The British East India Company, at first a trading body, gradually gained control over Indian territories by various means. The policy below was carried out by Lord Dalhousie and caused widespread resentment among Indian rulers.
Assertion (A): The Doctrine of Lapse was carried out to expand British territory.
Reason (R): It allowed the British to annex states that had no direct male heir.
Choose the correct option:
- ABoth (A) and (R) are true, and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)
- BBoth (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
- C(A) is false, but (R) is true
- D(A) is true, but (R) is false
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: (a) Both (A) and (R) are true, and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)
Explanation
Both are true, and (R) explains (A).
Under the Doctrine of Lapse, carried out by Lord Dalhousie (1848–1856), a dependent state whose ruler died without a natural male heir passed ("lapsed") to the Company; an adopted son could not inherit. In this way Dalhousie annexed Satara (1848), Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1849), Baghat (1850), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1853) and Nagpur (1854), without war.
The policy angered the Indian rulers, such as Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, and was one of the causes of the Revolt of 1857.