Doctrine of Lapse

The doctrine of lapse was the pro-imperialist approach, meaning the domination of an outsider over his own land. The doctrine of Lapse Policy was ruled under the realm of the British Kingdom in our country, India. 

Lord Dalhousie introduced the Doctrine of Lapse. This doctrine was Doctrine formulated with an idea to annex those states with no heir, which eventually lapsed the right of ruling and thus would come under British rule. Further, in detail, we will discuss the Doctrine of Lapse meaning. We will know about the Dalhousie Doctrine of Lapse; the doctrine of lapse annexed states is also included in this content.

The doctrine of Lapse Meaning 

The doctrine of lapse, in the history of India, is the formula that is devised by Lord Dalhousie. Lord Dalhousie was the governor-general of India during British rule. This policy was brought in India by the British rulers to deal with the questions of succession to the Hindu Indian States. 

This was actually a corollary devised by which Great Britain can claim the Indian thrones eventually the states, which did not have an heir in their family.

Who started the Doctrine of Lapse?

The doctrine of lapse is to be defined as the policy of annexation that was initiated or started by the East India Company or the Britishers, this was applied in the Indian subcontinent in relation to the princely states, and this is applied until the year 1859, these two years after Company rule was succeeded by the British Raj system. So, when asked to ‘explain Doctrine of Lapse’, first we need to give the doctrine of lapse definition, then proceed on with the detailed explanation. We will provide the explanation in our next section.

Explain Doctrine of Lapse 

According to Indian Hindu law, an individual or the ruler of any state without their own natural heirs could easily adopt a person who would have all their personal and political rights as such; the person is a son of that ruler or individual.

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What was the policy of Doctrine of Policy?

Dalhousie demolished such adoptions; he formulated a policy that said that a state without its natural heir would automatically come under British Rule. This was nothing but a cruel strategy of the Britishers to rule the entire Indian subcontinent. This strategy was known as the ‘Doctrine of Policy’.

In reality, back then, the state rulers of India were forced to reject any adoption, and later the states slipped into British Rule.

This policy was formulated with the reason stated by Dalhousie – He believed that the Western rule was more preferred than the Eastern, and they could be easily enforced on where it was possible. 

This doctrine was limited to the Hindu rulers only, but it alarmed all the Indian princes and the old aristocracy who served them faithfully.

Which Movement was Led by the Doctrine of Policy?

This discontentment among the Indians led to the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny in the year 1857 and also the widespread revolt which followed.

The Story of Rani Lakshmibai – A victim of the Doctrine of Policy 

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Rani Lakshmibai, also known as the ‘Jhansi ki Rani’, was called the queen of Jhansi. She is one of the leading figures of the Rebellion of 1857 or the Sepoy Mutiny. For the Indian nationalists, Rani Lakshmibai became an icon for the freedom struggle against the British Raj for the Indians to gain “Purna Swaraj’.

On 19th November, we celebrate the birth anniversary of Jhansi ki Rani or Rani Lakshmibai. Her birth anniversary is celebrated as Martyrs Day in Jhansi to honour the lives that have been lost in the Rebellion in the year 1857.

Who was Rani Lakshmibai?

• Rani Lakshmibai is counted as one of the bold warriors for India's struggle for Independence; she was born as Manikarnika Tambe in the year 1828 in a state called Varanasi.

• Rani lost her mother when she was only four years and then she was raised in an extraordinary manner by her father, who worked as an advisor in the court of Peshwa.

• Her father supported Lakshmibai in learning horsemanship, archery, self-defence, and also in the shooting.

• In the year 1842, Lakshmibai was married to Maharaja of Jhansi named Gangadhar Rao. After marrying him, she thus got the name of Rani Lakshmibai. Few years after their marriage, in 1851, Lakshmibai gave birth to a baby boy, but he couldn't survive and eventually died after only four months.

