British expansion in India was achieved through:
Battles + Treaties + Alliances + Annexations + Political intervention.
For UPSC, these are important because they connect:
British expansion → territorial acquisition → political supremacy → British paramountcy.
Year:
Fought between:
British East India Company vs Siraj-ud-daulah.
British commander:
Robert Clive.
Result:
British victory.
Significance:
Year:
British fought:
Mir Qasim + Shuja-ud-daulah + Shah Alam II.
British commander:
Hector Munro.
Result:
British victory.
Significance:
Confirmed British military supremacy in Bengal and adjoining regions.
Year:
Associated with:
Robert Clive.
Major outcome:
Company obtained Diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
Diwani meant:
Right to collect revenue.
Year:
British fought:
French.
British commander:
Eyre Coote.
Result:
British victory.
Significance:
French political influence in India was decisively weakened.
Year:
It ended:
Seven Years' War.
In India:
French retained some trading settlements but lost major political and military ambitions.
Significance:
British emerged as the dominant European power in India.
Period:
1767–1769.
Main opponent:
Haidar Ali of Mysore.
Result:
Treaty of Madras, 1769.
Year:
It ended:
First Anglo-Mysore War.
Significance:
Mutual restoration and defensive arrangements between the parties.
Period:
1780–1784.
Important Mysore ruler:
Haidar Ali → Tipu Sultan.
Major British defeat at:
Pollilur.
Year:
It ended:
Second Anglo-Mysore War.
Significance:
Both sides restored conquered territories and returned to approximately the pre-war position.
Period:
1790–1792.
British Governor-General:
Lord Cornwallis.
Main opponent:
Tipu Sultan.
British allies:
Nizam of Hyderabad + Marathas.
Year:
It ended:
Third Anglo-Mysore War.
Major terms:
Year:
Main opponent:
Tipu Sultan.
British Governor-General:
Lord Wellesley.
Result:
British victory.
Tipu Sultan:
Died defending Seringapatam in 1799.
Significance:
Mysore ceased to be a major independent challenge to British expansion in South India.
Period:
1775–1782.
Major issue:
Succession dispute involving the Peshwa.
Important treaty:
Treaty of Surat, 1775.
Year:
British supported:
Raghunath Rao.
Objective:
Support his claim to the Peshwa's position.
Year:
It temporarily modified:
British involvement in the Maratha succession dispute.
The conflict later continued.
Year:
It ended:
First Anglo-Maratha War.
Significance:
Established a temporary peace between the British and Marathas.
Period:
1803–1805.
Major background:
Treaty of Bassein, 1802.
Year:
Signed with:
Peshwa Baji Rao II.
The Peshwa accepted:
British protection under the Subsidiary Alliance system.
Significance:
Greatly increased British influence over the Maratha Confederacy.
Year:
Signed with:
Raghoji II Bhonsle.
Result:
Bhonsle ceded territories to the British and accepted British influence.
Year:
Signed with:
Daulat Rao Scindia.
Result:
Scindia ceded territory and accepted British political arrangements.
Period:
1817–1818.
Major result:
Maratha political supremacy was destroyed.
The:
Peshwa's position was abolished.
Significance:
British became the dominant political power over most of India.
Period:
1814–1816.
British fought:
Kingdom of Nepal.
Result:
British victory.
Year:
It ended:
Anglo-Nepalese War.
Nepal:
Ceded substantial territories.
Nepal nevertheless:
Remained an independent kingdom.
Year:
British signed with:
Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Main objective:
Define British-Sikh spheres of influence around the Sutlej.
Period:
1845–1846.
Result:
British victory.
Important treaty:
Treaty of Lahore, 1846.
Year:
Major outcome:
Sikh sovereignty was substantially weakened.
British influence over Punjab increased.
Year:
It involved:
British + Gulab Singh.
Gulab Singh obtained:
Kashmir.
This treaty should not be confused with:
Treaty of Amritsar, 1809 with Ranjit Singh.
Period:
1848–1849.
Result:
British victory.
Year:
Punjab was:
Annexed to British India.
Important:
Punjab was NOT annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse.
Sindh was annexed in:
Associated with:
Sir Charles Napier.
Important battles:
Miani + Hyderabad/Dubba.
Sindh gave Britain:
1824–1826.
Ended with:
Treaty of Yandabo, 1826.
Year:
Burma ceded:
The British also obtained:
Indemnity and strategic advantages.
