Question

The Indian states that were annexed by invoking the Doctrine of Lapse included__________
A. Jhansi, Nagpur and Travancore
B. Jhansi, Nagpur and Satara
C. Jhansi, Satara and Mysore
D. Mysore, Satara and Bhavnagar

Answer 1

Hint: In India, earlier, if any king did not have a natural male heir to the throne, he would generally adopt someone and coronate him as the prince who would later become the king of that state. This is the norm in the native kingdoms of India but according to this policy, if a king did not have a male heir, that kingdom after the death of the king would fall into the hands of the East India Company administration and the adopted son cannot be a prince and has the right to rule in future is nullified.

Complete step by step answer:
This policy was used by the Governor Generals from 1834 but Lord Dalhousie popularized it by occupying kingdoms extensively during his term as governor-general. This policy of Dalhousie’s angered a lot of native kings and princes who became nobody after the death of their adopted fathers. This policy unlike the subsidiary alliance system was not a mutual treaty between the East India Company and the native kings. It was like a dictate which native kings and princes did not accept yet the laws of the kingdoms to the East India Company. Few kingdoms which fell prey to this policy were Jhansi, Nagpur, Satara, Udaipur and Arcot, and many others. And in other kingdoms, they plotted against the kings with their army commanders or cousins.
So, the correct answer is Option B.

Note: In the Doctrine of Lapse, it stated that an adopted son could get the privilege to become the heir to his foster father’s private property but not the state as it was in the hands of the Britishers to decide whether to bestow the state on the adopted son or to annex it.