The Battle of Plassey in 1757 marked the beginning of British rule in India. The Nawab of Bengal and his French allies were defeated by the British East India Company due to betrayal by the Nawab's army commander Mir Jafar. As a result, the entire province of Bengal came under British control, establishing their power in the subcontinent.

8. Battle of Plassey Battle of Plassey was the most decisive war that
marked the initiation of British rule in India for the next two centuries.
Battle of Plassey or Palashi took place between British East India
Company and Nawabs of Bengal and his French allies. The battle
occurred on June 23, 1757 at Palashi of Murshidabad District, on the
bank of Bhagirathi River. Murshidabad. Siraj-Ud-Daulah. The French
East India Company also sent a small army to join Nawabs force against
the British .The army commander Mirzafar of Siraj Ud Daulah`s side
betrayed in the battle of Plassey and thereby the whole force of Nawab
collapsed and as a consequence, the entire province of Bengal came
under British. Thus Plassey earns its importance in Indian history as a
key factor leading to the ascendance of British rule in India. The Battle
of Plassey, also named as Battle of Palashi,

10. Tipu Sultan (20 November 1750 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger
of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1782 to 1799,
and a scholar, soldier and poet. Tipu was the eldest son of Sultan Hyder
Ali of Mysore and his wife Fatima Fakhr-un-Nisa, a daughter of Mir
Muin-ud-Din, governor of Kadapa. Tipu promoted a more widespread
use of Hindustani language in southern India. Tipu introduced a number
of administrative innovations, including the introduction of a new
coinage, new Mauludi lunisolar calendar[and new land revenue system,
and initiated the growth of Mysore silk industry . Tipu expanded the
iron-cased Mysorean rockets which he deployed in his resistance against
military advances of the British.

11. Tipu engaged in expansionist attacks against his neighbors. His treatment
of his conquered non-Muslim subjects and British prisoners of war is
controversial. He remained an implacable enemy of the British East India
Company, bringing them into renewed conflict with an attack on British-
allied Travancore in 1789. In the Third Anglo-Mysore War, Tipu was
forced into a humiliating treaty, losing a number of previously conquered
territories, including Malabar and Mangalore. He sent embassies to
foreign states, including the Ottoman Empire, Afghanistan and France, in
an attempt to rally opposition to the British. In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore
War, the combined forces of the British East India Company and the
Nizam of Hyderabad defeated Tipu and he was killed on 4 May 1799,
while defending his fort of Srirangapatna.

12. The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782) was the first of three Anglo-Maratha
wars fought between the British East India Company and Maratha Empire in
India. The war began with the Treaty of Surat and ended with the Treaty of
Saibai.
The Battle of Delhi took place on 11 September 1803 during the Second
Anglo-Maratha War, between British troops under General Lake, and
Marathas of Scindia's army under General Louis Bourquin. The battle was
fought at Patparganj, right across Yamuna River from Humayun's Tomb,
also giving the battle its local name.
The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818] was the final and decisive
conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire
in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began
with an invasion of the Maratha territory by 110,400 British East India
Company troops,

15. The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy purportedly devised by
Lord Dalhousie, who was the Governor General for the East India
Company in India between 1848 and 1856. According to the Doctrine, any
princely state or territory under the direct influence (paramountcy) of the
British East India Company (the dominant imperial power in the
subcontinent), as a vassal state under the British Subsidiary System, would
automatically be annexed if the ruler was either "manifestly incompetent
or died without a direct heir“. The latter supplanted the long-established
right of an Indian sovereign without an heir to choose a successor. In
addition, the British decided whether potential rulers were competent
enough. The doctrine and its application were widely regarded by Indians
as illegitimate.
At the time of its adoption, the Company had absolute, imperial
administrative jurisdiction over many regions spread over the subcontinent.
The company took over the princely states of Satara (1848), Jaitpur and
Sambalpur (1849), Nagpur and Jhansi (1854), Tanjore and Arcot (1855) and
Awadh (Oudh, 1856, with the reason that the ruler was not ruling properly)
using this doctrine. The Company added about four million pounds sterling
to its annual revenue by use of this doctrine.

17. The doctrine of subsidiary alliance was introduced by Marquess Wellesley,
British Governor-General in India from 1798 to 1805. Early in his
governorship Wellesley adopted a policy of non-intervention in the
princely states, but he later adopted the policy of forming subsidiary
alliances. This policy was to play a major role in British expansion in India.
The main principles of a subsidiary alliance were:
1]: An Indian ruler entering into a subsidiary alliance with the British
had to accept British forces within his territory and also agreed to pay for
their maintenance.
2]: The ruler would accept a British Resident in his state.
3]: An Indian ruler who entered into a subsidiary alliance would not
enter into any further alliance with any other power, nor would he
declare war against any power without the permission of the British.
4]:The ruler would not employ any Europeans other than the British, and
if he were already doing so, he would dismiss them.

18. 5]:In case of a conflict with any other state, he would agree the resolution
decided upon by the British.
6]:The ruler would acknowledge the East India Company as the
paramount power in India.
7]:In return for the ruler accepting its conditions, the Company undertook
to protect the state from external dangers and internal disorders.
8]:If the Indian rulers failed to make the payments required by the
alliance, then part of their territory was to be taken away as a penalty.

19. Colonial rule in India brought in some new ideas of administration and
reform but its power rested on its military strength.
Traditional Army: The Mughal army was mainly composed of cavalry
(sawars: trained soldiers on horseback) and infantry, that is, paidal
(foot) soldiers. They were given training in archery ( teer-andazi) and the
use of the sword. The cavalry dominated the army and the Mughal state
did not feel the need to have a large professionally trained infantry. The
rural areas had a large number of armed peasants and the local
zamindars often supplied the Mughals with paidal soldiers.
Professional Soldiers: A change occurred in the eighteenth century when
Mughal successor states like Awadh and Banaras started recruiting
peasants into their armies and training them as professional soldiers. The
East India Company adopted the same method when it began recruitment
for its own army, which came to be known as the sepoy army (from the
Indian word sipahi, meaning soldier).

20. As warfare technology changed from the 1820s, the cavalry requirements
of the Company’s army declined. This is because the British empire was
fighting in Burma, Afghanistan and Egypt where soldiers were armed with
muskets and matchlocks. The soldiers of the Company’s army had to keep
pace with changing military requirements and its infantry regiments now
became more important.
In the early nineteenth century the British began to develop a uniform
military culture. Soldiers were increasingly subjected to European-style
training, drill and discipline that regulated their life far more than before.
Often this created problems since caste and community feelings were
ignored in building a force of

21. The East India Company started as a trading company. To further its
trading interest the company started to interfere in local politics and later
on took control of local administration. Ultimately through various social,
political and administrative changes the company took full control over 63
percent of the Indian territory and 78 percent of the population. Remaining
part was under indirect control of the East India Company.