Year:
Result:
British annexed Lower Burma, including Pegu.
Year:
Result:
Upper Burma was annexed.
By:
1886,
Burma was incorporated into British India.
The British did not annex Nepal.
Instead:
Treaty of Sugauli established British influence and territorial concessions.
Associated with:
Lord Dalhousie.
Important states:
Satara — 1848.
Sambalpur — 1849.
Jaitpur — 1849.
Jhansi — 1854.
Nagpur — 1854.
Year:
Reason:
Alleged misgovernment.
Important:
Awadh was NOT annexed under Doctrine of Lapse.
Mysore was not annexed by the Doctrine of Lapse.
After Tipu Sultan's defeat in:
1799,
the British restored the:
Wodeyar dynasty
under British influence.
British expansion used:
Mysore, Sindh, Punjab, Burma.
Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur etc.
Awadh.
Hyderabad, Peshwa and other princely states.
1757
↓
British victory
↓
Political influence in Bengal.
1764
↓
British victory
↓
Treaty of Allahabad, 1765
↓
Diwani rights.
1760
↓
British victory
↓
French political ambitions weakened.
1790–92
↓
Treaty of Seringapatam
↓
Mysore weakened.
1799
↓
Tipu Sultan killed
↓
British supremacy in South India.
1803–05
↓
British victories
↓
Major territorial expansion.
1817–18
↓
Peshwa abolished
↓
Maratha political supremacy ends.
1848–49
↓
Punjab annexed.
Allahabad — 1765.
Madras — 1769.
Mangalore — 1784.
Seringapatam — 1792.
Surat — 1775.
Purandar — 1776.
Salbai — 1782.
Bassein — 1802.
Deogaon — 1803.
Surji-Anjangaon — 1803.
Sugauli — 1816.
Amritsar — 1809.
Lahore — 1846.
Amritsar — 1846.
Yandabo — 1826.
Sindh — 1843.
Punjab — 1849.
Lower Burma — 1852.
Upper Burma — 1885.
Satara — 1848.
Sambalpur — 1849.
Jaitpur — 1849.
Jhansi — 1854.
Nagpur — 1854.
Awadh — 1856.
1757 → Battle of Plassey.
1760 → Battle of Wandiwash.
1764 → Battle of Buxar.
1765 → Treaty of Allahabad.
1769 → Treaty of Madras.
1775 → Treaty of Surat.
1782 → Treaty of Salbai.
1784 → Treaty of Mangalore.
1792 → Treaty of Seringapatam.
1799 → Fourth Anglo-Mysore War + Tipu Sultan's death.
1802 → Treaty of Bassein.
1803 → Deogaon + Surji-Anjangaon.
1809 → Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh.
1816 → Treaty of Sugauli.
1818 → End of Maratha supremacy.
1826 → Treaty of Yandabo.
1843 → Sindh annexed.
1849 → Punjab annexed.
1854 → Jhansi + Nagpur annexed.
1856 → Awadh annexed.
Battle of Plassey gave the British Diwani rights.
❌ Incorrect.
Plassey:
Political influence.
Buxar + Treaty of Allahabad:
Diwani rights.
Treaty of Seringapatam ended the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.
❌ Incorrect.
Treaty of Seringapatam:
Ended Third Anglo-Mysore War, 1792.
Treaty of Bassein was with the Nizam.
❌ Incorrect.
It was with:
Peshwa Baji Rao II.
Punjab was annexed under Doctrine of Lapse.
❌ Incorrect.
Punjab:
Annexed in 1849 after Second Anglo-Sikh War.
Awadh was annexed under Doctrine of Lapse.
❌ Incorrect.
Awadh:
Annexed in 1856 on grounds of alleged misgovernment.
Treaty of Amritsar occurred only once.
❌ Incorrect.
Important treaties:
1809 with Ranjit Singh.
1846 with Gulab Singh.
British expansion can be understood through three interconnected instruments:
Military victory
Diplomatic settlement
Territorial annexation.
A battle often created:
Military superiority,
while a treaty converted that superiority into:
Political and territorial advantage.
British expansion in India occurred through a combination of military victories, diplomatic treaties, subsidiary alliances and annexation policies. Major battles created the conditions for British political supremacy, while treaties and annexations consolidated territorial gains.
The sequence of battles, treaties and annexations transformed the British from a trading company into the dominant political power in India. By the mid-19th century, military supremacy, diplomatic dependence and territorial annexation had created the foundations of British paramountcy.
