Treaties and British Expansion in India

The territorial expansion and consolidation of the British East India Company (EIC) in India between the mid-eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries relied on a strategic combination of military victories and diplomatic treaties. These treaties transformed the EIC from a trading entity into the sovereign master of the Indian subcontinent. By exploiting internal rivalries among regional powers—such as the Nawabs of Bengal and Awadh, the Sultans of Mysore, the Maratha Confederacy, the Nizams of Hyderabad, and the Sikh Empire—the British systematically dismantled indigenous state authority. The agreements evolved from early commercial concessions and land grants to elaborate mechanisms of control, such as the Subsidiary Alliance and the Doctrine of Lapse, which eroded native sovereignty and laid the foundation for the British Raj.

Early Territorial Treaties (1757–1765)

The initial phase of British expansion began in Bengal, where diplomatic agreements formalized EIC control over rich revenues and strategic territories.

Treaty of Alinagar (1757)

• Context: Signed on February 9, 1757, between Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal and Robert Clive following the EIC’s recapture of Calcutta.
• Key Terms: The Nawab restored all EIC factories, commercial privileges, and duties exemptions granted under the 1717 Farman. The British gained permission to fortify Calcutta and mint their own coins.
• Outcome: Served as a temporary truce before the Battle of Plassey (June 1757), which established British political dominance in Bengal.

Treaty of Allahabad (1765)

• Context: Concluded in August 1765 by Robert Clive after the joint forces of Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh, and Mir Qasim lost the Battle of Buxar (1764).
• Treaty with Shah Alam II: The Mughal Emperor granted the EIC the Diwani (right to collect land revenue) of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in exchange for an annual payment of 26 lakh rupees. The EIC acquired administrative financial control while leaving civil administration (Nizamat) to the puppet Nawab of Bengal, creating the Dual System of Government (1765–1772).
• Treaty with Shuja-ud-Daula: Awadh lost the districts of Kora and Allahabad to Shah Alam II and paid a war indemnity of 50 lakh rupees to the EIC. Awadh became a dependent buffer state protecting Bengal’s western border.

Subsidiary Alliance System and Regional Hegemony

Introduced on a large scale by Governor-General Lord Wellesley (1798–1805), the Subsidiary Alliance system brought native states under British paramountcy without direct annexation. Under this system, an Indian ruler had to accept a permanent British force within his territory, pay for its maintenance or cede territory, post a British Resident at his court, and surrender his foreign affairs.

Major Subsidiary Alliance Treaties

Pacification of Mysore and the Marathas

The EIC fought a series of conflicts with Mysore and the Maratha Confederacy, concluding treaties that dismantled both powers.

Anglo-Mysore War Treaties

• Treaty of Madras (1769): Concluded the First Anglo-Mysore War between Hyder Ali and the EIC. Both sides agreed to mutual restoration of conquered territories and defensive alliance support.
• Treaty of Mangalore (1784): Signed by Tipu Sultan and the EIC under Lord Macartney, ending the Second Anglo-Mysore War on the principle of mutual restitution of conquests.
• Treaty of Seringapatam (1792): Signed after the Third Anglo-Mysore War between Tipu Sultan and Lord Cornwallis. Tipu surrendered half his territory (Malabar, Dindigul, Baramahal, and Coorg) to the British and their allies, paid 3.3 crore rupees as war indemnity, and surrendered two sons as hostages.
• Partition Treaty of Mysore (1799): Followed Tipu’s death in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Lord Wellesley restored a reduced kingdom of Mysore to the Wodeyar dynasty under a Subsidiary Alliance and annexed Kanara, Coimbatore, and Wayanad.

Anglo-Maratha War Treaties

• Treaty of Surat (1775): Signed between Raghunathrao and the Bombay Presidency, triggering the First Anglo-Maratha War. Raghunathrao promised Salsette and Bassein to the British in exchange for troops.
• Treaty of Purandar (1776): Signed by the Calcutta Council under Warren Hastings to annul the Treaty of Surat. Retained Salsette for the EIC while pensioning off Raghunathrao.
• Treaty of Salbai (1782): Ended the First Anglo-Maratha War. Mediated by Mahadji Shinde and signed with Warren Hastings, it recognized Sawai Madhavrao as Peshwa and guaranteed 20 years of peace between the British and Marathas.
• Treaty of Poona (1817): Signed by Peshwa Baji Rao II under pressure from Resident Mountstuart Elphinstone, forcing the Peshwa to renounce leadership of the Maratha Confederacy and cede Bundelkhand and Malwa.
• Treaty of Mandasor (1818): Signed by Malhar Rao Holkar III after the Battle of Mahidpur during the Third Anglo-Maratha War, placing Holkar under a Subsidiary Alliance and dissolving the Maratha Empire.

