Skip to main content

Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)

Lord Wellesley was appointed Governor General of Bengal in 1798 at the age of 37. One of the top British rulers in India, he devised strategies to establish British paramountcy in India. He ranks among the highs of Lord Clive, Lord Dalhousie and Warren Hastings. When it comes to achievements, he is a cut above the rest of the British rulers in India.

During his tenure of seven years, Lord Wellesley became successful in defeating the adversaries of the English Company. Jettisoning the non-intervention policy, he applied the system of Subsidiary Alliance with a missionary zeal. Under the Subsidiary Alliance system, the Indian ruler, who entered into this alliance, was to surrender a part of his territories or give money for the maintenance of a subsidiary force of the British needed for the defence of the state. The subsidiary state had also to surrender its external relations to the Company and accept a British resident at the capital.

The Indian states and rulers who entered into Wellesley’s Subsidiary Alliance System were Mysore, Hyderabad, Tanjore, Berar, Awadh, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bharatpur, Macheri, Bundi, and the Peshwa.

During his rule, the Fourth Mysore War took place in 1799 resulting in the defeat of and killing of Tipu Sultan. The Second Anglo Maratha War (1803-04) witnessed the defeat of Sindhia, the Bhonsle and the Holkar which dealt a body blow the Maratha power in India.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muhammad Shah Rangila

Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal emperor, died in 1707. Muhammad Shah became Mughal emperor in 1719. During the interregnum, Bahadur Shah I , JahandarShah , Farrukhsiyar r, Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-Daula ascended the Mughal throne. Jahandar Shah was murdered on the orders of Farrukhsiyar who had the support of the two powerful Mughal nobles Sayyid Abdullah and his brother Sayyid Husain Ali at that time. They are famous in history as Sayyid brothers, the King-makers. In 1719, Farrukhsiyar were murdered in utter disregard of a Mughal emperor by Sayyid brothers. Rafi-ud-Darajat died of consumption in a few months. Rafi-ud-Daula was addicted to opium and died in 4 months. Sayyid brothers now chose Raushan Akhtar, a son of Jahan Shah (the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I), to be the emperor. Raushan Akhtar ascended the throne under the title of Muhamamd Shah in September 1719. In the beginning Muhammad Shah was a puppet in the hands of Sayyid brothers who soon began to lose their...
1 comment
Read more

Ghaseti Begum: The Begum of Motijheel

                          Clive meeting Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, (By Francis Hayman) Ghaseti Begum, originally named Mehar un-Nisa, was the eldest daughter of Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal. She was married to Nawazish Muhammad Khan. Ghaseti Begum went all out to conspire against her nephew Siraj-ud-Daula who was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. Siraj-ud-Daula was defeated by the British under Lord Clive in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and was killed on the orders of Miran, the son of Mir Jafar who was now made the Nawab of Bengal by the British.   Ghaseti  Begum was called the Begum of Motijheel  due to her residence at the bend of this reservoir in Murshidabad. Motijheel or Pearl Lake is an oxbow lake in Murshidabad. The lake was created by her husband Nawazish Muhammad Khan. Nawazish Muhammad Khan died of grief when his adopted son Ekram-ud-Daulah succumbed to smallpox at a yo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chauth and sardeshmukhi: Two important taxes in the Maratha taxation system

Chauth and sardeshmukhi were the two most important taxes in the taxation system of the powerful Maratha state founded by brilliant Maratha leader Shivaji (1627-1680).  According to Mahadev Govind Ranade , a famous Indian scholar and freedom fighter, chauth was a military tribute that was levied as a quid pro quo for protection against the invasion of a third power. But eminent historian Jadunath Sarkar does not ascribe to this view. According to him, chauth, 25% tax on revenue or produce, was realized from the alien territories to save themselves from the unwelcome presence of the Maratha soldiers and civil underlings. Shivaji was not under obligation to guard the territory from foreign invasion or internal disorder.  According to another authority S. G Sardesai , chauth was a military tribute paid by the conquered or hostile territories. Since Shivaji was the hereditary sardeshmukh (Chief Headmand) of Maharashtra, he demanded an additional levy of 10 percent know...
8 comments
Read more