanding their military strength. On the other hand, Tipu Sultan, a genius of military tactics had been successful in establishing trust and confidence with the French, Amir of Afghanistan and Sultan of Turkey. 8 Tipu Sultan, being an experienced and visionary leader could forsee the upcoming danger. In order to control this territorial expansion of the East India Company he along with Hyder Ali fought the First Anglo - Mysore War in 1766 and Second Anglo - Mysore War in 1782 respectively. The ever increasing power of Tipu Sultan compelled the British to adopt new strategic policies against him. As a result alliances with Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas were formed. This formed the basis of the Third Anglo Mysore War in 1790. 9 Once the British were defeated by Tipu in 1793, they got too scared of Tipu unstoppable rise of power. He was the one who was a deterring factor in the expansion of British territories in the South. As a result they, at any cost, pledged to defeat this Tiger of Mysore. The British strategy against Tipu Sultan witnesses success with the onset of the Third Anglo Mysore War that was summed up by the Treaty of Srirangapatnam in 1792. In 1795, the focus of the British was once again shifted towards Tipu Sultan. It was informed that Tipu Sultan had made elaborate war preparations against the British. He also violated the Treaty of Srirangapatanam by combining his military forces with that of the French. The result was the Fourth Anglo Mysore War which started in 1798 and came to end in 1799 with Tipu’s death in the Warfield. 10

POLICY AGAINST MARATHAS

After the military conquest over Tipu Sultan and the Nizam of Hyderbad and other conquests, another major challenge for the British came from the Maratha States. The aim was to include the Maratha states under the paramountcy of the British. This could only happen if they came 8 http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/British Policy Towards Tipu Sultan 9 http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/British Policy Towards Tipu Sultan 10 http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/British Policy Towards Tipu Sultan

under the policy framework of the subsidiary alliance that was proposed by the British under Lord Wellesley. However, after repeated failed attempts of negotiation and persuasion, Wellesley decided to go on war against the Marathas. This culminated into what we know as the second Maratha War. Lord Wellesley justified the Second Maratha War on the basis of two aspects. The first was that the Marathas posed a great threat to the British expansion of territories and the British administration was facing a tough challenge from them. The second was his obvious reason. Wellesley knew that the victory over this war would indeed lead to the establishment of the British Supremacy in almost all of the Indian States 11 and this would inturn make the British power and its administration achieve unwavering stability in India. Wellesley sole ambition was to make British administration attain sole supremacy over the Indian Territory. The question of Maratha posing a threat to the British administration was to a large extent a escapable excuse.

Behind the declaration of war lied Lord Wellesley’s great ambition and his weakness towards achieving indomitable power and unending authority as the Governor General. His desire for unending expansion made him act both diplomatically as well as aggressively. He acted diplomatically, framed new policies, and went for negotiation and persuasion for achieving his feat. He was quite successful in making local rulers his allies by convincing them to provide them protection and security whenever needed. Weak Rulers easily gave up to his choices and accepted all his demands in lure of security and protection. However the main challenge was posed by the established states and their Rulers who were, unlike weak rulers, rigid for any kind of comprise. They had their own military setup, revenue system and a social fabric that they were not ready to disturb. Hence, they denied. Wellesley was however successful in bringing few of the larger states into his alliance through his political and diplomatic tactics. However when all failed, he wasn’t doubtful of using force or declaring war.

MAIN PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY OF SUBSIDIARY ALLIANCE

According to the provisions of the treaty of Subsidiary Alliance the concerned state ruler had to accept the British forces and also had to pay a certain amount for maintenance. Protection was guaranteed in return by the British who would place few British Army men in the state. Also, the

11 Enid M. Fuhr, Strategy and Diplomacy in British India under Marquis Wellesley, p.

skills their military strength and command were also degraded. As by now, the military forces of the native rulers were largely under the command of the British and the Company. Hence, the local ruler enjoyed little authority over them. Also, according to the provisions of the Subsidiary Alliance the states had to pay about one third of the revenue to the company. This resulted in a loss of revenue for the state that could have been used for the welfare of the people and development of the state. This led to people being exploited and oppressed as there was a compulsion of submitting revenues on time to the company otherwise the state had to face harsh consequences of surrendering a portion of its territory to the Company. The local and the native population had little voice to be heard. Their agitation was ignored by the ruler. In cases of internal rebellion against the ruler, the ruler enjoyed the protection of the British forces. 14

CONCLUSION

After studying and analyzing Lord Wellesley’s term and his policies, his approach can be described in two folds: first that his supreme objective was the expansion of British territory and second to have unlimited power and authority. For achieving these two objectives he primarily relied on methods like subsidiary alliance, waging wars against revolting states and rulers and capturing territories of weak rulers.^15 Though the states who accepted subsidiary alliance by force, need or persuasion in view of thinking that it might lead to an increase of their protection, in reality, subsidiary alliance was a suicide committed by the local rulers. By joining subsidiary alliance they surrendered their independency in administration, command over military forces, authority of resolving local conflicts and mal administration. The local economy of the state also suffered due to this policy as now a large portion of the revenue generated had to be given to the British. In terms of the policy of subsidiary alliance, the benefit was one sided. There was no real privilege for the local rulers. The policy was created and given effect just with the objective of establishing British dominance and supremacy.

BIBLOGRAPHY

14 http://www.preservearticles.com 15 http://www.historydiscussion.net/british-india/wellesley-aims-policy-and-estimate/

BOOKS REFERRED:

1. Primary Sources

The Marquis Wellesley by Charles Harding

2. Secondary Sources

Lord Wellesley and Policy of Expansion by Om Prakash British India by Michael Edwardes An advanced History of India by R.C. Majumdar, H.C. Raychaudhari, Kalikinkar Datta A New Look at Modern Indian History by B.L. Grover & Alka Mehta

SITES REFERRED

www.books4jobs.com www.historydiscussion.net www.tutorialspoint.com www.preservearticles.com http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in