Subsidiary alliance

A subsidiary alliance is an alliance between a dominant nation and a nation that it dominates.

British policy in India

The doctrine of subsidiary alliance was introduced by Lord Wellesley, British Governor-General in India from 1798 to 1805. Early in his governorship Wellesley adopted a policy of non-intervention in the princely states, but he later adopted the policy of forming subsidiary alliances. This policy was to play a major role in British expansion in India. According to the term of this alliance, Indian rulers were not allowed to have their independent armed force . They were to be protected by the company, but had to pay for the 'subsidiary forces' that the company was supposed to maintain for the purpose of this protection. If the Indian rulers failed to make the payment, then part of their territory was taken away as penalty.For example,the ruler of Awadh was forced to give over half of his territory to the company in 1801,as he failed to pay for the "subsidiary forces". Hyderabad was also forced to cede territories on similar grounds. By the late 18th century, power of the Maratha Empire had weakened in the Indian subcontinent, and India was left with a great number of states, most small and weak. Many rulers accepted the offer of protection by Lord Wellesley, as it gave them security against attack by their neighbours.

Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley

Richard Colley Wesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley KG PC PC (Ire) (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842), styled Viscount Wellesley from birth until 1781 and known as The Earl of Mornington from 1781 until 1799, was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator.

He was the eldest son of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, an Irish peer, and Anne, the eldest daughter of Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon; and brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. He first made his name as Governor-General of India between 1798 and 1805 and later served as Foreign Secretary in the British Cabinet and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Education and early career

Wellesley was born in 1760 in Ireland, where his family were part of the Ascendancy, the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy. He was educated at the Royal School, Armagh, Harrow School and Eton College, where he distinguished himself as a classical scholar, and at Christ Church, Oxford.

In 1780, he entered the Irish House of Commons as the member for Trim until the following year when, at his father's death, he became 2nd Earl of Mornington, taking his seat in the Irish House of Lords. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1782, a post he held for the following year. Due to the extravagance of his father and grandfather, he found himself so indebted that he was ultimately forced to sell all the Irish estates. However, in 1781 he was appointed to the coveted position of Custos Rotulorum of Meath.