Revision summary
Wellesley used Subsidiary Alliance to control Indian courts and foreign policy. The Fourth Mysore War (1799) ended Tipu and reduced Mysore. Awadh ceded Gorakhpur, Rohilkhand, and the Lower Doab in 1801. The Treaty of Bassein and the Second Maratha War extended Company power to Delhi. Wars were costly; Wellesley was recalled despite the enlarged map.
Model answer
Introduction
Lord Wellesley was Governor-General from 1798 to 1805, in the years of the Napoleonic threat. Expansion of Company rule in his time came through Subsidiary Alliance, the fall of Tipu, the Second Maratha War, and large cessions from Awadh.
Body
Subsidiary Alliance as the political engine
- Wellesley’s Subsidiary Alliance required an Indian ruler to host a British force, pay a subsidy or cede territory, and surrender independent foreign policy, which turned courts into protected dependents.
- The Nizam of Hyderabad accepted a tightened subsidiary system; the Carnatic and Tanjore were brought under closer Company control, extending Madras power along the Coromandel.
- Awadh under Saadat Ali Khan ceded the Ceded Districts (1801)—Gorakhpur, Rohilkhand, and the Lower Doab—which pushed Company revenue deep into the Ganga plain of today’s Uttar Pradesh.
Wars that redrew the map
- The Fourth Anglo–Mysore War (1799) ended with Tipu Sultan’s death at Seringapatam; Mysore was reduced and a Wodeyar restoration sat under British supervision.
- The Treaty of Bassein (1802) with Peshwa Baji Rao II after Yashwantrao Holkar’s blow at Poona gave the Company a legal handle on the Maratha confederacy.
- The Second Anglo–Maratha War (1803–05) brought Assaye and Argaon against the Bhonsle and Scindia, and Lake’s victories at Delhi and Laswari; Delhi’s Mughal emperor passed under British protection.
- Large slices of Orissa, the Doab, and Bundelkhand, and influence over Rajput and Bundela chiefs, followed these campaigns.
Limit of the discussion
- Expansion was not only the sword: subsidiary treaties did as much as battles to isolate France and Indian rivals.
- The Court of Directors recalled Wellesley because wars were expensive; the map grew faster than the Company’s purse, which is the critical cost of this expansion.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD W[Wellesley 1798-1805] --> S[Subsidiary Alliance] W --> T[Mysore 1799] W --> M[Maratha War 1803] W --> A[Awadh Ceded Districts]
Conclusion
Under Wellesley, British rule expanded by Subsidiary Alliance, the destruction of Tipu, Maratha defeat, and Awadh’s cessions. The discussion is complete only if it notes both the new Ganga–Deccan map and the financial overstretch that ended his term.
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Did Wellesley annex every allied state?
No. Many states remained on the map as protected allies. Annexation and cession happened where subsidy could not be paid or war was won.
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Was the Mughal emperor deposed in this period?
Shah Alam II came under British protection after Lake took Delhi. The imperial title continued; effective power in the city passed to the Company.
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