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.

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.