Subsidiary alliance was a system devised by Lord Wellesley in 1798. All those who entered into such an alliance with the British had to accept certain terms and conditions. 1. The British would be responsible for protecting their ally from external and internal threats to their power. 2. In the territory of the ally a British armed contingent would be stationed and would provide resources for their maintenance. 3. The ally would enter into agreements, with other rulers or engage in warfare only with the permission of the British. 4. Ally may walk away with the alliance anytime at the disagreement. Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Subsidiary Alliance

• The Subsidiary Alliance is an alliance between the Indian States and the British East India Company introduced in 1798.
• The Subsidiary Alliance was introduced by the French East India Company Governor Joseph Francois Dupliex with the Nizam of Hyderabad in India.
• Lord Wellesley, the Governor – General of British East India Company used this alliance with several States.
• Under this Alliance, the ruler of the concerned state was required to:
  • Acknowledge British East India Company as paramount of power
  • Permanently station a British army within his territory
  • Pay subsidy for maintaining this army.
  • Post a British resident in his court.
  • Not negotiate with any other rulers without prior consent from the Governor-General.
  • Not employ any European in their service without getting approval from the British.
• If the ruler fails to make payment as per the Alliance, then the state would be confiscated by British East India Company. Hence, statement 4 is incorrect.
• In return to this, the British would do the following:
  • The state and the ruler would be protected from the enemies.
  • Policy of noninterference in the internal matters of the allied States.
  • Hence, statement 1, 2 and 3 are correct.

Additional Information

The Subsidiary Alliance system involved four stages:

• In the First stage, troops were offered by the Company to the friendly Indian state, to fight the war that it was engaged in.
• In the Second stage, a common cause was created with that Indian state and soldiers of both Company and the Indian state took the field.
• In the Third stage, the ruler was promised a contingent for a fixed sum of money. The soldiers were recruited, trained and maintained by the Company.
• In the Fourth stage, the Company usually levied high protection fees to the Indian States. If the ruler fails to pay, then in lieu of payment certain parts of the territory were ceded to the British East India Company.