Doctrine of Lapse

E12251

British imperial policy colonial annexation policy

The Doctrine of Lapse was a controversial annexation policy used by the British East India Company in 19th-century India, allowing it to seize princely states without a direct male heir and significantly fueling resentment that led to the 1857 rebellion.

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All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
Doctrine of Lapse canonical	21
Annexation of Jhansi under Doctrine of Lapse	1
Doctrine of Lapse (applied by the British)	1
Doctrine of Lapse (contested pretext)	1
Doctrine of Lapse policy in India	1
Doctrine of Lapse–related agreements	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	British imperial policy ⓘ colonial annexation policy ⓘ
aimedTo	consolidate British power in India ⓘ
annexedState	Baghat ⓘ Jaitpur ⓘ Jhansi ⓘ Nagpur ⓘ Sambalpur ⓘ Satara ⓘ Udaipur ⓘ surface form: Udaipur (in present-day Chhattisgarh)
appliedBy	British East India Company ⓘ
appliedDuring	19th century ⓘ
appliedIn	India ⓘ
associatedWithPerson	Lord Dalhousie ⓘ surface form: James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie
considered	controversial ⓘ unpopular among Indian rulers ⓘ
contributedTo	causes of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 ⓘ political resentment in India ⓘ
criticizedBy	Indian independence movement ⓘ surface form: Indian nationalists Indian princes ⓘ
criticizedFor	disregarding adoption customs in Hindu law ⓘ undermining sovereignty of princely states ⓘ
domain	British India ⓘ surface form: British Indian administration colonial law ⓘ
effect	alienation of traditional elites ⓘ expansion of British-controlled territory ⓘ weakening of princely autonomy ⓘ
endedBy	Government of India Act 1858 ⓘ
endedWhen	Government of India Act 1858 ⓘ surface form: British Crown took direct control of India in 1858
formulatedUnder	Lord Dalhousie ⓘ
geographicScope	princely states under British East India Company influence ⓘ
hasLanguage	English (official formulation) ⓘ
historicalContext	Company rule in India ⓘ
inForceFrom	1848 ⓘ
inForceUntil	1858 ⓘ
justifiedAs	doctrine of escheat ⓘ
legacy	symbol of colonial injustice in Indian historiography ⓘ
legalBasis	denial of recognition to adopted heirs of Indian princes ⓘ
notAppliedTo	Gwalior ⓘ Hyderabad ⓘ Jammu and Kashmir ⓘ surface form: Kashmir
opposedBy	Rani Lakshmibai ⓘ surface form: Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi
perceivedAs	instrument of aggressive imperialism ⓘ violation of traditional succession rights ⓘ
principle	princely state without a natural male heir would lapse to the Company ⓘ
relatedToEvent	Indian Rebellion of 1857 ⓘ
usedFor	annexation of princely states ⓘ territorial expansion ⓘ

Referenced by (26)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Indian Rebellion of 1857 → cause → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Indian Rebellion of 1857 → relatedTo → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

British East India Company → introducedPolicy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Oudh → annexationPolicy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

this entity surface form: Doctrine of Lapse (contested pretext)

Rani Lakshmibai → doctrineOpposed → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Battle of Jhansi → associatedWith → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Lord Dalhousie → knownFor → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Lord Dalhousie → implementedPolicy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Nawab of the Carnatic → abolishedBy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

this entity surface form: Doctrine of Lapse (applied by the British)

Sambalpur → annexationPolicy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Newalkar dynasty → endCause → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Nawab of Bengal → endCause → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Jhansi Ki Rani → policyOpposed → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

subject surface form: Rani Lakshmibai

Jaitpur → incorporationPolicy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Jaitpur → dissolutionReason → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Damodar Rao → mentionedInContextOf → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Raja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar → linkedToPolicy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Jhansi State → annexedUnderPolicy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

James Andrew Broun-Ramsay → notableFor → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

this entity surface form: Doctrine of Lapse policy in India

British Raj (Company rule in India) → policy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Nagpur kingdom → annexationReason → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Raja Gangadhar Rao → causeOfPoliticalEvent → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

this entity surface form: Annexation of Jhansi under Doctrine of Lapse

Maharaja of Jhansi → associatedWithPolicy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

British policies in India → associatedWith → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

British colonial authorities in India → appliesPolicy → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

Treaties of the British East India Company → hasPart → Doctrine of Lapse ⓘ

this entity surface form: Doctrine of Lapse–related agreements