Page 73 - DHIS204_DHIS205_INDIAN_FREEDOM_STRUGGLE_HINDI

Indian Freedom Struggle (1707–1947 A.D.)

Notes abolished. Dalhousie’s plan to abolish the regal title of the Mughal Emperor after the death of
Bahadur Shah II (then 70 years of age) and stoppage of the pension of twelve million rupees per
annum was not approved by the Court of Directors. The annual pension of eight lakhs of rupees
paid to the ex Peshwa Baji Rao II was not transferred to his adopted son after the former’s death
in 1853. It was contended that the pension had been allowed to Peshwa Baji Rao II for his lifetime
only, and so could not pass on to his adopted son, Nana Sahib.
The Annexation of Berar, 1853: The Nizam of Hyderabad had failed to pay to the East India
Company the stipulated sum for maintaining an auxiliary force in Hyderabad. His debts had
greatly accumulated.
In 1853 the Nizam was compelled to code to the East India Company the cotton-producing area of
Berar and certain adjoining districts calculated to yield a revenue of about fifty lakhs for the
maintenance of the Hyderabad contingent.
The Annexation of Oudh, 1856: Oudh was another important Indian state annexed by Lord
Dalhousie. This state first came into contact with the British as early as 1765, when its Nawab was
defeated at Buxar. Oudh lay then at the mercy of the British but Clive decided not to annex it. He
restored Oudh to the Nawab but made him part with the districts of Kora and Allahabad. When
Wellesley came to India, he forced a new treaty (1801) on the Nawab and made him part with half
of his dominions comprising Rohilkhand and the Lower Doab. After that, the Nawab became
increasingly dependent on the Company for external defence and maintenance of internal law and
order and shut his eyes to the welfare of the people, who groaned under the misrule of the
Nawab’s officers and the Company’s trade agents.
William Bentinck, least ambitious and most humane of Governor-General, sent a warning to the
Nawab asking him to improve his administration. Even when authorized by the Court of Directors
to assume the administration of the state, William Bentinck decided against annexation. Lord
Auckland in 1837 signed a fresh treaty with Nawab Muhammed Ali Shah by which he reserved
for the East India Company “the right to intervene in the internal affairs of Oudh if gross and
systematic oppression, anarchy and misrule should hereafter at any time prevail within the Oudh
dominions, such as seriously to endanger the public tranquillity.” This treaty, however, was
disallowed by the Court of Directors and was, therefore, regarded as a ‘dead letter’. In 1847 Lord
Hardinge sent another warning to the Nawab.
By the middle of the nineteenth century the British opinion in India was ripe for the annexation of
Oudh. In fact, mid-Victorian imperialists believed that Britain alone had the capacity for good
government, that Indians had to be governed, that Oudh had, therefore, to be annexed. The London
Times had given expression to the same sentiment when it referred to the Indians “as the very
small people” which “a very great people has gone across the earth and taken possession of.” In
the accomplishment of this task Dalhousie was not to be deterred by sentimental respect for
Indian loyalty or even respect for earlier treaties.
The main excuse for annexation of Oudh was the continuation of misrule there. The fundamental
fact that British intervention had been greatly instrumental for misrule was ignored. Sir Henry
Lawrence summed up the situation: “The facts furnished by every writer on Oudh affairs all
testify to the same point, the British interference with that province has been so prejudicial to its
court and people as it has been disgraceful to the British name.” The charge of misgovernment
was a convenient pretext to annex Oudh. According to Prof. K. K. Datta, “The existence of the ill-
governed state of Oudh, almost in the centre of the rapidly expanding British Empire in India,
could not but appear to the architects of the latter as a gross anachronism, which should be
removed as quickly as possible to facilitate their own task”.
Dalhousie skillfully planned the annexation of Oudh. He sent special officers to investigate the
charges of misrule in Oudh, wrote lengthy reports about the rottenness of government there and
won over the Home authorities to his viewpoint. Thus fortified by the approval of the Home
authorities and having won the tacit approval of the public opinion in England, Dalhousie acted
with promptitude.

68 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY