UPSC Prelims 2007 Q59: Modern History – Advent Of Europeans & British Expansion

UPSC Prelims 2007, General Studies Paper I · Modern History

The ruler of which one of the following States was removed from power by the British on the pretext of misgovernance?

Answer: (a) Awadh

Explanation

Annexations by the British — on what pretext?

State	Year	Governor-General	Pretext
Satara	1848	Dalhousie	Doctrine of Lapse (no natural heir)
Nagpur	1854	Dalhousie	Doctrine of Lapse
Jhansi	1854	Dalhousie	Doctrine of Lapse
Awadh	1856	Dalhousie	Misgovernance — Nawab Wajid Ali Shah deposed

Awadh had a ruler, so Lapse could not apply.

Dalhousie instead used Resident Outram's report on "misrule".

Wajid Ali Shah was exiled to Calcutta (Metiabruz).

The annexation angered Awadh's sepoys and fed into the 1857 revolt.

Answer: (a) Awadh.

(a) CORRECT. Awadh (1856) was annexed on the ground of misgovernance; Wajid Ali Shah was deposed.
(b) Incorrect. Jhansi (1854) was annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse.
(c) Incorrect. Nagpur (1854) was annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse.
(d) Incorrect. Satara (1848) was the first State annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse.

Awadh 1856 = misgovernance. Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur = Doctrine of Lapse. All under Dalhousie.

Awadh was annexed in 1856 for 'misgovernance', not Lapse.

Assuming every Dalhousie annexation used the Doctrine of Lapse. Awadh was the exception.
Thinking Awadh was annexed through Subsidiary Alliance — it had a subsidiary alliance from 1801, but the 1856 annexation cited misrule.
Forgetting that the Awadh annexation was a direct cause of the 1857 revolt in Lucknow.

Lapse = no heir. Awadh had an heir, so Dalhousie used 'misrule'. First Lapse = Satara (1848).