Annexation of Sindh & Punjab by British- Complete Notes for UPSC

Annexation of Sindh & Punjab by British

By 1818, the entire Indian subcontinent, except Punjab and Sindh, had been brought under British rule. They directly ruled some states, while in others, the British exercised paramount power. These areas were brought under British control through subsidiary alliance, the Principle of Paramountcy and, in several cases, through outright war.

In some cases, the British also used the principle of diplomacy. For example, the Treaty of Singauli established a boundary between British India and Nepal. This treaty still demarcates the boundary between India and Nepal.

From 1818 to 1857, the British adopted an even more aggressive policy and eventually conquered the whole of India. Sindh, Punjab, Awadh, the central provinces and a large number of other petty states were annexed during this period. We can term this period as an era of deliberately manufactured annexations.

William Bentick: Non-aggressive consolidation (1828-35)

• Lord William Bentick’s tenure is known for his policy of non-intervention and non-aggression with Indian states.
• Only Mysore and Coorg were annexed on account of misgovernance.
• He tried to strengthen relationships with the buffer states of Sindh and Punjab in the wake of possible Russian aggression.
• Charter Act of 1833
  • The Governor-general of Bengal had now become the Governor-general of India.
  • The act paved the way for the centralisation of Administrative, legislative and financial affairs.
  • It effectively legalised the British colonisation of India, permitting the English to settle in India.

    

  • William Bentick undertook several administrative and financial reforms. He revised and expanded the Mahalwari revenue administration system, devised by Holt Mackenzie in 1822 in the North West Provinces of Bengal presidency (most of the area is now in modern Uttar Pradesh).
  • From 1835, coins bearing the name of Mughal Emperors were stopped. It symbolically declared the establishment of the new dispensation.
  • He is credited with several social reforms, such as the abolition of Sati and the suppression of Thugee.
  • During his tenure, the westernisation of Indian society and culture started with introducing the English language in the administration and higher education.

Relations with Sindh

• In the 1770s, a Baluch tribe, Talpuras, under Mir Fatah Ali Khan, settled in the region; being excellent soldiers and adapted to the hard life, they soon usurped the power.
• After the death of Mir Fatah, his four brothers (popularly known as Char Yaar) divided the kingdom into themselves and called themselves Amirs of Sindh.
• In 1799, Lord Wellesley tried to revive commercial relations with a hidden aim to counter the brewing alliance of Napoleon, Tipu Sultan and the Kabul Monarch.
• However, in 1800, under the influence of Tipu and other factors, The Amir unceremoniously asked the British agent to leave.

The treaty of ‘Eternal friendship.’

• In 1807, Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia made an ‘alliance of Tilsit’ in which one of the conditions was the combined attack on British India through the land route.
• To create a barrier between British India and Russia, Lord Minto sent Nicholas Smith to make a defensive arrangement.
• In the treaty signed in 1809, both sides agreed to exclude the French from the Sindh and to exchange agents at each other’s court.

The forward policy of Lord Auckland

• Auckland saw Sindh from the perspective of saving British India from a possible Russian invasion and wanted to gain influence over Afghanistan.
• The British saw consolidating their position in Sindh as a prerequisite to their plan in Afghanistan.
• In 1838, due to a possible threat from Ranjit Singh of Punjab, the Amir reluctantly signed a treaty with the British, which allowed the British to intervene in the dispute between the Amirs and the Sikhs and the presence of a British resident. With this treaty, Sindh was turned into a British protectorate.