Question

Subsidiary Alliance was implemented during the reign of

• A. Lord Cornwallis
• B. Lord Wellesley
• C. Sir John Shore
• D. Lord Auckland

Answer 1

Answer:

B. Lord Wellesley

• Governor-General Lord Wellesly came to India in 1798 at a time when the British were locked in a life and death struggle with France all over the world.

• The fear of Napoleon haunted the Britishers everywhere.

• To achieve his political aims, Wellesly relied on the system of Subsidiary Alliance.

• While the practice of helping Indian rulers with a paid British force was quite old, it was given shape by Wellesley who used it to sub-ordinate the Indian states to the paramountcy of the company.

• Under the subsidiary Alliance system, the ruler of the allying state was compelled to accept the permanent stationing of a British force within his territory and to pay a subsidy for its maintenance.

• However, to secure a fixed income for the company was not under the agenda of the Subsidiary Alliance.