What are the disadvantages of Subsidiary Alliance System?

Spices were an important product in Europe at the time, and the British East India Company came to India as spice dealers. Silk, cotton, indigo dye, tea, and opium were their main products. The early East India Company understood that India was a tangle of provincial rulers and tried to bring all the country’s wealth together. As a result, the company began to get involved in Indian politics, and its wealth rapidly increased. Eventually, India became the British Empire’s most important colony.

The East India Business has grown from a trading company to a governing body eventually. They started by trading with the rulers and gradually extended into Indian territory. The British were able to acquire control of India because it was not unified. With the British, many of India’s sovereign countries signed treaties and created military and trade partnerships. The British were extremely successful in penetrating these countries and gradually gaining control.

The Subsidiary Alliance was simply a pact between the British East India Company and the Indian princely states, granting the English control over the Indian kingdoms. It was also a significant aspect of the British Empire’s formation in India. Lord Wellesley devised the subsidiary alliance in India. 

Features of Subsidiary Alliance

A subsidiary alliance was created between the British ruler and the sovereign ruler. The British took care to promote the notion of a secondary alliance in such a way that the king would be enticed to sign it. The subsidiary alliance contains the following points:

• An Indian ruler had to withdraw his military forces and accept British forces in their area to join a Subsidiary Alliance with the British.
• They also had to pay for the maintenance of the British troops. They would lose a portion of their land if they did not pay, and it would be given to the British.
• In exchange, the British promised to defend the Indian state from any outside attack or internal rebellion.
• The British agreed not to intervene in the Indian state’s internal affairs
• They were also unable to employ any foreign nationals in his service other than Englishmen. And, if they had any employees appointed previously, they had to fire them after the alliance was signed. 
• Without British sanction, the Indian state could not form any political ties with another Indian state.
• In addition, a British Representative was appointed in the court of the kingdom which signed the pact.

Disadvantages and Impact on Indian Kingdoms

Their technique projected the benefits that the monarch may obtain after signing the treaty, making the consequences seem less likely. The rulers who fell into the trap and the rulers who were forced gradually realized the intent of the subsidiary alliance. The ill effects and impacts on the kingdoms are as follows

1. In effect, a kingdom signing this pact was giving up its right to self-defense, diplomatic relations, the use of foreign specialists, and the resolution of disputes with neighbors. As a result, the Indian king’s authority over foreign relations and the troops were stripped away. He lost almost all of his autonomy and became a British protectorate, In other words, subsidiarity came at the expense of sovereignty.
2. The British, with their strategy, projected the benefits the monarch may receive after signing the treaty and made the consequences less plausible. Many kings fell into this trap, and the British began pressuring others to form subsidiary alliances under the threat of war. Many didn’t have the option but to become puppets in the hands of the British.
3. The British aimed to get the land of India under their control. With this aim they played the strategy, The expense of the British providing their forces is extremely high. This was strategically kept high, resulting in the kingdom’s economic deprivation. This led to poverty in the kingdom. The rulers had no option but to pay the high cost of joining the alliance, which they could not even afford, and were finally forced to sacrifice parts of their kingdom one by one.
4. Soldiers and military personnel lost their jobs when the armies were disbanded. This affected their livelihood as well as the lives of soldiers and fighters. Many of the fighters were trained and brought up to be fighters from their childhood. They lost their jobs, and they were jeopardized with no path for income. They fell into poverty and suffering as a result of their unexpected loss of livelihood.
5. Previously, monarchs cared about their people and sought to earn their faith to avert internal revolts and maintain peace in their kingdoms. Now after signing the alliance they started to become irresponsible and started neglecting the woes of their people. They were confident that with British protection under the alliance, any revolt will be dealt with by the British.
6. In the alliance, the British promised that they would not interfere in the administration matters of the state which signs the alliance. But in contradiction, the alliance also included the statement that a British representative will be present in the court. This indirectly makes the promise invalid.

Advantages of Subsidiary Alliance

The British had a well-thought-out strategy and plan for establishing the subsidiary alliance in India. The subsidiary alliance benefited the British in several ways. For every perk that was granted to the king because of the alliance, there was an underlying advantage for the British.

1. The English gained control of crucial and key places in India by stationing company troops in the capitals of Indian kingdoms. 
2. The subsidiary arrangement assisted the corporation inefficiently in countering any potential French movements in India. The goal was to limit the French influence. 
3. The subsidiary system was the Trojan horse strategy for expanding the territory. 
4. It disarmed the Indian states and placed them under British dominion. 
5. British settlers exercised significant authority in the affairs of the Indian states. This put a lot of power in the hands of the company’s Indian officials. 
6. On the one hand, the subsidiary alliance assisted the corporation in reducing the danger of Napoleon/French, while on the other hand, the subsidiary alliance allowed the company to retain a massive army built at the expense of Indian states.`

Related Links

1. Subsidiary Alliance
2. Anglo-Mysore Wars
3. Lord Wellesley

FAQs on Disadvantages of Subsidiary Alliance

Q1. What were the disadvantages of the Subsidiary Alliance for Indian rulers?

Answer-

The disadvantages of Subsidiary Alliance for Indian rulers are as follows:

1. None of the Indian states were given permission for forming political alliances with other Indian states without the consent of the Britishers.
2. The Indian rulers came to lose most of their powers to that of foreign policy as well as military affairs and came under British “protectorate”.

Q2. What were the merits and demerits of the Subsidiary Alliance?

Answer-

1. The merit of the subsidiary alliance is that the governorship was for the British and this provided the Indians with the chance for unification of the Indians who felt oppressed under the Britishers.
2. The demerit of subsidiary alliance is that the princes of Indian descents had lost the administrative powers and have attended the possible of submission.

Q3. What are the consequences of a Subsidiary Alliance?

Answer-

The consequence of the subsidiary alliance was that the Indian rulers were rendered to be unemployed and many of the Indian states had come to lose their independence and also gradually most parts of India has come under British control.