Write a short note on Doctrine of lapse.

From 1848 to 1856, Lord Dalhousie was the Governor General of India. He declared that if in any possible ways if the Indian ruler dies without having any legal heir to the throne, the Company will take over that territory. In other words, his kingdom would ‘lapse’. This policy came to be known as the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’. Through this policy they annexed – Satara, Sambalpur, Udaipur, Nagpur, Awadh and Jhansi.

With this policy, they tried to misguide the people by convincing them that they were helping the people by protecting them from staying under the misgovernment of the Nawabs. So it was they're ‘obliged by duty’ that they introduced this policy.