• After which Lakshmibai and Gangadhar Rao adopted his cousin's son, named Anand Rao, the baby boy was later renamed Damodar.

• Soon after this adoption, Anand, the Maharaja, died due to an illness in 1853. Rani Lakshmibai was only 18 during this time.

At this time, The East India Company took advantage of the situation of Maharaja's death and thereby applied the Doctrine of Lapse.

Due to the Doctrine of Lapse, the Britishers did not accept their adopted son - Damodar Rao as the legal heir of the throne Jhansi.

Dissatisfied by the injustice, Rani Lakshmibai appealed to the court in London, and her case was discarded.  Rani Lakshmibai fought with the Britishers but eventually succumbed to great strength.  The Britishers annexed the state of Jhansi, seizing the state jewels; later, Rani was granted an annual pension of Rs 60,000 and thereby was asked to leave the Jhansi fort forever.

The doctrine of Lapse States 

The States which were annexed by Dalhousie by applying the formula of ‘Doctrine of Lapse’

1. The States of Satara (1848 AD)

2. Jaipur (1849 AD)

3. Sambalpur (1849 AD)

4. Bahat (1850 A.D)

5. Udaipur (1852 AD)

6. Jhansi (1853 AD)

7. Nagpur (1854 AD)

Key Points to Note of the Doctrine of Lapse

1. This Policy was designed to expand the British territory in India on the basis of a pro-imperialist approach.

2. The State must be handed over to the British rule if they have no heir or any ruler.

3. The adoptions of the children, who will act as their heirs, were not allowed.

4. This Policy did not support giving any title or pension to the adopted child of these rulers.

5. The adopted heir could only inherit the personal property of the ruler, and he could not take the throne after the demise of the ruler. The policy ended the title and pension system.

How did the Britishers Cripple the Indians?

With all the actions of the Britishers, it became evident that they came to India for the purpose of trade only but their ambition of monopolising the Indian resources drives them to become the mighty and only power in India. The Doctrine of lapse was obviously an expansionist policy framed by the British East India Company to increase the British Empire in the Indian lands by annexing the other states of India by dominating them with their cruel power. This Policy was introduced by Lord Dalhousie to enable the British East India Company to help them gain monopolization and their dominion over the Indian States which were to increase their own revenue. This made the British quite unpopular, and our rulers, who used to rule the Indian states, grew bitter enemies of the British; all these consequences led to the revolt of 1857, the Sepoy or India Mutiny. 

Scene of India After Independence 

After India got its independence in 1947, the Indian government continued to recognize the status of all the former princely families through their states which had been integrated into India. The members of the former ruling families were later granted monetary compensation in the form of privy purses, which were the annual payments to support the grantees, their families and also to function the households. So, in the year 1947, India then proposed the unity of India under the government's rule, which is going on in the present times.

Did you know?

1. The East India Company has only had an act of a mere trader and not as a Sovereign ruler.

2. Later they came with the ambition to control and thereby rule the entire region of the Indian State and this started with the name of ‘Subsidiary Alliance’ and later with the policy called ‘Doctrine of Lapse’. 

3. These policies were adopted in order to control all the authority of the state and to make it under British-dominated rule. 

4. In reality, the problem started when the Indian states did not have real heirs to the throne, and then according to the policy, the state then lost their own ruling rights because of the lack of an heir.

Did Dalhousie Actually Invent the Doctrine of Lapse Policy?

To actually ponder on, Dalhousie has applied the doctrine of lapse extensively for annexing the Indian princely states, but this policy was not totally his self-invention. The Court of Directors of the East India Company had designed this in the year 1834. 

The policy said - Kings without any male heir or son cannot declare their right to adopt a child or any relative to continue their heir. In this case, the king is required to dispose of his rights to the throne and thereby surrender his kingdom to the East India Company.

With this policy, the Company had already annexed Mandvi in the year 1839, Kolaba in and Jalaun in the year 1840, also it captured Surat in the year 1842.