![]() ![]() In both cases the war was not of his making, and the annexation was bound to follow but the case was very different in sundry other cases, where it may be laid down with certainty that Dalhousie's predecessors would not have annexed at all. Wellesley had proceeded mainly by the method of subsidiary alliances, and in the case of Arcot by the ejection of a dynasty which had proved itself hopelessly unfit to govern.ĭalhousie now added to the British dominion by the conquest and annexation of the Punjab as already narrated, and, somewhat against his will, by the conquest and annexation of a great part of Burmah. The most extensive annexations were indeed those for which Lord Hastings was responsible but in his case there had been no alternative they were necessitated by the Maratha War. All have recognised the necessity for asserting British influence and British control, but all the rest have done so with a distinct preference for maintaining the government of the native dynasty if it were practicable to do so.ĭalhousie and Wellesley alone preferred on principle to substitute direct British dominion wherever it was possible to do so without positive injustice. ![]() Two only among the great Governors-General, Wellesley and Dalhousie, have been guided by the conviction that it was desirable to seize every opportunity to bring native states under direct British dominion. Great men of the highest rank have been numbered among the British Governors-General of India brilliant men who might have achieved greatness but failed to do so masterful men whose successes were achieved by methods which were sometimes questionable strong men who went their way wisely and quietly, whose names the British public has almost forgotten.īut in the whole series from Warren Hastings himself to the distinguished statesmen who are still living among us today there is no figure more remarkable than that of the man who left India at the beginning of 1856 after eight years of strenuous rule.
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