Frontier Treaties and Border Fixed Boundaries

To secure its northern, eastern, and north-western borders against foreign threats and tribal resistance, the EIC signed key boundary agreements.

Northern and North-Western Frontiers

• Treaty of Amritsar (1809): Signed on April 25, 1809, between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Charles Metcalfe representing Lord Minto. Fixed the Sutlej River as the permanent boundary between the Sikh Empire and British territories, stopping Sikh expansion south of the Sutlej.
• Treaty of Sugauli (1815–1816): Ended the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816) between the Kingdom of Nepal and the EIC under Lord Hastings. Nepal ceded Garhwal, Kumaon, Sikkim, and parts of the Terai region, establishing the Kali River as Nepal’s western border and accepting a British Resident in Kathmandu.
• Treaty of Tripartite (1838): Concluded among Governor-General Lord Auckland, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and Shah Shuja to restore Shah Shuja to the Afghan throne, leading to the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–1842).

Eastern Frontier

• Treaty of Yandabo (1826): Ended the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826) under Lord Amherst. The King of Ava (Burma) ceded Assam, Manipur, Arakan, and Tenasserim to the British, paid a war indemnity of 1 crore rupees, and accepted a British Resident.

Subjugation of the Sikh Empire

Following the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, political instability in Punjab led to the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars, culminating in complete annexation.

Anglo-Sikh Treaties

• Treaty of Lahore (March 9, 1846): Signed after the First Anglo-Sikh War under Lord Hardinge I. Seven-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh ceded the Jalandhar Doab and territories between the Beas and Sutlej, accepted a British Resident (Henry Lawrence), and reduced the Sikh army size.
• Treaty of Amritsar (March 16, 1846): The EIC sold Jammu and Kashmir to Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu for 75 lakh rupees to cover the war indemnity owed by the Lahore Durbar.
• Treaty of Bhairowal (December 1846): Modified the Treaty of Lahore by placing a Council of Regency headed by the British Resident in control of Punjab until Duleep Singh reached adulthood, removing Rani Jindan from governance.

Annexations via the Doctrine of Lapse

Governor-General Lord Dalhousie (1848–1856) expanded direct territorial annexation through the Doctrine of Lapse. Under this policy, any native state under British paramountcy whose ruler died without a natural male heir lapsed to the EIC, rejecting adopted heirs from inheriting political sovereignty.

Chronology of Annexations under Dalhousie

Key Facts for Quick Revision

• The Treaty of Alinagar (1757) was the first major political treaty signed by Robert Clive in Bengal.
• The Dual System of Bengal was created under the Treaty of Allahabad (1765) and abolished by Warren Hastings in 1772.
• Hyderabad was the first Indian state to sign a formal Subsidiary Alliance with Lord Wellesley in 1798.
• The Treaty of Salbai (1782) guaranteed 20 years of peace between the British EIC and the Maratha Empire.
• The Treaty of Bassein (1802) saw Peshwa Baji Rao II accept the Subsidiary Alliance, triggering the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
• The Sutlej River was fixed as the border between British India and the Sikh Empire by the Treaty of Amritsar in 1809.
• The Treaty of Sugauli (1816) established the Kali River as the western boundary of Nepal.
• The Treaty of Yandabo (1826) resulted in the EIC acquiring Assam and Arakan from Burma.
• Through the Treaty of Amritsar (1846), the British sold Jammu and Kashmir to Gulab Singh for 75 lakh rupees.
• Satara (1848) was the first native state annexed under Lord Dalhousie’s Doctrine of Lapse.
• Awadh was annexed in 1856 on charges of “misgovernance” based on James Outram’s administrative report, not under the Doctrine of Lapse.